Greenwood Brewing Review
| Location | 922 N. 5th St., Phoenix, AZ 85004 |
| Phone Number | (602) 875-8577 |
| Hours | M-Th 11am-11pm, F-Sat 11am-12:30am, Sun 11am-10pm |
| Website | https://greenwoodbrews.com/ |
We started hearing about Greenwood Brewing in Phoenix in early 2020. We were excited to try the new craft beer spot downtown, but a little thing called COVID shut down that idea. We finally got around to visiting the taproom and let me tell you, it was worth the wait.
Greenwood Brewing is located on E. Roosevelt St., a.k.a. Roosevelt Row, in downtown Phoenix. The name comes from the sole owner, Megan Greenwood who opened the establishment in July of 2020. As tough a time as that was to start a business, the place seems to have survived the challenges and come out fighting.
The Greenwood Brewery is a woman-owned business. Their website talks about “the power of the purposeful pint.” Their goal is to create beer that is approachable (especially to women) and to introduce more women to the wonders of craft beer.
The Place
The taproom sits in a cluster of buildings that house other small businesses including the legendary Lost Leaf and MADE Art Boutique.
Walking into the taproom, we were struck by how light the place was in both color scheme and natural lumens. The decor is charming with natural woods, beadboard, white marble and green leather mixed with custom brass and glass round pendant lights. The bar is a beautiful, glossy light wood flanked by metal and leather stools with backs.
There is additional bar seating facing out from the large windows onto Roosevelt St.
At each end of the indoor space, large glass and wood doors open onto the two patios. There are around 10-15 tables for guests to enjoy outside. Both have ample shade and misting systems to extend the season a bit.
I estimate they can seat 20 or so patrons inside and another 40 or so outside.
The day we visited, it was unseasonably hot with a high temperature of around 105. Needless to say, we held down some stools in the air-conditioned comfort of the lovely indoor space.
It was fairly quiet when we stopped in on a Monday afternoon. There were a few other patrons there and a mix of music styles on the sound system from contemporary adult to reggae and Tom Petty (that’s a genre, right?).
The vibe was cool, casual and relaxing. I might call the decor subtly feminine modern farmhouse. In any case, we appreciated the departure from the usual “rustic-industrial-modern” style that seems to be de rigueur for Arizona craft breweries.
The Beer
The owner of Greenwood Brewing started brewing beer at home and says she immediately fell in love with the process. She eventually left her job in industrial sales and started a brewery.
To help with making beer on a commercial scale, she brought Kristin Luparello on board. Luparello has worked in the industry for years, most recently as the head brewer at San Tan Brewing. This brewer obviously developed some serious skills that she now applies to the suds at Greenwood Brewing.
The taproom has 14 available taps and they were pouring 13 different Greenwood brews when we visited. Their beer menu is split into “flagship beer” and “experimental beer.” These ranged from a traditional pilsner to a blueberry wheat beer. And don’t worry, there were several IPAs represented!
We tried a few from both menus…
Beer Reviews
| Beer-ABV/IBU | Notes |
|---|---|
| Blueberry Wheat 5.2% | Appearance-rose gold, hazy Aroma-Juicy blueberry compote, biscuit, light malt Taste-more bitter than expected, tangy blueberries, sweet malt, grain, longer finish; not sweet-more tangy Mouthfeel-light, sharper carbonation Overall-interesting experimental, flavors are bolder than expected and might surprise some drinkers. But could really grow on you! |
| First Love Belgian Tripel 9.2% | A-med gold, clear A-spice, banana, clove T-spice, banana, clove, malt; mod. sweet M-med body, light to med carbonation O-nice tripel, flavor profile is a tad light |
| Herstory American Pale Ale 5.5% | A-med gold, clear A-dank, toffee, grass/fresh cut hay T-similar to aroma M-medium body O-lots of flavor, fun to drink |
| Purpose Pilsner-Czech 5.5% | A-light gold, very clear A-malt, bread, honey T-slightly sweet malt, cracker, lemon M-light, sharp carbonation O-balanced pilsner, good beer |
| Rosemary IPA 7.2% | A-med gold, clear A-very dank, pine, rosemary T-++bitter, prominent rosemary, grassy M-light to med body O-fairly aggressive rosemary flavors melded with a solid IPA |
| Sol Oatmeal Stout 6.0% | A-dark reddish brown, clear A-roasted grain, caramel T-sl. malt sweetness, caramel/toffee, relatively dry and light M-light-med, lower carbonation O-delicious oatmeal stout, goes down easy |
| Warrior Hazy IPA 6.5% | A-straw-colored, mod hazy A-dank! Grapefruit T-herbal, grapefruit rind, dry M-med body, med to high carbonation O-wow, very drinkable, hazy IPA for people who love to bash hazies. A favorite of the Day |
| Wunderbar Festbier 5.0% | A-straw, clear A-slight malt and spice T-warm malt with spice, drier finish M-light, med carbonation O-complex flavors, a joy to drink A favorite of the day |
Overall Impression
Greenwood Brewing is a welcoming, peaceful space on Roosevelt Row that offers some really interesting craft beer. All were good and a few were excellent. There are enough different styles to appeal to hard-core craft beer lovers and people who claim not to like beer at all.
It’s the perfect spot for a conversation with old and new friends. When you’re near downtown Phoenix, you must not miss their two amazing patios, beautiful interior and creative, delicious fresh beer.
Additional Details
Here are a few more details to help you prepare for your visit…
- Park in a nearby pay lot or on street in a metered spot
- No TVs in the tap room!
- You can order food from good nearby restaurants for delivery to the tap room
- Free wi-fi
- Dog-friendly patio
- Beer samplers of four x 4 oz. pours available
- Cans and growlers available for take-out
- Make a downtown craft beer crawl with AZ Wilderness Brewing Co. DTPHX and Pedal Haus Brewing Co. A 1.1 mile drive or bike ride will get you to the amazing Roses By the Stairs Brewery.
Map
Sources
- The 10 on the Team: Megan Greenwood | Center for Advancing Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://ipe.asu.edu/blog/articles/10-team-megan-greenwood
- Dunham, J. (2019, November 5). Meet Three Women Brewing Some of Your Favorite Arizona Craft Beers. Phoenix New Times. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/3-women-to-know-in-arizonas-craft-beer-scene-santan-motherbunch-huss-papago-9607442
- Freeze, M. (2021, December 3). How Megan Greenwood breaks ground with Greenwood Brewing. AZ Big Media. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://azbigmedia.com/lifestyle/how-megan-greenwood-breaks-ground-with-greenwood-brewing/
- Morris, Tirion, The Arizona Republic. (2019, October 18). SanTan is Arizona’s largest locally owned brewery. Meet the only female brewer on the team. The Republic | azcentral.com. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://eu.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/dining/beer/2019/10/02/meet-kristin-luparello-woman-brewer-santan-brewing-arizona/2289423001/
- Morris, Tirion, The Arizona Republic. (2019b, October 19). Craft beer bars were a boy’s club. So this Phoenix woman started her own brewery. The Republic | azcentral.com. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://eu.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/dining/beer/2019/10/18/meet-owner-megan-greenwood-brewing-phoenix-roosevelt-row/2225966001/
- Reardon, T. Meet Megan Greenwood: you may already love her beer. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://proudqueer.com/news/item/5e5150249827263cac650871
