Tempe brewery has a dialed-in range of beer styles on tap and a growing trophy case of beer competition awards.
Will Walthereson is on Cloud 9 these days. Twelve months after the soft opening of Catalyst Crafted Ales, he’s built it into one of the best breweries in Arizona.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the infrastructure that we’ve built,” Walthereson says. “The recipes that we’ve made and the improvement that we’ve made. We’ve never dumped a beer here.”
Walthereson and his fellow brewmaster Alex Baldwin are the creative minds behind nearly 30 different styles currently on tap at the ultra-modern-style brewery that sits on a busy corner of McClintock and Broadway in Tempe. The team walked away with four total medals at the 2024 Arizona Craft Beer Awards including a gold for Trappist (a Belgian strong dark ale) and a bronze for Brewery of the Year.
“You gotta put the gold at the top,” Walthereson says. “Last year we won gold for Barleywine (in Specialty) and for us to stand out for a beer that doesn’t stand out to the consumer is awesome. There’s no beer we’re afraid to make. Everyone wants German beers right now, but to make a good Belgian beer is an accomplishment because you’re going against the grain. We’re not sad about that.”
Catalyst Crafted Ales tied for bronze in Brewery of the Year with Saddle Mountain Brewing Company, and ironically, the two had just released a collab IPA called Peak Synergy the week before receiving the awards.
“This is an Anthony (Worthy) recipe. I let him cook on this one,” Walthereson says of Saddle Mountain’s head brewer. “It’s a classic American IPA, dry and smooth with a ton of flavor. Anthony and I think the same. He understands where we’re coming from, so it was like I was reading out of my own playbook.”
Rookie Year in Tempe & Non-Beer Specialties
In the year since soft opening, Walthereson recognizes the faster pace of life in Tempe than when he operated Ad Astra Brewing in Prescott – plus the beer consumer is much different. “People don’t drink red ales down here as much. They want the glitz and glamour of beers, but the audience is still young and engaged with our modern style of making beer.”
Catalyst Crafted Ales embraces the innovative side of brewing adult beverages beyond beer. Non-beer options at the brewery include:
- 11% ABV seltzers that drink like fruit juice
- 14% ABV seltzers that drink like a red wine blend
- hard seltzer Jell-O shots
At PHOENIX magazine’s Best Fest in August, they went through 200 Jell-O shots in under an hour.
“There’s a path that’s traveled and then there’s the old successes of yesterday that’s left clues of what we can do now,” Walthereson says of brewery innovation. “Retro is for sure cool right now.”
Their Range is their Strength
From hazy IPA to Italian pilsner to Belgian strong dark ale, Catalyst Crafted Ales has found that its biggest strength is in its range.
“There’s no beer we shy away from,” Walthereson says. They can produce their mainstays while creating specialty one-offs like an Indian chai stout or a peanut butter-marshmallow-cinnamon stout.
One of his new favorites is a festbier called Anecdotal Evidence. Walthereson admits he’s never developed a recipe for the style, but he knew what it should be like. “It has a super-charged aroma that appears to be dry-hopped but it’s not,” he says. “Instead, the smell comes from a hop addition at the end of the boil. The beer drinks like a lager and finishes clean and dry.” It’s one he’s proud of because it’s a beer-drinker’s beer. Catalyst Crafted Ales has it on special during Cardinals game days for just five bucks for a 32-ounce pour.
COMING SOON
Walthereson is excited to get back to his first love: barrel-aged stouts. Many of the 12 barrels he has right now are expected to release during Arizona Beer Week in February – which also coincides with Catalyst Crafted Ales official one-year anniversary. Here’s some of what he has soaking up wood right now:
- Trappist in rye whiskey barrels
- two stouts in rye whiskey barrels
- four barleywines in 1792 bourbon barrels and Willett bourbon barrels.
Catalyst Crafted Ales/Ad Astra Brewing won three of the first six ACBA medals awarded in the Wood-Aged category, so it’s safe to expect more excellence out of these future releases.
In the meantime, you can expect to see the Catalyst team at ACBAFest on October 19, Belgian Beer Fest on November 9, Copper State Beer Fest in January and Strong Beer Fest in February.
Will’s One-Liners
During our hour-long conversation over several samples of his beers, Walthereson rattled off so many one-liners, its worthy of listing them in their own section.
“Success Leaves Clues.”
On tasting beers from other breweries, he encourages brewmasters to keep a pulse on the industry and see how others are innovating. It’s how he came up with Paradise Valley hazy IPA, by studying what a brewery like Monkish (Torrance, CA) was doing.
“It’s kind of like a lion, you just let it go free and it’ll explain itself.”
On the preconceived notions some beer drinkers have might have of less popular styles like his silver medal-winning brown ale named Don’t Call Me Bobby. It won a medal, so at least give it a try.
“It’s like watching your kid ride a bike without training wheels and letting him go.”
Of all the beers he has on tap, Walthereson says he’s most proud of Anecdotal Evidence festbier because its a beer-drinkers beer.
“We have to wait until the right pitch is there before we swing.”
Catalyst Crafted Ales will be in attendance at most of the fall and winter beer festivals, except for AZ Barrels, Bottles & Brews in November because it simply does not have any barrel-aged beers ready to go.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Walthereson — who admits he dreams of barrel-aged stouts — seeks to establish a robust barrel-aged program at Catalyst Crafted Ales. He has 12 barrels right now and more on the way.
“Base beer is like a canvas, then we throw our Bob Ross happy little accidents on it.”
On creating the Peak Synergy IPA collab with Saddle Mountain Brewing and discovering how much in common he has with their brewmaster, Anthony Worthy. Walthereson and Worthy met while judging at the Arizona Craft Beer Awards in 2023.
“All those old classic cars are cool again.”
On growing up drinking classic west coast IPAs such as Stone and Knee Deep. Then, he says, IPAs took a weird turn toward hazies. Now the clear west coast styles are making a comeback.
“Teaching an old dog new tricks.”
On the evolution of Impulse Control New Zealand pilsner, which used to by Hyzer hoppy lager and was Ocean Grown pale ale before that. The recipe has been dialed in over the year into a beer that has turned into a favorite among the brewmasters at Catalyst.
“We’re exclusively inclusive.”
On range being the biggest strength. There are nearly 30 beers, seltzers or ciders on tap, so there’s always variety and styles you won’t find at most breweries.
