On tap to stay: Albuquerque’s The 377 Brewery owners take business off the market

The 377 Brewery is open and remains in familiar hands as its owners decided not to sell after all.

Owners Cliff Sandoval and Fred Atencio listed the local craft brewery for sale at a price of $2.4 million in March, seeking to retire and move out of state. Sandoval, the brewery’s majority owner, took the business off the market over the summer and plans to keep it open, he told the Journal on Thursday.

“(Selling is) just not worth it right now, not with the failures going on,” Sandoval said, citing distress and restructuring across the beer industry nationwide.

A recent report from the Brewers Association shows that U.S. craft beer barrel production and sales dropped roughly 4% from 2023 to 2024, which was the first year in nearly two decades that the number of breweries closing outpaced those opening.

The report cited rising costs for ingredients, shifting consumer preferences — such as people drinking less or turning to nonalcoholic alternatives — tariff-related expenses and increased competition in a saturated market as factors.

Reflecting that national trend, Albuquerque’s craft beer scene has also felt the squeeze. In the last several weeks, small breweries like Voodoo Girl Pies & Pints and Sobremesa closed their doors and the larger Bosque Brewing Co. filed for Chapter 11 protection to restructure its finances amid mounting debt.

Sandoval said the industry slowdown isn’t the case for The 377 Brewery, which has won several awards for its craft beers since opening in 2016.

The brewery, ranked among Albuquerque’s top 20 breweries on TripAdvisor for 2025, reported a gross revenue of $1.8 million, with a positive cash flow of $300,000 in its now-deleted listing on BizBuySell in March, according to previous Journal reporting.

The brewery is still profitable, but business took a hit after news about it hitting the market got out, Sandoval said.

“It did a lot of damage to us because people thought we were shutting down,” Sandoval said.

The brewery received serious offers while on the market, particularly from out-of-staters, but none panned out due to a lack of financing, the brewery owner said.

Sandoval’s decision not to sell was met with joy from his longtime employees and customers.

“They’re excited as hell,” Sandoval said. “I’ve had people that have been working there for seven to eight years, which is rare.”

While his timeline to retire has been pushed further into the future, Sandoval said he still plans to pursue a life outside of New Mexico in some capacity.

With a background in construction, Sandoval said he’s considering building a brewery in Denver. He added that The 377 Brewery has a manager that he trusts to operate the business should the Denver project take place.

Whatever the future holds, Sandoval’s message about The 377 Brewery in Albuquerque is clear: “It is off the market. I’m still running it. It is still profitable, so I think that’s all that needs to be said.”