Featured Blog Post: Flagstaff Ale Trail

Length of time you’ve been in business:

Our 1-Year Anniversary is December 12, 2012.  That’s a big deal for us!

Why did you get into your industry? What is your goal/mission?

“Turning Good Beer into Good Works!”  

Flagstaff Ale Trail is a social enterprise; we donate all profits to charity.  To date in only our first year we have supported more than a dozen local non-profits:

Flagstaff Community Foundation, Literacy Volunteers, Friends of Camp Colton, Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Girls on the Run, Flagstaff Habitat for Humanity, Sun Sounds of Arizona-Flagstaff, Flagstaff City Softball Team, Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy, Flagstaff Leadership Program, Second Chance Center for Animals, Master Chorale of Flagstaff, and Flagstaff Independent Business Alliance. 

And, of course, we are members of the Chamber of Commerce!

We love Flagstaff and we want to help the non-profit charities that serve our community.  We also are dedicated to promoting our walkable downtown and its local businesses.

Your specialty – the reason people choose you:

Because of the Flagstaff Ale Trail, Flagstaff is being marketed and becoming known as the “Craft Beer Hub of the Southwest.”  With six local craft breweries, we have an amazing selection of tasty, locally brewed beer offered in attractive venues.  Four breweries (Lumberyard, Flagstaff Brewing, Beaver Street, and Mother Road) are located right in historic downtown.  Two others (Wanderlust and Cosmic) are represented on the Ale Trail with local downtown pubs (The Green Room and Hops on Birch). This means that the entire Flagstaff Ale Trail is less than a mile in length, all in our walkable downtown.  It’s a burgeoning downtown craft beer scene---good for Flagstaff, good for downtown businesses, good for our little venture!

Your favorite part about doing business in Flagstaff:

I (Geoff) have been in the non-profit sector for over 30 years with the Grand Canyon Trust and The Nature Conservancy.  This is my first for-profit venture (Even though we donate all profits to charity, we can only do that if we have profits!)  As a small business, we are meeting a whole new group of great people, making new friends, and seeing a different side of our community.  I love it!

Who is your favorite local non-profit or charitable organization? Why?

I am a member of the board of the Flagstaff Community Foundation and chair the Education Grants Committee.  The Flagstaff Community Foundation supports about 100 local organizations in 2012 with grants.  It is gratifying be able to help so many worthy non-profits that in turn help the community in so many important ways.

Do you have any special events coming up? What are they?

The Flagstaff Ale Trail package is a unique holiday gift idea.  The Flagstaff Ale Trail package---Passport and Souvenir Beer Pint---gives Ale Trailers an unforgettable experience in downtown Flagstaff strolling from brewery to brewery sampling the finest craft brews.  Also, the package entitles people to great discounts on beer at the various breweries and pubs.  The package can be ordered online and we do quick mail fulfillment.  The package can also be purchased directly at the Chamber of Commerce, Lumberyard Brewing, Flagstaff Brewing, and Beaver Street.  Check out the amazing souvenir beer pint, known as a Silipint®

Also, the Flagstaff Ale Trail looks forward to being part of Arizona Beer Week February 16-23, 2013, carrying the local handcrafted beer banner here in Flagstaff again for this excellent state-wide event.

Are you hiring?

No, but we are pouring!

Your address and business hours:

The Flagstaff Ale Trail is open any time the breweries and pubs are open.  Folks do the Ale Trail on their own, whenever they want.  There is no time limit and no set schedule. That’s the beauty of it.  (It is not a guided tour!) The Passport and discounts are good anytime the breweries and pubs are open, so please check their individual schedules for business hours.  You get your Passport stamped at each brewery and that shows you’ve used that particular discount.  At Lumberyard, you can return with your Silipint® any time and get the beer discount again and again.  So this is truly the gift that keeps on giving!

For questions or more information, visit our website www.flagstaffaletrail.com. You may also email Geoff at geoff@flagstaffaletrail.com.  For PR questions, contact Steele at steelewot3@gmail.com.

The Ale Trail Blog 

We are on Facebook

Twitter @ FLGAleTrail

SEE YOU ON THE TRAIL!