Tractor Brewing Company

Tractor Brewing Company is a New Mexico-based brewery, founded in 1999 in Los Lunas and since 2014 located in Albuquerque. Tractor beers have won awards at the New Mexico State Fair Pro-Am Competition.

Tractor Brewing Company
Location1800 4th St NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico, US
Coordinates35.0824099°N 106.6764794°W / 35.0824099; -106.6764794
Opened1999 (1999)
Key peopleDavid Hargis (brewmaster)
Skye Devore (beer goddess)[1]
Annual production volumeca.4,000 US beer barrels (4,700 hL) (2014)[2]
Websitegetplowed.com
Active beers
Name Type
Double Plow Oatmeal Stout English-style stout
Farmer's Almanac IPA India Pale Ale
Farmer's Tan Red Ale Hybrid Irish red/Scotch ale
Haymaker Honey Wheat American wheat ale
Milk Mustachio Stout Milk stout
#15 Pilsner German-style lager
Sod Buster Pale Ale American pale ale
Seasonal beers
Name Type
Tractoberfest Euro-style amber lager
Tractor Maibock Helles bock
Winter IPA India Pale Ale
Other beers
Name Type
Javier Lager Premium lager
Wagon Wine American barley wine

The brewery, including a taproom and restaurant, is located just north of downtown Albuquerque and there is an additional taproom in Albuquerque's Nob Hill neighborhood near the University of New Mexico. Tractor is known for featuring local artists, musicians, and poetry slams.

History

Tractor Brewing was conceived in 1999 as a "beer farm" by Herb Pluemer. It was initially established in the rural community of Los Lunas, New Mexico. Pluemer restored vintage tractors and placed them around his brew house, attracting customers. The brewery bottled its product and it was distributed in New Mexico, Oklahoma, New Jersey and New York.[3]

The business had a downturn in 2008 during the Great Recession, nearly closing. The bottling operation came to a halt and Pluember brought in Skye Devore, an MBA, and new brewer David Hargis, who revitalized the company. The business grew and expansion into the Albuquerque craft beer market came in the summer of 2011, when Tractor opening a taproom in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque.[4] While the Nob Hill taproom does not serve food, local food trucks serve a rotation of cuisines just outside the taproom's front door.[5]

Operating the taproom required a significant increase in production and business flourished. Then in 2013, Tractor was approached by Premier Distributing, New Mexico's largest beer distributor, about resuming bottling its beer. The combined increase in production tested the limits of the Los Lunas brewery's fifteen-barrel system. Hargis and Devore became employee-owners of the business and set about rebranding the product and solving the capacity challenge.[6]

They decided to close down the Los Lunas brewery and open a combined brewery, taproom and restaurant just north of downtown Albuquerque. The new brewery has nine thirty-barrel and five fifteen-barrel fermenters and commenced operations in early 2014.[7] It quickly became known for featuring local artists and musicians. Local artist, author and poet Carlos Contreras was brought on to manage art, music, poetry,[8] and charity fundraising events.[9]

The brewery participates in the Taos Ski Valley Annual Brew Master’s Festival[10] and the New Mexico Brewers Guild's annual WinterBrew in Santa Fe, New Mexico,[11] and is one of the sponsors of a 2015 bicycle sharing pilot program in downtown Albuquerque.[12]

Production

Tractor Brewing has grown from two men producing 350 barrels per year in 2008 to 80 employees producing nearly 4,000 barrels per year in 2014.[2]

Brews

Regular brews

Tractor has seven regular beers:[13]

  • Double Plow Oatmeal Stout, is a dry English-style stout with 5.2% ABV. It is made with chocolate and dark roasted malts.
  • Farmer's Almanac IPA, a golden India Pale Ale with an IBU rating of 72 and 6.5% ABV.
  • Farmer's Tan Red Ale, a hybrid Irish red / Scotch ale, with a 6.5% ABV (won Bronze medal at 2014 State Fair Pro-Am).[14]
  • #15 Pilsner, a German-style lager. Called #15 because it uses 15 bags of malt for a fifteen-barrel brew.
  • Haymaker Honey Wheat, an American wheat ale. Each fifteen-barrel brew requires eighty pounds of local honey.
  • Milk Mustachio Stout, a milk stout with 6.0% ABV.[15]
  • Sod Buster Pale Ale, an American pale ale with an IBU rating of 45.

Seasonal and occasional brews

Seasonal and occasional beers include:

  • Javier Lager, a premium American lager (won Silver medal at 2014 State Fair Pro-Am).[14]
  • Tractoberfest, a European-style amber lager (won Silver medal at 2014 State Fair Pro-Am).[14]
  • Tractor ESB, extra special bitter (won Bronze medal at 2014 State Fair Pro-Am).[14]
  • Tractor Maibock, a helles bock (won Bronze medal at 2014 State Fair Pro-Am).[14]
  • Wagon Wine, an American barley wine (won Silver medal at 2014 State Fair Pro-Am).[14]
  • Winter IPA, an India Pale Ale.[16]

Awards

Tractor's Man Der Damm premium lager took first place at the 2013 New Mexico Beer Cup and was also the People's Choice and Celebrity Pick in the lager category, and their Farmer’s Tan Red Ale placed third in the red ale category.[17]

In 2014, Tractor won three silver medals (in the light lager, European amber lager, and strong ale categories) and three bronze medals (in the bock, English pale ale, and Scottish and Irish ale categories) at the State Fair Pro-Am Competition.[14]

See also

References

Citations
  1. "Staff". GetPlowed.com. Tractor Brewing Company. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  2. Bryan, Susan Montoya (July 14, 2014). "State's craft brewers pack $265M punch". Associated Press. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  3. Stott 2014, pp. 32–33.
  4. Stott 2014, pp. 33–34.
  5. Feucht, Andrea (May 2013). "Nob Appeal". New Mexico Magazine. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  6. Stott 2014, pp. 34–35.
  7. Stott 2014, pp. 35.
  8. Carty, Moriah (February 12, 2015). "Poetry slams hit popular brewery: Poetry and Beer finds new host". New Mexico Daily Lobo. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  9. Scott, Damon (January 26, 2015). "Tractor Brewing's art and entertainment play pays off". Albuquerque Business First. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  10. Martinez, Rozanna M. (December 12, 2014). "Taos festival celebrates NM brew masters". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  11. Martinez, Rozanna M. (January 16, 2015). "Warm up on the inside: WinterBrew in Santa Fe will do just that with a brewery festival". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  12. Drawhorn, Aaron (March 10, 2015). "Bike sharing test to roll out in Albuquerque". KRQE News 13. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  13. Stott 2014, pp. 33–35.
  14. "2014 NM State Fair Pro Results: Ribbons for State Fair Pro-Am Competition 2014". Dukes of Ale. ABQ Beer. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  15. Carr, Nick (August 25, 2014). "REVIEW: Milk Mustachio Stout by Tractor Brewing Company". Kegerator.com. Living Direct, Inc. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  16. "Tractor Brewing Winter IPA Review". ABQbeer.com. January 7, 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  17. "New Mexico Cup Runneth Over". Albuquerque Beer Scene. February 17, 2013. Retrieved 2015-04-18.

Sources
  • Stott, Jon C. (2014). New Mexico Beer: A History of Brewing in the Land of Enchantment. Charleston, SC: American Palate, A Division of The History Press. ISBN 978-1-60949-814-6.

Further reading
  • Lowe, Sam (2008). New Mexico Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff. Globe Pequot. pp. 133–134. ISBN 978-0762746705.
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