I’m seriously considering not covering next year’s Arizona Strong Beer Festival. My problem with the state’s premier craft beer event? It’s getting downright boring in terms of news value.
The 15th annual version took place Saturday at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix. Another record crowd (7,500). Another record number of participating breweries (144). Another perfect day (mid-80s and mostly sunny).
Five-and-a-half hours of pure beer geek nirvana that seemingly went off without a hitch. Again.
Yawn.
Next year I’m going just to drink beers and enjoy myself. No pen. No notebook. No camera.
I had to circle the expanded festival grounds a half-dozen times to unearth some news this year, all the while trying to avoid people this:
At Fate Brewing‘s booth, I sipped a delicious Droppin’ Beetz Saison while brewer/owner Steve McFate updated me on the construction of his new brewery in south Scottsdale.
Right now they’re doing the “underground phase” (plumbing, etc.) at what he calls Fate South, and McFate hopes to have the doors open in late May.
The 10,000-square-foot facility, located just south of the Papago Plaza (home of Papago Brewing), will house a 15-barrel brewhouse, an 800-square-foot barrel room, and an expanded kitchen.
The new brewery will allow Fate to have 12 of its own beers on tap at both locations. McFate foresees six “core” beers (always on tap) and six rotating selections.
Brewers Ross Perz and Uwe Boer (pictured above on left and right, respectively) say SunUp Brewing in Phoenix is just a couple weeks away from opening its new production facility (next to the brewpub).
The new 15-barrel brewhouse will be dedicated to distribution – look for Trooper IPA, Red IPA, and Nut Brown to hit the marketplace. The brewpub will continue to depend on its current 7-barrel system.
Perz, by the way, is growing his own hops at home and at the brewery, and hopes to have 10 pounds to work with in a couple months. Boer is busy planning SunUp’s next release, a barleywine, due in April.
Jeff and Leah Huss (pictured) of Huss Brewing were previewing a couple of new beers:Â Lemon Lush, a lemon-and-coconut ale that officially will be tapped Monday at the south Tempe brewery, and 21 Hour Sizzurp, a super-chewy barrel-aged stout collab with Fate.
Jeff Huss says he’s got the new canning line cranking out Scottsdale Blonde, Magic in the Ivy, and That’ll Do IPA. He also just ordered a new 90-barrel fermenter and bright tank to help keep up with demand.
For the second straight year, SanTan Brewing from Chandler paired bites of artisan cheese with its ales, including a curry aged white cheddar that was splendid with my Mr. Pineapple wheat beer.
Head brewer Gabe Wilson revealed last year’s Lime Leaf Cream Ale, another fave of mine, will return for next month’s Beer & BBQ Fest in downtown Chandler.
He also says the next release in SanTan’s Vault series will be Fat Alebert, a 10.5% ABV brown ale made with smoked apples. It’ll be released in April.
At Four Peaks Brewing, Ted Golden (pictured at very top of this post) was still talking about the previous night’s Girl Scout Cookies & Beer Pairing, which drew more than 250 people to their Wilson taproom.
Four Peaks also handed out Girl Scout cookies with samples at the fest. I learned a Trefoil is the proper complement to Double Pumpkin Porter.
I also got my first look at Four Peaks’ new Eighth Street Pale Ale bottles with silkscreen, rather than paper, labels. And notice I said Eighth Street Pale Ale, which apparently is the new name of their longtime ale.
Look for silkscreened Double Knot and Sirius Black bottles to be coming off the new bottling line at Wilson Street soon.
The biggest lines of the day – by far – again were at Arizona Wilderness Brewing from Gilbert. Check out how many people were lined up (above) for their 4 Roses Granola Stout as the general admission session started at 1 p.m.
If you’ve ever wondered if it’s worth the extra $30 ($75 vs. $45) for a VIP ticket, consider the line for Wilderness’ most-coveted beer, American Presidential Stout, at noon – right in the middle of the VIP session:
