Dig into these delicious food and beer pairings at Phoenix breweries and restaurants.

Arizona’s craft beer scene has been buzzing for more than a decade and as the brews have grown up, so have the bites. Taprooms go well beyond a bowl of pretzels these days, with many offering full-service restaurants with a range of menu choices that make sipping their beers all that much better.

 

HUSS Brewing Co.

Husband and wife team Jeff and Leah Huss helped pioneer the craft beer community in Arizona at some of the state’s first breweries before opening their own in 2013. While the original taproom in Tempe is comfortable and eclectic, it doesn’t have a restaurant or food. Instead, stop in at the Uptown Taproom or the Downtown Brewpub where there’s a menu of small bites and noshes and a steady rotation of Huss brews.

Try the black bean nachos with the Copper State IPA. The citrusy hops play double duty with the green chili salsa by matching the flavors of the salsa and also letting the heat gradually intensify.

For a more classic pairing, need we say more than sausage and beer? Pair the sausage and pretzel board with a Scottsdale Blonde. The bright crisp Kolsch already has a natural bready flavor that pairs perfectly with a pretzel and it also sooth the saltiness of the sausage while it cuts through its fats. 

Three Greater Phoenix Locations

 

Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. 

Founders Jonathan Buford and Patrick Ware quickly became known for their creative craft beers, and a few months after opening their Gilbert location in 2013, Arizona Wilderness was named the best brewery in the world by RateBeers.com. 

The two have used ingredients in unorthodox ways, including using six whole pecan pies to make their Picacho Pecan Pie Brown Ale. Their ascendance led them to open up a beer garden in downtown Phoenix's Roosevelt Row, with a massive patio that is never sleepy, regardless of time or day. 

The brewery's dedication to locally sourced ingredients extends into their food too - their burgers are all made with Arizona grass fed beef. You can't go wrong with any of the food and drink options, but you can always start with the essentials: the flagship Refuge IPA, packed with some citrus hops, and an AZ Trail Burger, made with thick cut bacon, pepper jack, roasted jalapeños, lettuce, tomato, and sweet 'n' spicy sauce.

201 E. Roosevelt Street, Phoenix
(480) 462-1836

 

O.H.S.O

The “Outrageous Homebrewer’s Social Outpost” is a must for brunch lovers and their pups. O.H.S.O is known for its dog-friendly patios and Sunday Funday vibe, and has multiple locations around the Valley. In Arizona’s prime spring months, just follow the locals on their bikes to the original spot in Arcadia off the Indian School canal for the weekend Beer Brunch menu where every dish includes a 10-oz. pour of an Arizona beer (or a monster mimosa).

Serious brunchers won’t shy away from the chicken and waffles, a generous plate of Belgian waffles topped with crispy chicken, maple butter and spicy maple syrup. Enjoy it with O.H.S.O’s Morning Brew. This true breakfast beer defies common sense—it’s a coffee beer that’s light in color for full in aroma and coffee flavor. It’s brewed with oats and milk sugar and aged with coffee and vanilla beans with hints of almond and chocolate.

Four Greater Phoenix locations

 

Kai Restaurant

One sure sign that Arizona has come into its own as a beer city is when five-star restaurants include local beers in their menu pairings. Kai is a chance to have that next level experience. 

While dessert wine pairings are second nature for Kai’s wine director and sommelier Kevin Lewis, not so much for beer and sweets. His pairing of Kai’s Native Cactus course with THAT Brewery’s Strawberry Blonde Ale is a journey of textures and effervescence. The dish is truly a dessert with a prickly pear parfait, saguaro and wolfberry leather, nopales consommé and compressed cholla. The strawberry sweetness of the beer cuts through the acidity and adds a crisp, light finish to the course.

Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass
5594 Wild Horse Pass Blvd., Phoenix
(602) 225-0100

 

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