The short-lived and not-so-good comeback of brewing in ABQ after Prohibition

As we continue our trek through the history of brewing in New Mexico, following our tales of a brewery shootout and the ups and downs of the first two Albuquerque breweries, we skip past the era of Prohibition (1918-33) to the time of the first two breweries after those dark years.

Let us just say first off that things did not go too well, and the resulting gap in commercial brewing in New Mexico was far longer than Prohibition. Nearly 50 years would pass in between the last batch of beer at the first Rio Grande Brewing Company and the arrival of Santa Fe Pale Ale in 1988.

Right after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, there was talk that the old Western (neé Southwestern) Brewery and Ice Company would restart its brewing operations. A story in the Albuquerque Journal stated that the brewery would employ 100 men and cost about $300,000 to restart. This being the Great Depression an

…