Tucked inside a converted Forest Service firehouse in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, sits a brewery that somehow became the mountain town’s favorite place for pizza. 🍕
Cloudcroft Brewing Company opened in June 2018 inside a building that once housed wildland firefighting engines, nearly 9,000 feet above sea level.
What started as a hangout spot for friends who wanted somewhere to gather has since become one of the most talked-about hidden pizza spots in the Sacramento Mountains.
How Cloudcroft Brewing Company won Cloudcroft’s hearts
Cloudcroft Brewing Company began with co-owners Matt Willett, Jim Maynard, and Cody Castello, who originally used the old firehouse space just to host music nights with friends before deciding to turn it into a full microbrewery.
“We needed a place to hang out,” Matt explained, describing how the brewery grew out of a simple desire for community rather than a grand business plan.
That laid-back, everyone’s-welcome mentality became the foundation for the entire operation, and it still shows in how the space feels today.
The building’s history gives the brewery its unmistakable character.
Once a Forest Service tanker bay that housed wildland firefighting engines, the space now holds brewing equipment, a kitchen, and a wood-fired pizza oven instead of trucks and hoses.
Head brewer Denver Weise, working alongside brewer Elliot Bell, brews on-site using a genuinely unusual method: rainwater captured on location, then treated with minerals like calcium chloride and gypsum to recreate proper brewing water at high altitude.
But while the beer draws its own following, with fan favorites like the Railspike Red Ale and Trainwreck IPA, it’s the wood-fired pizza that keeps this Cloudcroft restaurant firmly on locals’ regular rotation.
That reputation has only grown as travel writers and locals alike keep pointing newcomers toward the same order: a green chile and chorizo pizza, paired with a cold local beer, enjoyed on the outdoor patio while live music plays in the background.
Nearly a decade in, Cloudcroft Brewing Company has become the kind of New Mexico brewery that outsiders stumble into by accident and locals plan entire evenings around, proof that a firehouse, a few friends, and a wood-fired oven can build something that lasts.
Food Highlights
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The Zia Pie: House-made tomato sauce topped with sharp cheddar-jack cheese, chopped green chile, chorizo, fresh tomatoes, red onions, and cilantro. 🌶️
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Pepperoni Pizza: House-made tomato sauce, mozzarella, and a generous layer of pepperoni. 🍕
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Pizza Margherita: House-made tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil, and a garlic-oil drizzle.
- Cory’s Fave: House-made tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, bacon, and red onions.
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Sweet & Salty Pizza: Capicola ham, bacon, diced pineapple, and piquante peppers sit over house-made tomato sauce and mozzarella. 🍍
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Build Your Own Pie: Diners choose between house-made tomato sauce or garlic pesto, then top it with mozzarella or sharp cheddar-jack and toppings like chorizo, jalapeños, or kalamata olives, letting regulars build their own version of a local favorite.
Atmosphere
The brewery keeps its firehouse roots visible, with an open, industrial-feeling dining room that spills out onto a large outdoor patio. 🎸
Live music plays regularly throughout the week, and the space doubles as one of the only real gathering spots in a town this small and remote.
Families, hikers fresh off the trails, and regulars settling in with a pint all share the same tables, giving the brewery a genuinely communal feel.
It’s casual, a little loud when the music starts, and entirely unpretentious. 🍺
Bottom Line
Visit for genuinely good wood-fired pizza, house-brewed beer made with captured rainwater, a historic firehouse setting unlike anywhere else in the region, live music several nights a week, and a laid-back mountain-town vibe worth the detour. 🏔️
Address:
1301 Burro Avenue, Cloudcroft, NM 88317
📞 (575) 682-2337
🕔 Open Mon, Wed, Thu, Sun 11 AM–9 PM, Fri-Sat 11 AM–10 PM (closed Tue)