These 3 craft beers offer a unique taste of Arizona, from recycled water to cacti brews

Bahar Anooshahr, Arizona Republic
Updated ·2 min read
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Arizona is a craft beer state. According to the Brewers Association, in 2022 brewers produced 224,375 barrels of craft beer, from lagers to hoppy IPAs to sour beers.

And a few breweries have come up with innovative production methods that capture a sense of place in truly unique ways. One brewery makes beer from waste-water. Another uses desert ingredients to make beer using fruits from two different cacti and Arizona fig leaves. And a third is all about collaborations, combining prickly pear with tea from a local purveyor.

Here are three beers that could only be produced in Arizona.

Sonoran Mist by Desert Monk Brewing Co.

Arturo Ruiz is one of five co-owners at Desert Monks Brewing Company in Gilbert.
Arturo Ruiz is one of five co-owners at Desert Monks Brewing Company in Gilbert.

Brewing beer requires large quantities of water, so Desert Monk Brewing Co. decided to produce a beer that uses an alternative water source. Sonoran Mist is a 4.5% ABV, German-style Helles lager brewed using recycled wastewater, German malts and hops. Desert Monk participated in Scottsdale's One Water project in 2019 and has since continued making beer from ultra-purified water even after the project ended. Two of the owners said they "believe Desert Monks is the first brewery in the country to consistently offer beer made with recycled wastewater on tap."

The beer will be part of the One Water Brewing Showcase on Nov. 3-4, an annual fest that attracts some of metro Phoenix’s best microbrewers.

Details: Gilbert Town Square at 1094 S. Gilbert Road #101, Gilbert. desertmonksbrewing.com.

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In Bloom by Basin + Range

This seasonal beer won a silver medal at the 2023 Great American Beer Awards. It is made with bahidaj, or saguaro fruit, prickly pear and fig leaves from a "heritage tree dating to Arizona's early mining days," according to the brewers. The sweetness of the cactus fruits pairs well with the coconut and vanilla aroma of the fig leaf in the wild ale.

Details: @wildwesternbeer.

Cactus Juice by Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co.

Cactus Juice features Engelmann prickly pear juice from Cactus Ranch in Southern Arizona, along with hibiscus tea from Tea Royalty, a local tea purveyor founded by Chris Sossaman. The sour beer is fermented in a foeder or oak barrel.

Details: azwbeer.com.

  • 721 N. Arizona Ave., Gilbert. 480-497-2739.

  • 201 E. Roosevelt St., Phoenix. 480-462-1836.

  • 912 N. Colorado St., Gilbert.

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Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: These Arizona breweries are making the most unique local craft beers