Nothing’s better than sitting outside on a cool autumn evening and sipping a pint of your favorite craft brew—other than perhaps getting a behind-the-scenes look at where it’s made.
SanTan Brewing Co. is Arizona’s largest independent craft brewery. Its beers are available in its pub/restaurant in Downtown Chandler and at an outpost at Sky Harbor International Airport, as well as through thousands of retailers across the state. But many people—locals and visitors alike—make the trek to north Chandler to take a tour of its brewery, SanTan Gardens. It’s one of the most popular stops on Arizona’s craft beer circuit.
Arizona Made
Anthony Cannechia opened SanTan Brewing Co. in September 2007 after years working as the head brewer at Four Peaks Brewing Co., which has been owned by Anheuser-Busch since 2015. Cannechia moved on because he wanted to experiment with American-style beers and new hops and grains that were coming out at the time.
For the next five-plus years, he brewed, canned, and kegged upward of 12,000 barrels of lagers, IPAs, and ales annually at SanTan’s original Downtown Chandler location. But as demand for the hoppy beverages increased, the brewery soon outgrew its center of operations. In 2012, Cannechia purchased the building that houses SanTan Gardens, and on April 8, 2013, the company brewed its first beer in its new facility. These days, SanTan brews approximately 1.8 million gallons of beer each year.
Of course, never one to rest on his laurels, Cannechia decided to add to SanTan’s offerings and began making spirits. SanTan now also is the state’s largest independent craft distillery. It boasts a broad range of spirits, including small-batch whiskeys, vodkas, and gins, as well as a selection of ready-to-serve and canned cocktails.
In October 2019, SanTan opened its brew facility to the public. Lively and interactive guided tours take guests inside the craft beer and spirits labs, offering a peek into the brewing and distilling process, and include an education about the past and future of SanTan Brewing Co.
A Brew-mazing Experience
“We get pretty immersive,” says tour guide Willie Talbert, who also is the brewery’s tasting room and events manager. “We want our tours to be educational, but we also want to make them entertaining. What’s great is that every tour guide puts their own spin on it and uses personal experience and things like that to change up the tours.”
Suds lovers will learn how SanTan brews and distills its award-winning beverages. Ten stations guide patrons on an in-depth journey through the 35,000-square-foot facility.
There’s grain handling, where barley, wheat, and rye are milled; and the brewhouse where the grains are soaked in hot water to convert the starches into sugars, creating a sweet solution called wort, and hops are added. The tank farm is where the mixture is left to ferment in large, cone-shaped stainless-steel tanks for two to six weeks. Each tank holds just over 7,700 gallons. And at craft packaging, more than 280 12-ounce cans are filled each minute.
At the stillhouse, tourgoers learn how SanTan transforms its brew base into whiskey, vodka, and gin.
“At SanTan, all of our beers and spirits start the exact same way, on the same system,” Talbert explains. “The only difference is when we’re making spirits, no hops are added whatsoever.”
More than 500 proof gallons are produced each week. And at barrel storage, the distilled spirits are left to age in oak barrels that are stacked seven or eight barrels high.
For Tempe resident Chandler Hord, his girlfriend Ashlie Fraser, and her mom, Elisha Percival, who was visiting from Lexington, Kentucky, the biggest surprise “was learning about the whiskey,” Hord notes.
Fraser adds, “This was my first beer tour. It was really good.”
Quench Your Thirst
Of course, the best part of a brewery tour is the tastings. And SanTan kicks its tours off with a solid serving of one of its most popular beers, Juicy Jack hazy IPA.
Select stops include more sample tastings, including sips of the single-malt whiskey wash, the sour, cidery liquid that evolves from the brewing process and is distilled into whiskey; two of the award-winning whiskeys; ready-to-drink cocktails; and the other top-selling IPA, MoonJuice. The tour caps off with a sample of SanTan’s newest creation, a bottled martini made with vodka, espresso, and maple simple syrup.
“I've had a lot of people who have done brewery tours before, and they say that this one of the best ones they’ve been on,” Talbert notes.
Tours of SanTan Brewing Co. are offered every Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The cost is $15 per person.
SanTanBrewing.com
At craft packaging, more than 280 12-ounce cans are filled each minute.