ARIZONA BEER WEEK – FEBRUARY 15-22, 2014

Even though Arizona Beer Week is just about 2 months away, I figured I better start spreading awareness of the event now so everyone can get a jump on getting their tickets before it’s too late. Arizona Craft Beer Week is brought to you by the Arizona Craft Brewer’s Guild and they will be bringing over 250 different beer events across the state during that week. Events will include beer tastings, beer dinners, craft beer ice cream tastings, special beer releases, brewery tours and much more.

Arizona Beer Week kicks off with the 14th annual Strong Beer Festival, held at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix on February 15th, 2014. Tickets for the event went on sale on December 1st, 2013. Strong or high alcohol content beers are the focal point of this coming years festival, a big selection of other great craft beers, specialty and unique brews along with “just-for-this-event” beers will be available. Festival-goers will receive a commemorative 4 ounce tasting glass and 15 tasting tickets for the price of admission. VIP admission will include 20 tasting tickets. Live music to shake your booty to and a wide variety of great local food vendors to keep your hunger at bay will also be available to attendees.

* VIP admission begins at 12pm (Designated Drivers arriving with VIPs will also be admitted at 12pm!)
* General admission begins at 1pm
* Event ends at 5pm (Last Call 4:45pm
* Ticket purchasers and all guests must be 21 or over
* Children under 8 admitted with parent.
* Valid picture ID must be presented for admission.
* This is a rain or shine; no refunds or transfers allowed
* Tickets will be limited to avoid overcrowding.

All general admission tickets include admission, one 4-ounce commemorative tasting mug and 15 tasting tickets (each good for one 4-ounce beer taste). Food is available for purchase.

All VIP Tickets include, one 4-ounce commemorative tasting mug, 20 tickets, a t-shirt, reserved seating towel, early entry, brewer meet and
greet, food voucher ($10 value), pretzel necklace, reserved seating area, restrooms and the first 100 to purchase tickets will receive reserved parking.

Pricing

General Admission: $40 presale $50 after and at the door

VIP Admission: $60 presale $70 after and at the door

Designated Driver: $10

Here is a list of all the breweries and vendors that will be dispensing delicious brews and bites at the Strong Beer Festival.

Featuring:

Alliance Beverage

Barrio Brewing Company

Beer by Cartel

BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery

Borderlands Brewing

College Street Brewhouse & Pub

Crescent Crown

Desert Eagle Brewing

Dragoon Brewing Company

Four Peaks Brewing Company

Gentle Ben’s Brewing

Gordon Biersch

Grand Canyon Brewery

Historic Brewing Company

Lumberyard

Mother Road Brewing

Mudshark Brewing

North Mountain Brewing

Oak Creek Brewing

OHSO nano Brewery

Papago Brewing

Pitcher of Nectar Dist.

Pizza Port

Prescott Brewing Company

Rock Bottom Brewery

Sleepy Dog Brewing

SunUp Brewing

THAT Brewery

The Phoenix Ale Brewery

SanTan Brewing Company

Sonoran Brewing Company

Wanderlust Brewing Company

www.craftbeeraz.com/strongbeer.html

https://www.facebook.com/AZBeerWeek

Four Peaks Brewing Co.’s Peach Ale

FOUR PEAKS BREWING CO. (Tempe, Az.)

Four Peaks Brewing Co. and I go way back. They hold a special place in my heart because they are solely responsible for converting me from a drinker of industrialized, fizzy yellow swill and “feux craft” beer to a full on craft/micro-brew enthusiast with a single sip of their Kiltlifter Scottish Ale. They also inspired me to take up the hobby of home-brewing.

It’s safe to say that Four Peaks is the most popular microbrewery in Arizona. With their original brewery in Tempe right near the ASU Campus, to their bar and grilles in North Scottsdale and in Sky Harbor Airport, to their production breweries/taprooms in Wilson and Tempe, you can enjoy their award winning beers and incredible food wherever you are in the greater Metro-Phoenix area.

Among my favorites of theirs are their flagship brew – Kiltlifter Scottish Ale, Oatmeal Stout, their fall seasonal Pumpkin Porter (which is legendary here in Arizona) and the Raj English-style IPA.   I can’t give a good reason as to why, but for some reason, I had unintentionally ignored Four Peak’s Peach Ale for far too long. I guess for a few years there, I got a little too comfortable drinking those few favorites of mine.   Upon realizing my neglect of Peach Ale, I decided to give it a shot.

