Santa Fe Brewing Co.

Santa Fe Brewing Co. is New Mexico’s original craft brewery; bringing the spirit of the southwest to drinkers near and far. In 1988, three cowboys with some used equipment, a high tolerance for risk, and a dream to make something that tasted more like beer than water started the brewery with their first pale ale. Santa Fe Brewing Co. has been crafting, canning, and conducting general experiments with malt, barley, hops, and water ever since.

They’ve come all the way from those humble beginnings to having the capacity to brew 30,000 bbls a year, locations in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and El Dorado, New Mexico, and distribution in 8 states.

The SFBC beer lineup includes the #1 selling craft beer in New Mexico, “Happy Camper,” as well as BeerSyndicate.com’s #1 German Style Pilsner made in the U.S. “Freestyle Pilsner,” new fan favorite 7K IPA, and a wide range of other world class beers.

History

Have you been to Santa Fe? It’s different here. This has been the home of Santa Fe Brewing Co. since 1988. That’s when we decided that “big beer” could be better beer, and we made the first batch of Santa Fe Pale Ale. Since then, our fam has grown, and we’ve been innovating, evolving, listening, fermenting, experimenting, occasionally failing (R.I.P. Gnarly Root) and crafting interesting, highly-drinkable beverages for thirsty people everywhere.

Way back before there was such a thing as “craft beer” there was craft beer. In New Mexico of all places. It was then, in 1988, that a cowboy named Mike Levis who had a passion for homebrewing and a desire for something better brewed the first batch of Santa Fe Pale Ale (still brewed today). A few macro-loving people with poor taste thought it was crap. But enough people liked it that he and his partners upgraded and purchased some old brewing equipment from the Boulder Brewing Company. They continued experimenting, and were soon making a porter and Santa Fe Nut Brown Ale (also still brewed today).

In 1991, one of the founders of the brewery awoke to a massacre of epic proportions. His pet dachshund, Petey, had gotten into some chicken coops and killed 22 chickens. To memorialize these fallen fryers, Chicken Killer Barley Wine (also still brewed today) was created.

In 1997, the original owners passed the torch onto some youngsters named Brian Lock, Carlos Muller, Dave Forester and Ty Levis (Mike’s son). The new owners relocated the brewery to a larger space, pieced together a “gigantic” 15 barrel frankenbrew system and began to distribute all over New Mexico and parts of Colorado. More and more people began to realize how great quality beer could be. But most of America cracked open another adjunct-loaded, corn-flavored macro brew and said, “That’s cute. Those craft beer guys have a new address.”

Fast forward to 2003. Craft beer was growing and Santa Fe’s reputation for making high quality, drinkable beers was spreading. Brian Lock bought out the other partners and took sole ownership of the operation. A day later, a small stress-induced gray hair appeared in his beard.

Lock moved the brewery again to its current location — a 13,000 sq. ft. site at the top of New Mexico’s Turquoise Trail. People said, “This guy is drunk.” Maybe he was. After all, he owned a brewery. But he had big plans. Around this time, a mad (crazy mad, not angry) Hungarian named Alfonz Viszolay showed up at the brewery and offered to help build the bottling line. He would go on to become an instrumental part of the brewery’s history, helping to engineer and install virtually every new piece of equipment that has since been added. He also figured out how to make biofuel out of algae, but that is another story.

In 2010 the technology to put beer in cans finally became accessible to small brewers. Santa Fe Brewing Company installed a small canning system. It was then that the first ice-cold Happy Camper IPA rolled down the line into Lock’s hand who said, “You can shotgun these.” And he did.

The popularity of Happy Camper IPA and the acceptance of craft beer in cans propelled the brewery to new heights. Production increased, and soon, Santa Fe Brewing Company beers were being shipped all over the Southwest. 2015 brought two major developments — first, ground was broken on a new packaging hall. Second, an off-premise taproom in Albuquerque opened at Green Jeans Farmery. In 2018, the brewery finished installation of a new canning line that gave them the ability to can 275 beers a minute, which was good because people were drinking fast. Also in 2018, ground was broken on a new, state-of-the-art tasting room that was completed in 2019.

Today, we produce over 30,000 barrels a year and are still growing. Try our beer. Visit our brewery. Meet our family. There’s no place like Santa Fe. And there’s no brewery like Santa Fe Brewing Co.

Santa Fe Brewing Co. is an independent craft brewer.

Inside the Santa Fe Brewing Co. taproom in Santa Fe, New Mexico