OUR HISTORY
Built as a meatpacking outpost for Nuckolls Packing Co. of Pueblo, Colorado, our original building was insulated with thick concrete walls covered with four inches of cork, creating a highly efficient refrigeration facility for the storage of Nuckolls’ meat products. Between its original use as a meat packing facility and its current life as a brewpub, the building housed a gamut of local enterprises, ranging from a publishing house to a local indie radio station.
​
Most notably, Nuckolls once served as the corporate headquarters for the Santa Fe Southern Railway. As the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was being built through New Mexico in the late 1870’s, the railroad chose to bypass Santa Fe entirely due to its difficult terrain, and a stop was instead created in Lamy, a small village on the Galisteo River basin 18 miles from Santa Fe. The residents of Santa Fe rallied and raised the funds to build an 18-mile spur line from Lamy into the Santa Fe Railyard. In February 1880, rail travel finally arrived in Santa Fe. Rail tracks that allowed Nuckolls to easily receive deliveries led right to what is now our downstairs bar.
The railroad helped create the City Different, and it helped create the Nuckolls facility that you see today.
SUSTAINABILITY
At Nuckolls, we strive to minimize waste and make use of existing materials. From the moment you step onto our property, you are met with countless examples of this ethos. Perimeter fencing is made with old pieces of heavy steel rail track. Massive beams supporting the expansive outdoor deck were made from recycled and refabricated steel. Our outdoor deck is made with thick Ponderosa Pine from the forest fire reclamation efforts of Old Wood Company of Las Vegas, NM. And downstairs, you might recognize the copper topped bar from the historic and century old La Fonda Hotel.
​
From our indoor beer hall and our spacious deck, pub patrons can watch beer as it’s brewed in our state-of-the-art three-barrel system. Using indigenous New Mexico hops, our beer is piped directly from the brewhouse to the copper serving tanks suspended above our bar.
​
Typically, most of the water used during the brew process ends up in the sewer. To mitigate this waste, we built our own onsite water treatment facility where we are able to capture and reuse spent water to irrigate our spacious outdoor garden. Spent grain, another brewing byproduct, is donated to local ranchers to feed their livestock. This same local livestock frequently makes its way back to Nuckolls where it is cooked on our outdoor grills and served to our guests. Our hops will soon be grown on site and irrigated with our recycled water, for the most sustainable brewing possible.
​
From construction to production, sustainability is what Nuckolls Brewing is all about.