The Peach Ale pours a bright golden color with great peach and slight floral aromatics. This ale has a lot more going on than your typical blonde ale. Its got a smooth and easy drinking malt profile coming from 2-Row and Cara-pils barley alongside white wheat which gives it great body and a solid white head. To obtain the great peach flavor, they did not use extract. They use real, pureed peaches for the great aroma and flavor. Magnum Hops are the choice hops for this ale. Typically, they are pretty intense when it comes to bittering, but they offer a very neutral bitterness that lets the peach flavors shine through. I have used Magnum Hops myself in some home-brew recipes and they can really rip the enamel off your teeth if used in excess, but the brewers at Four Peaks got the ratio down perfectly. Sometimes, fruit beers can tend to be a bit sticky or leave that Kool-Aid residue feeling in your mouth. This finishes clean and dry and is a great way to beat the Arizona heat. This ale is not as sweet as one would think. It has a slight tartness to it as well, which I love because it awakens your senses and reminds to keep pouring that delicious ale down your gullet.

Coming in at 4.5% alc., this is definitely within the sessionable guidelines leaving you with a great tasting beer that you can enjoy all day long. I’m kinda kicking myself in the ass for not giving this a chance sooner! Four Peaks has never let me down and this is no exception. I applaud them for all that they do. They are definitely worthy of every award they have won, and they’ve won a lot. I feel, if there were no Four Peaks Brewing Co., the Arizona micro-brew scene wouldn’t be nearly as big as it is now. They put Arizona on the beer map and I owe them a huge debt of gratitude for opening my eyes to all that is good in the world of craft beer. Cheers!

 

www.fourpeaks.com

www.facebook.com/fourpeaksbrew

Untappd – Drink Socially

True beer lovers know that craft beer can be as complex and sophisticated as the best wines in the world.  Wine connoisseurs have long utilized personal note books to track their extensive tasting endeavors.  This method has allowed drinkers to keep track of the many varieties and vintages that they have had the pleasure of palate-ing.

In today’s always connected, technologically social universe, craft beer lovers need not scribble down drunken notes in a pocket notebook. Wouldn’t a beer-centric social networking app be much more appropriate?  Worry not beer drinkers.

Untappd (available on Google Play and iPhone App Store) allows users to “Check-In”, rate, photograph and make tasting notes about beers as they drink.  Badges are unlocked as achievements and drinking milestones (i.e. 500 unique beers) are achieved.  Users also have the ability to connect with friends and “toast” to friends’ check-ins (think Facebook “likes”).

Not sure what style a certain beer is?  You can look up all of the brew’s specs such as style, ABV, average rating and similar beers.  Untappd is also a great tool for tracking down the best brews in your area by location.

The Wish List feature allows users to keep a running list of elusive beers that they have not yet had a chance to drink.  I wonder how many beer nerds have Heady Topper and Pliny the Elder on their wish lists… I know I do…

Share your username and tell us what your favorite uses for Untappd are in the comments section below.  Cheers!

Untappd

Follow our contributors on Untappd

Brian – NJ – @BrianRuss

Brodie – AZ – @broffi_1027

Jesse – OH – @JesseJames427

Marin Brewing Co.’s Old Dipsea Barleywine

Marin Brewing Co. (Larkspur, Ca.)

Oh… it’s a jolly good day to take the little Old Dipsea out. Righty O! This hefty English Style barleywine comes in swinging at a judicious 9% alc. and is Marin Brewing Co.’s strongest ale among their ranks. Pouring a deep copper and capped with a short white head, this ale really is fat, sassy and easy on the carbonation level. Medium strength boozy aromas lead way to notes of thick caramel, toffee, praline and a miniscule touch of roasted chocolate trailings. The immediate flavors are sweet and heavy caramel, somewhat nutty with a warming alcohol finish that isn’t too hot to handle. They use East Kent Goldings and Styrian Goldings Hops which provide an earthy and herbal spice bitterness that is played down by the big malt base. They claim there is a big hop bitterness in the finish, which I’m not really picking up on. I taste more at the beginning of the sip.

