(Arizona Beer Class is an ongoing Thursday series profiling Arizona’s noteworthy craft beers. See previous Arizona Beer Classes here.)
This week, Arizona Wilderness co-owner Jon Buford talks about his seasonal Picacho Pecan Pie Brown Ale (6.6% ABV), which will be released Friday.
Beer style: “The base beer is a Northern English Brown. We bake egg-less pies in our kitchen and add them into the mash. They get all gooey and melt right in. It’s awesome! Then, during the boil, we add dark brown sugar, grade B maple syrup, and fresh-roasted pecans go into our hop back. Right at the peak of fermentation we add another gallon of grade B maple syrup. Then we dry hop with vanilla beans and more fresh-roasted Arizona pecans.â€
The inspiration: “I was enamored with the pecan groves in the Picacho area. They are beautiful. Doing some research, I found out we are the world leader in pecan exportation and we produce in the top five. How cool – the desert does it again! So a friend had a pretty tasty pie recipe and we based it off of that.â€
The debut: “Last Halloween was the debut of this beer, but many home-brew batches were made.â€
The name: “As mentioned before, the photo that the logo is based on is from the Picacho grove. This is between Tucson and Phoenix on the I-10â€
One-sentence description: “A brown ale with a fresh slice of pie!â€
Where to find it: “We sell directly from our pub. Growlers were pre-sold (and sold out) for those who wished to take it home.â€