Our Story
Welcome to Los Alamos, a drinking town with a science problem.
The Beginning
Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op began with a simple idea: create a brewery and taproom in Los Alamos as a place for the community to gather and enjoy great, locally brewed beer. A place for the members of the Los Alamos community to gather, relax in a comfortable atmosphere, read, talk, be alone or with friends — and enjoy a beer. The vision evoked a small, neighborhood pub in England, where fresh beer is brewed on premises and is as much a vital part of the community’s spirit as is the togetherness of the gathering.
The Foundation
The founding members of Bathtub Row (initially incorporated as the Los Alamos Beer Co-op in September 2012) started meeting on a weekly basis in a small room in the Los Alamos County Library to discuss how this idea could become reality. They chose the cooperative business model because they felt its seven principles [add link here] aligned perfectly with our mission and values.
Thanks to three years of hard work and the investment of its membership, Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op became Los Alamos’s first craft brewery and the fourth cooperatively run brewery in the United States, opening its doors on April 22, 2015 with the first Tub beers going on tap just over a month later, on May 24, 2015.
Over those three years significant capital was raised to make the vision a reality. At the time of opening, there were over 470 members, who had invested over $97,000 in memberships. Of those members, 64 members participated in a member loan program and loaned the business $191,600, and 45 purchased Class B memberships valued at $30,900 that can pay dividends in the future when the business is profitable, giving a total member investment of $320,150.
How Far We've Come
Since its inception the Tub has evolved considerably to what it has become today, building a patio space with a firepit, renovated the “back 40” outdoor space into an inviting beer garden and added the shipping container bar to service that area during the summer season.
In 2023 the Tub upgraded from its original three-and-half barrel brewing system to a seven-barrel system, as well as making major upgrades to utilities, floors and cellar capacity. The Tub’s original system came from Bosque Brewing so, when they acquired Toltec Brewing on the west side of Albuquerque and the cooperative was able to purchase the seven-barrel brewhouse that had been serving that location, that old system was able to make its way home.
What started with just 100 original members has now grown to over 1,200 lifetime members in 2025 and by the end of 2024 the Tub was able to pay off all remaining member loans.
A taproom that fosters a family-friendly, laid-back atmosphere, and welcomes you to come in for a drink after a day at work, or a day enjoying the incredible sights and outdoor activities that Los Alamos and the surrounding area provides. We hope you’ll Meet Us at the Tub!
What's In a Name
Bathtub Row Brewing is not only one of the first brewery cooperatives, it is located next to one of the most influential but unknown streets in the country. Here’s a glimpse at the history of Bathtub Row and how it inspired our name:
Bathtub Row consists of five original houses built in 1917 as part of the Los Alamos Ranch School facilities. They remained part of the Ranch School until 1942, when the United States Government bought out the school to use the area for a new, secret laboratory. As the town of Los Alamos was being built at a mad dash to keep up with the growing population of Manhattan Project employees, the former Ranch School houses remained the only ones with bathtubs. The rest of the houses and barracks had showers, but due to wartime limits that Congress imposed on iron bath fixtures, proper bathtubs were a luxury that only the most important of lab personnel could enjoy. The residents of Bathtub Row, especially Manhattan Project Director Robert J. Oppenheimer and his wife Kitty, were known to throw wild, music- and martini-fueled house parties.