Old Dipsea has a very full yet smooth body and mouthfeel. I can already feel the alcohol impairing my typing abilities as I dig deeper into this ale. Even though this doesn’t quite live up to it’s description, I am thoroughly enjoying this, as it is my very first barleywine and it has me thinking, “Where have you been all my life, Old Dipsea?”. This is definitely an ale to cuddle up with on a cold winter night, in front of a warm fireplace. You may even call it your “mistress”, but don’t let your significant other find out you’re cheating on them with this barleywine (unless they’re cool with open relationships? I won’t judge you). This ale is more than worthy of it’s many awards and accolades over the years. They also offer a Barrel Aged version of Old Dipsea, which I am dying to try now.

For as big and strong as this ale is, I am truly loving it. I’m not one that buys beers for high alcohol content and I don’t drink to get drunk. I drink high quality, hand crafted beer for the flavor, the experience, and the adventure in trying something new. This has really struck a chord with me and I can highly suggest this to any fellow beer snob for it is quite a remarkable barleywine. Cheers!

Great American Beer Festival

Silver: ’90, ’89

World Beer Championships

Gold: ’11, ’06, ’03

Silver: ’98, ’97

US Beer Tasting Championships

CA Champion: ’07

North American Beer Awards

Gold: ’98, ’05

Silver: ’02

Bronze: ’99, ’05

CA State Fair

Gold: ’11, ’04, ’03, ’98
Silver: ’12, ’10, ’08, ’07, ’06, ’05, ’02, ’01, ’96
Bronze: ’99

LA County Fair

Bronze: ’04

Tornado Barleywine Festival

Gold: ’95

www.marinbrewing.com

www.facebook.com/marinbrewingcompany

Nimbus Brewing’s Old Monkey Shine

                                                                                   

Nimbus Brewing’s Old Monkey Shine, English Strong Ale (Tuscon, Arizona)

If you drive just short of two hours south of Phoenix, you’ll come upon the second largest metropolitan city in Arizona, Tuscon. With roots dating back to the old west, Tuscon has a lot of sights to see, and several microbreweries to quench your thirst after a long journey across the blazing desert. Opening in the spring of 1996, Nimbus Brewing Company made it’s mark on an unsuspecting public, drowning in the fizzy yellow sea of Macro made, industrial swill that some call beer. Inspired by traditional English style ales, which laid the foundation for their beers, they offer a wide variety featuring everything from easy drinking Blonde ales all the way to the thick and sweet oatmeal stouts.

Old Monkey Shine is an English Strong Ale by definition, and when they say “Strong”, they mean it. It comes in at a walloping 8.2% alc. but the booze is hidden so well, you wouldn’t guess it until it’s far too late. It pours a dark ruby color with an extremely thick and creamy tan head. Aroma’s of toffee, roasted chocolate and sweet caramel are abound. Notes of bready biscuits, subtle fruity figs, tinges of brown sugar and an underlying backbone of roasted coffee and sweet caramel round out the malty flavors. Hop bitterness comes from 100% English Kent Golding Hops. The hops essence comes in the finish which is earthy, mildly spicy and finishes dry. There is not any hop aroma whatsoever. As I get about halfway through the glass, the warming alcohol notes start to kick in, making my cheeks feel warm and my ears turn red. This is almost too easy to drink, and with such a full range of flavors and smooth mouthfeel, I definitely want another.

I can imagine sitting outside on a crisp fall night, in front an open fire pit, puffing on cigars and accompanied by good friends and family, Old Monkey Shine would definitely be the right beer for the occasion. This ale would pair very well with grilled steak marinated in Worchestershire Sauce and topped with blue cheese and bacon crumbles, a baked potato with all the fixings and finished off with some dark chocolate mousse for dessert.

Nimbus Brewing Co. also has a bistro in Tuscon, where they pair their award winning ales with great cuisine. I definitely will be making the trek down there the first chance I get. I’m extremely impressed with this ale and can not wait to try their other offerings. Until next time, Cheers!

NIMBUS BREWING CO.

3850 E. 44th Street

Tuscon, AZ. 85713

520.745.9175

www.nimbusbeer.com

www.facebook.com/nimbusbeer