Phoenix Beer Scene Inquiry

Ground Control is a tap house brick oven pizza joint in Litchfield. Probably a 20 minute Uber drive from Peoria. Ian keeps a pretty good rotation on tap.

 

Your better off going to gas stations. Most of them now have a massive beer selection/growlers and the pricing is on par. Grocery stores are good for the usual crap items, some Fry's do ok with some local items that are fresh, but always check dates when at AZ grocery stores LOL.

 

Always check dates when at any US grocery store hahaha

 

For how nice Fry’s is, their beer selection was unbelievably bad

 

Just tell your Uber driver to take you to Wren House, Wandering Tortoise or Kings Convenience on your way to Peoria, all 3 are pretty close to the air port you can get drinks and crowler fills at those spots ( not wandering tortoise )

 

Not sure if anyone mentioned it but AJ's Fine Foods has a decent selection, just make sure to watch dates. I have found some gems there at a good price. At times they get some cool items in, just depends on your visit if you get lucky.
Also on a side note World Market also gets some cool stuff in. I have seen new items pop there and was surprised, usually they are great for wine but the beer has been decent.
Cheers

 

Peoria Artisan Brewery is pretty solid IMHO producing quality brews and the food is very good. Dubina is about 5 miles from my house (and the northwest side of PHX metro is a beer wasteland) and i never went back after the first couple of years it was open. They may have improved but i will not go back. Mellow Mushroom has a pretty solid lineup of beers - i was just at the Happy Valley location for dinner tonight. The High Street location is even better but a good 10 miles to the east. Was just at SanTan PHX and i thought it was comparable to the non airport SanTan locations - definitely worth it if you are flying out of Terminal 3. Cheers!

 

Also visiting Peoria soon (this weekend). I likely will hit Ground Control (awesome place I’ve been once before) and 8-Bit in Avondale. I’m considering going to Quick Stop or Hop Stop on north side, I’ve never been. So it’s a bottle shop with crowlers / growlers to go, can I taste at all though? Get small pours and shop while drinking? You can do this at Papago but wasn’t sure about these places.

I may head over to wren house / wandering tortoise combo as well. Can’t beat that so close to each other. Drive isn’t too bad.

 

Today Wren House is releasing a DIPA at noon.

 

Saw that, looks good. Lot of their anniversary beers still on tap too. Hopefully will last until the weekend

 

Heading to Phoenix this weekend. Coming from Iowa and the land of Pulpit and TG hazy IPAs and diabetic stouts, what sort of local beers compare that I should be hunting for? I will hit up Wren and the Tortoise place for sure. After that, I will look for some bottle shops as well.

So any specific beers out right now that anyone suggests?

 

It’s going to be 110° every day. Not exactly the best time to drink “diabetic stouts”. As far as hazy IPAs go, definitely look for Tombstone. Depending on what part of town your in, check the bottle shops’ Instagram accounts so you know what they have. King’s, Bottleshop 48, Liquor Express, and Tops all get it for sure, but Tops doesn’t really have a social media presence.

 

Thank you!!! I was looking for those stouts to take home ;-), but I get you!

 

Kings & Wandering Tortoise are the best bottle shops. Kings sells crowlers really cheap like 8 bucks. Tortoise gets Pueblo Vida from Tucson and their stuff is always good. If you get to Scottsdale check out Goldwater they are pretty good too.

 

In town visiting my sister. Basically at scottdale rd and greenway. Went to Wren house years ago and will probably pop in again, don't need recommendations for "Chicago pizza" as I'm from there but any other food and brewery recommendations would be hugely appreciated!

Also is it possible to get Pueblo Vida anywhere in town?

 

Eat at the original Fate Brewing location on Scottsdale and Shea. If you venture to downtown Phoenix, the new Arizona Wilderness location there is pretty great. Wandering Tortoise may have PV cans, though expect some hefty markup.

 

Thanks, popped into Helton while by wandering tortoise. Seems pretty good, at least the sour is anyways. She recommended Goldwater?

 

Yeah, dig Helton -- kinda under the radar but quality stuff. Lots of folks really like Goldwater (I'm not a huge fan, but I'm also a crotchety old coot, so...) -- totally worth a stop and fairly easy to get to from where you're at.

 

As a matter of fact they got some Pueblo Vida cans in Tuesday night , I bought a few 4 packs yesterday on Lobster Roll Wednesday at Nelson's.. Goldwater is pretty good they just made a fresh new batch of heir hazy ipa " hopchowda"

 

I'll check out Goldwater tomorrow then. Got three 4pks of PV and man was it marked up. 21.99 a 4pk is nuts. I can get a pretty equivalent beer in Chicago for 15.99. Still the two I tried were delicious!