The retirement rush: A generation of brewery owners nears the exit

A certain surprise Instagram post from the weekend got us thinking about one of those almost-impossible-to-definitively-answer questions. Are all these brewery owner retirement announcements just random, or this is a new trend? The latest was that aforementioned post by Sidetrack owners Dan Herr and Anne O’Neill, who are stepping back and handing the reins to…

The Week Ahead in Beer: A very fine nine years for Sidetrack

The beginning of 2016 might have seen the greatest number of brewery openings ever concentrated into a three-month stretch. Five breweries would debut in Albuquerque between January and March, giving us all a bit of whiplash. One that has stood the test of time and become a favorite among beer geeks and the general public…

Downshift doubles down for Ruidoso with Collective Good and Oktoberfest

Every town, particularly those affected by natural disasters, needs a champion or two. Ruidoso has an entire brewery dedicated to its recovery after wildfires and subsequent flooding hammered the town over the course of this summer. Downshift Brewing is far from done, however, as that process continues for their surrounding community. We caught up with…

Sidetrack maintains a nice routine even amid industry-wide tumult

There is nothing wrong with having a perfectly normal year in beer. After all, nothing has been very normal since 2020, so Sidetrack Brewing will definitely embrace a year of things just being, well, routine. I caught up with co-owners Dan Herr and Anne O’Neill, plus head brewer Cordell Rincon, to go over all of…