It was the early nineties when a pair of West Coast transplants found each other, stunned and a little homesick, on the campus of Texas’ Southern Methodist University. While Bay Area expat Mark McLarry (pictured above, at right) and Portland, Oregon product Brian Lock couldn’t ski or partake in the western hobbies they so enjoyed, they could at least talk about those activities. In doing so, they forged a bond that has lasted decades. Today, they are both in the craft-beer industry, with McLarry a co-founder of event-ready, family-friendly San Marcos brewpub, My Yard Live Beer Co., and Lock the owner of New Mexico’s largest brewing company, Santa Fe Brewing. It’s taken years of planning and scheduling, but the duo was recently able to get together at My Yard Live to brew a pale ale called “McLock’N” using hops hailing back to the Land of Enchantment. Following the tapping of that collaborative offering, we caught up with college kids turned beer bigwigs to ask about their longstanding interstate relationship, recent reunion and, of course, the beer.
How have you kept your friendship alive while also working together over the years?
Mark McLarry: It’s been easy. I have roots in Santa Fe. My brother, Chris, has lived there for a long time and owns a gallery in the downtown area called McLarry Fine Art. My sister-in-law, Lindsey, also lives just outside of Santa Fe in Chamayo, where she has a flower farm, so it’s been easy to stay in touch, even though we would have done it anyway. In 2005, Brian moved his brewery to a larger location. In doing so, he inherited a 1,500-capacity music venue. Fast forward to 2016 and he brought me and my business partner, Jamie Minotti, out to update the sound system and design an artist-booking program for the venue. At the time, Jamie and I owned Alternative Power Productions, the largest solar-powered sound, stage and lighting company in the country, and worked with clients like The Vans Warped Tour, X Games, South by Southwest and more. Helping Santa Fe Brewing take its music program and live shows to the next level played into the vision for My Yard Live.
Back in college, would you have thought both of you would be brewery owners someday?
Brian Lock: The short answer is “yes”. The longer answer would be “no” because I didn’t think Mark would end up in the industry until he and Jamie flew out to consult with me about my outdoor venue. That trip planted the seed in Mark’s head. But my dream to open a brewery had with me since I was 16, and I shared it with Mark all through college. We joked about the idea and came up with the name “McLock’N” based on our last names, McLarry and Lock. I graduated in the winter of ’94 and moved back to Portland, where I gained some experience before moving to Santa Fe in the summer of ’95. By the next year, myself and three partners had purchased Santa Fe Brewing from its founder and moved it from Galisteo, New Mexico, to its namesake city. By 2003, my partners were ready to move on with their lives and careers, but I was passionate about taking the brewery to the next level. In 2005, I purchased their shares and moved the brewery to where it is now located. I’ve slowly grown it to where we now produce more than 40,000 barrels of beer a year and have a fully built-out beer garden and our outdoor venue, The Bridge.
What are the specifics of your collab beer?
MM: The beer is designed to be a hoppy West Coast pale ale brewed with hops of NeoMexicanus lineage. NeoMexicanus are a genetically unique subspecies of hops that have been growing in the New Mexico region for over a million years. We combined Zappa, Idaho 7, Ocho and Vista varietals to create a unique earthy quality balanced with a light citrus punch. McLock’N comes in at 5.2% (alcohol-by-volume) and recently tapped at My Yard Live.
How did Hollingbery come to sponsor the brewing of this beer?
MM: A friend of ours, Steve Burchill, started working for Hollingbery & Sons Hops earlier this year. Prior to that, he had been the head brewer at The Lost Abbey in San Marcos for ten years, where he worked with My Yard Live’s head brewer, Ben “Shaggy” Blaney. Both of them are longtime customers of Hollingbery, as is Santa Fe Brewing, so when talk of this collab began, it seemed like an excellent fit for Hollingbery—a fourth-generation, family-owned company that’s been in business for over 80 years—to provide the hops.
What’s it been like to see Brian’s success with Santa Fe Brewing?
MM: Not to sound like a parent, but I am so proud of him. He had a dream early on and made it happen. Not only do they brew really good beer, but they also have an ethos very much like My Yard Live’s, which is part of why we all worked so well together on this collaboration.
My Yard Live Beer Co. is located at 288 Rancheros Drive in San Marcos