Bonito Valley Brewing offers up a slice of history with its beers

The final stop in our recent tour of breweries in Southern New Mexico felt like a trip back in time.

None of us had ever been to the small town of Lincoln, which sits along Highway 380, just east of Capitan. Many of the buildings here date back to the 19th century, including the one that is currently home to Bonito Valley Brewing.

We met up with co-owners Tim Roberts and John Boutte on a rainy afternoon, just as they were brewing up another batch of their popular Palomino Pale Ale.

“John and I met when I first moved here in 2016,” Roberts said. “I got back into home brewing. I got started (brewing professionally) back in Florida. When I moved out here and took the job with the state, I wanted to get back into home brewing, get back to my roots. I started home brewing with John, and I think it had been less than a year of doing this. At that point, Cloudcroft wasn’t there, 575 (and) Lost Hi

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