It's 9:30 on a Friday morning in August, and about two dozen craft brewers are sipping beer from pint glasses in the back of Four Peaks Brewing Co. in Tempe.

Up and Runnin' Arizona Summer Ale These breweries participated in creating the beer. O.H.S.O. Eatery and Nanobrewery Status: Restaurant and bar is open; in-house brewery awaiting approval. Details: 4900 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. 602-955-0358, ohsobrewery.com. North Mountain Brewing Co. Status: Brewery and restaurant scheduled to open in October. Details: 522 E. Dunlap Ave., Phoenix. 602-861-5999, northmountainbrewing.com. Fate Brewing Co. Status: Brewery and pizza restaurant scheduled to open in September. Details: 7337 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale. 480-994-1275, fatebrewing.com. Four Peaks Brewing Co. Status: Brewery and restaurant open. Details: 1340 E. Eighth St., Tempe. 480-303-9967. 15745 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale. 480-991-1795, fourpeaks.com. Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. Status: Tasting room planned to open in late fall. Details: 7215 S. Power Road, Gilbert. facebook.com/azwbc. Desert Eagle Brewing Co. Status: Taproom planned to open in the next two months. Details: 150 W. Main St., Mesa. facebook.com/DesertEagleBrewingCompany. Mischief Brewing Co. Status: Brewpub planned to open in Peoria by the end of the year. Details: 602-908-6553, mischiefbrewery.com. Freak'n Brewing Co. Status: Production brewery with small tasting room open. Plans to start brewing by the end of the year. Details: 9299 W. Olive Ave., Peoria. freaknbrew.com. Mother Road Brewing Co. Status: Production brewery with a taproom open. Details: 7 S. Mikes Pike, Flagstaff. 928-774-9139, motherroadbeer.com. That Brewery Status: Brewery and restaurant open. Details: 3270 N. Arizona 87, Pine. 928-476-3349, thatbrewery.com. Dragoon Brewing Co. Status: Production brewery with a taproom open. Details: 1859 W. Grant Road, Tucson. 520-329-3606, dragoonbrewing.com.

They stand in small groups surrounded by the tools of their trade -- stainless-steel kettles, tanks and fermentors -- and talk over the hum of an industrial swamp cooler. The topic of conversation is beer, and talking points are hops suppliers, water-filtration systems and serving vessels. It's business born from pleasure, and everyone is in high spirits.

"I'm geeking out right now," said Urs Riner, whose official title is "head yeast whisperer" at Mother Road Brewing Co. in Flagstaff.

Riner and assistant brewer Shawn MacKenzie are seeing an internal colandria for the first time, and admiring Four Peaks' choice of equipment.

The men and women at Four Peaks that morning represented 10 Arizona breweries, most of which will open by the end of the year. They are the state's next generation of craft brewers, invited to one of Arizona's most recognizable breweries for an open house hosted by owner and brewmaster Andy Ingram.

"I've never seen this many breweries open within a year," said Ingram, a board member of the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild.

"I wanted to get everyone together, get a community going," he added. "We're all in this together. ... It doesn't make sense to fight."

Arizona ranks 30th nationally in breweries per capita, according to the National Brewers Association report using the 2010 Census data. It is ahead of states with larger populations such as Texas, Florida and New York, but behind suds stewards such as Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

About a dozen commercial breweries around the state have opened or are scheduled to open this year.

Some, such as Freak'n Brewing Co. in Peoria, will be production breweries with small tasting rooms. Others, such as Fate Brewing Co. in Scottsdale, will be breweries and restaurants.

They're opening in cities and towns that have never had breweries before. That Brewery, which opened in June, is Pine's first brewery, and Queen Creek recently approved a domestic microbrewery license for Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co.

But on this recent morning at Four Peaks, they're strengthening a craft community and brewing a collaborative beer from a recipe that each had a say in creating.

An English-style session beer (a term for beers with 5 percent alcohol by volume or less), it is called Up and Runnin' Arizona Summer Ale. It is available at Four Peaks' Tempe location, Trophy Steakhouse in Queen Creek and That Brewery for a limited time.

They're toasting each other on closing distribution contracts and coming up with fundraisers to support Arizona-based Beer for Brains Foundation. And they're doing it all with a beer in hand.