Trip to Phoenix/Scottsdale

Surprised you haven't gotten any action on this yet....Here is the link to the AZ Brewers Guild page, most of what you'll need is here: http://craftbeeraz.com/

Four Peaks in the flagship brewery in the state. Where you will be staying and what games you plan on attending is going to greatly impact what breweries/beer bars you'll visit. Tops in my estimation are:

Angels Trumpet - Downtown PHX - decent food; awesome eclectic beers
OHSO - Phoenix - mediocre food; awesome local beers
Papago Brewing - Scottsdale - mediocre food; awesome bottle selection w/good taps;
Brat Haus - Scottdale - good food; awesome taps; german german german

For straight up breweries, the before mentioned Four Peaks is a must. Arizona Wilderness is good out in Gilbert (a little further away) and SunUp brewing in Phoenix is also good. Again, will depend on where you are and how far you're willing to drive. If you make any trips to out of town breweries, I would say that THAT Brewery in Pine is worth the trip.

The AZ Brewers Guild and Yelp are your friends on this. Good luck!

 

Not much downtown except for Angels Trumpet and Sun Up isn't far. Plenty of places in Tempe and Scottsdale which is in the direction of a lot of the spring training games. Near the D'backs and Rockies is Fate Brewing, near the A's and Giants is Papago and OHSO, near the Angels is Huss Brewing, Taste of Tops and Four Peaks on Wilson, near the Cubs is Four Peaks on Eighth, AZ Wilderness, Sleepy Dog and Desert Eagle. Out west is pretty sparse except for Ground Control, and Peoria Artisinal Brewing which is actually in Lictchfield Park.

The drive to San Diego is super easy. Appx 6 hours depending on where you are starting/ending. Stop in El Centro for some good mexican food at Mexicali Taco if you are in a hurry or Celia's, Camachos or El Sombrerro if you want to sit down and eat really good mexican food. Watch out for the CHIPS after you cross the border into California and as you approach Alpine and make a stop at Alpine for beer.

 

You also need to check out AZ Wilderness brewing in Gilbert. New place doing some really great beers. Nothing bottled or canned yet but growlers are available. Also if you drive to San Diego go I-8 and you will pass through Alpine. You need to stop in to Alpine Brewing. They do some of the most amazing IPAs out there. And they bottle so you can take some with you. Definitely worth the stop. I always leave early to drive over and stop there for lunch as their menu is really good as well. Safe trip and enjoy!

 

I second AZ Wilderness

 

I'm surprised The Attic hasn't been mentioned yet. The atmosphere/food/staff is great and they frequently update on Taphunter.

 

What about Four Peaks brewery?

 

glad to see all this, i'll be down there all next week. any other tips on best bottleshops would be helpful, hoping to bring back some goodness to the frozen wasteland...

 

Sun Devil Liquor in Mesa is one of the best places for bottles. There is a bar in the basement too. Tops Liquor in Tempe has a great selection. They are attached to Taste of Tops which has their tap list on Facebook. There is also World of Beer in Tempe on Mill Avenue. They have taps and bottles to open there or take home.

 

Tops and Sun Devil are good but they are often overpriced on special releases and much of their beer is stored warm and you have to worry about freshness, still I'd rather buy from them than corporate megaliths Bevmo or Total Wine. Papago Brewing is my preferred bottle shop for good prices, stored cold and wonderful draft selections at all times. Gilbert Convenient Mart is another place to check out but there is some weird vibe I get there from the Father but the son is ok.

Not in any order but the breweries to check out here are Sun Up, Four Peaks, Fate, Papago, AZ Wilderness, Huss and perhaps BJ's in Chandler.

 

All the Whole Foods locations have a nice selection. The locations in Tempe and in Chandler have draft and will fill growlers.
The Chandler location has among the most impressive can/bottle selections in the state and a sit down bar as well (which closes early....its a grocery store after all)


http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/tempe

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/chandler

For bars don't miss Flanny's: http://flannys.com/
or The Attic: https://www.facebook.com/theattic4247

both have great draft lists all the time and are super craft beer centric:


Not sure how long you'll be in town but AZ Beer Week starts on Feb 15th (or 14th for some preagaming events)
There will be about 60 events in PHX between 14FEB and 22 FEB
Always happy to meet a BA for a beer somewhere feel free to PM me if you're bored

http://arizonabeerweek.com/

 

Az wilderness, Four Peaks, Sleepy Dog, Desert Eagle

 

AZ Wilderness, Four Peaks, Fate and SunUp are my 4 choices. San Tan in Chandler has some great food and beer as well.

If you don't feel like to 6 hour drive to San Diego head on down to Tucson AZ. No more than a 2 hour drive and there are some amazing beers coming out there as well. Dragoon, Borderlands, Barrio and Ten-Fifty Five to just name a few.

GCM (Gilbert Convenience Mart) was mentioned earlier and is a great bottle shop. They absolutely beat out Sun Devil and Tops in price. Whole foods Chandler is amazing and refrigerated. But, you always have Total Wine and More around the valley for an extra large selection and good prices.

 

If you end up in Tucson make sure to check out Nimbus fantastic Brews

 

yeah, definitely check out santan's brewpub.