The first beer can — a heavy-gauge steel number that had to be stabbed open with a sharp piece of metal — first hit the market almost 80 years ago. I envy the beer bloggers of those days. With just two beers available (Krueger’s Cream Ale and Krueger’s Finest Beer),…
Beer: Señorita Brewery: Elevation Beer Co. Style: Imperial Porter ABV: 8.4 percent In a speech delivered to thousands of attendees at this year’s Craft Brewers Conference, Paul Gatza told a story about bad beer. It was at a beer festival a few months earlier, the director of the Brewers Association…
Some places just look better at night. Vegas, for instance — the flashing bulbs and neon, gaudy and impotent during the day, turn the city into a luminous playground once the sun sets. The Scottsdale Civic Center Plaza, too, is more lovely at night, and has the added benefit of…
Beer: Snapshot Brewery: New Belgium Brewing Co. Style: Berliner Weisse ABV: 5 percent If we’re ranking sour beer styles by “intensity of flavor” and “likelihood of making an inexperienced craft beer drinker puke,” the Berliner Weisse would be right near the bottom. Its tartness is generally mild; its carbonation high;…
Beer: IPA Brewery: Odell Brewing Co. Style: American IPA ABV: 7 percent Near the top of the list of things that make me sad — along with starving puppies and the fact that Tobey Maguire is still making movies — are missed opportunities to educate someone about beer. Recently, this…
What’s the opposite of “undefeated?” You could just drop the “un,” but “defeated” doesn’t quite convey the shame of losing every single game you’ve played. “Winless” is a little better, but it still lacks a certain dishonor. How about “perma-beaten”? “Ever-embarrassed”? . . . Debacle in perpetual?Whichever you prefer, use…
Beers: Saison and IPA Brewery: Bad Water Brewing Style: Saison, IPA ABV: 6 percent, 5.5 percent Imagine, for a minute, that you’ve traveled back to the first time you tried craft beer. You’ve spent most of your legal drinking age years (and maybe a few before) throwing back cans of…
In preparation for Wingstock, Mesa’s yearly celebration of the noble and delicious chicken, we’ve gathered some fun facts about chicken wings from our friends at the National Chicken Council (a real thing!). Here’s one: 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the first “Buffalo Wing” being served at the Anchor Bar…
There are two major judging competitions for beer. One, the Great American Beer Festival, is held yearly in Denver. It’s the largest and most competitive tasting in the country — but entrants have to be from this country. Winners of a GABF gold medal are deemed the best examples of…
It’s still a running joke in “more established” hockey towns: “Phoenix has a hockey team? You mean, like, ice hockey? In the desert? Are there actually hockey fans out there?” Yes, yes, yes, and a resounding yes. The Phoenix Coyotes, in fact, recently celebrated the attendance of the team’s 10…
Beer: Fire and Blood Brewery: Brewery Ommegang Style: Red Ale ABV: 6.8 percent Brewery Ommegang is onto something with this TV/beer thing, it would seem. Last month, Harvest Moon Brewing Company made millions of Trekkies ecstatic by releasing the first officially licensed Star Trek-themed brew, Vulcan Ale. Soon after, Dock…
FoundersiscomingFoundersiscomingFoundersiscomingFoundersiscoming FoundersiscomingFoundersiscomingFoundersiscomingFoundersiscoming FoundersiscomingFoundersiscomingFoundersiscomingFoundersiscoming! Sorry, lost a bit of my journalistic reserve there. I’m just excited because Founder Brewing is coming to Arizona. This brewery, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been churning out beers since its founding in 1997 — but, until recently, only to the eastern half of the…
Beer: Pugachev’s Cobra Brewery: Hangar 24 Craft Brewery Style: Imperial Stout ABV: 13.8 percent The creation tale of many leaders of the craft beer industry began with a hobby; homebrewing. In need of a downtime activity, today’s master brewers started cooking up and bottling beers. They soon found they were…
If given the chance to join dragon boat racing team during this year’s Arizona Dragon Boat Festival, what member of the team would you be? Would you be one of 20 or so rowers, paddling mightily to slog your boat through the murk of Tempe Town Lake? Would you be…
Beer: Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy Brewery: AleSmith Brewing Co. Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy ABV: 10 percent ‘Twas a time, dear readers, when getting your hands on one of AleSmith’s barrel-aged beers was a Very Big Deal. These bottles were among the rarest and most highly sought-after in all the land; those…
Frank Sinatra had a cold, once. Or so we’ve heard. But that was a long time ago, and the version of ol’ blue eyes who’ll take the stage Monday, March 17, for the Arizona Broadway Theater’s Salute to the Rat Pack has full crooning capabilities. His buddies — Dean Martin,…
Beer: Salty Scot Brewery: Parallel 49 Style: Scotch Ale ABV: 7.5 percent Another week, another brewery shipping its beers to Arizona shelves. Parallel 49 isn’t your usual new entrant to the American craft beer landscape, however — namely because it’s not American at all. The brewery’s located in Vancouver, British…
Welcome, class, to today’s Latin lesson. Now, you may be thinking there’s no reason to learn a language that’s been out of use for hundreds of years — but you would be, as we say in Latin, in errare. If you knew Latin, for instance, you’d know that the phrase…
Even though the people who go to see the première of Love and Air Sex at FilmBar on Friday, February 28, will get to meet the film’s writer, Steven Walters and former air sex competitor “Bill F@*king Binder,” we can’t recommend it. We would, but the film’s plot is that…
Now, maybe we’re just old cowpokes and we suppose we can’t tell you much that the mountains can’t tell you better. But if you fancy yourself a fan of ropin’ and wranglin’ and ridin’, you’d best be gettin’ yourself to WestWorld of Scottsdale for the 61st Annual Parada del Sol…
Beer: Melange a Trois, Hop God and Apricot au Poivre Brewery: Nebraska Brewing Co. Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale, Belgian IPA, Saison ABV: 10.1 percent Before last week, the following list contained everything I knew about the state of Nebraska: They grow lots of corn. They have people whose job…
Do you think you’re turning Japanese? Do you think you’re turning Japanese? Do you really think so?Well then grab your kimonos and katanas and bring them to Heritage Square on Saturday, February 22, for Arizona Matsuri. This 30th annual festival – matsuri is actually Japanese for “festival” – is a…
