Wren House teamed up with one of Phoenix's top chefs to launch a new must-try beer hall

Drew Pool and Bill Hammond of Wren House have added a taproom and restaurant to their brewing empire, which includes the Phoenix taproom along with a Prescott brewery and taproom.

Wren Südhalle, which translates to Wren South Hall, is a European beer hall concept with food. Wren collaborated with 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef Southwest Derek Christensen of Bacanora on a menu of bar bites and burgers. The team knew Christensen before he started working at Bacanora, from when the chef used to hold pops at Wren House.

Though food is more of a focus at Wren Südhalle than at the other locations, beer is still the main draw.

What's on tap at Wren Südhalle?

Framed posters of Wren House's European-style beers decorate the walls. Philodendron leaves cascade down the wooden walls of the light and airy space, which centers around a rectangular bar glimmering with blue-green tiles and a

There are 20 beers on tap, with about half from Wren House and the other half imported from Europe, Drew Pool said.

"These are beers you won't find anywhere else in Arizona," he said, referring to the imports.

Examples include Schlenkerla Weichsel, a smoky red lager from Bamberg, Germany, and two Eggenberg beers from Austria. "This is the first place to have Eggenberg (beer) on draft," Pool said. The Wren House European brews pictured on the posters lining the walls are also served.

"There are great beers and beer bars in the Valley," Director of Production Preston Thoeny said. "So, rather than duplicating those, we could focus on something that we like, which is European lagers at a European beer hall, and put energy behind that."

Highlights of the beer menu include Wrenovation IPA, Valley Beer lager and Big Spill dry hopped pilsner.

In the fridge guests can also find canned beers to take home.

Südhalle offers red, white and rose wines for those who prefer to skip the beer. Depending on demand, they may add a cider offering as well.

Bringing Wren House to the fans in Ahwatukee

During the pandemic, Pool and Hammond converted the entire brewery to a delivery system, a move that allowed them to keep all of their employees. And in the process, they noticed that their beer was exceedingly popular in Ahwatukee Foothills.

"We were looking for another location because we are growing and didn't want to go all distribution," Pool said. "We also noticed that most people were opening taprooms in Mesa or Chandler and we wanted to do the opposite of what other people were doing," he said.

In contrast to the Phoenix location, guests will have no trouble finding parking at the Ahwatukee location.

The beer hall has a capacity of 70 people inside and 30 on the patio with various seating options, including bar stools, tables and chairs, and benches. A separate room with lounge chairs offers a more relaxed setting and doubles as a private event room for guests to reserve.

"Getting here hasn't just been Drew and I," Hammond said. "We've done a lot to prepare this particular space, but all the while we've had a lot of people working with us who are just crushing it."

What's on the food menu at Wren Südhalle

The food menu at Südhalle features bar bites with "everything, including the sauces, made in house," Pool said.

On the to-the-point menu, guests have eight options, four light bites and four sandwiches.

The light bites include haus frites, served with herb salt, mustard and haus saus. Onion rings are made with roasted apple schmaltz and mustard. The pretzel comes topped with with sea salt with goat milk obatzda (a Bavarian cheese spread) and mustard for dipping. And loaded frites are topped with pastrami, gouda, haus saus and cornichons.

The main dishes include three burgers and a grilled cheese. The Wren burger is made with a beef patty, American cheese, onion, pickles and haus saus. The Brat burger is made with a beef patty, a bratwurst patty, landkaese, onion, pickles, mustard and haus saus. The kase (cheese) burger is made with a beef patty, a smoky sausage patty, emmantaler cheese, onion, pickles and haus saus. And the cheesy melt is made with smoked gouda, emmantaler, American cheese and obatzda.

The kitchen will open in early October.

The bar opens to the public on Saturday, Sept. 16.

Hours: Noon-10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday; 11 a.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday.

Details: 4025 E. Chandler Blvd., Phoenix. wrenhousebrewing.com.

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

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Wren House brewery opens Phoenix beer hall. What to expect at Sudhalle