Beer PHXation

Lolli-Palooza | Stouts, Steaks and Pancakes

2012-05-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Jim Lolli is either reinventing breakfast or re-asserting himself as one of the top Publicans of our state. Lolli's Hungry Monk famously tapped Bells Hopslam in February at 8:30 AM with donuts. Tonight he brings us Stouts, Steaks and Pancakes as a benefit to the Beer For Brains Foundation.

I'm of two minds on drinking Stouts this time of the year. We're Arizonan's and we drink what we like. Hot coffee on a hot day is not a problem for me. It may be a bit of a last hurrah before the silent sleep of sun and heat force us to at least pay homage to lighter styles, Belgian wits, wheats and more session beers. At some point, we should acknowledge our environment and adapt an appropriate style.

Jim is right to put these kinds of twists on what beer can do. We need more people like him. He's not one to put the spotlight on himself, but I will. If there was such a thing as the Arizona Publicans League or the Association of Independent Publicans of the Valley (There should be, right?), a guy like Jim should be at its helm.

The Stouts, Steaks and Pancakes menu is below. As I am unable to attend tonight, please do me the favor of dipping a buttered pancake in a Great Divide Oak Aged Chocolate Yeti.

Update: Photos from the event via Ben "Tiberius" Smith and Jess Harter.
Jess honored my request with a buttermilk pancake dipped in Yeti!

Photo : Ben Smith

Photo: Jess Harter

Mystery, Mischief and Kickfinishing

2012-05-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

There has to be a word for it. I'm at a loss. I know and banter with Erik Lars Myers @topfermented via twitter. I've clinked glasses with him and even supported his brewery, Mystery Brewing through his Kickstarter campaign. So we have that relationship. Twitter Buddies? Beer Tweeps? SMIRL friends (Social Media In Real Life)?

Regardless, Erik lays out some solid advice on Kickstarter campaigns for breweries in a straightforward manner. Pay special note to the advice he gives that has very little to do with Kickstarter and the emphasis on already working with things you should already have in place:

A plan that involves several funding sources;
Working with a community that you are already involved in;
Having your rewards worked into a larger existing marketing plan.

Money quotes:

I hate to say this, but if you don’t have a local community that’s ready to see you start a brewery, you’re going to have a difficult time finding that funding.

I will be sending out Kickstarter prizes for years. No shit. Half of my donors probably think I’ve completely forgotten about them.
...
What do I owe them now? They are the original community around my business. Any and every small business is about people. It’s about the community, and these are your starter community.

Read the whole post here because it informs both the potential funder as well as those flirting with the idea of a Kickstarter project.

It's worth noting Erik mentions that the Kickstarter game is much more competitive. In March, I noted that there were 3 Arizona brewery Kickstarter projects rolling out at the same time and that there were probably going to be as many as 8 this year. I asked that we make sure we are supporting the projects that have high community involvement. In the comments, I noted that Kickstarter should represent a small portion of the overall plan.

With all of the emphasis on things not Kickstarter and with success tied to having those things already in play, we all should reconsider Kickstarter as Kickfinisher.

Mischief's Brandon Richter

Since March, the campaigns of two brewery projects, Granite Mountain Brewing and Arizona Wilderness Brewing were successfully funded in March. The third campaign, Mischief Brewing wisely decided to hold off until this month so as not to saturate the month of March.

I don't expect to get invited to any weddings or children's birthday parties through Erik or because I contributed to Mystery Brewing. (So perfect, amirite?) I do need to have a glass of beer with him at his brewery sometime.

As for Mischief Brewing, I've met Brandon and April Richter a few times and we interact on the internets. We drank beer too. I know we will continue to chat over beer. Mischief is now actively seeking $30,000 with 25 days to go in their endeavor.

Mischief's April Richter

You have a few weeks to get to know them:

Web:

www.mischiefbrewery.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/brewingmischief

Brandon on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/mischiefbrewery

April on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/mrsbrewmischief

No kid birthday parties please.

