Phoenix for the summer

I have seen russian river in southern california but you have to ask it's never on the shelf. I don't think you will find in Blythe. However you will still find plenty of great California beers.

 

The closest Russian River you will find will either be in San Diego or Orange County, perhaps in the Riverside area but I've never heard of it being there. It's easier to trade for than to try and seek out in person. For local IPA's Sun Up is the top place, followed by Four Peaks, Huss and Lumberyard. Ground Control is about the only place on the westside where you'll be worth visiting. There are a lot of places though in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe and Chandler worth visiting but be warned, Sherriff Joe is tough on DUI's so be careful. You can browse the forum to see the list of places. Two fests should be on your radar, AmeriCAN beer fest on May 16th and Real Wild and Woody which hasn't been announced yet but was held in the summer last year.

 

While there aren't any good independent bottle shops out where you'll be,Tops in Tempe, Papago in Scottsdale, Gilbert Convenient Mart in Gilbert and Sun Devil in Mesa are the four best indies. All can do growlers. Tops, Papago and Sun Devil are also tap rooms where you can drink. All of them get a good supply of the rarer beers. Papago and GCM are cheaper than Tops and Sun Devil. Papago refrigerates all the beer, the others don't.

 

-No RR in Blythe. (You can see exactly who they distribute to in Southern California in the spreadsheet seen here).

-On the West side, there aren't a ton of independent craft bottle shops. Total Wine and BevMo are probably gonna be your best bets. This is kinda true in general, but just make sure the check bottle/can dates to make sure you're getting fresh product. I think TW has better prices, plus you can see their stock online, but YMMV.

-Of the indie bottle shops, Papago refrigerates everything, which is sweet. Tops has a great selection and will let you buy singles of anything, so that's solid. Also, don't sleep on a place @ 32nd St and Shea called Cellars -- probably the best growler selection/prices in the state (you can see their lineup on TapHunter here). Great shop.

-Must visit breweries in the area: Fate (Scottsdale, prob my favorite in AZ), SunUp (Phoenix, great cask selection, nice mix of styles), Papago (Scottsdale, great beers of their own plus an always solid guest tap list), Arizona Wilderness (Gilbert, good mix of styles, good food). There are some newer breweries closer to your side of town, though -- Dubina, Peoria Artisan, Freakn', 8-Bit (not sure if they're open yet), etc. Haven't tried any of them, but might be worth checking out.

-Ground Control should be your go-to bar in the area. Great tap list. Great prices. They get in some pretty nice bottles too.

 

I work in Glendale so I can touch on it a little bit. Dubina Brewery is in Glendale and it is a nice little place to visit,a few new ones opening soon in the area as well. As for bottle shops, you will be limited to Bevmo and Total Wine. Its not too bad of a drive to some much nicer mom and pop places that others have touched on above. Bars, same thing. Not much to choose from in Glendale but it will only be about a 20 minute drive to Ground Control and I recommend them. Again as well, not too bad of a drive to some great breweries in Phoenix. A tad further to Scottsdale/Tempe/Mesa to hit some amazing ones as well like Fate.

When you get here, do not hesitate to shoot me a message about the area. I am born and raised here in AZ and have lived/worked in Peoria/Glendale area for 15 years. It doesn't have as much to chose from as the surrounding areas but the freeways flow here so bouncing around is nice and easy.

 

You'll have no issue finding FW stuff....it's widely available.

 

I saw a big old fat dude wearing an 8-Bit shirt at Tap and Bottle in Tucson over the weekend during the CBS release.

Not sure if this means much with respect to them being open yet, but shirts are out in the wild.

 

8-BIT posted that they are having a soft opening next week.

 

Yep Ryan has been working hard to get everything in order and should be opened for sure by the time the OP gets out here.

 

You can drive out to the Palm Springs area for some RR bottles. Pliny is hard to come by at times, but you can find sours on the shelves in a few stores. The Riverside & Redlands area will also have bottles and on some on draft.

 

Since you said you would be down for a bit of a drive I would suggest you head to a place called Magnum's on 7th st and Union Hills (north end of town). Great place with a good selection of interesting beers all kept cold. And if you like bourbon, scotch or cigars it also has a very well stocked bar/cigar lounge with a good bottled beer selection and usually something good on tap (only one tap but last time it was BP Victory at Sea and the time before it was Ommegang Three Philosophers, so it seems like they rotate often and try to keep it interesting). Also they have a growler station. It can be a bit pricey but worth it if any of the above sound appealing