Second Street doubling brewing capacity
Apr. 24—Making beer is what a brewery is all about it.
And soon, Second Street Brewery will be brewing a whole lot more of it.
The Santa Fe-based brewery has made inroads in Albuquerque since it started canning beer in 2017, and as the Second Street Rufina Taproom and new brewhouse opened in Santa Fe.
The Rufina opening marked a transition from Second Street's brewpub days to increasingly producing beer for the wholesale market. The closing of the namesake brewpub on Second Street a year ago reinforced CEO Rod Tweet's ambition to make more beer.
"The growth mode for us is beer production," Tweet said. "Brewing is my background."
Second Street has about $6 million in annual revenue and about 80 to 90 employees, Tweet said.
"Wholesale will be the driver of the increases," he said.
The Second Street taprooms at Rufina Street and the Railyard produce more revenue now than the three taprooms did in 2019, but Tweet said significant revenue growth is not likely with the pubs.
Tweet, however, is adding nine fermentation tanks to the 13 already in place at the Rufina brewery to increase the fermentation capacity from 225 barrels to 500 barrels. He expects the expanded brewery to be ready to produce beer in May.
That will eventually grow annual production from 4,000 barrels to 8,000 or even 10,000 barrels. Tweet noted that 5,000 barrels of beer equals about 1.2 million 12-ounce cans.
Once brewing at top capacity, Second Street will rank among the top 10 largest craft breweries among the state's 120 breweries, said Ebbie Edmonston, executive director of the New Mexico Brewers Guild.
"The jump in production size is impressive," Edmonston said in an email. "I think it shows some very smart decision making on Second Street's part. My opinion is that the original location was holding them back financially and without that they have had the means to expand."
Tweet believes Second Street may be around the sixth- or seventh-largest craft brewery in the state.
Second Street, launched in 1996 with Tweet as the brewmaster and part owner, already is among the older craft breweries in New Mexico. Tweet became CEO in 2000 and remains the brewmaster.
"We opened as a neighborhood brewpub," Tweet said.
The beer brewed was consumed at Second Street. In 2010, Second Street had two neighborhood brewpubs with the opening in the Railyard.
The game changed with the 2017 acquisition of a 20,000-square-foot warehouse that became the Rufina Taproom and the new primary brewery for the whole operation.
After 20 years of producing beer largely for two brewpubs, Second Street now distributes to about 140 locations along the Interstate 25 corridor from Albuquerque to Taos.
"We're not looking out of state right now," Tweet said.
Second Street isn't looking yet to continue south to Las Cruces as the company distributes its own products.
"I think we'll use all of it in Albuquerque," Tweet said about the increased brewing capacity.
Second Street is in liquor stores, on tap and at Sprouts and Whole Foods markets in Albuquerque, but the brewer has yet to appear in Albertsons Market or Smith's Food and Drug locations in Albuquerque, though Second Street beer is sold at Albertsons locations in Santa Fe.
"We can take on opportunities in Albuquerque that we couldn't do before," said Mariah Scee, creative director at Second Street Brewery.
Second Street closed down the original Second Street location in April 2022 because Tweet was unwilling to pay increased lease rates. He had no intention to move the brewpub elsewhere.
Instead, the idea of expanding the Rufina brewery emerged.
"We've upped our game," Tweet said.
