Best place to grab a post-hike craft beer

[JoelHazelton]

Inspired by the mexican food/pizza posts, I'm wondering about good places around AZ to grab a beer after a hike or backpack trip. The smaller/more obscure towns would be especially appreciated, because I'm used to only coming across only the cheap domestics at those places.
Some places I've stopped at post-hike:

Prescott- Prescott Brewery. The Petrified Porter is good, but their seasonal "Achocolypse" (which is Petrified Porter brewed with milk chocolate) is absolutely amazing.
Flagstaff- Lumberyard Brewery. Imperial Red was awesome.
Sedona- Oak Creek Brewery. Boo. Not a single redeeming quality here. Chicken quesadilla was mediocre, beer was watery.
Tucson- Nimbus Brewey- Though I love Old Monkeyshine from a bottle,it was twice as good on tap.

In Tempe we'll frequent Boulders on Broadway and Four Peaks after gym climbing. Actually, we're spoiled here in Tempe. Example: I live next to the most ghetto looking corner store ever, but upon walking in you'd think you're in a Total Wine.

Yardhouse would be a good place to hit on the way in town from the west. I suppose Rock Bottom from the northwest, though I wasn't impressed with any of their beers.

Any ideas? I'm particularly curious about the Payson area.

[chumley]

Is this thread just PR for the craft brewers guild or are these actual recommendations based on experience?

[hikeaz]

Downtown Mesa is getting a second microbrewery.

Oro Brewing Company, a nanobrewery and taproom, will open later this year in Arizona’s third-largest city, according to co-owner Chuck Wennerlund.

The 3,000-square-foot building at 210 W. Main Street (on the north side of Main, just west of Robson) has been home to numerous ventures in recent years, including a dance studio, a karate school, an academic academy, and a seamstress.

The adobe-and-plaster structure was built in 1929.

Oro Brewing will have a 3-barrel brewing system capable of producing about seven kegs of beer at a time. Wennerlund plans to brew double batches about once a week.

A Michigan native, Wennerlund has lived in Phoenix since the 1990s. He’s a home brewer – his personal beer preferences run to porters and stouts – but has no professional experience.

‘‘When it comes to the food and beverage industry, my experience is 30 years as a passionate consumer,’’ he laughs.

Oro, which means ‘‘gold’’ in Spanish, is still in the permitting stage, and Wennerlund hopes to start work on the plumbing and drains soon.

Because of the numerous delays typically associated with new breweries, he’s hesitant even to estimate an opening date.

‘‘Everyone’s first question is, ‘When are you going to open?’’’ he says. ‘‘I just tell them. ‘By the end of 2016.’’’

[hikeaz]

http://mouthbysouthwes...

Helio Basin Brewing, a new craft brewery named after the Valley of the Sun, will open this summer in Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood. It takes over the former Clicks Billiards building on the southwest corner of 40th Street and Thomas.

“Helio is play on the Greek word for ‘Sun’ and Basin is a catch-all for Valley, which we felt was a nice fit for a Phoenix-based brewery,” says co-owner Dustin Hazer, who’s partnering with friend Mike Conley on the venture.

Hazer has a decade of professional brewing experience, including a few years at Four Peaks Brewing and, most recently, four years as brewmaster at Southern Tier Brewing in western New York. Conley, an MBA graduate of the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU, currently is a bartender at Arizona Wilderness Brewing in Gilbert.

The 8,200-square-foot brewery will have a 15-barrel brewing system that will be visible to customers. Hazer and Conley plan to offer six core beers – mostly American-style ales – as well as seasonal and limited-release ales.

“Quality is our primary focus, top to bottom,’’ Hazer says. ‘‘Dedication to the quality and consistency of the beer, the food, the service, and the atmosphere are all top-tier priorities at Helio Basin Brewing.”

There will be 135 seats, ranging from communal tables to two-tops, and a large space next to the brewhouse for private parties and charitable events. Chef Tamara Stanger will head the kitchen; she most recently worked at The Henry, a Fox Restaurants concept at 44th Street and Camelback.

Hazer says the build-out is slated to take 12 weeks, so look for an opening in early summer.

[hikeaz]

History is brewing on Southern Avenue a half-mile east of Power Road in Mesa. That’s where Ian Cameron is opening Lochiel Brewery – in July, he hopes – which will be notable for several reasons.

