Canteen Brewhouse hosts lager-focused festival with 18 New Mexico breweries
Canteen Brewhouse's fourth For the Love of Lagers festival will pack 18 New Mexico breweries, live music and samples into one Aztec Road summer afternoon.
Canteen Brewhouse is betting that a lager-only festival can still feel like a neighborhood draw in Albuquerque, not just a beer-insider event. The brewery’s fourth annual For the Love of Lagers will take over its 2381 Aztec Road NE location on Saturday, June 27, from noon to 4 p.m., with VIP entry starting at noon and general admission beginning at 1 p.m.
The setup is built for a casual summer outing as much as a tasting session. Tickets were listed at roughly $41.87 to $52.16, and the admission package includes a custom pint glass, 16 two-ounce samples, a full pint, a hot dog and a sticker. Along with the beer, Canteen is planning live music from Stranger Danger from 1 to 4 p.m., plus lawn games and a designated area with water guns and water balloons.
The central idea is narrower than the average craft-beer festival. Canteen general manager Jamie Schwebach said the event exists because New Mexico has plenty of strong lagers that do not always get the same attention as IPAs, and the brewery is using the festival to put that style in front of a broader crowd. Eighteen New Mexico breweries are signed on, including Bow and Arrow Brewing, Boxing Bear Brewing, Ex Novo Brewing, La Cumbre Brewing Co., Marble Brewery, Nexus Brewery and Restaurant, Rio Bravo Brewing Co., Santa Fe Brewing Co., Second Street Brewery, Steel Bender Brewyard and Tractor Brewing Company, along with other local names.
The festival’s growth suggests the concept has found an audience. Canteen says it has been brewing since 1994 and calls itself Albuquerque’s original brewery, with more than 150 awards over 31 years. For the Love of Lagers began in 2023, returned in 2024 as a second annual event with 16 lagers on tap, expanded to 17 breweries in 2025 and has now grown to 18 breweries in 2026.
That kind of expansion fits a larger New Mexico beer economy that has become more specialized and more local in its pitch. Visit Albuquerque describes the state as home to a vibrant and growing craft brewing industry made up of independent small brewers and brew pubs, and says there are more than 30 established microbreweries and brewpubs statewide. The opening of a malting facility near Estancia in 2024 added another layer to that story, with the New Mexico Brewers Guild calling it a game-changer for the beer community.
For Bernalillo County residents looking for a lower-key summer hangout, Canteen’s wager is straightforward: a focused theme, a familiar brewery and a ticketed format can still make a brewery festival feel like a community event instead of a generic beer expo.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
