Last October, Mouth by Southwest broke the news Cartel Coffee owner David Arnce (pictured above, far right) planned to spin off his then-3-year-old Cartel Brewery into a separate business with its own location.
It took 10 months, but Cartel Brewery opens its new home – and gets a new name, The Shop Beer Co. – this weekend.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, doors open at the brewery’s new location on a narrow but deep piece of property near the northeast corner of Hardy and First Street (map) in Tempe.
There are several structures:
- Closest to the street, a small house that has been converted into a, 1,100-square-foot taproom that can accommodate 69 people.
- Behind the taproom, a beer garden – with picnic tables and a colorful mural created by Arnce – that can seat another 100 people.
- Behind that, another building with the restrooms, offices, and the new 20-barrel brewhouse, including a window to watch the brewing.
- And, farthest back, a large drive-in cooler stacked with hundreds of kegs and a few oak barrels.
Cartel Brewery was born in late 2012 when brewing equipment was installed next to Cartel Coffee in downtown Tempe. It started with a tiny half-barrel system and eventually was enlarged to a 7-barrel system.
Its beers are sold at all five Cartel coffeehouses and about 20 accounts (bars and restaurants) in the Valley.
The new taproom has 18 taps, 16 of which will be dedicated to beers. Just four beers will be on tap Saturday, including 480 Session Ale and Coffee Brown Nitro.
Two new beers will make their debuts: Sunset Daydream, a tropical IPA, and The Nines, a hoppy red ale. Other new beers will be tapped during the first week.
Eventually, brewmaster Matt Johnson plans to have 12 of his own beers on tap, plus four guest beers. Look for guest beers cfrom McFate, Huss, Wren House, and other locals.
Before that, though, Johnson has to get the new brewhouse up and running. Right now, he’s in the final stages of electrical wiring and hopes to be brewing next week.
Fortunately, he built up a large inventory before shutting down the old brewhouse (which has been sold to Prison Hill Brewing in Yuma) to supply the taproom, Cartel locations, and other accounts in the interim.
There’s no kitchen at The Shop, but Arnce plans to bring in food trucks.
The property only has 29 parking spots, but there will be several bike racks available.
The Shop Beer Company’s hours will be 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday, and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.
(Photo credits: Top and bottom photos courtesy of The Shop Beer Co. Others by MXSW.)
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