Mother Road Brewing Co. in Flagstaff, Arizona, announced it will dedicate a new fermenter in honor of Angel Delgadillo, known as the Guardian Angel of Route 66.
The microbrewery will hold the celebration at 4 p.m. May 30 at its new brewery at 1300 E. Butler Ave., Suite 200, in Flagstaff. Delgadillo and his family will attend the event. The brewery’s original site remains on Mikes Pike, a 1926 alignment of Route 66 — hence part of the name.
Mother Road Brewing stated in a news release:
Delgadillo will be honored for his preservation efforts, tireless promotion of Route 66, and the donation of his records and memorabilia to NAU’s Cline Library Special Collections and Archives. Mother Road’s newest fermentor will be named the Angel Delgadillo and will join the named fermentors of Cyrus Avery, father of Route 66, Henry Ford, and E.L. Cord.
The celebration is open to the public and will include brief remarks from the Marquess family, a speech by Angel Delgadillo, and a presentation on the Archives and their Route 66 collection and preservation efforts. Following the remarks, Andy See and His Swingin’ Jamboree will provide entertainment, and a food truck will provide dinners and snacks for sale. A portion of Mother Road beer sales that evening will be donated to the NAU Archives.
In addition to its site on old Route 66, Mother Road Brewing also has developed a number of Route 66-themed beers, including Daily Driver Session IPA, Lost Highway Double Black IPA, Kolsch Style Ale (inspired by the Gold Road near Oatman, Arizona), and Tower Station IPA (inspired by the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas). The brewery also produces seasonal beers.
Delgadillo, 91, is approaching the 40th anniversary of a fateful date in his life and for Route 66.
The date is Sept. 22, 1978, when about 9,000 vehicles a day along Route 66 just outside of his barber shop dropped to almost zero. That’s because an Interstate 40 bypass around his hometown of Seligman, Arizona, opened that day.
The seeming abandonment of Route 66 set a course for Delgadillo to lobby the state to name old Route 66 from Seligman to Kingman a historic highway. He helped lead the founding of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona in 1987, then the Arizona Route 66 Fun Run a year later.
He and his barber shop, which was partly converted into Angel and Vilma’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop, became destinations for Route 66 travelers from all over the world.
(Image of Angel Delgadillo in his barbershop in Seligman, Arizona, by ctrlatldileep; image of Mother Road Brewing Co. in Flagstaff, Arizona, by Scottb211)
I wouldn’t let Angel give me a shave, but I did get a beard trim from him. 😉
Just a wonderful man.
Interesting. I’ve never heard of a brewery having a naming ceremony for a fermenter before. I guess I’ll talk to local brewers and find out how much of a gimmick this is. Either way, cool thing to do and some decent stuff coming out of Mother Road, too, by the way.