11/29/2017 Helton Brewing Co. 2144 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ. 85016 phone: 602-730-2739   website: HeltonBrewing.com
Hours: Monday – Thursday 11:00 to 11:00 | Friday – 11:00 to 12:00 | Saturday – 11:00 to 12:00 | Sunday – 11:00 to 9:00

Experience before you go . . .

"I've got to have this!" I'm digging on the bottom shelf way back in the corner of the 50,000 sq.ft. wholesale warehouse of Indus Design in Tempe Arizona and I come across an old dented, dusty curved thing....I blow off the dust, I do the underarm rub to get off more of the dust and grime....there it is, the coolest curved copper horn I've ever seen. ????? The owner tell us it's a very old Tibetan horn, gives us a price and we add it to the pile of other one-off items we discount at this fabulous design warehouse.

We're in the Scottsdale area again doing the furniture design thing and having some fun doing it. We finish trying to find things we can't live without and my stomach is growling for some lunch. We decide to have lunch at the Hermosa Inn, a polished boutique hotel with a great little restaurant....along with our boutique fire oven pizza, boutique Maui Maui Tacos and my first boutique prickly pear bourbon, we managed to leave there with a smile on our face.

Once in the car, I pull out my trusty phone and open up my go-to app of AroundMe and lookie here .....Helton Brewing Co. only 2.75 miles away. "Did someone say beer"......I guess it was me. Around the corner we go, up the road a bit, a couple lane changes, I scope out a really big Helton Brewing sign on the right side from about a block away and we pull up into the parking lot and bing, bang, boom the Hoppin Brewery Tour strikes again. Kat and I jump out of the car and set up for the front sign selfie and with such a big sign it was a little tough, but we managed and once taken we head for the front door. Wow, is really all I could say. Huge space, combination of high top and normal top tables with chairs and behind them and to the right center is a big u-shaped bar. To the right and separated by a partial wall is a similar sized large space with pool tables more sitting and on both ends of this space we have metal garage doors that all open up for that open air feel....very nice!!

Up to the bar I go where we have one other beer lover on the far side with papers spread out, an ear bud hiding with hands moving and conducting bidness at a pretty high pace......welcome to the mobile office of 2017! Behind the bar we have Dixie, great energy and happy to see us, greets us with big smile. I only ask for a couple tastes, a four ouncer of Helton IPA (7.7%, 75 IBU) trifecta on the hops, centennial, chinook and columbus balances out for a smooth tasting citrus, floral and fruity IPA....very enjoyable! As I'm getting ready to order up another taste, a prematurely gray young man gets handed my bidness card from Dixie and he approaches me and come to find out it's Brian the owner. Only open for 18 months but Brian is a veteran when it comes to brewing craft beer. Nineteen years in the industry, Brewmaster and Certified Cicerone which in this industry is a very difficult certification to achieve. Brian gave me a tour of the 10,000 square foot warehouse/taproom which was very impressive and offers room for growth. It's always a fabulous thing to see pure entrepreneurial spirit at its best. Brian has accepted the small business challenge that so many dream about but few have pulled the trigger. The trigger has been pulled and from the looks of things Brian you're a pretty good shot...metaphorically speaking. Best of luck to you Brian and godspeed!!

Until next time and remember.........

Go get'cha one!!