Look for the giant cactus tent at Strong Beer Fest and visit them in Gilbert for new releases and fun events during Arizona Beer Week.
Opened: December 2018
The Talent: 5 co-owners/brewing partners who work together at Intel.
- Arturo Ruiz
- Daniel Rosales-Yeomans
- Jose Hinojosa
- John Decker
- Sommer Decker
Must Try Beer: Wy Abbo, a guava-infused fruited wheat ale. 5.3% ABV
Story Behind the Name: Here’s a story of five friends who all work together at Intel and gathered after work or on the weekends to drink beer. Since they enjoyed each other’s company (and the beer), they had a running joke that they should open a craft brewery together. When the joke became a reality, five people had to agree on a name. According to co-owner Sommer Decker, the team went through about 3,000 names to come up with a unique brewery title. The five voted on Desert Monks because:
- monks were some of the first people to industrialize brewing, and…
- we’re in the desert.
Location: Gilbert Town Square
1094 South Gilbert Road #101, Gilbert
desertmonksbrewing.com
Co-owner Sommer Decker tells us Desert Monks will be pouring four or five beers at the upcoming Strong Beer Fest on February 19 in Mesa. The list includes Sweet Temptress Belgian Tripel, a dark Belgian dubbel and La Coyota Double IPA.
Look for their new giant cactus tent if you’re headed to Bell Bank Park for the return of this year’s festival (cancelled in 2021).
During Arizona Beer Week (February 17-27), Desert Monks is releasing a number of new brews, including:
- Firehose, a hazy IPA that came out in a small batch release last month and was very popular.
- S.M.A.S.H. Kolsch, a light and crushable quencher using a single malt and single hop in the recipe.
- Trapezoid New England style IPA.
Post AZ Beer Week
- Ground Rule Doppel, an annual doppelbock release that comes out for Lent (first day of Lent is March 2).
