New brewery alert! (It seems like thereβs one of these every month these days). Public Brewhouse, 209 N. Hoff Ave., about a block east of Fourth Avenue, opened Aug. 1.
The brewery has been more than two years in the planning. Co-owners Mike Gura and Cody VanHaren met as EMTs and were joined by Don Rubino. All were homebrewers and Rubino brings construction skills to the team.
βWe got slammedβ on opening day, Gura said, adding that βit was crazyβ for 14 hours.
Theyβre going to concentrate on meeting the demand from the brewpub for the time being and βstay fairly small,β using the two-barrel system in place. But they plan to expand eventually and have identified a nearby space. When they move the brew house, theyβd like to upgrade to a 10-barrel system.
The rustic taproom is open Wednesdays through Sundays. Check Facebook for hours. Thereβs a shuffleboard table, an old video game and lots of board games available.
Hoff Avenue is more an alley than street. Thereβs no parking on Hoff, so look for street parking nearby. Thereβs also a parking garage off Fourth Avenue just south of the railroad tracks.
The owners are still working their day jobs but look forward to devoting all their time to Public Brewhouse. Another great addition to the Tucson beer scene.
Big beer event is best
I attended what I think is the best beer event in the country, the Oregon Brewers Festival in Portland in late July. Well, me and 80,000 other beer geeks.
The five-day festival was held on the Willamette River in downtown Portland. More than 80 beers were available to enjoy. While West Coast brewers seem to dominate, there are also brewers from all over the country. I didnβt have a favorite this year β everything I tasted was good.
There was one remarkable beer there, but not in a good way (at least to me). Portland-based Old Town Brewing had a βuniqueβ beer at the festival: 1-Up Mushroom Ale.
In the interest of full disclosure, I do not like mushrooms. So this beer seemed disgusting. Iβve never used the words βdisgustingβ and βbeerβ in the same sentence, but thereβs a first time for everything.
Mopping up
β’ The craft beer industry continues to kick you know what. The Brewers Association reports mid-year craft beer production is up 15 percent over last year from 10.6 million barrels to 12.2 million barrels.
β’ The owner of Lagunitas Brewing, Petaluma, California, has put the company in play. Lagunitas is a big craft brewer, available in Tucson thatβs grown considerably. It appears heβs looking for an out.
