North Mountain Brewing Company Review
| Location | 522 E Dunlap Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85020 |
| Phone Number | 602-861-5999 |
| Hours | M CLOSED, T-W 3 pm – 9 pm, Th, Sun 11 am – 9 pm, F-Sat 11 am – 11 pm |
| Website | https://northmountainbrewing.com/ |
A long-time beer enthusiast, Robert Berkner started brewing beer at home in the 1990s. In 2013, he opened North Mountain Brewing Company in north Phoenix, Arizona. The establishment styles itself as a microbrewery and brewpub.
We visited this local legend multiple times in the last 5-7 years and several times in 2022. Here are some of the highlights from our experiences…
The Place: North Mountain Brewing in North Phoenix
North Mountain Brewing was one of the first craft beer makers within an hour’s drive of our home. The first time we went way back in 2016 or so, we were excited to find a large variety of beer styles, many of which we found very appealing.
Located in the Sunnyslope area, North Mountain Brewing has become part of the neighborhood’s charm. It’s pretty easy to find in a free-standing building on E. Dunlap Ave. just west of N. 7th Street. Pull into the alley on the left side of the building to find a large, private and free parking lot.
Two Outdoor Patios
When walking into the dining area from the parking lot, you’ll find a few tables outside in the back. These are probably popular in the winter, but too hot for summertime hangouts since there’s not much shade nor any misting system I could see.
If you want to enjoy fresh air, try one of the seven outdoor tables in front. They’re shaded but the view is of Dunlap Ave. so it could get noisy.
Indoor Dining Room Vibe
The main public space is a large open room with a concrete floor and dim pub-like lighting and minimal decor. A huge chalkboard on one wall lists all the beers available. They also have a printed menu with descriptions of each beer.
The dining area holds about 18 tables, some seating up to 6 people. There are about 12-15 bar seats with a view of the open kitchen behind the bar.
Overall, expect a dark, relaxed vibe. The place gets busy nights and weekends, but when we visited in the afternoon, there were only about half a dozen other guests there.
Tucked to one side of the main dining space is a smaller room filled with tables and a row of pinball machines. Your kids can keep themselves occupied for hours engaging in the same entertainment enjoyed in the 70’s and 80’s.
Playing on the sound system was 1980s popular music including Bob Marley, Eurythmics, and the Clash. It looks like they occasionally host live music performances, but you’ll have to call or check their Facebook page for more info.
The Food
NMT Brewing offers a full menu of unique leveled-up bar-style food. Many of the items on the menu incorporate their own beer as an ingredient.
Some favorite dishes include pub classics like thick-battered onion rings, fish and chips and cottage pie. They also have a fun array of pizzas made with beer-infused dough.
We’ve eaten at NMT Brewing several times. The most recent meal we had there was a late lunch in August. We ordered Candy’s Filipino fried rice and a patty melt and french fries. The fried rice was a huge bowl of heaven-sent hangover remedy.
The fried rice was moist and resting perfectly on the brink of “greasy” with flavor-bombs of pork and shrimp mixed in. NMT’s patty melt is a normal-sized burger patty served on some very serious swirled rye bread that did not disappoint. The side of thin, crispy/fluffy fries were a perfect foil to the richness of the sandwich.
I’d call this upgraded pub food bordering on gastropub level dining. You can check out the full food menu on their website. Rest assured that NMT’s food offerings will make everyone from little kids to seniors happy.
The Beer
When we visited, NMT Brewing was pouring a combination of 20-22 beers, sours, and seltzer from the tap. And they were stocking around 12 beers in cans for to-go purchases.
When we asked our friendly server, we didn’t get much additional info about the beers. Fortunately, they have pretty good descriptions on the paper version of the beer menu.
Here’s what we tried…
Beer Reviews
| Beer-ABV/IBU | Notes |
|---|---|
| Barrel Aged Spiral Man Oatmeal Stout 6.3/31 | Aromas of and flavors of toffee, oak/bourbon; Med.-heavy body, smooth drinking. |
| Booker’s Belgian Pale Ale 6.3%/24 | Dark golden slightly hazy, aromas of orange, light body, medium to heavy carbonation. |
| Grooving With a Pict Scottish Ale 5.8%/21 | Transparent brown-red, nutty malty aroma and flavors, moderately bitter, light to medium body. Some hops and grassy notes on finish. (favorite of the day) |
| Hefe Endings 4.8%/12 | Hazy, light golden cream, 1 finger head, medium body, subtle banana, prominent clove, creamy mouthfeel. |
| Helles Crushable Lager 5.3%/20 | Light to med gold, clear. Malty, bread-y. Med. body, smooth. Middle of the road beer-not too light, not too heavy. |
| Left-Handed Monkey Wrench Hazy IPA 5.4%/28 | Med. gold, slightly hazy; aromas of flowers and citrus; moderate to heavy bitterness, hops, citrus; creamy mouthfeel. (favorite of the day) |
| N’erotic Belgian Ale 10.2%/28 | Clear, light-med. gold; malt sweetness balanced with ample bitter flavors; med. body, crisp carbonation. |
| Satan’s Gut Brimstone Ale 8.0%/24 | Dark, opaque brown; smokey, roasty, caramel and molasses aromas and flavors with a definite hot kick at the end. Only people who like hot food should get this, but the rest of the flavors stand up OK to the heat. |
| Sloper Saison 8.2%/31 | Peaches on nose, slightly hazy golden amber, moderately bitter-more bitter than expected. |
| Talkin’S.H.I.P.A. Session Hazy IPA 4.6%/20 | Light gold, barely hazy. Funky hops and slight citrus aroma. Flavors of citrus, quite hoppy and more bitter than you’d think at 20 IBU. |
See how we rated some of these beers on Untappd
Overall Impression
North Mountain Brewing Company is a cozy neighborhood pub offering really good food and a wide variety of fresh craft beers. Don’t miss their flagship beer, C.R.E.E.M. Golden Lager! Come in for a pint or bring the whole family for lunch and hang out for a while.
Additional Details
Here are a few more facts about North Mountain Brewing Company to prepare you for your visit:
- CLOSED Mondays
- Happy hour from open until 6 pm Tues. to Fri.: $1 off full-sized pours
- Reverse happy hour 8 pm until closing time Tues. to Thurs.: $2 off full-sized pours
- Free wi-fi
- Kid-friendly
- Patios are dog-friendly
- Gluten-free food and drinks are available
- Limited selection of wine, hard cider and mead available
- Cans of cold certain NMT beers are available to take home
- Printed menus, chalkboard and website all list a revolving selection of around 20 house-made beers, seltzer and kombucha.
- Make a brewery crawl from here to Fire and Fury Brewing then O.H.S.O. Paradise Valley
