Consumer Non-Cyclicals

Ten FIDY, Oskar Blues and the Canned Beer Apocalypse

Beer: Ten FIDY Brewery: Oskar Blues Brewery Style: Imperial Stout ABV: 10.5 percent As we inch ever closer to the third annual AmeriCAN Canned Craft Beer Festival our discussion of aluminum cylinders continues, and it's only right that at this point we bring up Oskar Blues. See also: - 2013 Ameri ... More >>

Sam Pillsbury Spills on the Reason He Landed in Arizona, and Launches a Wine Column for Chow Bella

This week we introduce a new, occasional wine column by one of the best-known Arizona winemakers, Sam Pillsbury. Welcome to Spillsbury. When managing editor Amy Silverman asked me to write for Chow Bella and New Times, I had to stop and think how that was going to work. I think that will evolve. I ... More >>

Cigar City Jai Alai: Take It in the Can

Beer: Jai Alai Brewery: Cigar City Brewing Co. Style: American IPA ABV: 7.5 percent The journey from brew kettle to drinking vessel is long and hard, and not all beer gets there in perfect condition. To taste right, a beer must battle many foes along the way: diacetyl, a yeast compound that tastes ... More >>

Class of '88 Barleywine: A Taste of Craft Beer's Past

Beer: Class of '88 Barleywine Brewery: Deschutes Brewery/North Coast Brewing Co./Rogue Ales Style: American Barleywine ABV: 10 percent Hello out there! Today, we step into the WayBack Machine to take a look at craft beer's past, all the way back to the year 1988. Times were good -- Prozac had just ... More >>

Arizona WIne at Devoured 2013

Pavle Milic knows his way around a bottle of Arizona wine, so when he graciously offered to give us the rundown on the local wine showcased last weekend at Devoured, we jumped at the chance. Full disclosure: As co-owner of FnB in Scottsdale, Milic serves AZ wine and he's in the process of making his ... More >>

Candy Land

New Online Wine Retailer Cuts Out the Middleman for Savings on Top-Notch Wine

The folks at Nakedwines.com, a British online wine retailer that recently launched in the United States, say they have some bad news for wine lovers. "When you spend $50 on a bottle of delicious Napa Cab, you are spending about $7 on wine," the website says. "And $43 on sales, marketing and other s ... More >>

Watch Out, Kitties, Here Comes San Tan Brewing Company's Sex Panther

There's no evidence that it's illegal in nine countries or that "60 percent of the time, it works every time," but one thing's certain: San Tan Brewing Company's Sex Panther is on the loose starting Monday, January 7. See also: - New Brewing Company Moving Into Former Rio Salado Brewing Site - Ro ... More >>

LongHorn Steakhouse Tries Arizona (Again): This Time in Mesa and With More Locations to Come

Darden Restaurants, Inc., the same company who owns and operates Red Lobster, Olive Garden, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, and Eddie V's, is playing Santa this year in the form of steakhouse chain, LongHorn. See also: New Steakhouse Coming to Chandler Today, the casual American steakhouse that op ... More >>

Yavapai College Launches Associates Degree in Enology -- the Science of Wine

Love wine? You can get a degree in it for real here in Arizona. Did you know enology is the science and study of wine and wine making while viticulture is a subfield specializing in vine-growing and harvesting? If you're looking for a new career or are just really into learning more about wine, you ... More >>

Beer for Brains RAREaffair 2012: Tons of Brews, a Dozen-Plus Restaurants, and No Flippin' Drink Tickets

A wise man (Homer Simpson) once said, "To alcohol! The cause of and solution to all of life's problems." And if the problem happens to be how to raise brain cancer awareness, then the Beer for Brains RAREaffair has glasses full of the solution. From 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, November 10, Bee ... More >>

Maynard Keenan, Sam Pillsbury, Todd Bostock and other Wine Experts Give Pavle Milic Advice on Designing Wine Labels -- and Pavle Finally Names His Wine

"Los Milics" In this occasional series, Pavle Milic (co-owner of FnB, Baratin, Bodega and AZ Wine Merchants in Scottsdale) will spill about his current mission to learn how wine is made -- literally from the Southern Arizona ground up. Today: What's in a name? And some advice from the pros on label ... More >>

Amazon.com Will Start Selling Wine

The internet's monolithic online retailer, Amazon.com, is poised to begin selling wine through their Marketplace sometime later this month. See Also: --Pavle Milic's Wine-Making Adventure --5 Ways to Open a Bottle of Wine (Without a Corkscrew) We can only imagine how handy Amazon.com's customer r ... More >>

Pavle Milic Harvests the Grapes for His Still Unnamed Wine

In this occasional series, Pavle Milic (co-owner of FnB, Baratin, Bodega and AZ Wine Merchants in Scottsdale) will spill about his current mission to learn how wine is made -- literally from the Southern Arizona ground up. Today: the harvest. Momentary Suspension of Reality I have made the drive t ... More >>

