KRWG's Beer Confidential explores rise in mircrobreweries, home brewing. Here's how to participate.
LAS CRUCES - KRWG Public Media is set to broadcast KRWG’s Beer Confidential Live! at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 5.
“After the last several years of COVID, people are now getting out more and are visiting our local microbreweries,” said Edmundo Resendez, producer of KRWG’s Beer Confidential Live! “To celebrate, we are producing a live on-stage show at the Rio Grande Theatre where the audience will be able to participate in the discussion on the science of beer with local brewing experts.”
What impact did COVID have on home brewing and craft beer enthusiasts? According to KRWG Beer Confidential Live! guest Catherine Brewer of New Mexico State University, it gave microbreweries an opportunity to scale up their operations.
“We have noticed a few trends. First, more breweries have invested in or scaled up in their packaging options such as Crowler machines and even canning lines which means that craft beer enthusiasts have more options to drink local beers at home," said Brewer, director of NMSBrew in the university's department of chemical and materials engineering. “Some people have started homebrewing and reinvigorated previous homebrewing efforts. However, we expect that more people are just buying their beers in cans and bottles instead of going out. The increase in at-home production is probably nowhere near that of sourdough. As with all social activities, people see each other less, including their fellow homebrewers and beer enthusiasts.”
NMSBrew's Stephen Taylor said that, in New Mexico, the success of microbreweries is the variety of visions of the brewers in our area.
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“Quality products from a variety of brewers with a variety of visions for what their beer should be — each brewer is unique, and that uniqueness encourages people to want to try what the brewers offer,” Taylor said. “Many local breweries have spaces that enable social gatherings in a safe and comfortable environment. Many local breweries also serve really good food with their beers.”
KRWG’s Beer Confidential Live! at the Rio Grande Theatre is open to the public with free beer samples from Ex Novo Brewing Company in Corrales, New Mexico.
The show will be broadcast live on 90.7 FM in Las Cruces, 91.3 KRXG-FM in Silver City and krwg.org. In addition, the show will be livestreamed on KRWG Public Media’s Facebook page. Audience members will get a chance to ask questions of the guest beer experts. Doors open at 5:30 PM, the live show is between 7 and 8 p.m., and beer sampling is available until 9.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: KRWG's Beer Confidential explores rise in mircrobreweries, home brewing
