It’s July in Bisbee. The heat of June had one job, namely to bake up a nice monsoon season. It did its job well, bringing the rains of summer right on schedule on 4th of July weekend. With it comes a bit of a cool-down, canceled out by the high humidity. Its muggy, its buggy, but Bisbee has the remedy: a nice cold beer brewed right here in town.
Bisbee, the Town too Big for its Britches, has not one, not two but three breweries, and its only right we celebrate our good fortune by visiting all three. Welcome back to the Bisbee Pub Crawl, our three-part tour of these precious establishments, each with their own unique features and brews. Last month we featured Electric Brewing. This time we’re visiting Old Bisbee Brewing Company in—where else—Brewery Gulch.
It was 2010 when Nic Fimbers and company got to work making Brewery Gulch live up to its name again. I lived on OK Street at the time; the scent of the brewing in progress was yummy, and being able to just walk downstairs and fill a growler was quite a treat. It wasn’t long before their most popular brews spread through town and beyond. Fifteen years later one can usually find the Classic Pilsner, the Double Hopped IPA and the malty Copper City Ale, based on a local recipe from 1881, on tap in Bisbee’s many watering holes.
The first thing you notice in the brewery is that you are, in fact, in a brewery. The tables sit right alongside the tanks; just outside, separated by the tiny Review Avenue—more of a ramp, really—is the small outbuilding where the magic happens. On brewing days the bready smell wafting out of this brew-shack is like incense, bathing the Gulch in the scent of its namesake. Once the malt grain is relieved of its precious sweetness, a local restauranter comes by and carts off the spent grain to feed his livestock, while the wort goes into its stainless steel cocoons, right at home amongst happy customers.
Gin makes you Sin
Tanks and Tables
A flight comes with six tastings, plus a bonus we’ll get to in a moment. The classics mentioned above are all here, joined by a seasonal brew and a Salut, a refreshing malt beverage invented in France in response to a 19th century wine shortage. The seasonal Salut is flavored with fresh watermelon—a perfect pairing for a hot monsoon day in Bisbee. The seasonal beer is a wheat, flavored with lemon and rosemary, which gives it a bright and herbaceous finish.
The bonus tasting is a showcase offering that has made Old Bisbee Brewing famous every bit as much as their delicious beers. Bisbee Blue Gin, named after the one-of-a-kind species of turquoise native to our town, is as unique as its namesake. The recipe was developed with careful, joyful experimentation with Mule Mountain juniper by former brewmaster and local Bisbee Music Hall of Famer Sam Panther. Following an already generous flight of six tastings with a wee drop of this spirit makes for a…heady experience.
Bisbee’s three breweries are unique in their own ways; the Salut and the Bisbee Blue Gin really set this brewery apart from its peers. There’s a room for rent upstairs, and a nice patio for those who want to sit outside, where misters provide a cheat to beat the heat. And the atmosphere, right here in the heart of Bisbee’s historic Brewery Gulch, couldn’t be finer.
Fresh, locally-brewed ales are a great palliative for hot Arizona summers. June did it’s job, making a memorable monsoon and a bearable July. But its not over yet. August is coming. Fortunately, we have one more stop on our Bisbee Pub Crawl.
Until then…Cheers!
Keith Allen Dennis is a Bisbee writer and songster. You can find his music at http://keithallendennis.bandcamp.com