Roosevelt Row's Tediberto's Has a Liquor License Problem

See also: Tediberto's: Drop Your Vitamix and Put on Your Animal-Friendly Dancing Shoes, Vegans, We're Goin' Out to Eat See also: Vegan Mexican Restaurant Coming to Downtown Phoenix See also: Vegan Mexican Restaurant Owner Not Helping Stereotype of Vegans It's one of the worst kept secrets in the do ... More >>

BrewDog's Latest Beer Claims It'll Get you Banned From the Olympics (But It Really Won't)

Scottish craft beer company BrewDog is not fond of the massive corporate backing of the Olympic games. It is protesting the likes of McDonald's and Heineken by producing a beer guaranteed to contain "at least 50 percent of your daily allowance of sarcasm." BrewDog's protest beer is called Never Mi ... More >>

Three Things to Eat Drink, Drink, and Bake this Weekend, The Craft Beer Edition

See Also: Here Come The Growlers: Starting at Midnight, Bars Can Hand Over 64 oz To Go Happy weekend Chow Bella friends! Ready for another road trip? This time we're heading out west to sunny Palm Springs, California for one of the desert's biggest craft beer parties. Then we'll head home for a f ... More >>

A Sirius Plan

Pizza Patrón Offers Free Pizza This Tuesday Evening, With a Catch

Odds are good that if you're a gringo, you haven't heard of Pizza Patrón. Don't be too surprised. It caters primarily to Hispanic markets, with its metro Phoenix locations concentrated in South Phoenix, Maryvale, and central Mesa. Chorizo is an available topping and jalapeños are one of the most p ... More >>

East Meets Northwest

Wine Regions 101: Sonoita/Elgin

Welcome to Vine Geeks, where Brian Reeder and Pavle Milic of AZ Wine Merchants take the drinking game quite seriously. Pay attention -- you might just learn something. One of the consistent columns I'll be writing as the resident 'vine geek' will be about different wine regions around the state, n ... More >>

Carl's Jr. Field-Testing Ice Cream Burger, the Brrrger

Have you ever polished off a $6 burger at Carl's Jr. and said to yourself, "By Jove, what I need now is another smaller burger made of ice cream"? Probably not, but the food scientists at Carl's Jr. certainly did and, by their will alone, have brought The Brrrger into existence. Building on the su ... More >>

Pavle Milic's Quest to Make Wine: A Quixotic Exploit?

Earlier this spring, we launched Vine Geeks -- in which AZ Wine Merchants' Brian Reeder and Pavle Milic share advice, news and a little levity from the world of wine. Today, we bring you Romancing the Grape. In this occasional series, Milic will spill about his current mission to learn how wine is ... More >>

Make Phoenix 2012's BeerCity USA

In 2009, National Beer Examiner writer and Brewers Association President Charlie Papazian created the BeerCity USA poll. Designed to judge the strength of a city's beer community, the online poll drew thousands of voters to throw their support behind their hometowns and the brew culture therein. As ... More >>

Meet the Vine Geek (Part Two)

On Tuesday, you met Brian Reeder, co-owner of AZ Wine Merchants and one of our new wine columnists. Today, his story continues. When we left off, Pavle Milic (in the photo above, from left, it's Reeder and Milic) had opened a little restaurant in Scottsdale and Brian had decided resort life at the M ... More >>

Four Peaks Makes List of Top Fifty Craft Brewers in America

Here's a little something to raise a glass to. Four Peaks Brewing Company, the Tempe institution serving up handcrafted suds in a 1892 Mission-style warehouse since 1996, has been named one of the top fifty craft brewers in the U.S. by the Brewers Association -- a not-for-profit trade group that ta ... More >>

Talking Bourbon with Rob Samuels, COO of Maker's Mark

Rob Samuels comes from a long line of whiskey-makers -- the Samuels clan has been distilling as far back as the 1500s in Scotland and was making whiskey in America before the country was founded. Bill Samuels Sr. (Rob's grandfather) began producing Maker's Mark in 1954, and Rob took over as chief op ... More >>

'Cue Ball

Uwe Boer of SunUp Brewing Co., the Jolliest Man in Brewing

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Brewing Down South with Barrio Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

What's with the Monkeys? An Interview with Nimbus Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Barrel-Aged Beers, Experimentation and Randamonium with Four Peaks Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Chow Bella Rides With Mother Road Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Chow Bella Hates on Fruit Beers With Lumberyard Brewing Co.

