I was sitting on the tarmac in Saskatoon shortly after boarding when I started to hear a constant patter of freezing rain striking the body of my plane. Looking out the window into the dark of a November morning, hoping that we’d get loaded and de-iced before the weather got too bad to take off, my mind drifted to where I’d be landing later that day and my plans for my first night in Phoenix. As the freezing rain intensified, all I could think about was escaping winter and having a beer on a patio.

Leaving behind a few days of -15C weather and then a just in time escape from a freezing rain storm, I landed in Phoenix in 30C weather. It took remarkably little time for me to drop my bags at my hotel, change into shorts, and make my way to the Arizona Wilderness outdoor beer garden just on the north edge of downtown.

If there was any doubt I had picked the right first Phoenix experience, this removed any trace of that. The patio at the beer garden had a place ….. DEDICATED TO DOGS!

A cold pint in hand, sitting among a bunch of good dogs, this is the face of the joy of a Canadian who has escaped winter.

Not yet ready to let go of the wonderful vibes of outdoor beers in November, I made a stop on my walk back to my hotel to enjoy the patio at the Angels Trumpet Ale House. As the sun set on my first day in Phoenix, I enjoyed a delicious Ta Weno red ale by 1912 Brewing Company.

Not all of my beer sampling was outdoors in Phoenix. The well air conditioned State 48 Brewery downtown was a welcome respite from an afternoon where the temperatures were pushing into the mid 30s. The beers here were delicious, and I enjoyed some beer nerd banter with one of the servers which resulted in a couple of free samples of some of their one-off and esoteric creations. The absolute star of this tasting was the Picking Up Steam (far left), their California common, a beautiful rendition on one of my favourite beer styles.

Nearby State 48, I popped into Hidden Track Bottle Shop, a tiny wine and craft beer store, to pick up a few cans for some hotel-based enjoyment during my stay. The Mother Road Tower Station IPA was the best of this bunch with the two Dragoon Brewing beers close behind.

While the basketball game I got to was loads of fun, this Hop Knot by Four Peaks was disappointing even though it looked to be one of the higher rated beers available at the Suns game.

After the work part of my Phoenix trip wrapped up, I got the extra day and a half I had added to this trip started by having a late morning beer on a patio of a generic bar downtown. Being on vacation and being the only person on a patio enjoy a morning beer is a particularly decadent feeling and made this rather pedestrian Scottsdale Blonde by Huss Brewing a true treat.

After a morning hiking through the Desert Botanical Garden, I took the train to nearby Tempe to have lunch at Pedal Haus Brewery. I started with a flight of four varied beers, all of which were solid. The witbier on the far left was a great way to start with a nice balanced spiciness and hint of orange. My server here was super friendly and we chatted about their beers throughout my meal.

The outdoor patio here was beautiful, and as this was my last day in Phoenix, I was soaking up all of the warmth and enjoyment I could of what would likely be my last warm weather outdoor beers for five months.

Back in downtown Phoenix, I had dinner at Mother Brunch Brewery. I tried a couple of their creations, and while none wowed me, this Mother IPA was solid. More solid was that mac and cheese!

I saved my last patio beer for my favourite place of this trip. I had made a number of stops at Arizona Wilderness over my week in Phoenix. All of their beers were enjoyable, and I loved the vibe of their patio. Sitting here, nursing a pint of their Picture Perfect light beer, I checked into my flight home the next day and reminded myself to savour those last sips of my last patio beer. Little did I know at the time that my next warm weather patio beer would be on my own back deck in the middle of April during a global pandemic.