Scottsdale

Great selection of regional crafts & imports. Probably 95% of what I drink are CA & CO beers.

BA guide for the area:

http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/city/29

 

Bell's, Odell's, Stone, Ballast Point, Alesmith, Firestone Walker, Port Brewing, Lost Abbey, Bear Republic, Deschutes, Full Sail, Moylan's, Alaskan, some Goose Island, Oskar Blues, Breckenridge, Flying Dog, EPIC, Sierra Nevada's specialty releases plus regular lineup, and quite a few good European imports. I'm sure I've left off some notable ones. Those are just the ones I drink a lot. Nearly heaven for American craft IPA's.

 

Well, we have Bell's, so get some Two-Hearted. Bring Russian River and Alpine, because those are the main two that we're missing from San Diego.

Your beer bar scene is in another league compared to ours, sad to say. Though I'm sure some local Homers will disagree.

 

nobody is going to try to seriously argue that PHX compares in SAN in anyway wrt to craft beer. that includes the bar scene.

but we do get some stuff distributed here as was noted further above.
W do suffer from a dearth of the special releases though and i suspect demand is part of the reason as AZ'ers don't seem as fond of the barrel or the extreme beers as elsewhere. but we have at least three outstanding beer bars (1702, Papago and Tops) and several good ones.
the scene continues to grow and many places are carrying better stuff all the time.


and yes Russian River, Alpine and Midnight Sun would be greatly apprenticed by those of us in the desert. ; )

 

Fully agree on the San Diego comparison, but I've heard a couple locals say that it is as good as San Diego bar scene (one is a local brewery/beer bar owner). They have a bad case of Homerism, I'd argue.

 

And I would argue that besides getting Alpine and RR, San Diego is behind Arizona in many areas although a lot comes down to personal preference. We have the largest homebrew club in the country here which gives the beer community a very solid base. The selection at Papago, Taste of Tops, Whole Foods, Flanny's, Ohso, Hungry Monk and Handlebars et al are superior to the selection at pretty much any San Diego place. That's not saying that the top San Diego places are bad, they just dont carry the selection that many places here carry. If you are a hophead it is hard to top O'Briens anyplace in the world but their focus makes them somewhat one dimensional whereas the bars here cater to a wider audience. When it comes to local breweries, the beers produced by Sun Up, Four Peaks, Lumberyard, SanTan et al are equal to or superior to many of San Diego breweries. We get the better San Diego breweries beer here like Ballast Point, Alesmith, Coronado, Port/Lost Abbey and Green Flash, they don't get Arizona's. When comparing downtown areas the Roosevelt and The Main Ingredient are better than any downtown San Diego location that I've been to. Yes, we don't get RR or Alpine here, but we do get Bell's, Ska, Odells, Marble et al, so that is a wash IMHO. No homerism, I'd rank the top 5 beer cities in order in the US as Denver, Portland, Chicago, Phoenix, then San Diego. Next 5 probably as Seattle, Boston, Asheville, Ft. Collins and Austin. All the places in my top 10 are good, it just depends on what you focus on when ranking one over the other.

 

I lived in Phoenix for 12 years then moved to Ft. Collins where I have lived for 5 years. The two aren't even close! I can ride my bike within a 6 miles radius and hit New belgium brewery, Odell brewery, in addition to 5+ other breweries and growing every few months. We have great bars that serve micros such as Mayor of Old Town (top 100) and Choice City (often ranked top 20 in the WORLD). The distribution is great, only thing we don't get you guys do is Ballast, Bell's and Alesmith. Then I can drive to Boulder (50 minutes away, almost how much it takes to get from one side of Scottsdale to the other), Longmont (30 minutes) and Denver (1 hour). The people of this great community and state are so supportive of craft brew unlike Arizona (might have something to do with the culture and 100+ degree weather) Colorado is heaven for beer!! That being said I will be in Phoenix in 3 weeks and plan on eating Mexican food til I'm sick and hitting up some of my favorite spots: Four Peaks and Papago if anyone wants to meet for a beer. But will try some of these other suggestions that weren't around 5 years ago. Oh, and I'm a bit jealous about you guys getting two of my favorites: Alesmith and Ballast! But we do alright here in the tiny town of 130,000 people, Ft. Collins.

 

Otherwise, I might switch out Phoenix for Philly. The rest of your top ten are spot on! Portland would be my #1. Denver, Ft. Collins, Asheville and San Diego my top 5. Bend, Oregon another dark horse as well. Just my opinions of course! Cheers

 

I have to agree, and also that there's no short list of cities that should be there instead of Phoenix.

