3rd Annual Blind Pumpkin Beer Tasting

This past weekend, we held our 3rd Annual Blind Pumpkin Beer Tasting! Every year, I like to select between 6 to 8 pumpkin beers, and invite a "panel" of friends and beer fans to come try them all, blindly, and score them to let me know which ones they liked the best. I then take their scores, and use them to compile a list my "best pumpkin beers" of that year.

This years contenders.....

Well, this past weekend, I gathered my small but honest, lively panel of friends to check out 2015's offering of pumpkin beers. Every year, I try and have a completely new group of beers to try, aside from the one that came in first the previous year. Last year, Southern Tier's Warlock Pumpkin Stout was our winner. so Warlock returned this year to defend it's title. The only other rule I try to have is at least one local beer to add into the list as well, which, this year, turned out to be a big deal!

This year, we tried 6 beers. Those beers were the aforementioned Warlock, Lakefront Brewing's
Pumpkin Lager, Tommy Knockers Small Patch Pumpkin Ale, Shipyards Smashed Pumpkin Ale, Anderson Valley's Pinchy Jeek Barl and Arizona's own Mudshark Brewing's Peaceful Pumpkin.

So, we gathered around my kitchen table, in the lavishly appointed Beer Czar Manor in Gilbert Arizona, snacked on some great pumpkin snacks (pumpkin banana bread, Pumpkin dip with gingersnaps and graham crackers, pumpkin whoopee pies, and pumpkin yogurt covered pretzels) and put about the difficult task of try, and rated the 6 beers. Here are the results with a few notes I took from the ranking sheets.....

#6. Anderson Valley's Pinchy Jeek Barl , Anderson Valley CA - This beer is aged for 6 months in Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel. This beer was pretty easily identified by more than a few of the panelists as barrel aged, even bourbon barrel aged. The poor showing by this beer was partly due to one of the guests almost disdain for this beer, and after smelling it, and taking a tiny sip, refused to even score, giving it a 0! (she obviously is not a fan of barrel aged beers!) However, even if she had scored this beer the average the rest of the guests did, it only would have moved it up one spot. It was a pretty low scoring beer all around, despite the fact that it was actually my second favorite beer we tried this evening (I am admittedly a HUGE fan of bourbon barrel aged beers)

#5 Tommy Knockers Small Patch Pumpkin Ale, Idaho Springs CO. - This beer was universal
described by all our guests as either thin, watery, and in a few cases "boring". Not a bad beer, but nothing to get real excited about it. Very slight pumpkin flavor with little other flavor to back it up. Had the Anderson Valley beer not gotten a 0, this beer would have been the lowest scoring beer of the evening, by a fairly large margin.

#4 Shipyard Brewing's Smashed Pumpkin Ale, Portland Maine.- This one comes from Shipyards "Pugsley's Signiture Series" of beers, named after their original Brewmaster Alan Pugsley. This is a sort of "spicy" complex beer that seemed to have the greatest variation in scores among the guests. Seemed a sort of "loved it or hated it" kind of beers. The good news, this beer is now available in 12 oz. bottles so you can buy a single to find out if you like it before committing to a bomber!

Tied for #2
Lakefront Brewing's Lakefront Lager, Milwaukee, WI One that surprised me, and a lot of the guests when I told them it was a lager. I asked before people knew what they were drinking, if anyone could pick out the lager, and no one could on their first try. A surprisingly flavorful, full bodied lager, with nice pumpkin spice flavors.

Southern Tier's Warlock Pumpkin Stout, Lakewood, NY The winner of last year's event, it tied for 2nd this year, so it defended its title honorably. This was universally agreed to have the best aroma of any beer we tried. It has a very sweet, spicy aroma that smells a lot like I would think someone making pumpkin candy would smell. All in all, a great pumpkin beer, and one of my favorites still.

And the winner is......


Mudshark Brewing's Peaceful Pumpkin, Lake Havasu City, Arizona! The thing I noticed most
about the scores for this beer, it was no ones highest scoring beer, but everyone scored it very well! A solid, flavorful, yet incredibly drinkable pumpkin beer. This beer smells like pumpkin pie! This beer strikes a great balance between tasting like pumpkin and spice, but still maintain it's identity as a beer.  I was extremely excited to see a local beer take the top spot this year!!

