Lost in all the hoopla of Arizona Beer Week last week was the Arizona debut of Hess Brewing. Now that things have settled down, though, the San Diego brewery and some of its staff are celebrating with official rollout parties tonight at World of Beer in Gilbert and Tempe.
Mike Hess launched his nanobrewery – a tiny 1.6-barrel system in an 800-square-foot garage – in July 2010. In its first three months, it managed to produce just 28 kegs of beer. By last year, though, Hess had grown to two locations, one of which has a 30-barrel brewing system.
From 5-7 p.m. today at WOB Gilbert, Hess beers on tap will be: Grazias (Vienna cream ale), Jucundus (orange honey wheat), Solis (IPA), Habitus (IPA), Magna Cucurbita (pumpkin stout), Reficio (pilsner), Restauro Rye Weizen (roggenbier), and Ficus (dark Belgian ale with figs).
From 7:30-9:30 at WOB Tempe, the beers will be: Grazias, Jucundus, Solis, Habitus, Magna Cucurbita, Dryadalis (Belgian IPA), Ex Umbris (rye imperial stout), and Ordeum Rex (barley wine).
Hess will start by shipping five core beers to the Valley market: Grazias, Jucundus, Solis, Habitus, and Claritas (Kölsch).
