Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix is a great beer city in the desert with a cute downtown and fun vibes

PHX Tips: 

• Downtown is the heart of the city with lots of great businesses to check out and it is very walkable.

  • If you’re lucky enough to be in town on the first Friday of the month downtown has a fun First Friday arts walk.

• Be mindful of when you’re visiting, it gets extraordinarily hot in the summer months but has a lovely climate the rest of the year.

• Be sure to check out Scottsdale while you’re in the area as well—recommendations below!

• Doing a Southwest road trip? Check out my Tucson guide here, Sedona guide here, Las Vegas guide here, and my Grand Canyon guide here!

Adventures & Ales Top Phoenix Recommendations:

• Wren House Brewing Company: The best brewery in the Phoenix area! Their beers are delicious and they have a cute little taproom with a back patio. They also have a taproom in Prescott, AZ.

• Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company: A fantastic brewery with a location in downtown Phoenix and in Gilbert, AZ. The beers are delicious and the vibes are even better. They have a superb patio space, frequent live music, cocktails, wine and a full kitchen including brunch. They are very focused on local ingredients and Earth-friendly practices. It is a popular spot, but worth the crowds.

• The Wandering Tortoise: A fantastic beer bar with 21 taps and a wide selection of cans and bottles as well. They have frequent tap takeovers and great vibes all around.

• The Theodore: A great beer bar downtown offering 5, 10 or 16oz pours which I love. This is a super cute spot with an outside area as well. They have 24 taps and a great can and bottle selection.

• Deseo—A Coffee Shack: A very cute Mexican inspired coffee shop. They have unique drinks and delicious pastries.

• The Shop Beer Co.: A good brewery in Tempe with a really nice patio. They have 15 taps with a nice variety of beers to choose from.

• Greenwood Brewing: A great woman-owned brewery with a small, cute taproom and nice outdoor patio. The beers here are solid and they do a lot of distribution as well. You can get local food delivered if you’re hungry!

• Wayward Tap House: A nice little beer bar with a good selection of local and non-local brews. They have a patio space as well and chill vibes.

  • Testal Mexican Kitchen: A nice spot for Mexican eats including vegan options and delicious burritos is right across the street. Grand Avenue has several shops and restaurants to pop around.

• Pedal Haus Brewery: A solid restaurant-style brewery with great vibes. They have a downtown Phoenix taproom and their main brewery is in Tempe. In Phoenix they have an awesome rooftop and fun space overall. Be sure to check out their happy hour! They’ve got a full food menu, cocktails and wine alongside their house beers.

Piestewa Peak Summit Trail

Phoenix Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting:

• Piestewa Peak Summit Trail: This trail is rated hard and is 3.65 miles long with 1148ft of elevation gain. From the summit you have a great view of all of the Phoenix area and Phoenix Mountains Preserve. Despite its steepness it is still a very popular trail due to its proximity to downtown. Be aware during the hot months of the year the trail is closed from 11am-5pm.

• Hole in the Rock Trail: A very short walk up to a hole in a rock that you can climb into and look out over Phoenix. This is a very popular “trail” that is .2 miles long with 32ft of elevation gain. Located in Papago Park.

• The Churchill: An open air food court with several small businesses to eat, drink and shop at. Check out Stoop Kid for bagels, coffee and burgers.

• ‘A’ Mountain Hayden Butte Trail: A short .9 mile trail with 279ft of elevation gain in Tempe on ASU’s campus. This is a very “classic Phoenix” hike with solid views. Unfortunately only paid parking is nearby the trailhead.

• Desert Botanical Gardens: A unique botanical garden with loop trails featuring different plants. Tickets are $29.95 each and it is located in Papago Park.

Hole in the Rock

Other Phoenix Things To Do:

• Tombstone Brewing: This is an interesting spot. The beers were good but the vibes were a bit off for me. Their Phoenix location is in a strip mall with somewhat trashy vibes and not great service. They have a food menu as well and the pretzel is tasty. The main taproom is in Tombstone, AZ.

• Stay at the Hampton Inn: This is a nice and new hotel right downtown. You can walk all over from here, but the only downside is they do not have onsite parking. 

• O.H.S.O. Brewery and Distillery: Outrageous Homebrewers Social Outpost has 4 locations across the greater Phoenix area. The Arcadia taproom has a full food menu including happy hour and brunch. It is a very large space with a front patio, back patio and a huge indoor space as well. They are a brewery and distillery and next door they have a market with a slightly different menu.

• Huss Brewing Company: An average brewery with a full food menu and full bar. They have a large taproom and spacious patio and are housed at the convention center.

• Press Coffee: A nice spot for coffee in central downtown. They have a small food menu as well and ample seating.

