Best Breweries Near Phoenix, AZ

Discussion in 'Southwest' started by KalbHOMEBREWS, Nov 3, 2017.

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  1. KalbHOMEBREWS

    KalbHOMEBREWS Initiate (0) Feb 2, 2017 Colorado

    howdy!

    I’ll be in Phoenix next week for work and want some recommendations on breweries to visit.

    I’m big in BA and saison/Farmhouse beers.

    Any suggestions?!?!!
     
  2. denver10

    denver10 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,155) Nov 17, 2010 New Mexico
    Pooh-Bah

    Arizona Wilderness in Gilbert.

    I would take a moment to do a search in this forum. There's been a thread on this in the past, I believe. Might not be super recent but should offer a starting point.
     
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  3. KalbHOMEBREWS

    KalbHOMEBREWS Initiate (0) Feb 2, 2017 Colorado

    Thanks! I’ll look through it
     
  4. kevindp9

    kevindp9 Maven (1,268) Mar 1, 2012 Arizona
    Trader

    You'll get varying degrees of responses, but I'd recommend Wren House, Wilderness, and McFate. Check their tap lists when you arrive to prioritize your styles.
     
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  5. Effinwill

    Effinwill Crusader (433) Dec 2, 2016 California

    I’m not a local, but wilderness is the obvious choice. Food was surprisingly good. Adventurous brews - some are unique and great and a couple may suck. I also enjoyed santan and sun up. Both good places for eats, as well.
     
  6. bigbelcher

    bigbelcher Initiate (0) Jul 10, 2003 Arizona

    Wilderness is too hit or miss and in my opinion too miss but they have the reputation so go make up your own mind. If you want clean beers than Sun Up, Huss and San Tan are the best and McFate is usually pretty good and they have a great patio. If you want mediocre beer than go anywhere else.
     
  7. RASTAPHX

    RASTAPHX Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2011 Arizona

    i will stick with Phoenix options since that is what you asked...wren house, helton, and sun up. do yourself a favor and stop at wandering tortoise bottle shop and bar, best selection on taps by far in phoenix proper...
     
  8. Bferber

    Bferber Initiate (0) Apr 17, 2013 New York

    Hi, not trying to threadjack but was looking for similar advice. Can anyone tell me if Wren House and/or AZ Wilderness fill growlers and what the policies would be if so?
     
  9. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Appreciate the recommendations and tips, especially the comment about Wandering Tortoise.

    Will be in Scottsdale all next week, and would be interested in recommended watering holes by the local community. For me, that means breweries, brewpubs, growler stations and taphouse pubs. Also, if there are any interesting Black Friday tap takeover events going on, I'd certainly be interested in that as well.

    In terms of beer styles, I don't like AAL's or most sours (most Cantillon and Russian River sours are too much for me for example, but some de Garde stuff I can handle/appreciate), but I like pretty much everything else. Preferred styles include IPA's, DIPA's, BA porters and stouts, hoppy pils, and most Belgian styles (saisons, farmhouse ales, strong golden ales, dubbels, etc.).

    I did a forum search before posting, and couldn't find anything directly on point for the questions I'm posting. Thanks in advance for any and all help!
     
  10. kevindp9

    kevindp9 Maven (1,268) Mar 1, 2012 Arizona
    Trader

    Wandering Tortoise and Wren House are essentially on the same street, so those are no brainers. Great taps/bottles at WT, and crowlers/growlers at Wren (don't believe there's a limit for the beers they fill). Also, Helton and McFate are in the vicinity, and would recommend both.
    To the question above, Wilderness is the same with growlers - no limit on what they fill (or at least I have yet to see one), and they usually have a few to-go bottles.
    Haven't heard much in regard to tap takeovers for BF.
     
  11. breadwinner

    breadwinner Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2014 California

    Re: bars, in addition to Wandering Tortoise, I'd highly recommend Kings Beer and Wine, which has a great taplist and bar AND is also an awesome bottleshop. (And is also doing a big Black Friday/Bourbon County thing. Check FB.) 50+ taps, very affordable growler/crowler station (crowlers don't cost extra, which is awesome). Also, classic spot is Angels Trumpet Ale House in downtown Phoenix. Good food menu and a reliably cool taplist.

    For breweries, McFate is a good time, great patio, and really solid beer across a nice range of styles. Helton also has a great range + cool food options. Wilderness is fun, good food, kind of out of the way, but worth a stop for the novelty/variety.

    Other AZ breweries that you may find on tap at bars and worth trying -- Dragoon for sure (superlative West Coast hoppy beers + and terrific command of other classic styles, from saison to pilsner, porter to golden ale). Tombstone, as you may know, is the operation of BA user @honkey and makes great Northeast-ish hoppy beer, as well as other cool styles (they released a bunch of oak-fermented beers like mild and ESB fairly recently on draft).
     
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  12. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Thanks guys. The response posts have been very, very helpful. Much obliged.
     
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  13. CharacterZero

    CharacterZero Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2017 Pennsylvania

    Will be in phx over Xmas, thanks for this great thread!
     
  14. honkey

    honkey Maven (1,350) Aug 28, 2010 Arizona
    Trader

    Yikes, that’s a harsh take on the scene up there. Wilderness is willing to take big homerun swings. As a result, they strike out a bit and they hit them out of the park a bit. For “clean” beers, I would put McFate at the top of that list. I don’t get much San Tan on draught, but their cans are always oxidized. I would also add Pedalhaus to the list of good breweries and Wren House has a lot of good stuff too.
     
  15. honkey

    honkey Maven (1,350) Aug 28, 2010 Arizona
    Trader

    If you’re here on Wednesday, Flanny’s has a tap takeover going on in conjunction with Ballast Point. We are sending some NEIPA’s (More Hops and Citra IPA), a Brett saison aged in Chardonnay barrels, a bourbon barrel stout, a mixed fermentation cherry sour, a mixed fermentation mango sour, and an Imperial Milk stout aged in toasted oak:
     
  16. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Good to know. That might be the perfect day to take a break after all the Turkey day preparations.

    I'll likely pass on the Ballast Point stuff (there's plenty of it out here), but I'd love to try some of those Tombstone beers I keep hearing about. I'm not a huge sour fan, but all those other beers you mention should be right up my alley!
     
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  17. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    @honkey

    I'm not at all familiar with the beer scene in the Phoenix area, so just want to make sure I go to the right place on Wednesday. Based on what I'm seeing in the directory, is this the Flanny's in Tempe out on E. Elliot Rd? Also, there's no mention of the event on the website event calendar... will this run all day do you think, or is there a specific start time for the takeover?

    (obviously, once the location is confirmed, I can just call them myself to obtain the latter information, but seeing as how I'm already asking about the location anyway...).

    Thanks!
     
  18. honkey

    honkey Maven (1,350) Aug 28, 2010 Arizona
    Trader

    Yeah it is in Tempe and their Facebook page advertises 5:00 as the start time
     
  19. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Much obliged.
     
  20. Bferber

    Bferber Initiate (0) Apr 17, 2013 New York

    Thanks for the help! Think I'm going to hit Wren and WT on my way tomorrow. Probably have to skip AW this time, but at least I've been there before.
     
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