Arizona Trip - Beer

I was in Arizona a couple weeks ago and had a fantastic time seeing the sights, relaxing, eating and of course, drinking. I did a tad bit of research before flying west on the Phoenix beer scene and came up nearly empty; there are not many breweries in the state of Arizona, let alone the greater Phoenix area. However, my second thought was that the local beer stores would certainly have different distribution rights than stores back home.

A trip to "Total Wine" (which certainly had much more than just wine) was a great success...

The first beer I set my eyes on was Shiner Bock. Brewed in Shiner, Texas, in the Spoetzl Brewery, I've read in multiple places how this is people's "go-to" beer. Interestingly, this brewery celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. A German man, Kosmos Spoetzl, started the brewery with the hope of bringing some German brewing tradition to this country. Thus, the bock became the brewery's staple beer, a dark, malty beer apparently high in food energy. In fact, German monks who were required to fast during Lent drank bock for sustenance (Keep that in mind...Lent's around the corner). Anyway, Shiner Bock is nothing amazing but I can see how people adopt it as their session beer because it's very drinkable. I'd equate it to a German-style, Southern US equivalent of Yuengling.

The next beer I picked up was from a brewery that I really wish would distribute out here to the northeast: New Belgium from Fort Collins, CO. I've read a lot about the origin and reputation of this great brewery whose flagship beer is Fat Tire Amber Ale, available in both bottles and cans. I had a couple cans of it during the trip and although I haven't had a LOT of them, it was definitely the best amber ale I've ever had. The other offering I had from New Belgium while in AZ was their first of four organic beers that they offer, their Mothership Wit, very tasty in the sunny weather.

One other single bottle I picked up is something that is available here in PA but isn't really something that I'd buy an entire case of: Cave Creek Chili Beer. It started out being brewed in Cave Creek, AZ, but is now brewed in Mexico. The story goes that Ed Chilleen started brewing a basic beer which gained in popularity in AZ. When people requested a lime with his beer, he put a chili in it instead. Some people actually liked it and the rest is history. Now, all of the beer actually comes with a chili inside. It was interesting to try, similar to Rogue's Chipotle Ale, but since I'm not exactly a masochistic beer drinker, I probably wouldn't pick up any more of this. And no...I did NOT eat the chili.

There was one local beer that I had during the trip from a small brewery based in Tempe with a brewpub in Scottsdale, next to Phoenix. Four Peaks Brewery only distributes within the state lines, but has a nice collection of brews, some of which have earned awards at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and World Beer Cup. I had a nice tall glass of their 8th Street Ale on tap, an English-style bitter Pale Ale. Considering how small the brewery is, the beer was very good.