USA, NM: Ex Novo Brewing Co. opens its new brewery in Corrales

After leaving and founding a successful brewery in one of the nation’s toughest craft markets, a New Mexico-born brewer has returned home and launched a second brewery in his hometown, the Albuquerque Journal reported on June 4.

Ex Novo Brewing Co., which launched in Portland, Ore., opened the doors to its new brewery in Corrales over the Memorial Day Weekend. For founder Joel Gregory, a Corrales native, the opening is a chance to give back to his hometown while launching a new chapter in the brewery’s growth and development.

“We’re feeling like a startup in a lot of ways, and that’s okay,” Gregory said. “It kind of puts a little bit of a chip on our shoulders.”

Gregory grew up in the area and attended Hope Christian School, but left New Mexico for college and ultimately landed in Portland. He launched Ex Novo – Latin for “from new” or “from scratch” – in Oregon in 2014.

Today, Ex Novo operates a brewery and two taprooms in greater Portland, widely considered one of the most competitive craft beer markets in the country. As of 2018, the city boasted 77 breweries, with 117 operating in the larger metropolitan area, according to the Oregon Brewers Guild.

While the market brought Ex Novo enough success to contemplate expansion, Gregory said expanding in Portland would be a challenge, given the cost of land and the oversaturated market. Because of that, he began to look closer to home.

Gregory confined his search to Corrales and surrounding areas, citing his desire to build a brewery that captured the open spaces and agricultural feel that he associated with New Mexico.

“I just really wanted to embrace what growing up in Corrales meant to me,” he said.

The brewery purchased the 3-acre parcel in Corrales, located at 4895 Corrales Road, last January and began construction later that year. The taproom was built in an existing adobe building that faces the road, while the nearly 10,000-square-foot brewery was built from the ground up on the same parcel, set back from the road.

The new brewery features two separate brewing systems: one for core beers like the brewery’s Eliot IPA, along a smaller one for limited releases, including a vanilla porter and a citrus sour that Gregory said will only be available at the Albuquerque taproom. He expects to produce more around 4,500 barrels annually. Once the brewery gets fully up and running, Gregory said more than half of Ex Novo’s beer will be brewed in New Mexico.

Gregory praised New Mexico’s craft brewing community and noted that existing breweries have been very supportive during the expansion. He described New Mexico as a “mature” craft beer market, due to the influx of new breweries and the focus on locally owned companies.

“I’ve been watching the New Mexico beer market since forever,” Gregory said. “It’s an exciting time in the life-cycle of a market.”