POUR Spotlight – Helton Brewing Co.
Brian Helton grew up in small town USA. Born and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana and the son of a blue-collar worker he understands the importance of working hard for what you want. He also understands the importance of maintaining the integrity of your work quality. You often only get one shot to impress someone so you had better make it count. Brian ensures that his beer does just that. His approach focuses on the purity of the craft. This concept is personified within his flagship beer simply dubbed “Pilsner”. The pilsner is a beer style that requires the brewer to be on his “A” game as there is very little room for error. There are quite a few beer styles out there that are a little more forgiving with flaws but the pilsner is not one of them. Simply put, if you are going to make a pilsner you better know what the hell you are doing or people are going to find out pretty quickly that you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. And when you can consistently create a fantastic pilsner? Then, my friend, you are changing the game. Aside from the pilsner Helton has a steady tap list that consists of a Milk Stout, an IPA, a Scottish Ale, a Ryle Pale Ale and the ever-so-popular Northeast Hazy IPA.
Through his 20+ years of commercial brewing Brian received 2 key pieces of advice when he decided that he wanted to open his own brewery. That first piece of advice was to buy a place rather than lease it. Leases keep you under the thumb of a landlord and the inevitable task of returning the space to its original state once the lease it up. Anyone who knows anything about building a brewery can tell you that this would be no simple task. The second piece of advice was to buy the biggest building that you can with growth in mind. So he did just that. Originally a 2-story tire warehouse Helton Brewing Company had to be completely revamped to house what will eventually become a full production brewery. The huge upside was that he got to plan every aspect of the brewery and he planned it based on what he wanted it to eventually become not just what he envisioned year one or two. He built with growth in mind. That foresight gives you a little glimpse of the type of person Brian is: a confident innovator and a man with a plan.
With its large beautiful space Helton Brewing Company, which is located at 2144 East Indian School Road will be the place to be Thursday April 19th for the very first AZ Food & Beer POUR event. Arizona Food & Beer is a standalone media company focused on the Arizona beer and food scene with the goal of making Arizona a craft beer destination. Two guest breweries (Goldwater and Helio Basin) will be pouring liquid gold as well. The cost for admission is $30 and tickets are available here. Designated drivers get in for $10 at the door. Your ticket will get you six 10 ounce beers as well as food, live music, live painting, and good times with great people.
Click here for the Facebook event page. Be sure to share and invite all your friends to join in the fun!
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