The series premiere spotlights Phoenix, where Lamprey and his drinking buddies, Steve McKenna and Marc Ryan, visited Aunt Chilada's for prickly pear margaritas, a "Bark Mitzvah" for dog beer, the aforementioned Four Peaks Brewery for a beer flight, and Chuey's Mini Bar (in Gilligan's), where they concocted a drink that sounds incredibly disgusting.
We recently caught up with Lamprey to talk about the gross drink they made at Chuey's, his drinking talents, and why Four Peaks rules.
When did you discover you had a talent for drinking?
"On my 21st birthday" is the safest answer, I think. It's not my talent to drink; it's my talent to maintain my composure when I drink. Steve McKenna's the crazy one. He's the type you have to carry out of the bar sometimes. I rarely get to a point that I do anything stupid. I can drink, do an interview, go have another drink, do another interview. I could do that three times a day.
What did you think of the prickly pear margaritas at Aunt Chilada's?
Well, we made a massive one, so it took three of us to drink it. It was very good. I'm not really a sweet-drink kind of guy, but I liked it. And I thought Aunt Chilada's was awesome. It's run by three sisters, and they were so cool. I wished we could have included footage of all three of them on the show, but only one of them is on camera in the episode.
Did you drink the dog beer at the "Bark Mitzvah"?
We sent Marc Ryan off to do that and talk about Bowser Beer. It's non-alcoholic, but if you ever want to sit down and watch the game with your dog, he won't have to just sit there and watch you drink your beer. You can both have a beer and watch the game together.
Please explain the "ranch dressing beer-bomb" the press release says you invented at Chuey's.
I don't know if "invention" is the right term -- "concoction" would be closer. It was more of a dare. At Chuey's Mini Bar, you can take dares or eat things to pay off your bar tab, and Steve McKenna was trying to eat this five pound bag of tater tots so they'd pay the bill. When Marc and I got there, he was halfway through the bag and couldn't finish. So we told him we'd each give him $100 if he drank a pitcher of beer. And right before he drank it, we dropped a giant dish of ranch dressing into the pitcher. Steve drank it.
What was your favorite thing about Phoenix?
There are a lot of fun things to do and places to drink. We went to Four Peaks Brewery -- we could have shot a whole episode there. I've seen a lot of brewery set ups, but I think Four Peaks does it best. They've got a bar in the brewery! I'd never seen that at a brewery before. You can sit and drink a beer in the brewery, and just relax. The owners were great, too. You can tell they have a deep love for brewing beer.
Drinking Made Easy premieres Wednesday, October 6 on HDNet at 6:30 p.m. PST. Zane Lamprey is also scheduled to appear on his "Sing the Booze" comedy tour at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 21 at Marquee Theatre in Tempe. Visit www.zanelamprey.com for more information.
