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