Tucson’s newest brewery joins ‘25 Craft Beer Crawl

Slow Body Beer, which Lawrence Combs and Corey Shaver opened last June at 831 E. 17 St., is among more than 30 mostly local breweries pouring their beers at 14 downtown locations from 1-6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22.

You can find Slow Body at Corbett’s, the pickleball-themed restaurant on North Sixth Avenue, alongside beers from Tucson’s Pueblo Vida Brewing and Dragoon Brewing, and a trio of national brewers.

Combs said Slow Body beers are for “drinking with pals,” unassuming beers that “don’t necessarily want to be the star of the show.”

“I think that facilitates great experiences at the brewery and a super accessible brand,” he said.

Combs had been working in the brewing industry since 2014, getting his start at Pueblo Vida Brewing. He and Shaver moved to Vermont to get hands-on brewing experience before settling back in Tucson and starting Slow Body.

“My job experiences are definitely the foundation of my knowledge, but I don’t want to discount how important it has been just chatting with industry friends and bouncing new ideas off of each other,” Combs said.

“The goal was always to be a community space first and foremost and make lovely little lagers and session beers for this town that we love so much,” he added.

Slow Body Beer has six employees and hosts events in their taproom that have gained a big following.

The beer also is available on tap around Tucson, including at Tap and Bottle, Westbound in the MSA Annex, Caps and Corks, the newly opened The Broadway in Tucson’s historic Sunshine Mile, Time Market, Tucson Hop Shop and BATA in the Warehouse Arts District.

Slow Body Beer specializes in lagers and keeps its flagship Pils, Helles and Blue on tap. Its rotating menu features a selection of IPAs, including a West Coast and Hazy IPA.

The Czech-style Blue Beer, a pale lager, is one of Combs’ favorites. It’s made with a heavy dose of blue corn masa that’s nixtamalized and grinded in-house for every batch. The warm, inviting, bitter beer is what Combs said he recommends and reaches for at the end of the day.

In addition to the beer, this year’s Tucson Craft Beer Crawl, produced by Tucson Foodie, will have live music and food trucks along the route, which has venues from North Sixth Avenue to East Broadway, including stops along East Congress Street, East Toole Avenue and North Fourth Avenue.

This is the first crawl for Corbett’s, built on the historic site of Corbett Lumber and Hardware Company at 340 N. Sixth Ave. The restaurant, with indoor and outdoor pickleball courts and a beer garden, is down the street from Corbett Brewing at 309 E. Seventh St., which also is a stop on the crawl.

Participating breweries include Tucson’s Borderlands, Barrio Brewing, Bawker Bawker Cider House, BlackRock Brewers, Button Brew House, Catalina Brewing, Corbett Brewing, Crooked Tooth Brewing Co., Harbottle Brewing Co., Iron John’s Brewing Co., MotoSonora Brewing Co., Brickbox (formerly Thunder Canyon Brewing), Dragoon, Pueblo Vida, Ray Ray’s Sonoran Spirit Tea, Screwbean and Slow Body Beer Co.

Southern Arizona breweries include Tirrito Farm brewing of Willcox and Sonoita’s Copper Brothel Brewery.

Statewide breweries include Flagstaff’s Mother Road Brewing, Arizona Wilderness Brewing out of Gilbert, Kingman’s Black Bridge Brewing, Huss Brewing of Tempe, SanTan Brewing, Ranch Hand Brewing from Eloy, SunUp Brewing of Phoenix and AZ Loc-Ale Beer Co. of Chandler.

Out-of-state and national brewers expected to be on tap include Oskar Blues Brewery, BJ’s Restaurant and Brewing, Sun Cruiser, New Belgium and Mexico’s Buqui Bichi Brewing.

In addition to the venues listed, beer crawl venues include Crooked Tooth, 228 E. Sixth St.; Bawker Bawker Cider House, 400 N. Fourth Ave.; TraXide Taproom, 402 E. Ninth St.; R Bar, 350 E. Congress St.; Empire Pizza, 137 E. Congress St.; HighWire, 30 S Arizona Ave.; Borderlands, 119 E Toole Ave.; Playground, 278 E. Congress St.; The Monica, 40 E. Congress St.; and Sonora Moonshine Company, 124 E. Broadway.

Tickets are $50, and no one under 21 is admitted. Designated drivers get in for free, and Tucson Foodie members are $25 through tucsoncraftbeercrawl.com. Admission includes a commemorative tasting glass and 2-ounce beer samples.