One block north of downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row arts district, there’s a two-acre lot that’s home to Pemberton PHX. Its centerpiece is a historic house that’s been converted to a mixed-use development, but the real action these days is outdoors, where local artists have had their way with almost every aspect of the space. Mural art and creatively embellished shipping containers provide a feast for the eyes while food-and-beverage artisans provide art of the culinary kind. Amid this smattering of Arizonans is an Airstream trailer that’s been converted into a portable taproom. The beers poured from that shiny vessel come from Rancho Bernardo’s Abnormal Beer Co., 350 miles away. It’s an unlikely pop-up, but slinging suds from a silver conveyance is just the beginning of the company’s budding desert adventure.
When shaping up Pemberton PHX’s roster of tenants, a light bulb went off for Ryan Henry, Operations Manager for the venue’s parent company, True North Studio. He knew he wanted to bring on a craft-beer vendor and remembered the positive reception Abnormal’s beers had received at some of True North’s Phoenix-area restaurants. Despite having a wealth of quality options available in Arizona, he reached out to Abnormal President and CEO Matt DeLoach, to see if he was interested. He did and things—including an Airstream—were put into motion.
“The public reception has been great. We’ve been distributed in Arizona for almost two years now, but the Airstream is our first taproom location there. The Pemberton is flying through beer and their team has received a ton of positive feedback on our beers,” says Abnormal Events Manager Becky Flees. It’s inspired the Abnormal team, including Head Brewer Nyle Molina and crew, to put brewing boots on the ground. “The team is traveling to Phoenix to set up one or more collaborations with their local breweries…masked, outside at Pemberton and in real life.”
One of those collaborators will be Arizona Wilderness Brewing. The seven-year-old Gilbert operation is set to be part of a mid-March collaboration beer dinner at Pemberton PHX. For the past five years (with the exception of the COVID era), Abnormal has held quarterly dinners, bringing in other breweries to not only incorporate their beers, but also brew a collaboration beer specifically for those events. They’ll stick with their tried-and-true formula in every sense, including bringing Cork and Craft Executive Chef Scott Cannon to Phoenix for the dinner.
“Pemberton PHX is an ever-evolving collective born in the face of a pandemic. It’s inspired by an understanding that out of challenge and hardship can come creativity, communities coming together—both local and out-of-state—and a strong will to do things differently,” says True North Director of Programming and Partnerships Biannca Dominguez.
In addition to art, food and drink, Pemberton PHX also has a built-in theater area for outdoor entertainment and space for Pem Fitness programming. While True North Studio is focused on serving its current community, they see the potential of building out similar concepts in other bustling cities. The team at Abnormal does, as well.
“Something like this would be extremely successful in San Diego. We have a few concepts here that offer food and beverage and retail shops, but adding things like art exhibits, an outdoor theater and space for fitness classes is a way that Pemberton takes it to the next level,” says Flees. “This has been a very refreshing project for the Abnormal team to be involved in. With everyone locked down in San Diego, it’s nice to be able to be creative again and do what we do best: bring people together with delicious beers.”
The Abnormal Airstream Taproom at Pemberton PHX is located at 1121 North Second Street in Phoenix, Arizona