Andy (left) with the happy McCain family.

The Arizona Republic sat down last weekend for this interview with Andy McCain of the McCain family and Hensley beer empire. He successfully straddles the line between political activist and beer enthusiast.

McCain fielded questions about the campaign trail (to which he said he mostly just stood backstage) and the economic problems facing his state. He said he got into the beer business because Hensley was in need of his business expertise.

He pointed out a couple of things vital to the Arizona beer distributor:

Q: Is beer distribution fairly recession-proof?

A: It’s a fair statement to say that with the economy taking a downturn, that that did not impact our business. What did impact it is the immigration issue here.

Q: Immigration?

A: You see a lot of Hispanics leaving our state since employer sanctions. They are a big part of our market, so it has had an impact on our business. Also, the construction industry is on the decline. The construction worker is a core client of ours, and that has had an impact.

And Andy’s favorite beer? He says it’s Budweiser.