Thursday 3rd of May 2012 07:25:45 PM

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Arrived in the early evening for a light dinner and some beers. We walked in to a wide open space with the bar to the left, pool tables in the back, and tables to the right and back right. Brewing equipment is behind the back seating. There’s also a loft upstairs that looks like it has room for about 30. During our visit they were very informal. Grab a menu from the bar and take a seat. When you’re ready to order see the bartender. This could be a pain if your group was in the loft area. Anyway, I ordered an eight beer sampler which consisted of a Blonde Ale, Pale Ale, Red Ale, Brown Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Old Monkeyshine (an English Strong Ale), Bartender’s choice (mix of Pale Ale and Oatmeal Stout), and a guest tap – Green Flash IPA. All the beers were good but nothing stood out as exceptional. The food we ordered was good but my wife didn’t care for her “best burger in Tucson” too much. There is plenty of parking as this location is at the end of an industrial park road. There’s no smoking and seating outside but I can’t imagine sitting out there on a Tucson summer afternoon.

Friday 20th of January 2012 03:03:03 PM

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Any beer lovers visiting Tucson should make the effort to find Nimbus. It is a bit difficult to find in its extremely industrial location but it’s worth it. We found it after dark thanks to our new friend Tom Tom. The bartender was knowledgeable about their beers, which we appreciated. We told him what we liked and he made an appropriate recommendation. The Pale Ale was a good representation of the style and we enjoyed it enough to take a six pack to go. We sampled other beers, but our IBU fetish kept us pretty much focused on the Pale Ale. We liked pretty much everything we tasted. It’s a cool set up. Big warehouse type of setting. Lots of seating. Plenty of room for the band. Nimbus has great merchandise if you are looking for a T-shirt to take home for yourself. Bottled beer and growlers to go. We were very happy to find Nimbus! Don’t know about the food because we didn’t eat any of it. We were also very happy to find Nimbus Pale Ale at the convenience store next to our hotel in downtown Tucson.

Friday 10th of June 2011 01:23:03 PM

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Nimbus Brewing Company

Lots of locals swear by this place and its brews...the reviews included here attest to that but unfortunately I can not count myself as among that crowd.

It was a bit tough to find yet sits at the end of the road (44th) so it really can't be missed.

Oh this day, the temp topped out at 99 when 5:00 PM rolled around and not only were wife Persimmon and I looking for a cold beer to wrap ourselves in, we wanted a cool place to put our sweaty fannies as well. Didn't happen here. Inside (and this was the brewery, not the brewpub!) was open, huge with 2 enormous fans on the "kill" setting to try to circulate the air with no effect. So we sat outside in the "garden" where it was decidedly cooler...'til the smokers arrived. Gratefully we were just about finished with our beer.

Nut Brown. Very good but the water here in Tucson is hard and therefore a bit alkaline and I could taste it. No it was the beta or diacetyl...it was, as Olympia used to tout, the water. I suspect it probably effects the other 5 beers they brew as well but I really didn't care to find that out. Smokers, remember?

Also this is a "serve yourself" brewery so no one comes to you...and on this day-after-work-Thursday, there were just 2 gals working and working very hard to pour all the beer being ordered and, in some cases, demanded.

Even though Nimbus claims to be the largest brewery in Arizona state (and it may well be), the board showing where you could buy the beers was strangely empty...yet, I have been from Yuma to Flagstaff and Kingman have had no trouble finding beer from 4 Peaks (Kilt Lifter) headquartered in Tempe.

Just sayin'

So stop by Nimbus just to experience it 'cause the locals "LOVE Nimbus!" but I think I've seen and tasted enough, thanks.

Sunday 14th of June 2009 08:37:45 PM

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LOVE NIMBUS! Wish they had a taproom closer to town (biking / stumbling distance), but I do like the atmosphere in their brewery. Their beer is fresh and delicious and unlike the other local brewery, Nimbus keeps their taps clean.

The food is decent pub fare. Not a gourmet restaurant, but you go for the beer. Worth the drive and I've never had problems finding it (there's a map and a link to google directions on their website).

Friday 17th of April 2009 01:04:24 PM

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Used a GPS to find the location ....worked great but could not find the brewery again a few days later w/out the GPS.....First impression THESE GUYS ARE SERIOUS about brewing beer...the fermenters were stacked like missle silo's somwheat appropriate being near the airbase.... The Pale and Monkeyshine are great. Growlers and bottles are available to go. Best selection of cool beer shirts that I can remember at any brewery... Good beer, good variety, great atmosphere.

Thursday 10th of July 2008 12:56:31 AM

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This person needs 3 or more reviews on the site for their scores to start counting.

Like the first review, hard to find, but worth the journey. The beer is great. Haven't tried the food (why waste a good high with food). Atmosphere is super. Where is there a better place to drink beer than in the wharehouse where it is brewed. Crew is friendly and the beer is great. Monkeyshine is strong and good. The Pale Ale is good also, and some of the seasonals are exceptional. Join the biker and the construction crews. Sit and enjoy the place. Almost one of a kind.

Friday 4th of April 2008 05:35:34 PM

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This seems to be a bit of a secret to many people living in Tucson, probably because of its location. The owner recently tried to move Downtown, but that was thwarted by the City not wanting to give him a ridiculous tax break and pay for various elements of the construction to make it work.
If you can find the place, it's worth a trip, although Nimbus is available at stores throughout the state, usually their Pale, but often also their Nut Brown. Their Monkeyshine is also a local favorite and can be had on tap at several bars around town.
Maybe just because I'm a local and have been here many times, I've developed issues with Nimbus over the years.
One frustration is the hours. They seem to close whenever they feel like it on weekdays, and often start to shut down early other days when the crowd is light. I've also come some nights and they've just been outright closed, although that was a few years ago and hasn't happened in a while.
They'll also randomly have bands playing with varying styles of music, with a cover from $3-10. I appreciate them providing a venue, but it's so out of the way, that I don't know who would come just to hang out and listen to music. I just come here to drink.
The kitchen shuts down at 9 and there's a bit of a trick with the food. The burgers are good, as are several of the sandwiches. The nachos are okay, but are served on paper and often burned. Most of the other appetizers are frozen, and never cooked very well.
They don't have a happy hour, which has always seemed counter-intuitive to me, considering how many after-work people they get (they're on the way home from several of Tucson's largest employers), and the beer relatively rarely changes.
But, the beer is pretty good. I like the Oatmeal Stout and the Monkeyshine is good. Their pale is hoppy enough for me, but not strong enough to overwhelm those used to lighter beers. The brown is a good choice as well.
If you're looking for a brewpub in the Tucson area, this is about as real as it gets. The brewery is behind a gate at the end of the restaurant so the place feels like it was sort of tacked on as an afterthought. Trains on the adjacent railroad roll by every so often and shake the place, although they rarely blow their horns. There's a small portion on what used to be a loading dock that's used as a patio and smoking area, but the tables and chairs are crappy and I wouldn't necessarily consider it outdoor seating.

Tuesday 4th of December 2007 02:29:18 AM

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Stopped for lunch on the way from West TX to CA.
Had a great burger and some good beer, their brown ale being my favorite. Also tried their pale ale which was ok, stout on nitro which was good, and an Alt which was headed south. Sour. I've had their packaged beers in California and those are sour as well, taste more like lacto than bret I think, but I'm not an expert on the wild critters. Get them while they're fresh! The whit had a good amount of diacetyl. Despite some flaws however they had a great variety on tap, a nice facility, and cool swag. I'll stop again next time I'm out that way.