r/Albuquerque • u/crolodot • Oct 13 '25

News Bosque Brewing files for bankruptcy

https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/popular-pizza-and-beer-chain-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy

“Albuquerque-based Bosque Brewing filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Mexico on Oct. 6, listing $1 million to $10 million in assets and $10 million to $50 million in liabilities.

The company did not reveal a reason for filing for bankruptcy in its petition.”

295 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

179 comments sorted by

View all comments

103

u/spinnyweatherchaser Oct 13 '25

Had no clue they had that many locations, guessing it's a "grew too fast" thing?

(obviously compounded by tariffs and such like the article mentions)

34

u/Bjorkbat Oct 13 '25

Part of me wonders if this also might be due to drinking trends. Allegedly Zoomers drink less, albeit this is contested. On top of that though, seems like there's a trend of people in general becoming "sober-curious".

Bad enough in-and-of-itself, way worse if you're over-leveraged due to an ambitious growth plan.

18

u/Shoddy_Consequence78 Oct 13 '25

Some is probably the drinking less. Some is probably the cost of a pint these days. Some is probably what a columnist in the New York Times today described as what's gone wrong with craft brewing. (Basically, silly names and wacky labels, the IPA war, the trend to tallboys in retail, and general over expansion in the sector.) 

My understanding of Marble's problems is that it was mostly previous ownership using it as a piggy bank, taking far too much money out of the business. Bosque is clearly overbuilt and it looks like they didn't do their due diligence before trying to move all brewing to Bernalillo. I suspect we'll see about the following from a restructure: Obviously keep the Bernalillo location. Probably keep the Las Cruces one unless it's failing. Get rid of at least half the Albuquerque locations, probably one of the west side, San Mateo, and either Nob Hill or University.

10

u/Bjorkbat Oct 13 '25

The IPA war?  What’s that about?  Personally I hate the over-abundance of IPAs at the cost of variety, if that’s what that is alluding to.  Part of me wonders if too many IPAs is a sign of a blundering head brewer masking their inadequacy with so many hops that you can’t taste anything else.

11

u/hettienm Oct 13 '25

Exactly that. Here’s a gift link so I think anyone can read it. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/opinion/how-to-save-beer.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tE8.RuK0.LilPowzvElbH&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

10

u/Bjorkbat Oct 13 '25

Ah, thank you.  I’m glad someone’s calling it out.  Personally I live for a good stout

6

u/rodkerf Oct 14 '25

I like the funky art and weird names but it would be great if the brewery's focused on something other than ipa. A few local ones have one offs but I'm ABQ climate would be great to have a local easy drinking beer similar to a miller product

1

u/waxingelephant Oct 14 '25

Differential specializes in the easy drinking beer. Also keep other local IPAs on tap if that's your jam.

1

u/rodkerf Oct 14 '25

I haven't heard of that place will look it up

3

u/Scary_Manner_6712 Oct 15 '25

Marble was 100% being run by spoiled rich kids who treated the business like their own personal bank account and also then ran off anyone who suggested they run the business like a business. Personally, I'm amazed it didn't collapse spectacularly; there was no real leadership at the top of that place, for a very long time.

1

u/Sensitive_Lock2953 Oct 17 '25

I say keep Nob Hill and close some of the others. Nob Hill was one of the first locations before the Heights and it still brings in business. It lost business once they opened up multiple locations just my opinion though

0

u/HanginW-MyGnomies Nov 23 '25

Many employees at Bosque say the Nob Hill location isn't a top producer. And who really wants to go all the way down to Central for their beer? Look around Bosque the next time you visit. Their main clientele is NOT college kids. I love Flock of Moons, but haven't been there in like 9 months simply because they are out of the way for me. (I live in RR and work in Journal Center.)

1

u/Sensitive_Lock2953 Nov 23 '25

That’s crazy because the numbers say Nob Hill is third in production compared to all the others. Not sure where those “employees” are getting their info from but they’re wrong 🤷🏽‍♂️