Prescott Arizona brewery highlights
We got to visit two breweries in Prescott, Arizona recently; the Prescott Brewing Company and the LazyG Brewhouse. These were two very different experiences and show why the craft brew scene is so much fun.
Prescott Brewing Company
We’ve been here before and last time was a lark. We were driving through Prescott on our way home from Sedona and Peggy mentioned that there is a brewery in town. We naturally had to stop.
Prescott Brewing Company is located in an older multi-story building in what amounts to an indoor courtyard. As we did last time we sat in the courtyard.
Since there’s no more magical combination than pizza and beer we chose to go that route. Our very friendly server indicated that it was happy hour and that we could get a deal on beer and the appetizers so we started there sharing one of their stuffed potatoes. Our choice was the barbecue brisket which was absolutely terrific.
Of course the potato was a huge potato and there was sour cream, green onions, cheddar and the brisket in a barbecue sauce.
But then she also said that if we get a pizza, also on special, it comes with four beers and the whole thing was like $20. Who could pass that up and we’re glad we didn’t because we got the Buffalo Chicken pizza which had a terrific sourdough thin crust upon which was a good amount of buffalo-spiced chicken along with gorgonzola spread, green onions, mozzarella, gorgonzola crumbles and a tangy sauce.
It. Was. Fantastic.
The beer, too, was really top notch
I wish I had gotten the specifics on the beer, but I didn’t. However I did enjoy their Ponderosa IPA which was a nice hoppy but not overly so IPA. I also had a Prescott Pale Ale which features Northern Brewer, Liberty & Chinook hops in the boil and Willamette hops on the finish and is definitely one of those beers that would be appreciated by hop enthusiasts, of which I count myself one.
Peggy had the PBC Willow Wheat which is a traditional American-style wheat beer and a good example of the category.
But the PBV Achocolypse was uh-mazing. Apparently they’ve been working on this brew for three years to get it to where it is today and I don’t doubt that the effort was well worth it.
This is an already outstanding porter base but then they add dark and bitter chocolates to the brew and it is just every bit as delightful as you would imagine it to be. If I had one take away from Prescott Brewing Company it would be this Achocolypse chocolate porter.
I could even see making ice cream floats with this or just enjoying it with some light dessert. Yum.
LazyG Brewhouse
The story of the LazyG Brewhouse is that it used to be an RV park and the owners had a brewery on their bucket list having traveled in an RV and met at a brewery.
The brewmaster here is Travis Smith who was a brewing rockstar in San Diego but moved to Prescott to just get back to enjoying the beer again.
LazyG has a large main brewhouse that has indoor seating and a huge number of taps of their own beer plus guest beers. There’s also a large outdoor patio with long picnic tables, a stage and a vintage trailer with several taps in it.
Since we’re around the Oktoberfest time of year I had to try their Wohnwagen Festbier which is a German-inspired lager and even served in proper Oktoberfest mugs. At 4.9% Alcohol By Volume (ABV) it’s not a heavy beer but it certainly is on par with the German beers I’ve had in the past and is a delightfully drinkable brew.
Peggy had the Odell Sippin’ Tropical Sour Ale which actually comes from Fort Collins, Colorado and is a tropical, sour ale with pineapple, passion fruit and tangerine with a touch of Himalayan pink sea salt. It was quite incredible with a salty, tropical flavor that was really unexpected.
We also had the Brewhouse Pretzels which are actually almost bread sticks that are pretzels with a nice cheese sauce.
We also had the Brewhouse Poutine which, to our surprise, was tater tots, beer cheese, bacon crumbled, shredded cheese and green onions and is just the kind of greasy, wonderful appetizers you could want.
Owners Jim and Jean-Marie Bellington are clearly and absolutely having a good time with this place. The atmosphere, team and just vibe are a lot of fun. There’s a vintage trailer outside in their large patio which has taps in it along with a stage for entertainment and the seating is at long picnic tables almost like in a Bavarian brewery.
In some ways I’m glad this place isn’t closer because I’d be here a lot. A whole lot. It’s just my vibe and the beer, food and service were all terrific.
Notice, though, that I only had one beer. Surprising! But we sat outside and, in Arizona, that means you can smoke and the people around us must have seen that as some sort of a challenge too see just how much they could smoke. I would absolutely go back without question but I would make sure not to sit near the smokers.
When we went, which is apparently pretty normal, it was absolutely packed so we didn’t have a choice but it did tarnish my experience as I have allergies to something in cigarettes plus I just hate them.
But, still. If you’re in Prescott you can’t go wrong with either of these two places for either what they serve or the terrific manner in which they serve it.
