Twisted Cactus Brewing Company, a new brew pub from the owners of just-closed Unwined Bar & Bistro in Ahwatukee, opens today on the northwest corner of McClintock and Ray in Chandler.
It takes over the 1,600-square-foot strip-mall space that formerly housed Nosh, which closed in September 2015.
Earlier this week, Jeff and Karen Stefl, along with sons Steven and Alex Erkelens, closed their Ahwatukee wine bar after an impasse with the landlord during negotiations for a new lease.
The brewing operation, overseen by Steven, actually started at Unwined, where they intended to add their own beers to the bar’s offerings and self-distribute to other bars.
But after deciding to close the 135-seat Unwined, they switched plans and found the vacant Nosh space to launch Twisted Cactus as its own entity.
‘‘This is perfect for what we were looking for,’’ Karen Stefl says. ‘‘We wanted to have a smaller tasting room with the same kind of food as Unwined.’’
Their plan, the Stefls say, is to reopen Unwined in its own new location, as well as open two additional Twisted Cactus locations, likely including one in Gilbert, in 2017.
With a small, half-barrel brewing system, Twisted Cactus plans to make five beers: A pale ale, an IPA, a saison, a stout, and a brown ale.
The brewpub still is waiting for its final TTB approval, which it expects to get next week. Until then it cannot brew.
For now, just guest beers are on Twisted Cactus’ six taps. Three more taps will be installed next week. Eventually there will be a dozen.
The full bar also sells 11 wines by the bottle or glass, along with cocktails.
The cozy interior seats just 48 people, including six at a small wood-and-brick bar. There is no patio.
The lunch-and-dinner menu offers mostly burgers and sandwiches in the $7-$8 range instead of Unwined’s more extensive menu of entrees. Most sauces, dressings, and condiments are made in-house.
A weekend brunch menu is planned.
Happy hour specials include a rotating beer special, $5-$7.50 glasses of wine, and food discounts from 4-6 p.m. every day.
Twisted Cactus opens at 11 a.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. weekends. Closing times will be established by demand.
