Have you ever fantasized with coworkers about opening your own bar or brewery? For five Intel employees, it’s about to become a reality.
Desert Monks Brewing will open at noon Saturday at Gilbert Town Square, a shopping and entertainment complex on Gilbert Road between Warner and Ray (map) in Gilbert.
Co-owners Arturo Ruiz, Jose Hinojosa, Daniel Rosales-Yeomans, and husband and wife Chris and Sommer Decker all work at Intel. They began homebrewing together and eventually decided to open a brewery.
‘‘We looked at thousands of names,’’ Ruiz says. ‘‘But when we started researching them, we found they all were taken.’’
Finally, the fivesome held a meeting. Each came up with three names, and the group voted. Desert Monks was the winner, although no one is quite sure who suggested it.
‘‘It was Sommer, I think,’’ Ruiz says.
After looking at some industrial areas in Chandler, the fivesome zeroed in on Gilbert Town Square, where the buildout has taken nearly a year.
‘‘Our goal was to open at the beginning of the summer,’’ Ruiz says. ‘‘One thing after another happened.’’
Now, though, Desert Monks is ready. The 3,000-square-foot space is split into 1,200 for the brewhouse and 1,800 for a taproom with 20 handles.
The 5-barrel dual brewing system has produced five beers for the grand opening: a smoked Hefeweizen, a porter, a Kölsch, a guava-infused tropical ale, and a hoppy blonde.
Tap offerings this weekend also will include five ‘‘guest’’ beers, kombucha, and two house-brewed sodas – root beer and vanilla cream soda.
The 54-seat, window-lined taproom has a nine-person bar, a high community table, two lounge-like seating areas, and three TVs. A sidewalk patio is in the future plans.
There is no kitchen, but the brewery will set up a rotating schedule of food trucks. It’s also arranging delivery options from nearby restaurants like Not Your Typical Deli and Sal’s Gilbert Pizza.
For now, all five co-owners, who are keeping their jobs at Intel, will share all duties at Desert Monks, including taking turns brewing.
‘‘We really looking forward to being part of the local brewing community,’’ Ruiz says.
Desert Monks Brewing is open 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday, noon-11 p.m. Saturday, and noon-8 p.m. Sunday.