Lochiel, named after his family’s ancestral home in Scotland, will be the first brewery in east Mesa, and also the city’s largest, at least in terms of capacity. But perhaps most significantly, Cameron will become Arizona’s – and the country’s – first deaf brewery owner.

The brewery is going to be opened for distribution first with a basic tap room. Nothing fancy. The tap room won’t be more built-out until the fourth quarter of 2016 or, at the latest, the first quarter of 2017. But there’ll be an area to comfortably sit around and purchase pints or kegs and get growler fills.

They're opening with three Scottish brews. The flagship is a 200-year-old Clan Cameron of Lochiel family Scottish recipe to take on Budweiser's ( Scottish-style) Kilt Lifter, along with a mighty yet friendly porter and a British-style Extra Special Bitter, as well as other small-batch varieties.

[chumley]

@hikeaz

I get it. You read Mouth By Southwest. Save the copy/paste effort and just suggest other people read it too!

http://mouthbysouthwest.com/2016/03/23/ ... east-mesa/

[hikeaz]

@hikeaz

Save the copy/paste effort and just suggest other people read it too!

http://mouthbysouthwest.com/2016/03/23/ ... east-mesa/

What a nice suggestion!

[joebartels]

@chumley
We who?

Content is preferred over links for future readers when there is no copyright.

That said, I'd include a link in this situation

[chumley]

We who?

My egotistical view of self-importance and general superiority often leads me to refer to myself in the plural, when in fact, I am but one lowly pathetic soul in need of a hug. Or maybe puppies. :-({|=

Grammar corrected.

[Alston_Neal]

Broke with our traditional post hike Mexican food fest and tried Verde Brewing Company. On the main drag in Camp Verde. Good food and I had a Smoky Rye Mogollon Juniper. After seeing Chumely's piece on getting juniper berries I was intrigued. Also had a Gold Buckle with honey and alfalfa with my Rio Claro Red Wine Burger and rings. My wife had wine from the Clear Creek Vineyard. It's the winery on 260 by Bull Pen road. She was impressed and she is not generally impressed with the Verde Valley wineries. No off site linking was harmed in this post.

[JasonCleghorn]

We who?

My egotistical view of self-importance and general superiority often leads me to refer to myself in the plural, when in fact, I am but one lowly pathetic soul in need of a hug. Or maybe puppies. :-({|=

Grammar corrected.

I don't see you as egotistical at all...

[rcorfman]

Smoky Rye Mogollon Juniper... Gold Buckle with honey and alfalfa...

What the? Can't one just order a pint and enjoy without having to decipher what the heck is available?

There once was a time when I could go buy a six pack where the cans where white with large navy blue lettering, "BEER." Granted BEER beer wasn't very good, but it sure made things simple (except for the stuttering...).

[Alston_Neal]

@rcorfman
You have to understand that anyone who knows me knows I'm a Coors man. My wife wanted to eat here and for that I'm happy. But in order to save any shred of what little dignity I still possess. I'm not going to sit down in a micro brewery and order a Coors Light

[rcorfman]

@Alston Neal
Makes sense but hay, I'm still trying to figure out why anyone would brew beer for Silver and Scout. :bdh:

[Alston_Neal]

@rcorfman
Personally my exotic beer of choice is a michelada with a big fat shrimp hanging on to the side.

[JasonCleghorn]

Smoky Rye Mogollon Juniper... Gold Buckle with honey and alfalfa...

What the? Can't one just order a pint and enjoy without having to decipher what the heck is available?

There once was a time when I could go buy a six pack where the cans where white with large navy blue lettering, "BEER." Granted BEER beer wasn't very good, but it sure made things simple (except for the stuttering...).

Off topic but my kids and I are getting back into geocaching and I think we found one of yours the other day... Thanks!

[RowdyandMe]

@rcorfman
I remember that beer Safeway Sold it. A plain white can that just said Beer. Nasty was left off the label

[Alston_Neal]

@rcorfman
I remember that beer Safeway Sold it. A plain white can that just said Beer. Nasty was left off the label

But if you label it Choking Gecko Summer IPA it can sell for $5 a can.

[Nighthiker]

Should start another thread, Best spring water source for a Craft Beer.

[mazatzal]

@chumley Not swill water:
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/about/city/n ... l-1.569464

[hikeaz]

Should start another thread, Best spring water source for a Craft Beer.

Dane