Tapping Phoenix as an up-and-coming beer market, brothers Jason and Jim Ebel — founders of Two Brothers Brewing Co. and Windy City Distributing in Chicago — recently launched Arizona Beer & Cider Company. “We see Arizona like Chicago was five or seven years ago, in terms of being a burgeoning beer market that is poised to do really well,” Jason says. He shares that personal reasons figured in as well. “We have a lot of family here and we come out here all of the time.”
The brothers are not content to focus just on Arizona Beer & Cider Company; in late January of this year they also opened Two Brothers Taphouse and Brewery in Scottsdale.
With more than 3,200 square feet of refrigerated space, Arizona Beer & Cider Company has a fully temperature-controlled warehouse and uses only refrigerated delivery vehicles. For now, it will distribute Two Brothers Brewing Company and Smuttynose Brewing Company product, but Jason says they expect to add additional brands in the future. In addition to beer, cider will be an important part of their company’s portfolio and they will represent high-quality, smaller cider mills and craft beer brands.
