| CHOW BELLA | t Café Fun House First Sip: Here’s what to try at Roses by the Stairs BY NATASHA YEE When a new spot opens in town, we’re eager to check it out, let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Sip, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead, a peek inside restaurants that have just opened — an occasion to sample a few items and satisfy curiosities (both yours and ours). W 26 ith concrete floors, high exposed ceilings, a glass garage door, and large steel fermen- tation vessels, Roses by the Stairs is a far cry from its predecessor. Easley’s Fun Shop inhabited the building for over 70 years before closing in 2018. Now, the new brewery on Fifth Avenue and McDowell Road has moved in. The aging, bright yellow paint has been traded for a modern orange exterior complete with large windows and a dog- friendly patio. Roses by the Stairs opened its doors last month. While the patio out front isn’t open yet, given the Phoenix heat, inside, a mishmash of IKEA-style chairs surround wooden tables opposite more orange. This time, it’s the bar, which has seven beers on tap. “Beer is for all,” the sign in the middle reads. Yes. This is what we came for. After ordering a flight of all seven five- ounce pours for $3 a pop, we settled into a table. It was noticeably warm inside the brewery, so the cold beers offered respite from the heat. The Jojo was first on the docket. A crisp and wheaty farmhouse ale with under- tones of lemon, it was a good start to the evening. Next was the Oaky Josie, a Saison. A flight of beers at Roses by the Stairs. Natasha Yee This one is true to its oaky name with hints of hazelnut, vanilla, and orange zest. Both brews are a nod to owners Jordan Ham and Allison Russell’s seven-month- old baby girl, Josie. As Ham told the story of his family-owned business, she cooed and fussed in the background. Ham recalled his grandfather’s print shop, where he spent time growing up. When Josie was on the way, he became nostalgic for that childhood, he says. “I could start my brewery, a family-run business taking over a family-run business building and keeping the values in it,” Ham says. “And I pictured little Josie in there, growing up in the brewery.” The beers at Roses by the Stairs are seasonal, like the Sherri Dear, a fruited sour made with prickly pear fruits. This beer, a favorite of the night, offered a perfect marriage between prickly pear lemonade and beer, with a bright pink hue and refreshing taste. After a round of sipping suds made us hungry, we sought out food options. The brewery doesn’t serve food, but customers can bring their own or have Little O’s from next door delivered to the table. We scanned a QR code and ordered a flatbread and a salad. Breaking a small sweat by this point, we still had four IPAs to go. This is Growing Up, a hazy IPA, was citrusy with lots of hops. It tasted like enjoying a cold one on the balcony of your first big kid apartment, with the sobering reminder that rent is due the next day. Hello World, the first beer brewed at the new facility, is a double IPA with a grapefruit aroma and a dry finish. Robert Rosemann, who came by way of Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., Tombstone Brewing Co., and Cerebral Brewing in Denver, is Roses by the Stairs’ head brewer, Ham says. He plans to keep seven to 12 seasonal beers on tap, using local ingredients to craft each batch. “We’re brewing twice a week, so we’ll probably have a new IPA about every other week,” he says. The Linda Mar, a west coast IPA, was hoppy and bitter with notes of tangerine. Ham and Russell named it after a local surf spot from their San Francisco days. Finally, we tried the We are BG, a hazy IPA with creamy citrus and vanilla flavors. This brew clocked in with the highest >> p 34 JUNE 23RD– JUNE 29TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
