A cool touch of rustic

Grand Canyon Brewery nears the last stages

It's been the talk of Williams for a number of months. Locals and visitors alike have kept an eye on the construction just behind Cruiser's Cafe located along Route 66 and wondered what exactly was going on there. The building, facing Third Street, has under gone a number of high profile changes recently, including concrete, fresh paint and the arrival of a large number of bins, vats and boilers, which were moved inside the new building with a fair share of grief. One storage bin was placed outside as well, while a slew of improvements were also made to the inside of the new establishment, including paint, laminate wood floors, chairs, a new bathroom and an attractive wood bar, among other changes.

The Grand Canyon Brewery is almost complete.

John Peasley, 25, along with his brothers Josh Peasley, 22, and Jeremy Peasley, 21, own the new brewery, which will offer a variety of locally made beer to area patrons.

"The whole town is curious. Everyday I get asked. We're already giving tours all day long. People are adamant about it. They want to see something new in this town. It'll be here to stay I'm sure," said John Peasley.

John Peasley has lived in the Williams area for over three years, while his younger brothers have been in the area slightly longer. They got started in business about five years ago with the acquisition of the White Horse Trading Company on Route 66.

"These guys lived in the back and ran it," said Peasley of his younger brothers. "I got out of the Navy last January of 2006 (and) got hold of Cruiser's in August, so all three of us got Cruiser's. We've been talking about this place (the brewery) since August and finally it's coming together. It's definitely been a rough trail."

Peasley said the brothers will often put in 18-hour days and work well over 100 hours a week - mostly on the new brewery.

"We eat and sleep here. We get into fights. We have done it all with no time to play. Most kids get to go out and party with friends. When we get off work, we're most likely at the restaurant. Somebody's helping us out full-time running White Horse. I got Cruiser's fully staffed, with my wife Sarah and we just spend most of our time over here (at the brewery) to try to knock it out."

Peasley said he hopes to see the brewery open for business by July 7, though the actual date may change.

"Our brewer is out of Sweden, he's been brewing for 25 years. His name is David Meadows. He's originally a native out of California, but he decided to move, him and his family, from Sweden out to here. We found him on a brewing Web Site and moved him out," said Peasley. "He'll be our brewer and he's won numerous gold and silver medals from different competitions in Europe. He's also owned his own brewery and worked for one of the largest breweries in Europe. He'll be in here managing this whole place for us."

Besides locally brewed beer, Grand Canyon Brewery will also offer a pool table, high-top tables, outside patio furniture, televisions and other amenities. Williams City Council granted a liquor license for the establishment during their regular meeting June 14.

Peasley chainsaw-cut and polyurethaned the chairs in Grand Canyon Brewery, along with his brothers. The three performed most of the work in the establishment on their own.

"We did all the work no one else wanted to do," said Jeremy Peasley.

"We tore down an old barn on 66 outside the Quality Inn. That's where all our trim came from. A lot of (work) we had to hire in. We did all the wood work ourselves," John Peasley said.

"Right now we'll only stay local as far as our retailers. We already have distributors out of Phoenix and Flagstaff wanting to carry our beer," Peasley said. "Because we don't have our recipes consistent and we're not up to production obviously, we want to see what happens our first year. The only places we'll carry it is Cruiser's and here."

He added that five different varieties will be available for beer connoisseurs to choose from and names will come with a local slant.

"They'll all be names from Arizona," said Josh Peasley.