Who hasn't wanted to chat up the guys who make their favorite brews? The Chow Bella team, lucky dogs that we are, recently got the opportunity to do just that. Thing is, we only got a few minutes with each one. These guys are busy! Watch the short video below for an insight into the mind of an Ari ... More >>

Cider's Growth has Big Beer Jumping on the Bandwagon

​Cider is so hot right now. On Monday, Miller Coors craft/import division Tenth & Blake purchased Minneapolis, Minn.-based Crispin Cider. The deal also includes Fox Barrel Cider Company, a Crispin affiliate that produces multiple varieties of pear cider. Not to be outdone, Anheuser-Busch ann ... More >>

Drink Wine with NPR's Peter Sagal and Support KJZZ's Youth Media Center

​First Press Arizona is throwing its 10th live fine wine auction and dinner on February 11 at Kierland Resort and Spa to benefit KJZZ's Youth Media Center. The smart and witty Peter Sagal, of NPR's game show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, will be the evening's host. Guests will live it up with liv ... More >>

Little Big Man

Purple Drank

Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Zach Fowle ​Beer: Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin AleBrewery: Boston Beer Company Style: Pumpkin beerABV: 5.7 percent Well, Pumpkin Month is at an end. It's been four weeks filled with pumpkin pie spiciness and every shade of orange here at Craft Beer of the Week, and the mob of pumpkin brews t ... More >>

Eddie V's Prime Seafood and Wildfish Seafood Grille Sold to Parent Company of Olive Garden and Red Lobster for $59 Million

​Holy oceans, that's a lot of shellfish. ​Last week, Phoenix-based Eddie V's Prime Seafood, a luxury chain of eight restaurants in Arizona, California, and Texas with one location in the Scottsdale Quarter, and Wildfish Seafood Grille, Eddie's sister chain of three restaurants in the s ... More >>

Blast by Colt 45, Made by Pabst Brewing, Called Excessively Strong by Tom Horne and Other State Attorneys General

Blast by Colt 45, made by Pabst Brewing Company, is like a "binge in a can," according to Tom Horne and other state attorneys general.​ Arizona's official state gun is the Colt .45, but a trendy alcoholic drink that shares the name shouldn't be on shelves in its current form, says state A ... More >>

Olive Garden's "Culinary Institute" in Tuscany: What the Hell is Happening Over There?

Hanover Signs​Poor Olive Garden. First the Italian food chain got tagged for accidentally serving a child sangria ("Mom, dis Kool-Aid makes my sgetti bwurry!"), now it's the target of recent internet buzz with tales of what really goes on at its infamous Tuscan cooking school. You can almost hea ... More >>

Avery Brewing Co. Pulls Out of Arizona, 7 Other States

whatweredrinking.blogspot.com ​Get your Maharaja, The Czar, and White Rascal while you can. Colorado-based Avery Brewing Co. announced Thursday it plans to withdraw from eight states and seven other partial-state markets beginning in April.

Caffe Boa Winemaker Dinner and Blondies in Today's Eater's Digest

Bakergirl​Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?Winemaker DinnerGet naked with Caffe Boa and winemakers Tony Coturri from Coturri wines and Olivier Cousin from France for a special evening of naked food and wine Saturday March 12. The Naked Winemake ... More >>

Craft Beer Competition and Sampling Event and Grilled Oysters in Today's Eater's Digest

Tastespotting.com ​Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives? Craft Beer Tasting Tonight!  Join beer brewers, beer judges and beer lovers at Taste of Tops tonight for the first round of judging for the Great Arizona Beer Festival Craft Beer Competi ... More >>

Craft Beer Competition and Sampling Event and Grilled Oysters in Today's Eater's Digest

Tastespotting.com ​Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives? Craft Beer Tasting Tonight!  Join beer brewers, beer judges and beer lovers at Taste of Tops tonight for the first round of judging for the Great Arizona Beer Festival Craft Beer Competi ... More >>

Pavle Milic Pours His Heart Out at Ignite Phoenix 9

Photo courtesy of virtualwayfarer via FlickrIgnite Phoenix 9 happened a week ago, and we at Chow Bella are still aflame about the food-related topics discussed.  As food writers and lovers of fermented liquids, we were most excited about the presentations of Maureen Basenberg, founder of the A ... More >>

Wine, Winemakers and Winos: What You Missed at the Paso Robles Winemaker Dinner

Where there is wine and winemakers, you can be damn sure there will be winos, which is why we hit the trifecta at the Paso Robles winemaker dinner at Petite Maison this Monday. The winemakers of Paso Robles showcased their signature Rhône varietal blends with a five-course meal Chef James Porter s ... More >>

Sweet Stuff

Chow down on some tasty bits

FnB Wine Dinner and BBQ Chicken Tacos in Today's Eater's Digest

cakebatterandbowl.com​ Hungry for your early morning serving of food news, with no preservatives or additives?FnB Wine DinnerNeed a post holiday pick me up? Treat yourself to FnB's Javelina Leap Winemakers Dinner Tuesday, January 4th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.. Enjoy a four-course dinner specially pre ... More >>