We lost part of our soul today, Four Peaks (Phoenix: to live, price)

[Ponderosa]

We survived losing A-1. We will survive this too.

[take57]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

I had a friend in Oregon tell me they bought Henry Weinhards ( a great log-standing local beer in Oregon) and completely shut it down in a couple of months, so go get your beer now before it changes for the worse or disappears.

In Henry's case it was Miller that bought them out. They moved operations to the brewery in Olympia, WA (It's the Water) but from what I could tell they appeared to lose the recipe of Henry's Private Reserve somewhere in the 110 mile journey.
Weinhard was also one of the first places Sam Adams chose to brew outside of Boston. The plant had a sterling reputation. All gone now...

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by Bungle

I thought Angel's Trumpet didn't brew anything just sold craft beers from all over. Has this changed recently?

You're right brewer was the wrong term.

It is however a good place to find some local breweries people haven't heard of.

It's how I found The Perch in Chandler.

[azriverfan.]

The good news is creating local breweries is not that difficult as it once was and many people will attempt to fill the void. Yes, I support local breweries so it looks like San Tan will be receiving more of my business.

It is kind of sad about the culture of Phoenix. People don't feel a sense of pride about the community and try to support it. Even U.S. Airways CEO Doug Parker could have tried to move the headquarters of American Airlines to Phoenix but he and U.S. Airways sold out completely and left the local community to hang. Even in sports, half the community was angry at Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians for calling them out and selling their tickets to opposing fans. That is sad. In any other city, the fan base would unite behind Arians. But in Phoenix (Like Miami and L.A.), you have too many self serving fans who have no pride or loyalty to the cities ie mercenaries who could care less.

The only positive news is some of the younger generation do feel a sense of pride and are trying to create companies. I'm in the process of a creating a company myself and if successful, I will support the local community and the state. Not going to take it any more

[GeneR]

Oh No! Not change! I hate it when the world doesn't stay the same forever!

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by GeneR

Oh No! Not change! I hate it when the world doesn't stay the same forever!

That has nothing to do with change. You obviously missed the point. It's about being loyal and supporting the local community. This brewery was successful and growing. It would have created additional jobs including much needed white collar jobs. Instead it sold out to a larger company.

[grmi66]

Sad to see another local company get bought out. But after living in the beer-centric Northwest for 5 years, I still have not found one locally brewed beer that I've been impressed with (other than what comes out of Arizona Wilderness). So this won't change my beer drinking habits much.

It is funny how Budweiser puts out ads bashing craft beer while at the same time buying up as many of them as they can.

[asufan]

The brewmaster from Four Peaks went off on his own several years ago and started San Tan Brewery and they make beer just as good or better than Four Peaks. They are now on tap all over AZ and So Cal, so maybe they'll be the next to go

[new2colo]

People getting upset over nothing. The beer will still be produced in Tempe and will now just be open to distribution in many more states. As long as local businesses are small, they are supported. As soon as they grow and become successful, they get accused over becoming too corporate and some people want to jump ship. It's sounds like hipster logic. It's okay to like something when it's underground but as soon as it becomes mainstream, it's uncool. I will still drink their beer.

[Jukesgrrl]

Speaking as a native Pennsylvanian who had to watch the Rolling Rock Brewery get gobbled up by some corporate giant who is now selling green bottles with who-knows-what in it, I feel your pain.