• Angel’s Trumpet Ale House: A 60’s style beer bar with a full food menu. They have a nice beer garden space and an average selection of beers.

• Skip: DoubleTree near the airport. I would highly recommend not staying at this hotel. The AC and WiFi are both spotty at best, it’s loud, and did not feel super clean.

Wine Girl

Scottsdale Recommendations:

• The Canal Club: An adorable spot for brunch. It is a bit boujee but the food is delicious so it’s worth it!

• Wine Girl: An adorable wine bar with a small food menu and Instagram-y vibes.

• Trevor’s: A great beer bar, bottle shop and liquor store. They have 24 taps and a cocktail list with a massive selection of cans, bottles, and liquors. Trevor’s has a nice patio space and frequent food trucks.

• Goldwater Brewing Co.: A good brewery with chill vibes and a beer garden out back. They brew many different styles of beer, but their IPAs are what they do best.

• Hotel Adeline: A nice hotel with a killer pool. They host pool parties in the hotter months and have a full bar, cabanas, DJs, and more.

• Merkin Vineyards: A cool spot for wine with tastings, glasses and bottles alongside a food menu.

• LDV Winery: Another Old Town winery option directly across the street from Merkin. They have a nice patio and tasty wines.

• Farm to Craft: A cute restaurant for brunch, lunch and dinner with great cocktails.

• Breakfast Club: A brunch spot with an extensive fresh made juice selection.

• Julio’s Too: A delicious restaurant for authentic Mexican food.

September & October 2022

September and October brought more fantastic adventures & ales—who would’ve guessed!

In September I spent 17 days exploring the Southwest in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tucson, Sedona, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, the greater Las Vegas area, Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park.

October brought the Snallygaster beer fest in Washington D.C. with a stop in Richmond on the way and a relaxing mountain weekend in Bryson City, NC! I also had the privilege of visiting Asheville twice and spending lots of quality time in Charlotte!

All of this lead to some killer beers—below is my top beers in September and October, in no particular order:

All We Become Is Just Dirt In The Ground at Burial Beer Company in Charlotte, NC

This is an Imperial IPA mashed with oats and barley, whirlpooled with Incognito, Cryo, and Phantasm, made from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc skins, then double dry-hopped with Simcoe, Citra, El Dorado, and doses of Citra and El Dorado Cryo.

Burial continues to put out bangers from all sides of the spectrum—Pilsners, IPAs, Stouts—you name it. It is surreal to think that their Charlotte taproom has only been open for 5 months, so many great beers have already been had here!

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything collaboration brew from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY and Root + Branch Brewing in Copiague, NY

This is an Imperial IPA with Citra, Riwaka and Motueka hops from two of the best IPA breweries in the country—Other Half and Root + Branch. I was luck enough to have this one on draft at Other Half’s Washington D.C. taproom and in a can from the release in NYC and I loved it both times!

Cake Day from Bottle Logic Brewing in Anaheim, CA at The Wandering Tortoise in Phoenix, AZ

Cake Day is a Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Chocolate Cake Stout aged in a combination of Bernheim, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, and Old Fitzgerald barrels with a blend of Ghanaian and Ecuadorian cacao nibs, vanilla frosting and sprinkles. This was brewed to celebrate Bottle Logic’s 8th Anniversary and was truly superb. The Wandering Tortoise is a fantastic beer bar in Phoenix with a huge draft list and fantastic can and bottle selection as well.

Double Dry Hopped Double Citra Daydream from Other Half Brewing in New York, NY

This is an Imperial Oat Cream IPA with Citra pellets and Citra Lupulin. Other Half does it again—no surprise there. This was a stellar brew and the perfect accompaniment for a relaxing weekend in the mountains.

The Heart of Chaos Triple IPA from Fidens Brewing in Colonie, NY at Snallygaster

The Heart of Chaos is a Triple IPA with Citra, Nelson and Mosaic hops. This was brewed to celebrate 3 years of Fidens! This was my favorite beer from the Snallygaster beer festival in D.C. and a delicious brew.

Dagligt intag collaboration brew from Trillium Brewing in Boston, MA and Omnipollo in Sundbyberg, Sweden

This is a Fruited Berliner Weisse with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries and milk sugar. Trillium and Omnipollo’s collabs are always next level, but Dagligt Intag took it to the extreme. This beer is absolutely loaded with fruits but is still incredibly balanced and delicious.

Spellbinder at Wren House Brewing in Phoenix, AZ

Spellbinder is Wren House’s house Hazy IPA with Cascade, Mosaic and Citra hops. This beer won gold in the Hazy/Juicy IPA category at Great American Beer Festival in 2020, so I am not alone in my assertion that this is a fantastic beer. I enjoyed everything I had at Wren House and the vibes were great as well.

Check back next month to see my top beers of November!
Cheers—Alexis