 

As a local business owner in the industry it's understandable why it's good to speak up for Phoenix. I'd love to have the San Diego crowd weigh in on this topic too, since this thread is currently only in the Southwest forum.

I have to agree that Arizona has a very good imported list of beers from both U.S. craft and international - and in my opinion what makes it tolerable to live here, beer-wise. If I'm offered a trade it is ALWAYS from California or Pacific Northwest breweries, or perhaps Colorado or Bell's - and it's a miracle that we get some of these and other states don't. But in my experience it is NEVER an Arizona beer, as there's nothing brewed here that is coveted and desired in the same league as what we can get from Bell's, Stone, Deschutes, etc. They want our Hopslam, Abyss, Abacus, fresh Sculpin, Stone Anniversary - and understandably so.

I also have to agree that much comes down to preference, but I've observed a rather solidified set of preferences among BA folks (generally) for the best of what San Diego area has to offer vs. what the best that Phoenix has to offer. San Diego is always on the short list of best beer cities, often in a tie with Portland. Phoenix isn't even in the discussion. In my opinion we don't have a single brewery that compares to Alpine, Ballast Point, Alesmith, Port/Lost Abbey, Green Flash, Stone, etc. Just a quick glance at top scores for beers here on BA and on RB is the sort of collective agreement I'm talking about, and not just my personal opinion. Nobody here makes a coveted beer like Sculpin. Nobody makes a list of highly sought after releases like Stone. People don't go bonkers for an AZ beer like some from Lost Abbey. I'm talking about standout beers that are nationally known and probably tasted & reviewed by BA's and RB'ers. Examples could go on and on from San Diego, but relatively speaking it's just not the same in Phoenix.

I've never actually encountered someone speaking positively about Phoenix's downtown beer or bar scene before. In all fairness, both metropolitan areas really aren't downtown-focused in the first place, and normally the city reference is referring to the metro area. Othewise I'd hate to think that when I praise Boston's beer scene I must somehow exclude everything in Cambridge, Brookline and Allston, because well they're not technically in Boston.

So overall I just can't see myself agreeing unless things significantly change. And praising the great retail selection of imported beers into the state is a plus but also a thinly veiled insult because it amounts to acknowledging that what is good here is the fact that we can get so many good beers from somewhere else.

 

First...whaetver you are smoking please send me some. Second...RR is not in San Diego.

 

The 10th best brewery in the San Diego is better than any brewery in the state of Arizona. Let's see we got Alesmith, Ballast, Stone, Green Flash, Karl Strauss, Pizza Port, Lost Abbey. Okay, not to familiar with any more (so maybe 7), though heard good things about a few others. Then for shits and giggles you can drive under an hour to Alpine! I'm up for smoking what you got, cuz it's working!! I'm not hating, just telling it how it is.

 

No hate either- The post is about the overall beer scene, not specifically the brewery scene, and since we get most of the good San Diego beers here that is not an advantage to San Diego. You probably are not familar with the beers Arizona breweries are making because we drink it all here. We have the San Diego beers, and the Arizona beers.

 

First, I was smoking a Montechristo. Second, RR beers are available in San Diego and that is what I was talking about, not what breweries are located in the San Diego.

 

I did not know there was a Churchills, Toronado, Hamilton's, O'Brien's, Blind Lady, Moneky Paw and Tiger Tiger in Arizona? Do you guys also have 3 Pizza Ports as well?

 

Do you have an OHSO, Handlebars, 1702, Papago Brewing, Taste of Tops, Sun Devil, WFM, The Roosevelt, Main Ingredient, AZ Wine, Boulders on Broadway, Delux, Ground Control, Flannys, Mellow Mushroom, Old Chicago, Moto, Raven, Hungry Monk, Lost Leaf, Trophys, Yucca Tap Room or Zachary's Pizza?

Yes, San Diego has a number of great places, but so does Arizona. I haven't made it to Monkey Paw or Tiger Tiger yet, but have you made it to the places I listed? Unless you have than you really have no comparison to go by. Anyway, this will be my last post on this topic. Basically I believe that Arizona is underrated and when you look at the overall beer scene and what is available both San Diego and Arizona are great places, I just feel that Arizona has more to offer and is slightly better overall.

PS You left out the Small Bar and High Dive which are both pretty good too.