Residents of the West Valley, rejoice! There is a new brewery in Avondale with plenty of beer and video game panache to go around. The new establishment, dubbed 8-Bit Brewery, officially opened its doors on Saturday and was embraced by local residents and gamers en masse.
The brewery is the brain child of Avondale native Ryan Whitten, who put his homebrewing skills to use in combination with his love of video games. He and his wife, Krystina, formally opened the business after a few weeks of beta-testing beers to the public.
Approximately 400 customers attended the grand opening on June 6 to participate in a geeky T-shirt contest, cosplay competition and, of course, sample the beers on tap. 8-Bit Brewery currently hosts a variety of brews such as the White Mage, Black Mage, Hopsassin’s Creed, and Legend of Zymur. Whitten also has a limited-release beer named the Offensive Tanooki on tap, with another called Extra Life Amber planned for release, and more seasonal brews to come. According to the owners, they poured an estimated 622 beers during their grand opening alone.
It wasn’t all about the beer on the opening day, as 8-Bit Brewery teamed up with local food truck Frites Street to serve up gourmet fries alongside the brews. This is something co-owner Krystina confirmed they will be doing again in July for a potential beer-pairing dinner.
As for what’s next, 8-Bit Brewery will be paying a visit to the Tucson Brew at the Zoo event on June 20 to demonstrate their beers. They also will get a start on their summer brews with a “mini-boss” peach-flavored India Pale Ale and a “boss” Imperial Hefeweizen beer in the works.
8-Bit Brewery is located at 1050 Fairway Drive, No. 101, in Avondale. Check out our photos from their grand opening below!
Photos by Christen Bejar for Nerdvana
