The southwest corner of Cooper and Warner Rd's has seen some changes over the last year. Tucked back into a strip mall, behind a Discount Tire and a Circle K, you will find The
House of Brews, or affectionately referred to many as the HOB. For you locals, you may remember the House of Brews having been there for quite a while (a year or two if I recall correctly). Well, if you haven't been there since August, you need to check it out again. As some of you recall, the original House of Brews shut down early last year, never really effectively gaining any real acceptance from the craft beer crowd here in the east valley (due mainly to their reliance on "main stream" and none craft beers, that are not really appealing to the hard core beer guy or gal). Well, just a few weeks after shutting down, the doors were once again opened, under a new name (I can't recall the name) only to last a month or so, and shut down again. Well, now under new management, and reopened, while retaining the old name "House of Brews" (that is about all they retained from the old place, let me tell you!). This time however, they truly are a house of brews!! Currently sporting around 45 tap handles, with some additional handles in the works, and expect to be up and flowing in the next few weeks, which will make a total of 56 taps pouring some fantastic beers!
They also have A COMPLETLY reworked, fresh menu, full of burgers, sandwiches, steaks, and other
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| Meat and cheese board! |
pub fare. There is even a French fry menu! (waffle, tots, sweet fries etc!). There is a complete appetizer and dessert menu as well. Everything is from scratch, and fresh, made in house (the lone exception being bread). In fact, one of the very few items they even keep in the freezer, is the ice cream that they make fresh, in house!
If you are a part of the Arizona Craft beer community, you no doubt you have heard folks raving about, or even seen pictures posted of their meat and cheese boards as well, which look (and from what I have heard and seen, are) fantastic, and go perfectly with a glass of beer or two.
I recently had a chance to sit and chat with Tim and Billie McGovern, who now run the HOB's, to talk about their plans for the very near, and the slightly more distant future.
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| A beautiful site!!! |
I must say, before I get to into this, I feel I have to mention how VERY impressed I was that one of the first things I saw after settling in at the bar were the four Boston team championship banners hanging above the bar! Being a native New Englander, this not only impressed me, but made me feel quite at home and comfortable! (Tim is a Boston area native himself). He runs a beer bar, AND he's a Sox fan!
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| Digital Pour's display screen |
The most exciting plan for the very near future (aside from expanding the tap handles) will be the installation of a
"Digital Pour" system. This is a dynamic, inventory management system that allows not only the management to know, but everyone at the bar (or anyone connected via social media) to know what they currently have available on tap, what style of beer it is, who brews it, the state it is brewed in, its abv, the price per glass, price per pitcher and even lets you know how much is left in the keg! You can also check out instragram, untappd and Foursquare posts from people at the bar, all displayed on 5 large big screen TV displays that will be mounted throughout the bar. From what they are told from the folks at Digital Pour, this is the very first system of theirs in the state! They except to have this system running in just a few weeks! I will certainly let you all know when they do!
installation of a new
(Just a side note, they are not currently able to fill growlers, but they are working on getting that issue cleared up, I will let you know when that happens)
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| Just one line of tap handles |
The future may even hold some "small" expansion plans for the patio as well, that may or may not include garage doors, but that is a little further down the road. I mean, they've only been open 8 or 9 months, but the improvements already are amazing, so, take your time on the patio!
They are also planning a monthly series of beer dinners as well. The next one being May 6th, featuring the beers of Sierra Nevada! $50 gets you a 5 coarse meal, 5 beers to go with each one, and even a cigar to enjoy post dinner! I will post more info on their beers dinners as it comes available.
(check out the Facebook event page for this dinner here).
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| There's more on the back! |
So, if you haven't checked out the "new" House of Brews, do yourself a huge favor, and check them out. Locally owned, and operated, with a fantastic menu, one of the best tap lists in the east valley (they still do have Bud, Miller etc. as well, so there is something for everyone), good size patio, and plenty of TV's to check out the Sox games!
I want to thank Tim and Billie for giving me a little bit of their time this afternoon, it was great to meet you, and I am sure I will be seeing you again in the very near future!
Get their full menu, and other news at their
website here.....
Like them on
Facebook here....
Follow them on
Twitter here....
House of Brews is located at
(map)
825 S Cooper Rd Ste. B6
Gilbert, AZ 85233
480.426.9787
Until next time
Bottoms up my friends
The Beer Czar
year, some 80 breweries were pouring 250 different beers. This year, it was a hot one, but that didn't seem to dampen the spirits of any of the festival attendees.
