It seems that Danny and Molly O’Brien, the new owners who purchased Casa Vieja last year, are really starting to put their own stamp on the beautiful property located at 4541 Corrales Road in the heart of the village. For this year’s Look Back/Look Ahead Series feature, I met with head brewer Michael Sharpe to…
Tag: Casa Vieja Brewery
Casa Vieja Brewery set for an upcoming change in ownership
I recently received an unexpected text from Gary Socha, owner of Casa Vieja Brewery at 4541 Corrales Rd. It said, verbatim, “Well, it’s official. We are under contract to sell Casa. It will take 6 months to get a new small brewers license for the new owner, but we have a buyer.” I was floored,…
Small brewer license renewals come with a surprise for some this year
Back in 2019, Senate Bill 413 was passed, which had a potentially profound effect on breweries throughout New Mexico. One of its key provisions was a new requirement for every brewery to produce a minimum of 50 barrels per year, or at least have its own beers account for 50 percent of total alcohol sales….
Casa Vieja Brewery lifts locals’ spirits in the Village of Corrales and beyond
One thing about this darn pandemic is that we have all learned another reason for keeping it local. Very local. We’re all staying closer to home these days, and residents in the Village of Corrales like to support their neighborhood businesses. That’s a good thing for Casa Vieja at 4541 Corrales Road. Owner Gary Socha…
Local breweries cautiously optimistic as counties move to green
The Wednesday news that much of New Mexico was moving to the green/turquoise levels on the state’s colored reopening chart came as a relief to many breweries. After a long period of being stuck in yellow, Bernalillo and Sandoval counties are moving to green, enabling 40-plus breweries and their taprooms to expand their occupancy. Well,…
The Crew reviews our collaboration stout with Casa Vieja
We collaborated on another one. Another stout, that is. The Brew Crew was contacted a while ago by brewer Michael Sharpe at Casa Vieja. He wanted to know if we would be interested in creating a proper stout for the winter months. Obviously, the answer was yes, and away we went. Franz Solo crafted the…
Time to poll the masses for the best name for our new collaboration stout at Casa Vieja
A little while back, the Crew was contacted by assistant brewer Michael Sharpe of Casa Vieja to see if we would be interested in collaborating on an imperial stout recipe. We never say no to such things, and pretty soon Franz Solo was crafting a recipe along with Sharpe and owner/head brewer Gary Socha. None…
Local breweries name their MVPs for this most difficult of years
During a conversation with a front-of-house employee from a local brewery, he noted that it felt rather nice to see words of praise from one of the owners in a recent Brew Crew story. That got me thinking about how much it might mean to other brewery employees to see some public recognition for their…
Adapting is key to Casa Vieja’s continued success in this crazy year
Another year is coming to a close, and what a year it has been. It’s difficult to even approach this year’s Look Back/Look Ahead Series, because don’t we all really only want to look ahead? And yet, we might sort of be afraid to at the same time. In some ways, there’s not a lot…
Brewery Patio Bracket Championship Round: The dandy dozen regional winners collide
The end is nigh for our brewery patio bracket-style tournament. After splitting up the state into a dozen regions based upon geography and location status (primary brewery or offsite taproom), we now have a dozen bracket winners who can claim the title of the best in their area. Oh, but it is not over yet….
DARK SIDE BREW CREW 