Santa Fe Brewing Co. celebrates 30 years

New Mexico’s largest craft brewery is celebrating three decades in business with six events beginning this week.

Mike Levis started Santa Fe Brewing Co. in Galisteo in 1988. In 1996, he sold the operation to Brian Lock, a transplant from craft brew hot spot Portland, Ore., and three partners, including Levis’ son, Ty; Carlos Muller, a college friend of Lock’s; and Dave Forester.

They moved the operation to a location on Dinosaur Trail the following year. In 2003, Lock bought out his partners amicably, he said, and the following year he bought the property on Fire Place where the brewery now stands. The company started brewing there in 2005. This year, Lock broke ground on a new, three-story structure that will serve as office space, a merchandise shop and a tasting room.

The brewery has come a long way. From 2,000 barrels a year in 1996, it’s on pace to sell 32,000 barrels this year, Lock said last week. From four varieties, including Santa Fe Pale Ale and Chicken Killer Barley Wine, under Levis, the brewery now produces up to 16 different varieties of beverage, including the state’s best-selling craft beer, 7K IPA.

It still makes Chicken Killer, named in tribute to Levis’ miniature dachshund, Petey, reputed to have broken into a chicken pen and slayed 33 fowl, Lock said.

The company is worth 15 to 20 times today what he and his partners paid for it 30 years ago, he said.

On Thursday, the brewery hosts a beer-pairing dinner in its packaging hall with brewmaster Bert Boyce and chef Laura Crucet Hamilton of Pig+Fig Cafe. For more event information, go online to santafebrewing.com/event/30thanniversary-beer-dinner/.