I want to thank everyone that took part in this years tasting, this is always a fun event, that I think seems to get a little better every year! Hope to see you all in 2016!

I always want to congratulate the fine folks at Arizona's own Mudshark Brewing, for being the first Arizona beer to take the stop spot in this event! That is awesome, well done!

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

Its hot out, stay cool at Craft 64!

Well, one look at the thermometer, or one quick step outside, and it will be obvious, that summer is upon us. Time to take a break from the outdoors, and find some cool, air conditioned places to hang out till the end of Sept or so. If you are looking for just such a place, that also has great food, lots of wine, and some amazing local beers, check out Craft 64, in downtown Scottsdale!














In addition to their standards, such as great wine, 36 taps of locally brewed Arizona beers, and a fantastic line up of handmade, wood fired pizzas, and salads, and boards, they will be adding some items for summer visitors.









All summer long they will have various happy hour and drink specials, (happy hour ALL DAY on Wednesday!) as well as some new menu items to look forward too. Among them, new and exciting pizzas (Craft 64's stand out menu item if you ask me)! You can also expect an array of locally sourced, cool summer salads that taste great when the temp outside is topping 115+ degrees! You can try the Market Salad (pictured to the left), an absolutely delicious pile of peaches and pecans, greens, tomatoes and a sweet peach-and-honey vinaigrette. Or the colorful Kale Pear salad, made with rainbow kale, creamy pumpkin dressing and pumpkin seeds, and craisens, to name a few!

James at Mudshark, brewing Road Zoda!

Also coming to Craft 64, their collaboration brew with Mudshark Brewing, the return of Road Zoda!
The Orange Horchata Wheat beer you might remember from a few years back, makes it return to Craft 64 on July 2nd! If you didn't try this beer before, you need to go check it out. A crisp, flavorful summer brew that is pretty much a cool version of an Arizona summer in a glass! Its fantastic!

Stay tuned for more exciting news from Craft 64 in the coming weeks, you won't want to miss it!

Until next time
Bottoms up, (and stay cool) my friends!

The Beer Czar






Check out Craft 64 on Facebook, or check out their website here...

Also, don't forget, we are still collecting "Summer Beer Pic's". Click this link to get more details....

El Palico does it again!

I've gotten very fond of this place!

A month or so ago, I wrote about a beer dinner at El Palacio in Chandler, featuring the beers of Breckenridge Brewery. The dinner, in a word, was awesome. The food was great, the beer was wonderful, and the hosts were everything you would want in a beer dinner. It left me wanting more quite honestly, a lot more.
Well, you could have imagined my excitement when I got a press release, announcing yet another beer dinner at El Palacio. This time, featuring the beers of Arizona's own Mudshark Brewing Company. I immediately RSVP'ed! Why wouldn't I? I wanted in!
Well, the dinner was last night,  and we were treated to another amazing display of culinary prowess by Chef Anthony, and a great array of beers presented by Mudshark! My friend Brandon was there to tell give us a little history of Mudshark (did you know, they started as a pizza joint?) and give a little preview of what to expect. Myself, as I am sure I can speak for everyone else there, were not disappointed! Lets have a look at what we were presented with....

Course One - 7 Layer Salsa with Up River Lager
 First off, let me say, this was a HUGE portion! From the start, I knew if I was going to get in all 5 courses, I wasn't going to finish this one, but after taking the first bite, I was regretting that decision! The salsa consisted of salsa fresco, salsa picante, beans, creme, guacamole, and queso and rice. It was awesome! I made sure to dig down to ensure I got a taste of all the layers. My favorite was the bottom layer of queso and rice (I just love cheese!). Digging through all layers of this beast was totally enjoyable, it almost drowned out the light Up River Lager it was paired with. A fine "river" beer as Brandon called it (same as what I refer to often on here as "pool" beer). I could see myself sitting poolside (or floating down the river) with a six pack of Up River and huge plate of this 7 layer salsa!



Course Two- Summer Salad with Scorpion Amber Ale
A fresh salad of petite greens, with heirloom tomatoes and Oaxaca cheese with strawberry habanero dressing, this course gave us our first kick of the evening. At first bite, the salad was almost sweet, and very tasty, but as a few seconds passed after putting this in your mouth, a little fire kicked in, and left  a warm, toasty goodness in your mouth, prompting you to take a sip of Scorpion Amber to douse the flames a little. It  wasn't firey hot, but it was enough to leave a little tingly, that the beer did a great job of sort of neutralizing in a wonderful way.

OK, this dinner is getting good!

Course Three - Steamed Mahi Mahi taco with Desert Magic IPA

OK, I will say upfront, this taco was of the hook! The fish was steamed in Desert Magic IPA, and served in a hard shell tortilla (not your normal fish taco). I will tell you, that the moment this dish was brought out to the table, there was a collective almost gasp of delight at the presentation of this dish! The taco's were served in a dented Mudshark beer can! I've always said, 70% of eating you do with your eyes, and in this case, Chef Anthony knocked it out of the park. Simple, yet creative, fun, and relevant to the dinner, my respect for him went up a few notches with this one. Again, it helps that the taco was great, and Desert Magic is just a solid beer, that went well along side this exciting dish!


Course Four- Mexican Kabob with Desert Moon Belgian White Ale
OK, the amount of food we got at this dinner was ridiculous. I remember telling someone sitting near me when this course came out "there is no way I am eating all this" and if you've ever seen me, I don't appear to be a guy that sends a lot of food back to the kitchen! The seasoning on this kabob was amazing, a salty, sweetness, that tasted wondful, that paired amazing with their Belgian white ale ( full disclosure, Full Moon is my favorite Mudshark beer). I always tell people, Belgian white ales are great beers to have with food, because they go so well with so many different foods. Specifically, the shrimp on the kabob (there was steak, chicken and shrimp) paired amazing with this citrusy beer. This course left me VERY full, but still wishing there was 4 more courses! Sadly, there was only one.




Course Five - Raspberry Flan with Mudsberry Raspberry Wheat Ale
OK, again, presentation is half of culinary arts in my opinion. Put a beautiful plate in front of someone, and they are far more likely to find the dish at least favorable. Well, let me just say, this plate, it was a work of art. I remember saying to the woman next to me "this plate is gorgeous!" she made mention of not wanting to eat it, it was so pretty! Arranged with the flan, was homemade whipped cream, berries, and eatable flowers, it was just SO colorful! The flavors were amazing as well. The flan was near perfect, and washed down with the Mudsberry beer, well, this was an epic conclusion to a great dinner!


Let me just say, if you've never been to El Palacio, you need to get there. The food is just awesome, and its family friendly! Chef Anthony is great, friendly, and a wonderful, talented chef. Get there! 

To wrap, this dinner was great! I believe I was told there were 45 people there, and all the folks I saw, and the ones I spoke to, seemed to be enjoying themselves, and experiencing something new. A beer dinner is a great way to learn a little more about beer, if you are someone that is just getting into craft beer, and its a great way for some of you self proclaimed "beer snobs" to reconnect with a breweries core line up, and discover how good a flagship beer can be! The food was awesome, the beer was great, and the company was enjoyable, is there a better way to spend a Wednesday night? If you find one, let me know.

I want to thank Brandon, from Mudshark for presenting some great beers to all us, and to Chef Anthony, for another killer dinner, you out did yourself! ( I can't wait for the next one! please tell me there is going to be a next one!!). I also want to thank Landon, Jennifer and the rest of the fine folks at HDE Agency for making all this happen, please continue to do what you do, and thank you for allowing me to be a part of it (and for the photos Jen!).

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends!

The Beer Czar  

Roadzoda......they need to make more....

James and Andrew, outside of Mudshark

Just wanted to drop a quick note, and give a hat time to James Swann, Andrew Bauman and the fine folks at Mudshark Brewing.
Tonight, they tapped the much anticipated RoadZoda, Mudshark, James and Andrew's tangerine, horchata Wit. Yes, I said horchata, in a beer (for you folks that are not aware, horchata is a drink brought to us by our neighbors to the south. It's flavor can vary greatly, but normally consists of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley, or tigernut).

James, and Mitch, from Mudshark

The beer they made, used mainly cinnamon and vanilla to get a horchata flavor, as well as unmalted barley, to give it a sort of creamy mouthfeel. Ad to that a generous helping of citrus (in this case, tangerine) and, well, you have yourself one hell of a refreshing, albeit very interesting summer beer! Almost like a hoppy orange creamsicle! It poured a VERY cloudy golden color, with decent head. It smelled just so fresh, and citrusy, with a bit of spice to it. It was creamy, sweet (but not overly so) and fruity.

Seriously, this picture NEEDS a beer, a RoadZoda!!!

To me, this was a great, refreshing, very flavorful beer, that is perfect beer for Arizona, when the mercury
outside is hitting the 100 and teens. I would love a can of this while sitting in a tub, floating down the Salt River, sitting in the middle of the Superstition Mountains, taking a well earn break from a long hike, or just people watching on a hot summer day on Mill Ave, this beer fits Arizona like a glove.

Unfortanatly, they tapped the keg at 4 pm, and the most recent update I saw on Facebook, it was killed by 8 pm, so sadly, if you didn't get to try it this go round, you missed it. I think this beer is good enough, I think we need to bug Mudshark to make more!

Again, I want to give a shout out to James, Andrew and the folks at Mudshark, for making yet one more beer that we beer folks can be proud of, thank you!

Cheers to Arizona beer!!

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends!

The Beer Czar

Another Beer Dinner at El Palacio!!!

***Update***

This event is sold out

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

El Palacio, Chandler AZ

A few months ago, I wrote to tell you a little bit about a beer dinner at El Palacio Restaurant & Cantina in Chandler, featuring the beers of Breckenridge Brewery. If you want to read about, check it out here. I won't go into a ton of detail about that night here, but I will tell you, it was not only a great time, it was an awesome dinner! Chef Anthony Serrano did an amazing job coming up with dishes to compliment the beers offered up by Breckenridge, and Rick Lazague, there representing the brewery, did a spectacular job telling us about the beers, and educating us on what we were drinking, and what to look for while we experienced these beers with this great food.It was awesome!

Well, good news, Chef Anthony is doing it again! This time, with a local (Arizona) brewery! Mark your calenders, Wednesday, July 17th, 7 pm, Chef Anthony will be pairing up his food, with the beers of Lake Havasu City's Mudshark Brewing Company! This one is only $20 too!!!!! 5 course, 5 beers, for $20? Yeah, just plan on going.....

Here is what you can expect;

First Course -7 Layer Salsa—a Mexican salsa creation of epic proportions with layer upon layer of  goodness including salsa fresco, salsa picante, beans, crème, guacamole, queso and rice with Mudshark Brewing Up River Lager

Second Course - Summer Salad of heirloom tomatoes and Oaxaca cheese with strawberry habanero dressing. This dish is paired with Scorpion Amber Ale. 

Third Course - Steamed Mahi Mahi Taco paired with Desert Magic IPA.

Fourth Course -  Mexican Kabob of shrimp, chicken and steak served with a beer infused salsa verde will pair perfectly with Belgian Style White Ale.

Fith (dessert) Course - Raspberry Beer Infused Flan with Mudshark Brewing Mudsberry Raspberry Wheat.


I can think of nothing more to write to try and entice you to get yourself to this dinner, that should be more then enough!! You will not be disappointed, I can assure you. So, just do yourself a favor, and make a reservation for this event! Either call them at 480-802-5770, or go on their Facebook page here....  and RSVP via their page.

El Palacio is at
2950 E. Germann Road
Chandler, AZ 85249
480-802-5770
Visit their website here...

Mudshark Brewing Company is located at
210 Swanson Ave
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403
928-453-2981
Visit their website here....

Hope to see you there!!
Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

Drink local, its SO worth it!

OK, I know lately I've been on my proverbial soap box shouting the merits of drinking local beer. A response I get, from time to time (admittedly, and thankfully less and less these days), is that Arizona beer just isn't up to par with the likes of California, Oregon, or Michigan beers. OK, fair enough, we might not be "the best" beer state in the country (yet), does that mean we can't, or shouldn't love our local beers? My beloved Red Sox don't win the World Series every year, nor do my Patriots win the Super Bowl year after year (at least not anymore.....) yet, I still love them, even if they aren't "the best" team that particular year. Same goes with beer. We might not be the best, doesn't mean we don't have some great local beers at our disposal.

James, Greg, and Pat

There was no finer example of this recently  then at the weekly Whole Foods "Friday Night Beer Class" this passed week. James Swann had put together a line up of 4 "local" breweries. Not local as in the valley, but rather from "3 corners" of the state as they put it. Two brewery's from spring break capital of Arizona, Lake Havasu City, College Street Brewhouse, and Mudshark Brewery. Flagstaff's Mother Road Brewing Company, and Tucson's own Dragoon Brewing Company. Each Brewery bringing with them between 1 to 3 beers with them for us to sample.

 First up, Keith from College Street  had 3 beers for us to try. First, Big Blue Van, an unfiltered Wheat Beer, with Vanilla and Blueberry. A refreshing, sweet and smooth beer, that should be a favorite of fans of good fruit beers. Next, he had their Spring Fling IPA. This was probably the closest thing I've had to a "session IPA" from Arizona, It was a crisp, refreshing IPA that has a light 5.5% abv. This would be a great IPA to have with dinner! Next was a very special beer, normally only available at the brew pub in Havasu. Keith brought a growler of Lamba Lamba Lambic! A wonderful, flavorful sour beer! I've said Arizona needs a good sour beer! Well, we have one!

The Czar, and Brandon from Mudshark

Next up, Brandon from Mudshark had just one beer for us. If you are only offering up one beer, better make it a good one! Well, he did! He had a barrel aged version of their Desert Magic. Their popular IPA, that has spent the last 6 months sleeping in a barrel. Awesome beer! A very smooth, balanced IPA, with a wonderful aroma! Very nice beer!

Pat pouring some samples

OK, I will admit, the one brewery I was most excited about trying was up next. I've been hearing a ton about Tucson's Dragoon Brewing Company. Hearing it called "Arizona's best new brewery" by more then a few folks who's opinion I trust. Pat was there from Dragoon, and brought with him a few great brews. First up, was their "Daisy", Dragoons take on a Berliner-weiss. This sort of hay-strew colored, tart, refreshing beer was very enjoyable, and one I could see myself enjoying about 3 or 4 more of! A low 4% abv, this is a beer that could be taken in large amounts! OK, I guess Arizona has at least 2 great sour beers!
Next up, Sarcosuchus, their double IPA. OK, for those of you that don't love cheesy Sci-Fi original movies like I do, this beer gets its name from the "supercroc" that prowled the swamps of the early Cretaceous Period, some 112 million years ago (give or take). Like the croc, this beer is an ass kicker! 6 different hops give this beer a huge flavor, and the 10.5% abv, well, that gives it the kick! They also brew this with local honey, I guess to try and soften up this powerful, reptilian beer. Very solid beer, I will seek this out again!

Love their logo!

Last, but certainly not least, Greg was there to offer up a few beers from Flagstaff's Mother Road Brewery. Greg brought 3 beers with him.and up first, was Euro-trash, their Belgian Pale brew. Very nice beer, with oddly, a hint of cinnamon?? Was that what I tasted?? Next up was a Rosemary infused brown ale (I didn't get the name of this one, I apologize). An interesting beer, that upon the very first sip, I though this would be a GREAT beer to marinade a steak it. Sort of a liquid post roast almost.
Last beer of the evening, was their 66 Chutes, a collaboration between Deschutes, and Mother Road. A bourbon barrel aged stout. Very nice, very drinkable stout, with nice hints of smokey wood.




All an all, a great showcase of some of just a few of the great beers Arizona now has to offer! I strongly

James, Keith and Brandon

recommend you seek out a few of these brews, or brewery's. Stop in, order a sampler of their stuff, and see what they have. I have no doubt, you will have some great beers, maybe even a new favorite. And don't forget, tell them The Beer Czar sent you!

And next time someone says to you "Arizona doesn't have any "great" beers" just reply to them;
"Really? Have you tried them all?" my guess is, no, not even close.

For more information on the breweries mentioned in this post check out below the post.

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

College Street Brewhouse and Pub's website

Pat, from Dragoon

1940 College Dr,
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

Phone: (928) 854-2739

Mudshark Brewing's website
210 Swanson Ave,
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

Phone: (928) 453-2981

Dragoon Brewing Company's website
1859 W Grant Rd #111,
Tucson, AZ 85745

Phone:(520) 329-3606

Mother Road Brewing Company's website

7 Mikes Pike,
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Phone:(928) 774-9139