For two people who moved around Arizona- from Flagstaff to Marble Canyon to Bisbee (from 1990-1996), then back to Flagstaff and back to Bisbee- Joe and Natalie Fredrickson, co-owners, along with their son, Winston, of Electric Brewing at 1326 W Highway 92 (Suite 8), have called this town home (again) since 2019. “Joe wanted to go back to Bisbee ever since we left,” said Natalie, “and Flagstaff had gotten too big for me.”
Before the couple moved back to Bisbee, Joe had started his own business, Apex Brewing Supply, and wanted to be near a port to run it. “I thought I could run the business from Bisbee,” said Joe. Which is what he started doing when they moved back; however, the COVID-19 pandemic was pretty much the nail in the coffin for that business venture.
Without an income coming in for the family after the business folded, Joe and Natalie figured they had to do something. With Joe’s prior experience (in 1990) working for Electric Dave, founder/brewer of the first microbrewery in Arizona, and his experience with homebrewing since 1986, it was inevitable he’d end up a brewer in Bisbee.
All that experience merged with his expertise in designing and selling custom microbrewery equipment from his time at Apex Brewing Supply, setup the perfect opportunity for the couple to buy the empty space that had housed Beast Brewing for between 3-4 years. (Electric Brewing moved to this location in 1999 and opened on New Year’s Eve of 2000.)
Electric Brewing, which Dave Harvan started in his garage in South Bisbee in 1988, was originally up for sale in 2013 and was bought by the owners of Beast Brewing Company. Although Joe had wanted to buy it then, the timing wasn’t right. However, it would eventually be the right time, and the Fredrickson family would bring back Electric Brewing to as much of its original glory as possible when they bought the brewery.
Joe and Natalie bought the space that had sat empty for over three years and needed several repairs, including a new roof. “We were all here working to fix up the place,” said Winston, brewer’s assistant/soda maker.
With a degree in physics and astronomy, Winston has many duties, such as make soda, clean the brewery, do the recordkeeping and taxes, design labels, run the website and help upfront bartending when Natalie isn’t. Natalie does the social media as well as band/event scheduling and keeps the place clean.
On August 12, 2020, the fixed-up space opened as the new Electric Brewing, seven lucky years after the original brewery closed. This time around, they added the Sodawerks line, which offers sarsaparilla, ginger ale, hibiscus and, sometimes lemonade, flavored sodas. “We never really made soda before,” said Winston. “We learned through reading books from the library and trying out in small batches at home.”
Some of the first beers they offered included what are still their flagship flavors- Sessions IPA, Electrostatic ESB and Industrial Pale Ale, which is based off Electric Dave’s original recipe. “Sessions IPA is one of our biggest sellers; however, Thunderstruck Baltic Porter- 7% alcohol versus 5.5% for a standard porter- has become a flagship,” said Joe. “There is always someone looking for a stout or porter when they come in here.”
To cater to the non-beer drinkers, which includes Natalie, they added kombucha to their lineup in 2021. “We started making it in gallons and had people taste it before we officially added it,” said Natalie. Many days, it makes up 20% of the total sales, surpassing most of the beers’ popularity.
The Cheers bar vibe comes from the mostly local clientele from the San Jose neighborhood and Hereford who frequent the bar. Although tourists only make up a small percentage of their customers, they hope to capture more of that audience through beer tourism connecting all breweries in the three major neighborhoods in Bisbee (Old Bisbee Brewing Company and Ballpark Brewing Company).
While they hope those days come soon, the Fredricksons are in the meantime focusing on their canning and distributing so they can sell more beer via that avenue. They are currently self-distributing in their brewery, as well as bars in Bisbee, Doulgas, Sierra Vista and Tucson They hope to become more of a production brewery. “We have the potential to make 10 times as much beer as we do now,” said Joe. “And we need to be able to distribute it to sell it.
With a neighborhood/community mentality at the forefront, the brewery hosts events regularly, such as craft group (Tuesdays 1 p.m.), Spanish language group (Wednesdays 4-6 p.m.), karaoke (Fridays 6-10 p.m.), poker (Saturdays 1 p.m.), live music on Sundays, trivia every other Saturday and potluck once a month (on a Sunday).
To celebrate their five-year anniversary, they will be throwing a party on Sunday, August 10, from open to close, with live music from Astra Kelly (12 p.m.-2 p.m.), Derek Dickson Band (2:30- 4:30 p.m.) and Motobilly Featuring Dammit Dan & Miss Anna (5-7 p.m.). Food will be served from Big Woody’s BBQ.
The brewery is open every day of the week except Monday. The hours are 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, and 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Make sure to say hi to the brewery cat, Artemis, when you stop in.