Stoutmeister wraps up his short trip through Arizona with a visit to the just-opened North Mountain Brewing in Phoenix and a quick stop by SanTan Brewing in Chandler. Despite all the beer and baseball, he should come home to ABQ soon.

The only unfortunate thing about where my friend Chuck lives in the north end of Phoenix is that he is so, so far from any of Maricopa County’s microbreweries. Or, should I say, he WAS far away. Just 10 days before my visit, North Mountain Brewing Co. finally opened its doors on Dunlap, just west of 7th Street in the Sunnyslope neighborhood.

Let me just say that NMBC (not to be confused with those of us in the NMDSBC … hmm, maybe I’ll skip the acronyms) went all out. I felt like I was visiting the lovechild of a standard brewery and a high-class restaurant. The menu is aimed at the “foodies” out there, but with enough traditional foods to please the average man (or woman). I won’t review the food, that’s for other folks, but all I will say is that they could use bigger portions. Beer drinkers are hungry people. Or maybe that was just me.

Anyway, onto the beer. I was provided with generously-sized samples of North Mountain’s first six beers — James Brown Ale, Griffin ESB, Soiled Dove Dirty Blonde Ale, Patience Pays Pale Ale, Mit Hefe, Sunny Slope Stout. The Stout and the JB Ale were my personal favorites, but I always lean toward the darker beers. Like most Arizona breweries, even North Mountain’s darker beers tend to be lighter in texture so they can fit the ultra-warm climate. They still have flavor, but the mouthfeel is thinner than what you’d normally expect from brown ales or stouts or porters in New Mexico.

The Mit Hefe was a fairly standard wheat beer. It’s not my genre, but it’s drinkable enough even for a guy like me, so take that for what it’s worth. North Mountain’s idea of a blonde is a little different than most golden ales. It’s a little thicker, more bitter in flavor. I was told it did not quite turn out the way the brewer had intended. For a burlier beer drinker, it’s fine, but when the weather passes “surface of the sun” hot in June, they might want to make it a little lighter, a little sweeter.

The pale ale lacks the hops we have in New Mexico. I’ve come to realize that with a few exceptions (Colorado, California, Oregon) most states don’t embrace hops on the same level. I was told that North Mountain is working on an IPA; hopefully that will make up for the lack of hops. The rest of the beer was fine, about what you’d expect malt-wise from a pale ale.

If there was a disappointment, it was the ESB. It just did not taste like an ESB, at least not one I’ve had. I’ll stick with the ESB at Second Street. In contrast, the James Brown Ale was quite good, offering up some malty sweetness and a little bit of a nutty undertone. It was Chuck’s favorite, so I have a feeling locals will embrace it. The stout was, like I said, something that came off good at the forefront of the palate, with strong roasted flavors, but the back end almost lightened out too much. It could stand to be a little tougher and meaner, but in Arizona, it’s all about the light and breezy. (Also, did I mention I stood in the Arizona sun for three-plus hours Tuesday watching the Dodgers’ minor-league players face off with their Reds counterparts on a back field at Camelback Ranch? So if you’ve ever wondered “is Stoutmeister deep down a really insane person?” you now have your answer.)

All in all it was a nice debut lineup from North Mountain. They have all the makings of an ambitious, driven brewery, with a little bit of adventurous nature to make their beers stand apart. Throw in the artisan food, and I have a feeling they’ll find an audience, and not just among the close-by folks like Chuck who lacked a neighborhood brewpub, but also by people throughout the Valley of the Sun.

* * *

Following my day in the sun, I drove across the metro area to Chandler to revisit one of my favorite breweries in Arizona, SanTan. They had the absolutely wonderful Sex Panther (Double Chocolate Porter) on tap again this year. It’s an awesome sweet-but-surly porter, finding that proper balance that other chocolate beers have struggled to find (looking at you, super-sweet Odell’s Lugene).

I would have tried some other SanTan beers, but there was nothing new seasonal-wise beyond what I had last year, plus I was really, really tired and just wanted my porter and a burger and some time to catch up with another friend while the Dominican Republic beat Puerto Rico 3-0 in the World Baseball Classic championship game on the TVs above the bar.

This short visit did not offer me enough time to visit some other new breweries like Desert Eagle in Mesa or Fate Brewing in north Scottsdale, but that plus the neverending fun of spring training should keep me coming back in springs to come.

As you read this, I’ll be heading up I-17 to I-40, with a (very probable) stop in Flagstaff at one of their breweries. It’ll probably be Beaver Street again, just because they have food, but we shall see. From there, it’s back to New Mexico for some relaxation in these last two weeks before the Isotopes’ season begins on April 4. And plenty of that relaxation will involve beer at NM breweries, as it should be.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister