Giving thanks for (and with) beer....

The following post appeared in the Four Peaks Brewing's monthly "Brewsletter". If you don't get the letter, you can sign up for it here.... (go to the very bottom of their home page and enter your email address). I want to thank Four Peaks for the opportunity to share this with you guys....enjoy.
(you can view the entire "brewsletter" by clicking here.....)


Giving thanks for (and with) Beer!


With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I thought we could take a minute to give thanks for what else, but beer. Beer and Thanksgiving have gone together since, well, since the very beginnings of the holiday. I am sure most of us fans of beer have been asked by more then one friend, on far more then one occasion "did you know the pilgrims stopped in Plymouth because they were out of beer?"' Common knowledge thanks in part to Jim Koch and his Sam Adams TV commercial a few years back. This is, however, at least in part very true. It was pilgrim William Bradford that wrote in his journal ""We could not now take much time for further search, our victuals being much spent, especially our beer," back in 1620, while anchored off Cape Cod Massachusetts, premature of their planned destination of Virginia. While it may not be the only reason they stopped there, it obviously played a role. Beer was a vital component to sea travel back then. It did not spoil as fast as water did, and it was not nearly as intoxicating as rum was, so it was the preferred means of hydration on board sea going vessels of the day.

So, beer did play a part if where the Pilgrims landed, it also played a part in their every day life there as well. In fact, John Alden, one of the founders of the Plymouth colony, and signer of the Mayflower Compact, was in fact a cooper that made beer barrels. British law at the time required that "whosoever shall carry beer beyond the sea," had to bring along someone who could repair and craft replacement beer barrels.



Plymouth Rock

Once setting foot on dry land by Plymouth Rock, where what is now Plymouth Mass, one of the first priorities for the settlers (aside from simply just staying alive) was to establish a brew house where they could make their beer. Using everything from local native corn to pine needles, whatever they could find to make it, I am sure the Pilgrims first few batches weren't very close to what we've come to enjoy today however (and maybe even worse then my first few attempts at home brew). In the first year, the early settlers were not real successful at much of anything, including making beer. Until, as luck would have it, early in their first spring in the new world, their first contact was made with what was left of the native population of the area (most were killed by small pox, courtesy of earlier explorers and fisherman to the area). It was on March 16, 1621, a native  survivor walked out of the woods and into their settlement, and much to their surprise I am sure, said to them "Welcome, English. I am Samoset. Do you have beer?" (coincidently, Samoset learned to speak English from English fisherman that stopped to fish around the banks of Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine, an island I use to spend my summers on back in college).


Samoset

So you see, beer flows deep in the veins of this American tradition. So it makes sense that we should enjoy beer on it, so why wouldn't we, why shouldn't we? Besides, here in Arizona, us beer lovers certainly have a lot to be thankful for. It wasn't long ago, when I remember Four Peaks being a small pub, and pretty much the only local option for those of us looking for finer beer options. Well, now, Four Peaks isn't exactly "small" anymore and there is a rapidly growing beer scene and culture here in the valley, as well as the entire state that we should all be proud of, and especially this time of year, thankful for. Seems hardly a week goes by these days when we aren't hearing about a new brewery opening here, or another brewery expanding there. It's a great time to be a  fan of beer, so lets not take it for granted. Let us raise a local glass, and toast not only to the wonderful brewers and brewery workers bringing us our favorite beers today, let us toast to those early settlers (and brewers) that helped us get it all started, it couldn't have been easy, they deserve it!

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

Arizona Beer bringing home some hardware from GABF!!!

As many of you already know, the Great American Beer Festival is going on as we speak, and today was
the day they announced the winners of all the various categories, and Arizona should be proud!

This year, Arizona breweries took home a total of 5 metals! 1 Bronze, 3 Silver, and a Gold!

Here is the list of winners!

Bronze in "Sweet Stout or Cream Stout" - Thunder Canyon Brewery -  Dark Lightning Milk Stout

Silver in "Specialty Beer" - Fate Brewing Co. - Candy Bar Milk Stout

Silver in "American Style Strong Pale Ale" - Four Peaks Brewing Co. - Hop Knot 

Silver in "Scottish Style Ale" Four Peaks Brewing Co. - Kilt Lifter

Gold in "American Style Strong Pale Ale" - Lumberyard Brewing Co - Lumberyard American Pale Ale

Congrats to all the winners! This just ad's to Arizona's already impressive collection of hardware. I am sure we will be adding more and more as the years go on! Awesome day for local beer, congrats everyone!

For the complete list of winners, check out the GABF page here....

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

The best beer in the world, is the one in your hand....

This is something I've been saying for a long time now. Like many a newbie beer geek, I started getting excited about limited release beers, or beers that were hot on the top of Ratebeer, or Beeradvocate's top lists. It got to the pointwith me, and many others where you get so obsessed with these hard to find, rare gems that you ignore or forget about the wonderful beer being brewed just a few miles, or in some lucky cases, just blocks from your home. Beer geekery can be a lot of fun. However, I found, it can also be frustrating, exhausting, and VERY expensive. If I hear about a beer I want to try, I will go to one, maybe two places to find it, if its not there, I stop. I am not about to waste time, gas and money driving all over the valley for an IPA I may never have again, or worse yet, may not even like in the first place. This has always been my frustration with the "beer geek". I don't dwell on it, I will mention it from time to time but never really spent much time on, and sort of forgot about doing a full write up on it.

However, this passed week, Andy Ingram of our beloved local brewery Four Peaks in Tempe, wrote up a piece in the local "paper" about much this same topic, however, he wrapped it up a lot better, and far more eloquent then I could, or did.  So I wanted to share his thoughts with you here....

The most important beer? Is the one you like.....

So there you have it, thank you Andy, very well said! I couldn't say it any better. Reminds me of a conversation I had with Masked Blogster on his podcast a few weeks ago. Judge brewery's by their flagships, not by the beer that has been sitting in a barrel, in the cellar for that last 4 years. Judge them on the beer the make the most of, not the least. And most importantly, don't spend so much time and energy on looking for hard to find, rare gems, that you forget about the gem you have in your hand already! Don't get me wrong, getting your hands on these rare beers can be fun, and more often then not, they are very good. I just think its important to find that balance between the two.

Until next time

Bottoms up my friends!

The Beer Czar

Cooking with Beer: Gorgonzola IPA Crackers

Love this stuff!

Normally when I post a recipe on here for my regular "Cooking with Beer" segments, they are main coarse, or maybe a side dish, or soup. This one is a little different. Not even an appetizer really, more like a snack. These would be great to put out at a beer dinner or something, for people mingle over while waiting for the dinner to start, or the next course. I found this recipe on "Baking with Beer", a very cool beer recipe site, check it out when you have a minute.

Today's recipe, Gorgonzola IPA Crackers! What caught my eye, on the website, they used Four Peaks Hop Knot! One of my favorites, and a great local IPA. These crackers are described as sort of high end, homemade Cheez-its, which, to me, sounds almost like heaven! "They were crunchy, salty, tangy, cheesy, and Oh so satisfying" Sounds awesome! Check it out.....

Like Homemade Cheez-its, with beer? Um, yes please!

Gorgonzola IPA Crackers

Ingredients

1 cup AP Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
4 tablespoons of cold butter cut into small cubes
1/4 cup of beer


Instructions:

1. In a food processor pulse together the flour, salt, cheese, and butter. Add the beer until the mixture comes together into a ball.

2. Put the mixture in some plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Using the wonderful trick of rolling out dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, roll out your dough to about a 1/4 inch thick.

4. Using a pizza cutter or a pasta wheel cutter cut your cracker shapes. Put onto a silpat or parchment paper and then stab with a fork to create air holes. Add salt or any other topping to your desire. I also put the crackers in the oven for about 10-15 minutes before baking them so they kept the shape better.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. I rotated them halfway through and waited to take them out until I could see a little browning on the crackers.

6. Allow to cool completely.


Give this is a try, I might make some of these for a beer tasting we are going to this weekend (more on that later!)

If you want the full recipe and right up from "Baking with Beer", you can check it out here....

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

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Four Peaks Beer Cruise

OK, its not often you get to have a good dinner while cruising open water here in Arizona. I can honestly say, I've only done it once in the more then 15 years I've lived here (my little brother got married on the Dolly Steamboat on Canyon Lake). Well, here is your chance to do just that!
Four Peaks is teaming up with Saguro Lake's Desert Belle for a 5 course (including dessert!) meal, paired with some Four Peak favorites! Here is the menu.....

For more info, or to reserve your tickets, head to the Desert Belle's website here, for all the info.

The Dinner is Thursday, May 9th, and cost $65 a person.
This should be awesome! I mean, how often do you get this chance in our lovely state?

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

Time to play a little catch up.....this passed weeks events.

First off, let me start by apologizing to my readers. Nothing makes you realize how many people enjoy reading your blog then when you fail to update it for over a week! I thank you all that reached out to me to make sure all was "OK". Have no fear, I am just fine, albeit a tad busy. Between various beer events, my oldest daughters basketball schedule, and a job that seems to be expanding weekly, I have found myself with  very little time to write any updates, till now!!! So, here we go...

Great American BBQ and Beer Festival...

So good!!!

Let me start with the Great American BBQ and Beer Festival. Held back on March 23 in Historic Downtown Chandler. This event, put on by San Tan Brewery, was, shall I say, fairly awesome. To be clear, it was much more a BBQ festival then a beer festival, but that really isn't an issue here at all. San Tan was providing the beer, and just a TON of BBQ vendors took part in providing the food. My wife, and my oldest daughter and I made our way down there, had some AWESOME brisket from Up in Smoke BBQ. Enjoyed a Mr Pineapple and Sex Panther, and walked around, enjoyed the beautiful weather, checking out the sites and sounds and smells,

The weather was perfect!

 and even got to say hello to my friends from Craft Brewed Clothing!! We went early, soon after the gates opened, so it wasn't too busy, but from some of the pictures I saw, it was packed later that evening, and for good reason. The sights, and smells of this festival were just amazing. Everyone was having fun, and were friendly, and polite. There was plenty to eat and drink (even for the kids) and lots to learn, and even some free swag to collect (I scored 3 free t-shirts!) A hat tip to San Tan Brewery and HDE Agency for putting on a spectacular event! Can't wait till next year!



Pitcher of Nectar Distributors Rare Beer Festival

Up next, was the Pitcher of Nectar Distributors Rare Beer Festival, held at Whole Foods. This festival, although small, had an amazing line up of beers! I got 15 tickets, and used each one on a beer I had never tried before, and in many cases, never even heard of! We spent a good 3+ hours making our way through the crowd, visiting with friends, making some new ones, and just having a great time doing it. Now, if I had one knock on this festival, is that it was a little starved for space.

Lots of beer lovers!

If you have ever been to The Watering Hole at Whole Foods, you know its not a huge place, and it seemed every beer lover in the east valley was filling the place up for this event. That being said, it didn't really detract from the event at all. I normally hate tight crowds. I get grumpy, and short tempered normally. Not this time. Maybe it was because of all the amazing beers to be had, or all the friendly beer lovers enjoying themselves, or our gracious host King James Swann, making the rounds making sure everyone was happy. Maybe it was all these things. It was a great event, and hope next year, you can procure a little more floor space (maybe even in the parking lot?), as I am sure there will be an even larger crowd next year.

Play Ball!!!!
This brings me to one of my favorite days of the year, Opening Day! As is my tradition, I attended the D-backs Opening Day with my mother, and her friend Andrea, and her husband Rich, as we have done for the last half dozen years or so.Growing up a huge fan of the sport, watching my beloved Red Sox every chance I could get, or playing in as many leagues as our short Maine summers would allowed, I have always loved the game of baseball. The fact that beer and baseball go hand in hand is just a glorious coincidence. Now, craft beer and baseball, well that is still a young relationship, but one that is maturing with each passing season. Currently, a majority of the beer available at most ballparks is comprised mainly of macro American lagers. However, if you know where to look, Chase Field, and other ballparks do offer a few tasty brews. A few Sam Adams seasonal are available, as is a few of Phoenix Ale Brewery's offerings. I enjoyed an $11 Cambleback IPA, while I watched as the D-backs raked up 15 hits, and 6 runs to win their 5th (?) straight opening day, this time against the Cardinals of St Louis.
On a side note, I was just reading that our beloved local brewery Four Peaks is in discussion with the D-Backs currently to provide their brews at Chase Field for next season, which would be WONDERFUL news if you ask me! I can see myself enjoying a Hop Knot while taking in a ball game!!!



OK, I promise, I will not take so long before I post again, as I have a list of things I want to write about, or share with you. Again, I appreciate those that showed concern in my absences, nice to know I have some faithful readers out there!

Thanks again, and until next time
Bottoms up my friends!

The Beer Czar

Arizona Beer is expanding, outside of Arizona!!!!

Arizona has a rapidly expanding, and improving beer scene. Seems like hardly a week goes buy when I am not reading about a brewery in our state expanding, opening a new facility or pub, or both, or a brand new brewery opening its doors. Recently Chandler's own San Tan Brewing company expanded its production, and will almost triple its output! Their intent, to expand not only their reach within the state, but outside our boarders as well.

Surprising as it may seem, no brewery in Arizona offers its beers outside our state, and San Tan made mention of being the first in Arizona to do so.
Well, some good news bad news, San Tan will not be the first beer available in another state. The good news, Grand Canyon Brewing will be!

I will be honest, this does come as a bit of a shock to me. I would have thought the first to do this would have been San Tan, or Four Peaks. Grand Canyon Brewing is not the largest, or most well known Arizona Brewery, and one I am not all too familiar with. However, thanks to a quick visit to their pub on historic Rt 66 in Williams ( located about 40 miles west of Flagstaff), and tasting a few of their beers at various festivals, I have had a few of their brews, and think this brewery will be a fine representative of Arizona beer outside of our state.

Currently the brewery has established about 30 accounts in Clark County Nevada (home of Las Vegas) at such Vegas staples as Lee's Discount Liquors, Speedy Mart, and Whole Foods. There you will find their flagships, Sunset Amber, and American Pilsner, as well as Coffee Bean Stout, Hop Bomber IPA, and Shaggy Bock. They also plan on distributing some more of their seasonal offerings later this year.
The company plans future expansion to S California, New Mexico and Colorado as well, although no date for this is set yet.

Trust me, as someone that goes to Las Vegas quite a bit (we have family there) finding good beer isn't always easy (although getting easier), especially on the strip. It is there, but you really have to work to seek it out. This will give us one more option while there, and maybe give me a little taste of home as well!

If you ever get a chance to go to Williams ( where the Grand Canyon Rail Road leave from) by all means, check out their pub there, called Cruisers Cafe 66. Its friendly  and comfortable, and they offer up some pretty good food, and even finer Arizona craft brew!!




Grand Canyon Brewing is located at
233 W Route 66
Williams, AZ

check out their website here....
or check them out on Facebook

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends!
The Beer Czar

Great news for East Valley beer folks!!!

***UPDATE***

For those of you looking for news of World of Beer opening in Gilbert. They don't have a set opening date as of yet, looks like it may be this fall sometime. The location will be at San Tan Village, along the Williams Field Rd side, right between Kona Grill and Chipotle. New's is still pretty vague, but they do have a Facebook page now, so go there, like it, and keep up to date on their news, and of coarse, as I hear anything, I will be updating it on here as well.       World of Beer Gilbert Facebook Page

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As many of you know, I live in Gilbert, AZ, a suburb of Phoenix. When you hear the term "east valley" in Phoenix, you are talking about cities such as Mesa, and Tempe, as well as Chandler, and Gilbert, and a few others. Until recent years, Tempe dominated the east valley (and I would argue, the entire valleys) beer scene. Tempe hosts the states largest brewer, Four Peaks, and, well, with the exception of Papago Brewery  (just a mile north of downtown Tempe, in S Scottsdale, and btw, check out their new website!!) that was pretty much it. We slowly started getting a few "chain" brewers in the east valley, i.e. BJ's in Chandler, and Rock Bottom in Ahwatukee (S Phoenix). Then, the opening of San Tan in Chandler, and Whole Foods introduction of "The Watering Hole", and well, Chandler was in the running for the Beer Capital of the East Valley. The opening of a few more brewery's, and World of Beer in Tempe probably keeps Tempe as the capital, but Chandler is becoming a destination for beer folks in the east valley.

Inside Trophy's

Gilbert has always been a little lack luster in the beer dept. For a while, there was really no where to go get a "good" beer. No brewery's at all, and few places that offered more then the ubiquitous "mega brews" you can get at any Applebee's. Well, things are looking up in Gilbert I must say. For a while, Throphys Steakhouse was THE place for craft beer in Gilbert (Trophy's in technically in Queen Creek, but about 10 feet from the Gilbert line, so I'll include it, plus, its a VERY cool place, so check it out!).

Then, Arizona Wilderness Brewing announced it was moving to Gilbert! Gilbert's first brewery. They've had some issues with permitting, and their opening, originally planned for the last part of 2012, has now been pushed to March of 2013. Worth the wait I am sure. (I am working on setting up a meeting with the owner of AWB to go over his plans, and check out his operation, stay tuned for more details)

Well, now Sleepy Dog of Tempe just announced it is taking over the recently vacated Warren's Jazz Bistro on Val Vista and Williams Field Rd!. They will have a FULL kitchen, and are looking to move their brewery operations to Gilbert as well, once the restaurant is up and running. They will continue to operate their Tempe location for another 18 months. From what I hear, they plan on having live entertainment, and just a ton of events. They plan on opening Feb 15th!!!!

.....but wait, there's more! According to Mouth by Southwest, World of Beer plans on opening its second Arizona location at Gilbert's San Tan Village Market place (literally 2 miles from my house!!!! walking distance!) I haven't been able to confirm this with any other source, but MXSW hasn't steered me wrong yet, so I can't imagine they will start now.


So beer fans of the east valley. In the up coming 4 months, we here in Gilbert will go from having a couple of options for fine beer here in our fair city, to a pretty impressive collection of beer joints! What a difference a few months can make!

So, in a few short months, make your way to Gilbert, AZ, and have a glass or two with the Beer Czar!
Until next my friends,
Bottoms up!
The Beer Czar

Battle of the Arizona Beers!

This past weekend, we (my wife, daughter and I) attended a “Battle of the Arizona Beers” at the Whole Foods Market in Chandler, Az.

This was a small gathering of breweries from through out Arizona, coming together with a sample of their different (hopefully best) beers, and allowing the public to “vote” on which one was their favorite via a secret ballot.

There was a total of 7 Brewery’s attending. BJ’s Brewery and San Tan Brewery, both from Chandler. Four Peaks out Tempe. Old World Brewery and Sonoran Brewery both from Phoenix. Prescott Valley Brewing from Prescott, and Nimbus Brewing, making the drive up from Tucson.

Each brewery had between 3 and 5 beers each to sample. I have to admit, that Arizona is getting better when it comes to beer. I had a good number of beers I would consider good. There was only one I didn’t care for, and that was The Old World Wit, but not because it was a bed beer, I just don’t care too much for Wits. Although, it’s a pretty typical example of the style

I did have a couple of beers I LOVED. They were both from Four Peaks One of my all time favorite “hop bombs” is their Hop Knot. A very citrus, pine flavored glass of hop juice! Not a lot of malt, just ALL HOPS! One any hop head would enjoy. By far, the BEST beer I have all afternoon was their Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, called Sirius Black. A dark, almost black, rich, heavy, high abv beer, that after just a 2 oz sample, I felt warm after! Probably the best beer I tasted out of Arizona. My far and away #1 vote. Followed by Hop Knot at #2.

My #3 was an odd choice. It was Cordillera Blanca from Sonoran Brewing. It means White Chocolate, and that is JUST what this beer tasted like. It tasted like liquid, carbonated white chocolate. I have NO idea how they did it, but everything about this beer was white chocolate. Not the greatest beer I have ever had, in fact, I’m not even sure I could drink a whole 12 oz’s, but what a unique, but pleasurable surprised. I gave them my #3 for the sheer uniqueness of this brew.

All in all, I was pretty impressed with the beer that was on display. While we might have a ways to go to catch up with other states, like California, Michigan, or Oregon, Arizona has come a long way in a few short years, and it seems I keep hearing about more brewery’s opening up. Who knows, in a 10 more years, we may just be up there with those states. Every year it gets better and better, and I am excited to see what the next few years have in store.