Beer: InebriatorBrewery: Sonoran Brewing Co. Style: Russian Imperial StoutABV: 9.1 percent Arizona having the climate it does, most local breweries seem to focus heavily on light, drinkable beers that fight the oppressive heat while shying away from the richer, darker stuff. There are few year-round Russian imperial stouts made in…
Beer for Brains sure knows how to throw a party. On Saturday, close to 800 beer lovers soaked themselves in suds at the RAREaffair, thrown by the Beer for Brains Foundation. Held at Talking Stick Resort, this no-limit food-and-drink-tasting event featured more than 75 beers for sipping. While some brews…
Yesterday we met Samantha Rogers, bartender at the Hotel Valley Ho’s Café Zuzu. Today she shares with us the recipe for the Elderfire, a drink she invented for a mixology competition held by Bombay Sapphire. “I went in a classic direction,” Rogers says. “With all the botanicals in gin and…
”It’s different than a traditional beer festival; it’s a party.” That, friends, is straight from the mouth of Louis Dolgoff, founder of the Beer for Brains Foundation — a national nonprofit association of craft beer lovers, distributors and brewers committed to raising awareness and dollars for brain cancer research. You…
The tender: Samantha RogersThe bar: Café Zuzu (6850 E. Main St., 480-421-7997)The pedigree: Rogers got into bartending when she was 20, starting as the daytime bartender at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant in Tempe. She spent four years there, eventually working her way up to bar manager and crafting the…
Sunset in an old town in the American West. Two men face each other in an empty street, motionless, their fingers hovering expectantly over holstered pistols. A twitch, and the guns are out, bullets ripping the air and the body of the target. It’s over in a second, one man…
Beer: Fade to Black Volume 3Brewer: Left Hand Brewing Co. Style: Pepper PorterABV: 7.2 percent FADE IN: Dusk inside a shadowy bar. A snifter filled to the brim with sable liquid is placed before a thirsty patron. It seems at first glance to be a standard porter, but when the…
Yesterday we met Matt Slenske, bar manager at American Junkie. Today he shares with us the recipe for the bar’s signature drink, aptly named the American Junkie. Packed with ingredients, it’s like a Long Island Iced Tea gone to the loony bin…
The tender: Matt SlenskeThe bar: American Junkie (4364 N. 75th St., 480-990-3000)The pedigree: Slenske got his start at Devil House, his local hangout during college. Since then he’s tended bar at Sanctuary (now Mist) and Acme as well as Loco Patron, where he spent four years before American Junkie’s owner…
Cultural education time! Día de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday for honoring lost loved ones. Held in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, it’s traditionally a two-day celebration beginning with Día de los Inocentes (for remembering…
When you think about it, hot air balloons capture the Halloween holiday pretty perfectly. They’re colorful, almost as if they were in costume, and, like a kid flying on a candy-induced sugar high, there’s no controlling them. The Balloon Spooktacular at Salt River Fields celebrates this connection with a party…
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 that crowded…
Yesterday we met Dolh Chompupong, bar manager at bank-turned-nightclub The Mint. Today he shares with us the recipe for his Counterfeit Cantaloupe. Why counterfeit? There’s no actual cantaloupe in the drink, which is incredible given that the martini tastes like Sunday brunch. The drink is usually garnished with a slice…
The tender: Dolh ChompupongThe bar: The Mint (7373 E. Camelback Rd., 480-947-6468) The pedigree: Dolh’s always worked in the industry. He started in his parents’ restaurant washing dishes, cooking, bussing tables and making drinks. He’s been at several places around town, including Pink Taco and Roka Akor. Until recently, he was…
Any good pumpkin carver of legal age knows: There’s no greater thrill than combining sharp objects with alcohol, and Four Peaks Brewing Co.’s 12th Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest is the best place to catch your buzz. Craft the best overall pumpkin and you’ll take home your very own quarter-barrel of…
This weekend avid boxing fans can check out Real Steel, the new Hugh Jackman movie about fighting metal men. If you think that premise sounds about as rousing as playing with your old set of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots for 127 minutes, we wouldn’t disagree. You want the real…
Beer: Pumpkin AleBrewery: BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse – ChandlerStyle: Pumpkin beerABV: 4.7 percent This week’s player in the Month of Pumpkin Beers is a real winner. Pumpkin Ale (no doubt buoyed by its super-creative name) took home hardware at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival, held just a few weeks…
Yesterday we met Curtis Williams, bartender at popular Mill Ave. hangout Mill Cue Club. Today he shares with us the recipe for the Orange Sherbet shot, his go-to for girls who want something sweet and boozy. “The name was obvious,” Williams says. “It tastes just like Orange Sherbert ice cream.”…
The tender: Curtis Williams The bar: Mill Cue Club (607 S. Mill Ave., 480-858-9017) The pedigree: Becoming a bartender at Cue Club works differently than at most places: any girl who wants to tend bar has to start out as a server, and any guy has to first work the…
Full disclosure: I was at last year’s Arizona Taco Festival, competing (for reasons I’m still trying to justify) in the Hot Chili Pepper Eating Contest. From my view on the main stage (and through the fiery torment the peppers inflicted), I saw some cool stuff: masked luchadores throwing down, Valley…
Arizonans have always known how to party — our first fair was held in 1884, long before our Southwest territory was even a state. Dubbed the Arizona Territorial Fair in those days, the shindig featured horse, pony, and mule races along with exhibits about agriculture and home economics. Though the…
Beer: Wasatch Pumpkin Ale Brewery: Utah Brewers Collective Style: Pumpkin beer ABV: 4 percent Pumpkin beer month continues! Huzzah! This week’s addition to the best family of vegetable beers around often flies under the radar, but is nonetheless so tasty that it topped our recent list of the nation’s best…
