Truth or Consequences Brewing Co. is a craft brewery and taproom at 410 N. Broadway in downtown Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, with a second taproom in Las Cruces. It opened in June 2017 as the town’s first brewery, and it was started by a Seattle couple who found the town by accident and stayed.
Eight years on, the brewery, known for short as TorC, runs 36 taps, hosts its own lager festival, and released a 16% Belgian-style saison in October 2025. Here is how it started, what it brews, and why so many people make it a regular stop on the drive between Albuquerque and Las Cruces.
A happy accident on the way to Silver City
In September 2015, John Masterson and Marianne Blaue were driving from Albuquerque to Silver City and pulled off in Truth or Consequences for the night. According to NMPolitics.net, an artist directory in the hotel lobby caught Masterson’s eye, they spent a day exploring, and they came back a few days later for an art hop. Blaue later described the town as a wonderful place they had fallen into by accident.
There was one thing missing. They wanted a beer downtown, and the last bar there had closed years earlier. A joke about opening a brewery turned into a business plan. The couple moved from Seattle, bought a downtown building more than 90 years old that had served as a car dealership and an art gallery, and renovated it with their savings, a $125,000 state economic development grant, and USDA Rural Development grants that paid for solar panels and energy-efficient equipment, NMPolitics.net reported in 2017.
Before naming the place, they asked residents for input. The brewery opened in June 2017 pouring beers from other New Mexico breweries while its own batches were in the works. The first house beer, Cosmic Blonde, was brewed on August 21, 2017, the day of the total solar eclipse, and by 2019 it was often the taproom’s top seller, according to the NM Dark Side Brew Crew.
The people behind Truth or Consequences Brewing
Masterson is the brewer and carries the title Chief Beer Officer. Blaue is the CEO. The Weekly Alibi reported in 2017 that Masterson had brewed in the Pacific Northwest for about a decade before the move, and he has credited his homebrewing years, brewing training at Central New Mexico Community College, and a circle of mentors for his approach.
Brewing in a hot springs town comes with its own puzzle. The local water is famously mineral-rich, so the brewers adjust their water for each recipe, the Dark Side Brew Crew noted in 2020. The brewhouse is a 10-barrel system. A barrel, in brewing terms, is 31 gallons, so each batch is a little over 300 gallons. Production grew from about 350 barrels in 2018 to roughly 400 the following year, and the brewery added bigger tanks along the way.
What kind of beer does Truth or Consequences Brewing make?
A wide range, with a soft spot for lagers. A lager is a beer fermented cool with a lager yeast, which gives it a clean, crisp finish. In 2019 the brewery kept six house beers on tap at all times: a light lager, an American blonde, an Irish red, a porter, a stout, and an IPA. Around them it rotates seasonals and special releases. In August 2025, Masterson walked the Dark Side Brew Crew through the lagers on tap, and the list showed how much thought goes into hop choice:
- Street Taco Lager, a light lager hopped with New Zealand Motueka, and that month’s best-seller
- Airstream Ultra, a 3% ABV beer with Saaz hops (ABV is alcohol by volume, the share of the beer that is alcohol)
- Mañana Lager, heavily hopped with the German variety Aurum
- Joe Cross Dark Lager, hopped with Sterling
- Oktoberfest, a 5.9% fall lager brewed as a full 15-barrel batch in 2025
Darker and stronger beers have a following too. Over the years the brewery has poured Dark Skies Oatmeal Stout, a barleywine called Truth Serum, a cardamom winter warmer called Bad Santa, and Good Juju, a brown ale made with jujube molasses. Its Honey Winter Ale took second place at the Santa Fe Open in 2018. The Dark Side Brew Crew’s March 2026 roundup lists it at 9.5%, a strong amber beer with notes of caramel, toast, and dates and a floral sweetness from fresh Rio Grande Valley honey.
La Bête, the beast of a saison
On October 8, 2025, TorC released La Bête, a Belgian-style brut saison at 16% ABV. A saison is a dry, often peppery farmhouse ale from Belgium, and “brut” signals an especially dry, champagne-like finish. Masterson told the Dark Side Brew Crew that Blaue had asked since opening day for something stronger than wine, light and elegant, which is a tall order for a malt beer. It poured in limited supply at both taprooms, with holiday bottles following in November.
Lagerpalooza and a downtown that came back to life
In August 2025, the brewery hosted its first Lagerpalooza, a one-day celebration of lagers from across southern New Mexico. Twelve breweries poured, from 575 Brewing and Cloudcroft to Little Toad Creek, Spotted Dog, and Icebox, with one of the taproom’s three banks of 12 faucets given over to the guests. A share of ticket sales went to the Matthew 25 food pantry across the alley, which hands out groceries on Thursday mornings, the same day TorC usually brews.
That neighborliness goes back to the beginning. High Country News and NMPolitics.net credited the brewery with giving downtown Truth or Consequences a nightlife and a gathering place, and noted that the owners coordinated with the town’s other taproom so their beers would not overlap. The friendship runs statewide, too. When TorC’s boil kettle needed a repair in early 2026, La Cumbre and Santa Fe Brewing helped fill its guest taps until the brewhouse was back up, and Street Taco Lager returned that March.
What regulars love
Read through public reviews and the same themes come up again and again. People praise a friendly, knowledgeable bar staff and a roomy taproom with a long bar and plenty of tables for groups. They love the calendar: trivia, open mic nights, live music, and paint-and-sip evenings. Fans single out Street Taco Lager, the Irish red, and La Bête by name, and travelers often say the brewery feels like a welcoming stop on a road trip.
There is no kitchen, by design. From the start, the brewery has worked with downtown restaurants, and guests can order food delivered or bring their own. Growlers and merchandise are available to take home.
The Las Cruces taproom
In early 2020, TorC opened its first offsite taproom at 2001 E. Lohman Ave., Suite 115, in Las Cruces, pouring about a dozen of its beers, seasonals included. The Dark Side Brew Crew described the building as wrapped in colorful murals with a patio around the outside. Find it as Truth or Consequences Brewing Co. – Las Cruces in the directory.
Visiting Truth or Consequences Brewing Co.
- Truth or Consequences: 410 N. Broadway St., on the town’s main street. Listed hours are 2 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
- Las Cruces: 2001 E. Lohman Ave., Suite 115. Listed hours are 3 to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday.
- Food: bring your own or order from nearby restaurants
Hours and tap lists change, so check the brewery’s website before you go. The main taproom sits within walking distance of the town’s hot springs spas and a short drive from Elephant Butte Lake, so a soak and a pint make an easy afternoon. If you are making a day of it, line up a designated driver.
Find Truth or Consequences Brewing Co. on New Mexico Breweries, then use the New Mexico brewery directory and map to plan the rest of your trip down I-25.
