It’s just 27 days until the 14th annual Arizona Strong Beer Festival, the kickoff of Arizona Beer Week. Nearly 120 breweries will take part in the sure-to-sell-out event at Steele Indian School Park in central Phoenix on Saturday, Feb. 15.
The Arizona Craft Brewers Guild, which runs the fest, has released a preliminary list of the beers that will be poured. Only about a third of the participants have revealed their offerings, but they’re as impressive as you’d expect at the state’s premier beer festival.
As usual, Tempe’s Four Peaks leads the way with a fest-high 19 beers, including seven from its barrel program: Sirius Black, 2010 Hopsquatch, Kilt Lifter, Bonehead Red, and Ryewine aged in bourbon barrels, Cherry Baltic Porter aged in a wine barrel, and Raj IPA aged in a tequila barrel.
Cartel Coffee, which brews beer at its Tempe location, will bring four beers – F.Y.I.T.M imperial IPA, Desert Pale Ale, Christmas Ale porter, and Coffee Brown – to its second Strong Beer Fest, the same number as Papago Brewing, Prescott Brewing, Thunder Canyon from Tucson, and That Brewery from Pine.
Recently opened Huss Brewing, also in Tempe, will bring its That’ll Do IPA, Rice Pudding Porter, and Snowbird Imperial Oatmeal Stout (a collaboration with Destihl Brewing).
No word yet on what some of Arizona’s other breweries – especially SanTan, Fate, and Arizona Wilderness – will bring.
Among non-Arizona breweries, Bell’s from Kalamazoo, Mich., will make a strong showing with its Hopslam double IPA and Black Note barrel-aged stout.
See the list of participants and the preliminary beer list (a 10-page PDF)Â here.
