AZ Craft Breweries Merge, Forming Zonafide Beverages | News

PHX Beer and Huss Brewing Announce Merger

Cheers for Beers.

Image courtesy of ELEVATE.

Craft Beer Community Partnership

Two Metro Phoenix craft breweries announced a merger. Huss Brewing Co. and PHX Beer Co. form a new company, Zonafide Beverages. The new partnership aims to drive innovation and expand into new beverage categories while continuing to produce the craft beers Arizonans enjoy.

Both breweries will keep their names and brands. Brewing operations will be consolidated in Tempe. The merger makes the company Arizona’s second-largest craft brewer, with an expected output of nearly 30,000 barrels a year. Jeff Huss, co-founder of Huss Brewing, will serve as Brewmaster and lead the brewing vision.

Jess Harter via MXSW:

Major news for the Valley’s craft beer community: Huss Brewing, the second-largest craft brewery in Arizona, and PHX Beer Co., the 12th-largest, are merging into a partnership called Zonafide Beverages.

Both breweries will retain their independent identities and brands, but brewing operations will be consolidated at the Huss production facility in south Tempe. It’s not clear what will happen to PHX Beer’s brewhouse in Phoenix.

Steve Robbins, who was hired as PHX Beer’s president last year, will serve as CEO of Zonafide. Huss co-founder Jeff Huss will assume the role of Zonafide’s brewmaster.

PHX Beer started in 2011 as Phoenix Ale Brewery, but was sold and renamed in 2019 after the deaths of co-founders Greg Fretz and George Hancock. Its core beers include Zanjero juicy IPA, Bird City lager, and Arizona Gold.

PHX Beer also owns Sonoran Brewing, best-known for its popular white chocolate ale that has spawned several variations.

Jeff and Leah Huss launched their brewery in 2013. Its core beers include Scottsdale Blonde, Copper State IPA, and Koffee Kolsch. They bought Papago Brewing, whose popular flagship is Orange Blossom Ale, in 2016.

Leah Huss will continue to work for the company and guide the Huss brand.

Sponsor Members

About Mouth By Southwest

In 2010, Jess Harter launched Mouth by Southwest – MXSW for short. More than two million people now visit MXSW each year for information about local restaurants, breweries, and bars.