Phoenix Beer Scene Inquiry

I visited for the first time 10 days or so ago. To me, the breweries that I went to that I suggest are:

Wren House
Helton
McFate
Arizona Wilderness
Goldwater

 

Where are you staying? The Phoenix area is a lot larger than most people realize.

In general, though, @aschwab had some pretty good suggestions. Only brewery I'd add is The Shop. I'd also recommend hitting up a good beer bar and/or bottle shop. Don't want to come out here and not grab a beer from Tombstone or Modern Times. Plenty of good suggestions on those things if you do a quick search.

 

Close to the airport is where we stayed, and it worked out great. You may not have anything right next to you, but you are close to the train and uber in all directions are not bad.

 

Yep, from the airport area, just hop on the light rail and it'll take you by lots of points of interest. Plenty of bars on Mill Ave., and Tops is just walking distance from there. Decent bottle shop and taplist.

If you like pizza, I like Boulders on Broadway. Awesome tap list. Craft 64 in Scottsdale has all local taps. Depends on where you'll be golfing, really.

 

I would add to the list Huss Brewing and Sun Up. Both making great beers, Huss has a tap room 3 blocks from Sun Up right off the light rail. Pedal Haus on Mill Ave has some solid offerings as well. Also off the light rail in Mesa is Cider Corps if you want to try something different, there are a couple of beer places nearby but I wouldnt recommend them.

 

I wouldn't recommend drinking and driving. This state has some of the toughest DUI laws around. It's worth your money to uber it around if you've even have one beer. Just off Mill Ave on Farmer St is the Yard. its a fun place to go. You can also get Thai take out at Thai Basil and eat in Taste of Tops. A couple of cheap burger places on Mill Ave are Five Guys and Steak and Shake

 

For drinking, Mill is a decent choice. For food, it's lots of bar food. That said, Rula Bula is a great Irish pub. I'd recommend it for the food alone, and there are some basic local craft options. They had Dragoon IPA last time I was there, even though it wasn't on the menu. If you're looking for another "bar district" old town Scottsdale deserves a mention. Hit Goldwater and Two Brothers, then you've got lots of bars within walking/short-uber distance. Craft64 has decent pizza and good taps, and Yardhouse always has something good on tap whichever city I'm in. Plus, you can hit the world-class mall in case you need to do some drunk impulse-buying.

Off Mill, still, I mostly eat at breweries/gastro pubs when I go out. Wilderness has stand-out burgers, I already mentioned Boulders for pizza and beer, Buddyz is GREAT for real Chicago deep dish (skip Lou Malnati's and Geno's East in favor of Buddyz, IMO). McFate has solid food. (North has real wood fired pizza, south does not, but had a larger menu if you'll be at the open, North is worth a stop to pregame. Not a lot of local beer at the open. Best thing I saw last year was Saint Archer. Really good IPA, but Coors-owned.) Cornish Pasty is a unique spot. Good taps, and where else can you get a pasty?

If you want dessert, Doc's in Tempe is THE place. Weird hours, but the ice cream (technically gelato) worth it. He even makes some liquor-infused flavors.

And I'll stress this again. Find a Tombstone beer on tap before you leave. Good stuff.

 

It is in Tempe. The light rail is really pretty simple. Just find a stop and you can buy a ticket from the machine. They come about every 15 minutes. You can get a multi-day pass cheaper than a per-ride ticket.

 

Yes, it should be much cheaper. Depending on where on 8th Street you're staying, you might look at Angel's Trumpet Ale House. I've never been, but hear good things. It may be walking distance for you.

 

I lived in AZ for years and can vouch for Angel's Trumpet. Always a great list of beers and plenty of good food options.

 

I've spent a week in Phoenix in each of the last couple years and minus Goldwater (only because I haven't been) these would be my suggestions.

In order: Wren House, AZ Wilderness, McFate, Helton.

For bottle shops, when you're at AZ Wilderness, it's a pretty quick scoot down to Gilbert Convenience Mart, who'll have Modern Times, Tombstone, Council, Lost Abbey, Grassroots and a lot of other stuff you probably wouldn't get in MO.