Gabe Jensen thinks the Las Cruces market is underserved in the craft-brewing front and wants to help change that a bit.
Jensen, the director of operations for Albuquerque-based Bosque Brewing Co., just signed a lease this week to open a taproom adjacent to New Mexico State University.
The space was formerly the Mimbres Valley Brewing Co., which closed earlier this year.
Las Cruces has almost 100,000 people in its metropolitan area but only one large-scale brewery — High Desert Brewing Co. The popular De La Vega’s Pecan Grill and Brewery also produces some of its own brews and features Moriarty’s Rio Grande & Sierra Blanca beers in their taps. Branding Iron Brewery out of Silver City operates a taproom in Old Mesilla, too.
Jensen was born and raised in Las Cruces and so has a connection there — he also met two of Bosque Brewing’s managing members in the city.
The new taproom is located at 985 E. University Ave., and Jensen hopes to be open by Las Cruces’ Dia De La Cerveza event in early November.
“We’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and the opportunity came up. This is a turnkey-ready space; we’ll put some new paint on and clean it up,” Jensen said. “I think Las Cruces is ready for more local craft beer.”
Bosque Brewing is in the process of opening another location in Nob Hill by the end of this year as well. Its original location is in the Cunado Shopping Center at 8900 San Mateo Blvd. NE.
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