25 March 23rd–March 29th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | $500, while larger ones might give $2,500 or more. However, it’s not just about the money — it’s about raising awareness. When Wren House does a collab, it publicizes that other cause, business, or brand to its nearly 30,000 followers on Instagram. Fowle of Arizona Wilderness says collaborators are introduced to their 125,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Brewery-to-brewery collabs, meanwhile, offer brewers the chance to widen the market, enjoy camaraderie, learn from each other, and work together on new creations. “It’s reconnecting with some of our closest friends in the industry trying to create a delicious beer,” says Dylan DeMiguel, co-owner and director of sales for The Shop Beer Co. Collabs also involve “techniques and tricks of the trade that maybe we share with one another to make both of our breweries a little bit better,” Fowle says, such as discussing new styles of hops, how long to age a certain beer, or how to treat different yeasts. Some less scrupulous breweries simply slap their name on a can without being involved, Fowle mentions, adding that he believes “if you’re wanting to put your name on another brewery’s label, the brewery has to go out and spend time with another brewery and be a part of the expe- rience of making the beer.” Because a collaborative beer is marketed to two customer bases instead of one, brewers can get a little more “wacky,” says Pool of Wren House Brewing Co. “It’s a way to expose devoted drinkers to new things.” For instance, Wren House joined forces with Superstition Meadery to create Nojoch Mul, a mole mead made with 100 ingredients. And it worked with North Park Beer Co. out of San Diego to make Wren Park, a combination of both brew- eries’ gold medal-winning IPAs, Spellbinder and Art is Hard. Smith of Kitsune Brewing Co. says it’s also beneficial for larger breweries to partner with little ones like his because it’s not as big of a risk when making smaller batches. “If it doesn’t come out right, we’re wasting five barrels and they’re wasting 150, which is a bigger pill to swallow,” he notes. Collabs offer a chance for brewery staff to work with people they admire, too. DeMiguel says The Shop Beer Co. was excited to work with Pizza Port Brewing Co. out of Carlsbad, California, on Tickle Fight because “they’re the cool older brother that every brewery loves. We got to work with the people that created some of our favorite products and some of our favorite branding.” Breweries also cross-promote other businesses so everyone gains exposure. It can lead to some wild ideas as well. DeMiguel says they got talking with Greg Eccles, owner and partner at Tops Liquors, about hand-selected barrels of bourbon and did a collab using their empty barrels. The Shop Beer Co. aged imperial stouts in three different barrels — Elijah Craig, Weller, and Blanton’s — for 23 months as an homage to the three generations of the Eccles family, which has been a vanguard in the craft beer business in the Valley. And Wren House recently collaborated with JL Patisserie and Zak’s Chocolate to make a beer inspired by JL Patisserie’s chocolate turtle croissants. “With Zak’s Chocolate, we’re talking with him about flavor profiles we want to target,” Pool says. “He’ll source … some cacao for us for that beer specifically. We definitely leverage each other’s contacts to do that.” Pool summed up the concept of collabs by saying, “It does take a ton of work from everybody, from the brew team to the management team to the collaborators... [but] I think it’s an awesome way to make an impact in the community and raise awareness to so many awesome things going on.” Better from p 23 Tyler Smith opened Kitsune Brewing Co. in October 2022. His first collaboration at his own location was to benefit Black Girls Who Code during Black History Month. Kitsune Brewing Co.
