Sleepy Dog Groupon....

Hey Arizona Craft beer fans,

My sister forwarded me this link for groupon for Sleepy Dog Brewing Company in Tempe!

The deal.......
$32 for Beer Tasting for Two with Glasses and 64-Ounce Growler from Sleepy Dog Brewery ($50 Value)


Sleepy Dog Groupon

There you go! Go check out Sleepy Dog, great little brewery, good bunch of guys over there, and solid beers! (my favorite is the Manje Azul!!!)

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends

The Beer Czar

A good time for a great cause...

Just wanted to take a little time, and thank everyone that took part in, showed up at, and gave at the "Guns and Hoses Charity Hockey Game" yesterday at Polar Ice in Gilbert. The game, between local Police, and Firemen was held to raise money for the 100 Club of Arizona, and organization that raises money and support for the families of fallen and injured Fire fighters. A great cause that has recently been thrust into the spot light as a result of the tragic events that took place recently on Yarnell Hill.
The event, that not only consisted of a hockey game.

Basket full of beer!

There was also a gift basket raffle, that by the time the event started consisted of around 25 gift baskets, containing everything from a Samsung Galaxy Note tab, brand new high end gas grill, wine, D-backs tickets, and even a basket full of local beer (I donate the basket, with the help of a few local breweries and businesses, I will get to that in a minute). There was also a table set for the 100 Club, and a fire truck parked out front for the kids to climb around on.




All in all, it was a great event, and really fun time. The raffle raised about $3000 (my Beer Czar basket got

about 210 ticket, at $2 a piece, that means my basket alone raised about $420!!!). Total, the event raised about $8,500 to the 100 Club! From loose change in the bottoms of peoples pockets, to a check for $214 donated by a couple of young ladies that held a car wash that morning to raise funds, every bit of the money raised goes directly to the 100 Club, and victims families, so for that, I say thanks, and I am pretty sure I can speak for all involved, when I say your time, and generosity are not only appreciates, but needed, and for that, we offer up our heart felt thanks!
In particular, I would like to thank a few local companies that contributed to the beer basket I donated. San Tan Brewing Co. of Chandler, for their donation of a verity six pack (including 2 cans of Mr Pineapple!!!). Sleepy Dog Pub and Bistro in Gilbert, for their contribution of a couple of t-shirts, and some stickers. The fine folks at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. for the addition of a couple of patches, a couple of their popular stickers, and even an AWB growler!! Last but most certainly not least, I want to thank Jon "Hoppymoto" of Arizona Brewery Tours, for the addition of a couple of t-shirts, and two pint glasses.

Congrats Lisa!!!

And I would be remiss if I failed to congratulate Lisa, for winning the basket, I hope you enjoy it!!!

Thanks again everyone, it was a great time, for a great cause!

For a complete look at all the photos, you can go to the Beer Czar Facebook page here.....

To read more about what the Arizona Beer Community is going to help the families of the fallen, read about Heros 19 here.....


Until next time
Bottoms up my friends!

The Beer Czar

A Beer is Born! Wolf Pack Imperial IPA has been brewed!!

What a group!

For some valley beer bar owners and employee's, yesterday was a special day. A group gathered yesterday morning at Sleepy Dog's Tempe brewing facility. Their task for the day, brew their collaboration beer, Wolf Pack Imperial IPA that they talked about a few weeks back at Sleepy Dogs Gilbert Bistro location (I wrote about that previously, you can see that here....)
Representatives from Spokes on Southern, Whole Foods Chandler, Lucky Break, Ground Control, and World of Beer Tempe were on hand to help the crew of Sleepy Dog brew up their much anticipated (at least for me, and most on hand) beer.

Rob, from Spokes on Southern

The day stated with Rob, of Sleepy Dog, going over the brew plan with all present. The grain bill consists of 3 types of grains, two row, dextrin, biscuit, as well as the use of agave nectar! The plan is to have this beer be quite light in color, about 7-8 SRM's (Standard Reference Method, a unit of measure used for the color of beer, the lower the number, the lighter the beer). The hops used were Cascade, Centennial, Summit and Amarillo hops, for a target IBU of about 80 to 85. The beer should clock in at around 8.5, to 9% ABV.

Hana, from World of Beer

I know I can't speak for everyone there, but for me, this day was quite an education. I know I have a basic understanding of the brewing process, and how it works. However, what I learned was the amount of science (an MATH!!) and the amount of work that goes into brewing and bottling a beer. Especially on the scale that they brew at Sleepy Dog. It really makes you appropriate the amount of work that goes into every bottle of beer you drink! My hat is off to all you small batch brewery's out there. You certainly do it for the love of the craft!

Matt, checking the sugar levels

While I did post a few pic's on this post, you can check out the full album on The Beer Czar Facebook page here.... If you haven't liked my page yet, please do, and feel free to tag anyone in the album, or in any specific photos you see.
Wolf Pack Imperial IPA will be released, all at once, at all participating beer bars in the valley on National IPA Day, which is Aug 1st this year. I will have a list of all the bars that will be getting this beer, so that you can make arrangements to spend IPA Day  sipping on your very own glass of Wolf Pack Imperial IPA.

Dave, adding Agave

Kyle adding hops

Last, but certainly not least, I want to personally thank Rob Sizemore, and Matt Weber of Sleepy Dog, and their staff. Not only for agreeing to brew this beer, but for your time and patience you displayed with all of us, as I am sure we slowed you down a bit. You took time to educate, demonstrate and allow us all to participate in brewing this beer, and for that, I am sure I can speak for the rest of the group when I offer our sincere gratitude for all you've done for the entire group, and this beer.
If you haven't been to Sleepy Dog, I strongly recommend you do! They have two locations. Sleepy Dog's Brew House and tap room in Tempe (no food is served there) is on University, just east of Mclintock, on the north side of the street. Their restaurant and bistro is in Gilbert, on the SW corner of Williams Field Rd and Val Vista (in the Kohl's Plaza). Go check them out, and have a few beers, and tell them the Beer Czar sent you!

And there she sleeps...

Again, you can check out the complete photo album on The Beer Czar's Facebook Page here.....

Until next time
Bottoms up my friends!

The Beer Czar

Get ready for IPA Day in Arizona, its going to be AWESOME!

James Swann starts the discussion

There are a few commemorative "days" in the craft beer community that have become pretty popular lately. In recent years "Stout Day" and "IPA Day" have given us just a couple of reasons to celebrate our love of craft beer, and in turn, have become the most popular. Well, this year, IPA Day in Arizona, is going to be, in a word, spectacular!
This year, IPA Day is August 1st, and to commemorate the day for 2013, the valley beer bars are working up an epic collaboration to be released!

Why can't my meetings at work look like this?

                                                                         

A total of 16 bars are taking part in the this collaboration, the first step of which took place yesterday, Memorial Day, at Sleepy Dog Pub and Bistro in Gilbert. With representatives from World of Beer, Spokes on Southern, Ground Control,  Lucky Break and Whole Foods present, (the others were unable to make it, but are committed to the project), meeting at the Pub. To go ever the recipe with Rob and Matt from Sleepy Dog, who will be brewing the beer.

Rob, Sleepy Dogs Brewmaster, takling hops

The discussion, over a few beers (of coarse), went on for about an hour and half, on what they wanted to beer to look like, taste like, what aroma it would have, what hops would be used etc. I will tell you, for someone with (admittedly) limited experience in home brewing, and no experience brewing on a large scale, this was not only a fascinating discussion, but a hell of an education for me as well. I was very glad (and honored) that I was there!

I won't get into all the details of the beer just yet, but I will tell you, its going to be an Imperial IPA, light in color, fairly high in IBU's (around 80), with a decent amount of alcohol (about 8.5% is the target). The brew will be called "Wolf Pack Imperial IPA". They felt this best represents not only the collaborative effort of the beer, but also pays a bit of homage to Sleepy Dog's involvement as well.

The beer will be brewed on June 17th, at Sleepy Dogs brewing facility in Tempe. Art work will be done in the coming weeks as well. All this culminating in one massive, simultaneous release at all the valley beer bars on IPA Day, Aug 1st (specific times to come).
Stay tune, and keep an ear out for more news, as you will certainly be hearing a TON more about this beer in the days and weeks to come. To keep track of this beer, you can check it out not only here on The Beer Czar, but on Brew Bros, Chow Bella and Mouth by Southwest as well.

A hat tip to James Swann, as well as Rob and Matt from Sleepy Dog for their efforts in getting this project off the ground, and my thanks for including me in it as well!

Again, stay tunes, I will keep you all up to speed on this project.

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