A little while back, a reader asked us if we might make a stop at the future Turtle Mountain Brewing taproom in northern Rio Rancho to check on the progress of one of the few offsite locations still in the works in New Mexico. Since I was headed out in that general direction to talk…
Tag: Turtle Mountain Brewing
An update on the lack of updates about future breweries
Every now and again, I check the State of New Mexico’s licensing page to see if there are any new pending small brewer or small brewer offsite licenses. For quite some time now, there have not been any new ones, which is just a sign of the times. Allow me to explain that statement. The…
Beer Notes: Updates on all the new places still in progress
With the recent openings (re-openings?) of two closed-turned-new-breweries — Lizard Tail Industrial (neé Cantero) and Juno (ex-Dialogue) — we figured it might be a good time to catch up on what is still in the forthcoming brewery/taproom pipeline. Also, our planned story for today fell through, so here we are, going to Plan B. Got an…
Award-winning brewer switches gears at Hollow Spirits Distillery
The last time any of us talked to Mick Hahn, he had just taken over the position of head brewer at Tractor Wells Park, having just left Turtle Mountain a few months after winning the first Great American Beer Festival gold medal in the venerable brewpub’s long history. Then, poof! Covid-19 came along, and soon…
Breweries in Burque suburbs react to newly passed liquor laws
A few weeks ago, readers asked us if the breweries were going to comment publicly on House Bill 255, which included alcohol delivery and other changes to some long-standing liquor laws in New Mexico. The breweries declined comment at the time, and the New Mexico Brewers Guild later sent out an email asking them not…
Turtle Mountain Brewing looks to expand in 2021 and beyond
Well the year is finally upon us in which we will see a Turtle Mountain Brewing taproom come to fruition! I was lucky enough to be able to talk to head brewer David Pacheco about all things beer and owner Nico Ortiz about the forthcoming taproom and future plans to boot for our annual Look…
Merch Guide 2020: Another way to keep supporting our local breweries
As we did in four of the last five years, the Crew has put together a brewery merchandise guide for all of you just in time for your holiday shopping. Hey, it might be nice to just buy people beer, but sometimes they need more in life, like cool shirts, hoodies, growlers, and other specialty…
Surge in COVID-19 cases leads to more breweries temporarily shutting down
Anyone following the local news of late has seen the sharp increase in daily positive tests of COVID-19 throughout New Mexico. Our state is regularly topping 1,000 new cases per day at this point, so it should come as no surprise that more and more breweries are being forced to temporarily close after a staff…
Brewery Patio Bracket Round Two: The struggle in the North rages on as well as in the Burbs
Welcome back to the second round of our brewery patio bracket-style tournament. After revisiting the southern breweries on Monday, followed by the offsite taprooms on Tuesday, we have three more polls today to narrow down these regional fields. The breweries in the northern reaches of New Mexico really fired up their supporters, with a record…
Turtle Mountain Brewing signs deal for its first offsite taproom in many years
Only a lunatic would plan to open an offsite taproom during a pandemic. Well, then again, maybe not. After all, building owners still need tenants to fill empty spaces, so maybe, just maybe there are good deals to be found out there. That is exactly what Turtle Mountain Brewing owner Nico Ortiz found in the…