22 Sept 14th–Sept 20th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | Tapping Tempe Catalyst Crafted Ales plans to focus on ‘beer geek’ favorites plus hard seltzer. BY SARA CROCKER A n Arizona brewer with California roots plans to open Catalyst Crafted Ales in Tempe this October. The brewery, helmed by Will Walthereson, will lean into styles coveted by craft beer aficionados — sours, IPAs and stouts. “Those are the craft beer geeks’ three big favorites,” says Walthereson, who came up at The Bruery in Placentia, Calif. One other area Wathereson wants to lean into is seltzers. Hold fast, craft beer geeks, that’s not a typo. “That’s a hugely underserved area in the Phoenix market,” Walthereson says. “For whatever reason breweries just don’t want to make them.” On tap at Catalyst Though hard seltzer is decidedly not beer, craft brewers across the country have tried to catch the wave started by White Claw — the bubbly malt beverage titan with a facility in Glendale. In Phoenix, Walthereson sees seltzers as an untapped market and a style with room for creativity. Take Purple Rain. Walthereson describes his creation as a “seltzer-wine hybrid,” that is made with zinfandel and syrah grapes and barrel-aged. It’s then bottled where it picks up some light, natural carbonation, he says. Catalyst’s Brunchmaster seltzer takes inspiration from mimosas, incorporating chardonnay and orange juices. “If we’re going to make them, we’re going to make them our way and we’re going to have fun with it,” he says. Other beers within the brewery’s “three big favorites” will include IPAs. Walthereson’s favorite is the West Coast- style IPA, which is a clear, crisp, session- able style that has notes of pine and citrus, generally from hops grown in the Pacific Northwest. Walthereson says to expect popular hazy IPAs, too. On the heavier end, Catalyst will pour Envy, a stout that’s aged for 15 months in rye whiskey barrels with coconut and vanilla. Walthereson likens his approach to brewing as a culinary endeavor. “I feel like I’m an Italian chef. I just get the best ingredients and try not to screw it up,” he says. He’s partnering with others in the craft space to open Catalyst, including Kreg Bahm, who also owns Pour Wine & Taproom in Mesa. Despite the leanings toward certain styles, the team emphasizes that they’ll have a full array of options made on its 10-barrel system and will also pour wine, cider and mead, largely from local makers. “We want to bring a lot of attention and awareness to the great products you can find in this state,” Bahm says. Catalyst team brings brewing, taproom knowledge Walthereson arrived in Arizona in 2018 and worked at Wren House Brewing Co. and The Shop Beer Co. before launching Ad Astra Brewing Co. in Prescott with Rex Williamson in 2021. Williamson first connected with Walthereson through his son, and the entrepreneur saw the oppor- tunity to “grab onto (Walthereson’s) vision of bringing very high-quality and very highly crafted beer to the Arizona market.” Ad Astra received nods for its barrel- aged beers, taking the gold and bronze awards for wood barrel-aged beer at the 2022 Arizona Craft Beer Awards. As the team planned the Tempe brewery, concerns arose about being stretched too thin. Ad Astra closed earlier this year to prepare for the move. “Ad Astra [was] essentially the pilot brewery for Catalyst,” Walthereson says. “Most of the stuff that we did that was successful (in Prescott) will be back in some way or another down here.” Bahm knew Walthereson from his time at Wren House, and was intrigued by the idea of opening a Valley brewery. “Watching (Walthereson’s) growth over the years, I really wanted to be a part of seeing him excel,” he says. The other key for Bahm was to ensure the brewery has an in-house kitchen. Seafood taco shop to open inside Catalyst Catalyst won’t just be a taproom. The space will also be home to S.A.L.T. — an acronym for Sea and Land Tacos. Enrique Uresti left the corporate banking world to open the food truck just before the pandemic began. He started in downtown Gilbert and then became a regular vendor at breweries and taprooms in the East Valley, including Bahm’s Pour Wine & Taproom. But Uresti’s goal was always to open a brick-and-mortar location that offers “good beer with good food,” he says, something that when he came to Arizona in 1998, “was hard to find.” His connec- tion with Bahm led to an invitation to open at Catalyst. Uresti will keep his seafood-driven food truck menu with offerings including octopus, shrimp and fish tacos, and add shareable snacks such as shrimp cocktail and tuna tostadas. Among “land” options are carne asada, chicken and pork adobada tacos, burritos and bowls. There will also be a surf and turf burrito with carne asada and shrimp, and toritos — yellow peppers stuffed with shrimp and cheese and wrapped in bacon. “We want to be different,” Uresti says of his menu. Catalyst is set to open near Broadway Road and McClintock Drive which places it in a brewers’ nexus, with Four Peaks Brewing Co., Hundred Mile Brewing Co., Pedal Haus Brewery and Fate Brewing Co. within a few miles. The team welcomes that closeness and connectivity to fellow brewers. “Catalyst says it all — growing, expanding, moving forward, all those things,” Bahm says of the brewery’s name. “We really want to see the beer community here grow… we want to be part of that.” Catalyst Crafted Ales Planned to open in October 1845 E. Broadway Road, #106, Tempe ▼ Chow Will Walthereson plans to focus on brewing IPAs, sours and barrel-aged stouts — as well as hard seltzers — on the 10-barrel system at his new Tempe brewery, Catalyst Crafted Ales. (Photo by Catalyst Crafted Ales)
