Phoenix Beer Scene Inquiry

Bottleshop 48 and Liquor Express are good too, and are pretty much on your way to/from Wilderness.

I'd recommend Wren House based on proximity to where you are staying, but I don't really get the hype. Ok beers, but I would take a $9 growler fill of Helton any day if I'm in that area. Plus, Helton has food. If I had to skip one brewery suggestion in this thread, it would be Wren House or Goldwater. Seems like its a must stop for others, though. Let us know what you think!

 

If you're heading down to Angels, I'd highly, highly recommend stopping at Kings Beer & Wine -- combo bottle shop/bar, everything can be bought in singles, fantastic tap list of 50ish beers, crowlers to go (and no addt'l cost beyond the fill for those). Awesome spot. Other stuff in your vicinity that you might enjoy -- Moto for sushi and a great tap list and Bonus Round as an arcade bar (free to play, good tap list, good bottle/can list).

 

#1 don't-miss in my opinion is Wren House. Great space, great people, amazing beers.

Can't back @sonsofauerbach 's Angels Trumpet suggestion enough - that place is great and I hit it every time i'm in town.

Definitely look out for Tombstone hops. super good.

Shop was pretty cool, just stopped in for one, but I'd go back for sure.

Not too far up from Wren House you could hit Wandering Tortoise and Helton pretty easily. Really dig both those spots.

AZ Wilderness is a haul, but worth it.

 

Any suggestions for a place with good beer to watch the Super Bowl?

 

Anybody? Staying by Old Town Scottsdale. Looking for a spot to watch the game.

We stopped by Wren House today and were both big fans. Pumped to see cans were still available when I arrived around 2. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Cold Beer & Cheeseburgers, Loco Patron, R&R - they will all have the game on (as will most places down there)....

 

If you go to Wren House, you should visit Helton, it's just a few miles down the road and is pretty good too.

 

Just spent a few days visiting family in PHX, didn't make it to any breweries, but did score cans of:
Elevated from La Cumbre in Albuquerque, excellent clean bitter WC IPA
Tower Station from Mother Road in Flagstaff. outstanding unfiltered style WCIPA
Dragoon IPA from Dragoon in Tuscon; very good unfiltered WCIPA.

2 i haven't yet tried are Odells Imperial Peach Tree, and a sour bottle from Arizona Wilderness.

 

Greetings! I'm flying in late tomorrow afternoon and have a few hours to explore the scene. From what I can tell, the best use of my time to try a number of the best local beers in close proximity is Wren and Helton. Is it also worth trying to hit The Wandering Tortoise as well? Thanks in advance.

 

I would go to Angel's Trumpet.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'll have to do either Angel's Trumpet, or some combination of Wren/Helton/Tortoise. The current tap list on Angel's website doesn't look all that impressive to me. Am I missing something?

 

I'd definitely do the latter of those two options.

 

For SURE do Wren/Helton/Tortoise over Angel's Trumpet. It's not even close.

Angel's Trumpet has FOUR amber ales on right now. Four. I love a good amber -- probably more than most -- but a craft bar having four ambers on at once is absolutely preposterous. Further, they have three witbiers and two blondes on. Again, like those styles, especially this time of year in PHX, but there's no need for half of your tap options to be either a blonde, amber or witbier. It's not 2004.

 

Yep. I've been there, and the food and vibe are cool. The tap list really disappointed me, though. I'm not sure there was an IPA on the menu out of maybe 30 taps. There wasn't anything I was really excited to drink, so I had one beer and left.

 

I think the owners there are beer'd and business-ed out. I was speaking with an employee there who essentially told me that they have checked out and are burned out on owning the place. Other places are stepping up their game.

 

Checked out Goldwater this weekend while down for Spring Training. Pleasantly surprised with what I tried. In particular, I thought their SMASH Lager was great. Dont know the hop/malt bill they had going or hiw frequently it switches up, but definitely worth checking out for fans of the style, imo.

 

The Shop in Tempe might be my new favorite spot in PHX. Stopped in yesterday for the first time and had a Church Music and a Super Anime Pig, which was a really unique take on a juicy ipa. I grabbed a 4pk of their Modern Times collab ipa to-go as well. They didn’t have a ton of beers on tap but I enjoyed what I had and loved the cool vibe they have. Hoping to return once more before heading home.

 

man, that's a bummer. that place has been epic almost every time i've been there. however... i do recall being there last october and not being entirely stoked on the taplist.

such a great space and vibe, hopefully someone can turn it around

 

Gonna be in town friday through sunday. Been to 18 breweries and know some others id like to check out

Can releases. AZ Wilderness and Wren House have em. So does 12 west, but more interested in ipa. How are those releases? Not interested in waiting in much of a line. How long do these cans typically last?