Arizona Beer Week is all about launches this year. From the all women-brewed “She’s So Hop” ale, to the opening of Catalina Brewing Co., the 10-day “week” is full to the brim.
But what makes this year really special, says Rob Fullmer, are the collaborations.
Microbreweries around the state have benefited from a bounty of opportunities made possible by the March passage of SB 1030, also known as the Arizona Beer Bill, says Fullmer, executive director of the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild, which puts on the annual brewfest.
“In the old days if you wanted to have a collaboration beer, you would have to brew them both in the location you wanted to sell them.” Fullmer says. In other words, if two small breweries wanted to sell each other’s beer, they’d both have to be brewed in both locations. Now, they can have taps with each other’s beer. Brewers can now also use someone else’s facility to brew up to 20 percent of their total sales. The combination means plenty of room for small-batch niche or specialty brews, which translates to lots of possibilities, Fullmer says.
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“It’s more to do these celebration beers or to get behind a cause,” he says. “The She’s so Hop beer is a great example.”
She’s so Hop is a red IPA brewed in honor of GoRed for Women, the American Heart Association’s campaign to educate about women’s heart health. Created in Tempe at Huss Brewing Co., the ale, made exclusively by women in the Arizona beer industry, will be on taps Feb. 11, the festival’s opening day.
“It was super awesome that all of the women came from all over the state to brew this beer,” said Linette Antillon who co-owns Pueblo Vida with her boyfriend, Kyle Jefferson. Pueblo Vida is among the breweries that will feature She’s so Hop starting Thursday. “We took all the women we have on our staff to Phoenix.
“It’s what beer week is all about here in Arizona …It’s so friendly, and we’ve all been able to collaborate.”
The four women from Pueblo Vida brought the total number who gathered to brew on Jan. 15 to around 100, said Tiffany Shultz, spokesperson for Arizona Beer Week and the Craft Brewers Guild. Shultz has been involved with Beer Week since its inception in 2011.
“I’ve watched it grow and I’ve watched the craft beer scene grow. We started out with 34 breweries in 2011, 32 were members of the Craft Brewers Guild, and now there are more than 75 across the state,” Shultz says.
Many of those brews will be flowing from taps right here in Tucson. Local events with names such as “Pueblo Vida hosts Flagstaff” and “Northern Arizona Craft Beer Tap Takeover” show the statewide sense of community that Rebecca Safford says makes the Arizona beer scene so special. Safford co-owns Tap and Bottle, 403 N. Sixth Ave., with her husband, Scott.
“But we’re not a brewery; we’re beer enthusiasts,” she says.
“It’s a great community and we love being able to put beer on tap from breweries we love going to.” Rebecca says. And those friendships span the state.
For example, she and Scott traveled to Flagstaff to hang out and brew for a day at Historic Brewing Co. The Tap and Bottle taproom will feature six Historic beers alongside six from Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in Gilbert at its kickoff event, “Tap Takeover with Arizona Wilderness and Historic!”
Safford says most of the people involved in Arizona beer not only know each other but the stories behind the beers.
“John (Adkisson) from Iron John’s hangs out at our place and tells us about what he’s brewing,” she says. “Being able to support him and follow up on that just feels great, it just really comes full circle. You really feel, as a small business owner, that you’re all in it together.”
The week’s central event, the Strong Beer Festival in Phoenix, includes 450 craft beers on tap from 130 breweries, including all the Tucson breweries except Catalina, which officially opens on the last day of the festival, Feb. 20, at 6918 N. Camino Martin.
Fullmer says the opening is among events he hopes to catch if he can get down to Tucson in the latter half of the week, especially because his work on SB 1030 kept him in the capital much of last year. He hopes this year will allow more sipping and less lobbying.
“I’ll be honest, when I got this job I thought I’d be all about the beer.” Fullmer says. “I really want to see what everyone’s got going on.”
Tucson events will be scattered all over town starting Thursday, Feb. 11. A list of events statewide are on the Arizona Beer Week website, and the Tucson happenings can be found at arizonabeerweek.com/tucson-events
