2001 marked the arrival of our new state-of-the-art 35-barrel high-pressure steam-fired brew house manufactured by JV Northwest. It is the crowning accomplishment in Nimbus Brewing Company’s major brewery expansion that began in June of 2000 with the arrival of James Counts, Managing Partner of Nimbus Brewing Company. With almost 1,000 barrels of fermenting capacity, we boast an annual production capacity of 22,500 barrels (about 45,000 kegs) of beer. The Tucson-based Nimbus Brewing Company now owns the distinction of being the largest brewery based in the state of Arizona. Our three 150-barrel fermenters standing almost 30 feet tall and each holding almost 5,000 gallons of beer are a sight to behold for any lover of quality micro-brewed beers and are a testament to the demand for our products throughout Arizona and the surrounding region.

While we are not surprised by how well our beers have been received, we are astonished by our brewery’s growth since our official opening in the spring of 1996, when we produced just under 200 barrels for the year. Our growth has continued at a remarkable pace. We never imagined there were so many lovers of distinctive, European-caliber beers in Arizona. Nimbus was destined for prominence. The only remaining machinery from the original installation is our 1950 Coca-Cola bottling line. This Laverne and Shirley style conveyor can still be seen in operation filling and labeling over 100 cases an hour on our designated bottling days.

Our Head Brewer, Scott Schwartz, monitors all aspects of the brewing process, and has garnered multiple awards for Nimbus Brewing Company, including Best Local Brew and Best Beer on Tap in the Best of Tucson competition for five consecutive years. In addition, Nimbus was named Best Microbrewery by the Arizona Daily Star and the Arizona Republic and was selected four years in a row to attend the prestigious Oregon Brew Festival each time winning with our exceptional English Strong Monkeyshine Ale. Our ales have won many individual awards including silver medals for our Oatmeal stout, Red, Pale, and English Strong Monkeyshine in the World Beer Cup. Our Belgian White won Best in Show at the Las Vegas Brewfest, and a regional bronze medal in the United States Beer Tasting Championships. At the United States Beer Tasting Championships, Nimbus was also proud to receive a regional gold medal and silver national medal for its Pale Ale. With awards and accolades too many to list, we are fortunate to have Scott at the helm of production, as are thousands of people who enjoy his mastery of the art of brewing on a daily basis.

We are often asked, Why ales? Why not lager beers? The reply is very simple: it’s the water. Living in Tucson, we have a natural groundwater profile that is remarkably similar to the water on the Burton found in the middle of England, where Bass and Double Diamond brew their famous ales. Our very hard water is flawless in its blend of natural salts and minerals. It is so perfect for brewing ales, the only process we need to do to our water is carbon filtering to remove chlorine that causes off-flavors in beers. Beyond that, Tucson’s water allows us to brew some of the finest quality ales found anywhere in the world. In the future, Nimbus Brewing Company has plans to install a reverse-osmosis system to strip the water of its naturally occurring salts and minerals, and thereafter add back necessary salts and minerals to the water to emulate the soft water of central Europe, which is perfect for brewing lager-style beers. So, for those of you that have not yet come to enjoy the vast diversity in flavors that only an ale style beer can provide, a Nimbus Lager may be available to you in the near future.