Flock of Moons brings the brews to Bricklight District
An exterior view of Flock of Moons Brewing Company in the Bricklight District.
The name Flock of Moons leaves a lot up to the imagination and that is why the owners chose it for their brewery.
鈥淲e just kind of wanted something that evoked a sense of mystery or adventure, something enigmatic,鈥� explained Jeff Tomlinson, co-founder and brewer. 鈥淪omething where people can kind of bring their own meaning to it, if you will. It doesn鈥檛 tie to anything in the past. We also wanted something just unique, something different that wasn鈥檛 named after a local landmark or some of the typical things that restaurants and breweries get named.鈥�
Flock of Moons Brewing Company recently opened its Bricklight District location at 111 Harvard Dr. SE. It currently has three of its own beers on tap and plans to offer a range of styles as it progresses. Guest taps from fellow New Mexico breweries add to the craft beer selections that can be viewed at .
鈥淥ur focus right now is kind of classic styles, just kind of using that as a baseline to get a handle on our brewing system and our processes,鈥� Tomlinson said. 鈥淎nd then we鈥檒l probably branch out from there and get a little more playful in the future.鈥�
On tap are the brewery鈥檚 Retrograde Rebel hazy IPA, Waning Crescent Vienna lager, and Bandada de Lunas New Mexican lager.
鈥淲e have a twist on Mexican lager,鈥� Tomlinson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a little bit more hoppy than your traditional Mexican lager, so we鈥檙e calling it New Mexican lager. And then we have a Vienna lager, which is the classic style similar to like Negro Modelo that originated in Europe and migrated to Mexico.鈥�
Soon another IPA will be added to the menu as well as some other beer styles.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to be batching up a tropical stout, which is a historical style from the tropical areas of the Caribbean and the East Indies,鈥� Tomlinson said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a Czech Pilsner coming on-line here soon, a rice lager, and then I鈥檓 just kind of rebrewing some of the ones we鈥檙e selling through that we have on tap now.鈥�
Tomlinson began home brewing about 30 years ago. In the 1990s, he had wanted to open a brewpub with his longtime friend, Jay Harmon, who is also a co-owner of Flock of Moons. Tomlinson鈥檚 life partner, Stefanie Luna, also co-owns the brewery.
鈥�(Harmon and I) put a business plan together, and we shopped it around a little bit, but we were ultimately young and inexperienced,鈥� Tomlinson explained. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have our own startup capital and didn鈥檛 have an established credit at that time, so yeah, it never happened. But we鈥檝e revived the dream 30 years later, and here we are.鈥�
The building that houses the brewery holds a special place in Tomlinson鈥檚 heart.
鈥淚鈥檝e always loved this area,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e loved this particular building we鈥檙e in. I worked right next door, where 505 Spirits is now. It was a camera shop in the 1990s and I was a photography student at (the University of New Mexico). And Winning Coffee opened up during that time, and I just thought this was the coolest building. And I鈥檝e kind of had a love affair with it ever since.鈥�
The space was not as large as the co-owners had originally wanted, and it did not have an outdoor patio, which was a must for the trio.
鈥淯ltimately, we took another look at it, and we discovered it has a partial basement that is 800 square feet,鈥� Tomlinson said. 鈥淪o that was a game changer for us. It allows us to keep our kegs in the basement and not take up valuable floor space at either the taproom or the brewery. And then we talked to the landlords, and they were really enthusiastic about putting a patio out back. They just decided to turn the whole back parking lot into a giant patio for ourselves and 505 Spirits. It just all magically worked out.鈥�
