Photos by Nicole Roegner Dave’s Electric Brewpub

Savor unique brews and better-than-bar-food food at three of our favorite Valley gastropubs.

Dave’s Electric Brewpub
502 S. College Ave., Tempe
480-967-5353
daveselectricbrewpub.com

From Bisbee comes beautiful beer. That’s what aficionados Dave Hoffman and Scott Burge discovered, as it’s crafted by longtime Bisbee brewer “Electric Dave” Harvan. The aficionados opened their own pub in Tempe last October, bringing up their beloved beers from the old copper mining town – lager, amber ale, oatmeal stout and light ale – while the shiny tanks lining the industrial-chic space are ready for their own seasonal suds.

To go with the brew, there’s an array of appetizers, soups, salads, pizzas, burgers and sandwiches helpfully listed with beer pairings. One crowd favorite includes a powerfully seasoned blackened blue cheese bacon burger with beer-battered fries (try it with complex, amber-toned Industrial Pale Ale). Gooey, golden brown mac-n-cheese swaddled in pepper jack, Monterey jack, cheddar and Parmesan is the bomb with a smooth, golden Dave’s Electric lager. The sauerkraut atop the Rueben is beer-braised, and the marble rye is marvelous with a malty Old Frog Grog oatmeal stout. For bratwurst, we like the OK Ale, whose mild-mannered hops let the crisp-skinned sausages shine.

SunUp Brewhouse & Brewing Co.

SunUp Brewhouse & Brewing Co.
322 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix
602-279-8909
sunupbrewing.com

Cozy brick walls, a big bar and gleaming brewing tanks look promising; more than a half dozen beers and seasonal ales crafted on-site seal the deal.

Brewmaster Uwe Boer always has something good going on, like his winter favorite Nut Brown Ale. The kitchen works hard to keep up with his style, sending out a variety of calorific comfort foods that encourage lifting another glass.

Beer is near in many recipes, such as Hefeweizen wheat beer-battered calamari and onion rings; Sonora-soaked bratwurst in Brewer’s Den Amber with sautéed onions, sauerkraut and homemade beer mustard on a French baguette; or the ale-battered fish-n-chips.

For dessert, there’s even a root beer float made with homemade root beer, and true beer connoisseurs will find sweet satisfaction in a vanilla porter, which blends eight different malts and real vanilla bean for a dark, rich ale imbued with notes of chocolate and toast.

In true pub style, the place can get loud and crowded, but that’s just part of the fun. 

Shakespeare’s Pub & Restaurant

Shakespeare’s Pub & Restaurant
1744 S. Val Vista Drive, Mesa
480-507-7827
shakespearesaz.com

When you say “Shakespeare’s,” say it with a British accent. This pub is owned by two gents, Darren Hickman and Shaun Claypoole, who operated pubs in England for more than 13 years and who also own the authentic Churchill’s Pub & Grill in Chandler.

It’ll take a while to drink through the entire list of more than a dozen Europe-centric beers, but prepare your palate for some intriguing flavors. Boddingtons Pub Ale is a creamy amber delight dancing with bubbles, while Framboise Lambic has a distinctly cotton candy flavor.

For food, it’s pub fare, baby – whimsically named stuff like bubble & squeak (fried veggies), bangers & mash (pork sausage over mashed potatoes), and mushy peas (like a lumpy green soup).

It’s easy to indulge with a draught or six, spurred on by soak-up-the-suds dishes like Yorkshire beef with savory puff pastry “pudding” in gravy; a pasty stuffed with admirably spicy chicken curry; beef and British ale pie; or Scotch eggs, the hardboiled orbs wrapped in sausage, breaded, deep-fried and served cold.