Craft beer has seen a massive increase in popularity in recent years, but the breweries have been around much longer. Arizona is a haven for those that follow the craft, and the movement has been spearheaded by a group of breweries that have eschewed macro for the sake of bringing unique flavors to the populace. With more and more folks following the movement, it’s as good a time as any to see what’s out there.
That is why we bring you Desert Brews. The idea behind this series is to bring to light the histories of the breweries closest to ASU campuses and the brewers behind them — an effort to highlight the dedication and goals of each. This week, we are looking at SunUp Brewing and talk to its primary fermenter, Uwe Boer.
Not far from the Downtown campus, on the eternally-busy Camelback Road, is SunUp Brewing, a small location with big ambitions and a friendly environment. The brewery itself occupies the same space as a restaurant, where visitors pick from selections like barbecued pork sandwiches and shrimp salads off a wide-reaching menu.
A cozy, wood-laced interior surrounds the small bar, where it’s hard to miss the chalkboards scrawled with the current selection of brews. A cursory glance to the brewery outside, however, will reveal that SunUp isn’t shy about its most recent achievement. Just a few weeks ago, they were the recipient of Phoenix New Times’ Best Local Beer award for the brewery's White Russian Imperial Stout, which is described as a combination of vanilla, mint, coffee and chocolate flavors by the publication.
Those that have followed the brewery's endeavors since its inception know that the name “SunUp” is a relatively new title. Uwe Boer, SunUp’s primary fermenter and a native of Germany, began brewing in 1996. He says the story of the brewery, “a bit complicated.”
“We used to be the Sonoran Brewing Company,” he said. “Then this pub, which is now called the brewery, was called the Sonora Brewhouse.”
Boer said he brewed beer offsite at Sonoran Brewing Company to be at Sonora Brewhouse and other pubs and brewhouses around the state.
“Through some changes in ownership and distribution, we became SunUp Brewing Company,” he said.
The name has stuck with Boer and the brewery since 2009. The location formerly known as the Sonora Brewhouse became a restaurant in 2001, with changes beginning three years later.
“In 2004, we started expansion into the building next door where we put the small brewery,” Boer said. “That is taking care of the pub production still to this day.
That distribution, according to Boer, started in Maricopa County, but it will soon expand to northern and southern Arizona. Plans to expand out of state will not be happening in the near future, Boer said.
Additionally, the company found a building in downtown Phoenix that will pull double duty as a larger production and distribution facility and tasting room. However, Boer mentioned that it won’t be available for a while.
Recalling the early years of 1996, Boer brought up a selection of different beers crafted under the Sonoran name. It began with an American-style hefeweizen (a wheat beer), an amber ale and a pale ale.
“Those were the three we started off with,” he said. “Then I added the porter, which is the same porter (at SunUp), but I started adding vanilla beans to it. It became more popular than the original.”
Later came an Indian pale ale in the late '90s, which the company still brews today following the same recipe and brewing methods.
In comparing the brewery's start in 1996 to today, Boer emphatically said there was a huge difference. They went from using pieced together equipment to upgrading their utilities
Over the last two years, under new ownership, SunUp has started experimenting more with new beers.
“We’ve really gone out on a limb with coming up with different beer styles,” he said. “It seems like the public does like change and likes new things to try, so we’re trying to do that and have a larger variety.”
That’s on top of the 14 beers the brewery has on tap that include cask ales, which he calls “a big thing.” If you ask him for his favorite, Boer couples a smile with a resounding “no.”
“People always ask me which one’s my favorite, and I say, ‘What time of day is it?’,” he said with a laugh.
"There is just so much good beer out there these days, and I appreciate anything that’s well made — it might not even be a beer that I normally like. There’s so much good stuff out there,” he said.
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Reach the reporter at damionjrohman@gmail.com or follow @legendpenguin on Twitter
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