About La Cumbre Brewing Co.   

On the forefront of New Mexico’s craft brewing scene is La Cumbre Brewing Company. Started in 2010 by Jeff Erway this brewery is known for its appreciation for the art of brewing and creates recipes that serve to embody the culture of the American Southwest. We reached out to Jeff, virtually of course, to learn more about how he got his start and how his passion for brewing has driven his success. 

Jeff started out small and has grown this business to great heights. He shares, “I’ve been a long time beer drinker, then became a home brewer and graduated from ABG.  I’ve been doing this since 2007.” These humble beginnings have turned into two La Cumbre taprooms in Albuquerque, NM, and distribution in 3 states.

Jeff elaborates, “When we opened, we were the first brewery since Marble Brewery to open in the state and only the 12^th in the state.  This gave us a good opportunity to make a splash with our Elevated IPA, the first house IPA in the state geared towards the hop heads craving a more San Diego experience.”

Jeff’s Elevated IPA was and still is a smash hit and brings both locals and visitors into the La Cumbre taprooms.  The 2011 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) changed the game for La Cumbre.  Jeff recalls that “When Elevated IPA was announced as the Gold in the American IPA category I was so overcome with joy and pride, it had not dawned on me what it would do for overall demand!”

Jeff’s growth with La Cumbre has been steady and controlled since 2010.  According to Jeff, “Since our first GABF there has been steady growth for the company year over year and we have gotten around to canning a total of six beers year round with another 20 or so that we can seasonally.”  Keeping those successes coming and continuing to grow La Cumbre’s success and notoriety is the fact that to this day Jeff is “still excited by the opportunity to constantly innovate and improve and the relentless pursuit of the perfect pint.”

 

Passion for the craft brewing industry

With all of Jeff’s experience we had to know what he’s most passionate about in brewing.  His response was, “I am most passionate about getting to collaborate with my team to produce far better beer than any one of us could have produced on our own.” Spoken like a true professional and someone with an innate drive to create the best beer possible!

Jeff’s artistic yet technical approach is apparent after just a few minutes of speaking with him.  When asked about his favorite beer style he responds, “I like brewing naked.  Whether it be kolsch, helles, dortmunder, pils.  I love brewing beers that show off simple ingredients perfectly.  I like drinking beers that show off how well each process of production went.”

 

Challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeff has had to close both taprooms but has been open for take-out orders.  As with many breweries across the US and the world, this has been his biggest challenge. 

To deal with these changes to the business La Cumbre has been conservative and focused on what they do well.  “Creativity has been less the aim as shifting production to solely cans and heavily to our one flagship brand.  This has not been the time for us to take big risks, but rather to refocus on the business we do have and maximize that company-wide.” according to Jeff.  As big fans of Elevated IPA we can say for sure that La Cumbre does it well and we are very happy to see it on store shelves.

 

Moving forward with support

Throughout this challenging time Jeff and La Cumbre have still been able to make some time for experimentation with their 3bbl pilot brewery.  Jeff shares that “I brewed a low-cal IPA that, well, still needs some work.  We are trialing several new yeast strains for a new hazy IPA”.  La Cumbre also has a new Kolsch style beer coming out called Zuzax.  Jeff shares that it has been brewed with Malteurop 2-Row and Wheat Malt; we couldn’t be more excited to try it soon!

Jeff is extremely humbled and grateful when speaking about his local community and their impact on La Cumbre’s business.  “Our package sales out of our taproom have more than tripled since the beginning of COVID.  This has kept our taproom sales at just over 60% of pre-COVID-19 numbers.  In addition, people have been tipping incredibly heavy.  Makes you want to cry when you see someone pickup three cases of beer and leave a $40 tip and that happens all the time.  In addition, even with all of our independent liquor stores closed and all on premise accounts closed our production is at about 73% of where it was last year at this time.  Nothing to celebrate, but things could be so much worse.” 

Jeff is also grateful for and appreciative to his staff.  He elaborates that “This has been the ride of a lifetime and I owe it all to the staff that I’ve been so lucky to work with two of whom have been with me since before day one.  Even in this incredibly uncertain time, they continue to help me keep my eyes and ears up and give me the virtual smack on the back of the head when I need it.”

Thank you!

We want to extend a big thank you to Jeff at La Cumbre Brewing Company for participating in this initiative during American Craft Beer Week!  We know many breweries across the country are going through similar situations.  Our goal is to celebrate our partners and tell their stories during this difficult time.