Arizona Strong Beer Festival review: 75 breweries, 200 beers, one picture-perfect afternoon

By Jess Harter Sunday, February 17, 2013

Arizona’s premier beer event lived up to its reputation Saturday as a sold-out crowd enjoyed a picture-perfect day at the Arizona Strong Beer Festival at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix. Seventy-five breweries, approximately 200 beers. Where do I begin? It’s futile to pretend one can “review” such a showcase, especially given you’re physically limited to about 10 samples of such high-octane ales. So I made the rounds as best as I could, chatting with brewers and festivalgoers alike while trying a few of the most intriguing offerings. Here are my highlights:

• Four Peaks always brings a great lineup to Strong Beer, and the Tempe brewery’s 13 beers – including its 2010 wine-barrel-aged Baltic porter with Northwest cherries and 2008 wine-barrel-aged Belgian Black – Saturday were no exception. Teddy Golden, their beer anbassador, says the brewery has big plans this year, but the focus will be within the state of Arizona rather than out of state. Look for cans of Arizona Peach to pop up in stores by this summer, as well as Pumpkin Porter this fall. In addition, the brewery plans to start selling four-packs of its speciality beers like Double Knot and Sirius Black.

• Cartel Coffee Lab is a newcomer to the Valley’s brewing scene, and it makes sense the coffeehouse would make a delicious coffee stout. It also had a pale ale, but brewer Matt Johnson is pushing his small system at the Tempe location for an IPA and an amber rye before the beers go on sale in March. The Scottsdale and Tucson locations eventually will sell them, too.

• In addition to what has to be the last of its holiday Winter Warmer, SanTan Brewing was pouring its newest sensation, HopFarm. Originally conceived as a one-time offering, the Belgian-style white IPA so impressed brewmaster Anthony Canecchia and his crew that it’s likely to become the downtown Chandler brewery’s new fall seasonal.

• As a fan of saisons, I was glad to finally try 928 Local Farmhouse Ale, which is emerging as the flagship beer from Flagstaff’s four-month-old nanobrewery Wanderlust. Nathan Friedman’s one-man operation only makes three beers so far (the others are Pan American Stout and a Belgian-American hybrid pale ale) but he’s definitely taking the road less traveled.

• And speaking of saisons, Big Sky rep Don Cutler revealed the Missoula, Mont., brewery’s newest creation is a farmhouse saison dubbed Brush Tail. Look for it at Valley bars and stores the first week  of March.

• Phoenix’s OHSO, another nanobrewery making its Strong Beer debut, made a splash with a bunch of wood-aged pilot beers. The highlights were Big Bertha, an imperial porter that owner Jon Lane brewed with local Black Sphinx dates, and Molly, a Belgian dubbel brewed with figs in collaboration with Fate and Sonoran.

• Fate wasn’t pouring the collaboration at its tent (nor its American-Belgo pale ale collaboration with Four Peaks, which was at Four Peaks’ tent), but said it would debut the fig beer today at its Scottsdale brew pub. Owner Steve McFate also told me he’ll come out with a new black IPA in a few weeks.

• Gidi Goldberg from The Hungry Monk told me the Chandler craft beer bar expects to have its new food truck up and running in about a month. One of the menu items he’s thinking about is a bacon-wrapped, beer-battered hot dog on a stick with various dipping sauces. Sounds perfect for next year’s Strong Beer Fest.

• Colorado’s Odell was pouring a rare Belgian tripple brewed the Scottsdale’s Mik HeerBrandt, who earned Best of Show and Homebrewer of the Year at the Arizona Society of Homebrewers‘ Oktoberfest. I was told just one half-barrel and three quarter-barrels of the brew made its way to Arizona.

• The biggest eye-opener of the day, for me, was Albuquerque’s Marble, which launched in 2008 and dominates the New Mexico market. Their oud bruin sour was one of the best beers at the fest, and another half-dozen (including a Belgian-inspired double white wheat ale perfect for Arizona summers) were nearly as good. In the past, Marble has sent beers to Sprouts and Sunflower stores in the Valley, but they’re looking to make a bigger footprint in this market this year.

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