TUCSON, ARIZONA
Off-the-beaten-track industrial-bound dead end oasis, NIMBUS BREWERY, may be Arizona’s greatest brewpub, selling bottled versions locally.
Visited for an entire January ’05 afternoon with wife, Karen, we met some wild, crazy people at Nimbus that were marvelously entertained. Head brewer Scott Schwartz brings in Lexus yuppies to scooter trash with an excellent assortment.
A capacious warehouse, its high ceilings, spacious dining area, finely wood-carved bar, and rear brew tanks mark the generous interior.
Had ‘lite pub eats’ alongside wondrously divergent mesquite-honeyed cherry-berry-honeydew-fruited floral-spiced Dirty Guerra (Blonde) Ale, lemony orange-embittered clove-spiced Belgian White Ale, grapefruit-soured lemon-peeled currant-embittered Nimbus Pale Ale, brown-sugared maple-sapped dark-fruited English strong ale Old Monkey Shine, and alcohol-licked pineapple-enticed orange-bruised grape-tannic dry-bodied Double Weizen.
Darker fare included prune-stewed cherry-dried mocha-etched Nimbus Brown Ale and wood-charred grape-dried cherry-parched cocoa-buttered coffee-roasted Oatmeal Stout.
Better still, black cherry-fueled sherry-dried Nitrogen-Pushed Oatmeal Stout coddled vanilla, Baker’s chocolate, and espresso undertones.