Painted Lady Bed & Brew combines history, hops and hauntings
When Jesse Herron first purchased a relatively nondescript property in sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Wells Park neighborhood, he couldn鈥檛 have imagined the history it contained.
鈥淚t really didn鈥檛 have a whole lot of curb appeal,鈥� he recalled.
鈥淚t had like a chain link fence around it, and there were weeds everywhere and there were bars on the windows and doors. So it looked pretty, pretty bad.鈥�
As a self-proclaimed beer aficionado, Herron had a notion to launch a bed-and-brew concept 鈥� a twist on the typical Airbnb 鈥� in the Duke City. As it turned out, he lucked into a spot that offered a little something extra. In the early 1900s, the space operated as a saloon and brothel. There are also tales of money buried in coffee cans, still hidden on the property grounds due to the previous owners鈥� distrust of banks. The spot eventually became a grocery store during Prohibition, but over the years, the ghosts of the past have remained.
鈥淗aunted as hell鈥� was the description a neighbor gave Herron when he first assumed ownership. After living in the owner鈥檚 suite for nine years, he can vouch for that assessment.
鈥淔rom even the very first night in there, it was like, 鈥楪ame on,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淭hat first night things were making noise and things were moving, and you could definitely feel like a presence. And then the first year or so things were happening weekly.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 always big, major events, but it would be like, 鈥極h, I just saw something out of the corner of my eye.鈥� That bedside table just moved. Here my dog is picking up on something and is sensing something in this corner. Little things like that made it interesting and fun. I鈥檓 like, 鈥楬ey, I鈥檝e got this haunted house.鈥欌��
Herron no longer lives on the property, but Painted Lady Bed & Brew officially opened in August 2018. At the time, the bed-and-breakfast liquor license allowed guests to be served two beers per day. A couple of years later, Herron acquired a small brewer鈥檚 license from the state and in 2024, he began brewing his own beer using a one-barrel system.
While the Painted Lady still utilizes four suites for the bed-and-brew, one doesn鈥檛 have to spend the night to enjoy a spooky beer. One of the highlights of the location is the Ghost Light Saloon, which is open for 鈥淗oppy Hour鈥� Thursday through Sunday, opening at 5 p.m. The taproom is a renovated trolley that Herron acquired thanks to his connections from having run a tour company in the city. He believes it鈥檚 the last of its kind in New Mexico.
鈥淭he interior has been redone with the original benches, the original brass rails,鈥� Herron said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like a little museum. So the decor is a blend of spooky sort of stuff, but also there鈥檚 historic photos of the old trolley company and trolley company workers in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 from the 1880s to the early 1900s. There鈥檚 some early sa国际传媒官网网页入口 photos of the KiMo Theatre and some Prohibition-era photos with speakeasies and that sort of stuff.
鈥淪o there鈥檚 definitely a vibe in there.鈥�
The interior is cozy 鈥� it can hold about 15 people 鈥� but there鈥檚 also an outdoor beer garden that can seat up to 85 more. Because it鈥檚 a smaller system, Herron usually only has one or two Painted Lady originals on tap. However, that is supplemented by a variety of other local offerings from breweries such as Marble Brewery, Santa Fe Brewing Company, La Cumbre Brewing Co., Flock of Moons Brewing Co. and others.
The Painted Lady beers come with a horror theme: A recent option was dubbed 鈥淲e All Go a Little Mad Sometimes,鈥� a West Coast IPA that pays homage to the Alfred Hitchcock classic 鈥淧sycho.鈥� It also was served in conjunction with a screening of the film as part of the establishment鈥檚 鈥淏rews and Boos鈥� series.
Other previous offerings include an amber called 鈥淲olfman鈥檚 Got Nards鈥� (鈥淢onster Squad鈥�), 鈥淒on鈥檛 Kill Me Mr. Ghostface鈥� (鈥淪cream鈥�) and 鈥淵ou鈥檝e Got Red on You鈥� (鈥淪haun of the Dead鈥�).
鈥淲henever a new beer comes out, we have an event called Scary Movie Bingo where the beer gets kegged, and tapped that day, usually a Saturday. We have a big, 85-inch flat-screen TV that we roll out into the gazebo in the beer garden. And we watch that movie and we play Scary Movie Bingo.鈥�
It鈥檚 just part of a spooky event schedule, which also includes ghost story open mic nights, talks from paranormal expert Cody Polston and a spooky goods market. It鈥檚 possible that one might just experience something a little stranger than fiction.
鈥淭hings don鈥檛 happen like every night or every week, but there were probably 10 to 12 instances that were crazy, holy cow moments that would fit right alongside a scary movie,鈥� Herron said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 go back there and try to live there again.鈥�
