Colorado import embraces the Arizona landscape and Roosevelt Row craft beer scene.
Formation Brewing opens its doors on Friday, September 26 and becomes the latest craft beer spot along Roosevelt Row, joining the likes of Greenwood, Pedal Haus, Sana Sana and Arizona Wilderness.
The concept is part of the Wilding Brands portfolio based out of Lafayette, Colorado. Its family of beverage brands includes Great Divide (best known for Yeti Imperial Stout) and Funkwerks (known for its award-winning sours and saisons). Formation’s beer will focus on quality across a wide range of styles.
“Formation beers are inspired by the Arizona landscape and are brewed to be approachable, refreshing and balanced,” says VP of Marketing Corey Dickinson. “We’ll feature an array of styles — from innovative to traditional — but quality is the common theme across them all. ”
The new brewery nicely fills a large, two-story building that previously sat vacant on 5th Street and Roosevelt Street in Downtown Phoenix, but getting it up and running was not without challenges.
“We encountered some typical delays with construction and permitting, and quite a few unforeseen delays,” Dickinson says. “An unfortunate example: All of the copper was stolen out of our glycol chiller preventing us from kicking off brewing operations as planned.”
Despite the issues which prevented it from opening in late 2024 as originally planned, Formation should be well worth the wait when it opens its doors to the public on Friday.
The beer menu features a core lineup of Desert Racer Pilsner, Cloud Drifter Hazy IPA, Western Winds West Coast IPA and Sun Crest Peach Ale. PHOENIX was invited to sample beers during a private media night event on Tuesday and we enjoyed the brewery’s pale ale, a saison and a double-dry hopped hazy IPA along with the flagship lineup.
Formation also features a full food menu, wine, cider, cocktails and non-alcoholic options.
But it’s the interior design that will truly blow you away, such as the sunken sitting area on the bottom floor and the comfortable getaway feel of the upstairs area.
“We put a lot of intentionality into the design and finish out of Formation — drawing inspiration from the Arizona landscape and the surrounding neighborhood with hopes of creating a welcoming, unique space for people to gather and enjoy our beer and food,” Dickinson says.
Formation soft opens this Friday and is set for a Grand Opening event on November 8.
Formation is now the fifth member of the Downtown Phoenix brewery district on Roosevelt Row, next to Sana Sana Cerveceria and down the street from Greenwood Brewing, Pedal Haus Brewery and Arizona Wilderness DTPHX. Dickinson says he’s excited to be amongst great company. “The location was an easy decision. The intersections of nightlife, art, music and culture are a great fit for us, not to mention the consistent foot traffic and local events programming.” Dickinson says Formation is already a member of the Arizona Craft Brewer’s Guild and will be hosting guild events in the future.