Update: This was recently posted by Facebook's Tim Weable.

Where in the Phoenix Beer World?

2012-05-18T13:31:00.001-07:00

Do you know where in the beer world this photo was taken? How does it relate to Arizona beer?

The concept is simple. We post a picture that is relevant to the Phoenix area beer scene and you try and identify it. Sometimes there will be a larger story involved, but often there will not. So, for glory and a tip of the glass next time we see you. Please, no social media cheating!

Flag Day for Flagship Beers | June 10 - 16

2012-05-15T16:37:00.004-07:00

At the risk of causing a controversy with patriotic symbols and celebration (in an election year no less). I'd like to propose that we use Flag Day to honor the symbol of our nation and that also use that week to mark the success of one of the more tangible results of our Nation's independent spirit--American brewing.

During the week of Flag Day let's take a moment to celebrate our breweries flagship beers.

Fat Tire by Alisa Medina
(Brew Bros)

Flagship beers, for those that want a definition, are the beers that keep the lights on for a brewery. They are that breweries top-selling brand. Though I can't source a link at the moment, many of us are familiar with the story of New Belgium. Fat Tire and Abbey were two of co-founder Jeff Lebesh's first recipes. Lebesh was certain that Abbey would be the top seller. It wasn't to be of course. Fat Tire was the people's choice and it's success allowed New Belgium to support a vast and wide-ranging flavorful catalog as well as a employee driven culture.

It's a wonder to many outside the state that the top-selling locally produced beer in Arizona is Kilt Lifter Scottish Style Ale, yet we drink it here unflinchingly as if it were lemonade. When asked, Head Brewer Andy Ingram will tell you that he'd always anticipated that 8th Street would be everyone's go to beer.

With other breweries in the state, it's less clear to me what the flagship beer is. Is SanTan's flagship its Devil's Ale or is it Epicenter? What about Lumberyard? Does the IPA sell more than the Red? I don't have that answer and that is the larger point of focus in this week in June. For many of us that choose to participate, we'll be drinking these beers again for the first time. It's an opportunity to revisit beers that you have not perhaps had in a decade. (Such a thing happened to my with Anchor Steam and I regret my years of overlooking that beer.)

Let's avoid this appropriation of the flag.

If you write a blog, I ask that you devote some time to writing about a flagship beer in your area. If you're just a reader, I encourage you to re-visit some flagships with a presumably more experienced palate. Encourage other bloggers to explore this idea and, of course, comment it up at the blog or social media outlet of choice.

Any hashtag or promotional ideas?

Indy Beer and Indy Music | Uniting the Tribes

2012-05-07T11:50:00.003-07:00

We are very excited to welcome Corey Rial as a new member to the BeerPHXation team. Corey brings us a perspective from the Valley indy music scene and the attitude and hyperlocalism that we espouse on this blog. -ED

I wanted my first post on BeerPHXation to encompass my culture of beer in Phoenix, or at the least the culture I am often occupying. This is the culture of live music, be it established venues or fly by night warehouses, places where loud music and consuming beer are congruent.

To gauge a culture, be it art, food, music and the purpose of this blog...beer, one should take a snapshot of their surroundings and observe the results. What do our restaurants and bars serve? What beers are prominent in our life outside these establishments, what is sold in the convenience stores, who is putting on events, etc. And most importantly what’s in our refrigerators.

We can’t go into peoples homes and evaluate the contents of their refrigerators, but we can observe their beer choices they bring with them.

For a case study along those lines, a band I play in recently played a show at a DIY music venue--a warehouse in a part of town where flying under the radar of established norms isn’t a radical idea, a BYOB establishment that doesn’t necessarily rely on zoning and sound ordinances, let alone liquor laws. We played with an established touring band that excretes DIY and independent ethos, and in turn attracts “like minded” people...or so it would seem. The place was brimming with Pabst Blue Ribbon and Bud Light. Not exactly the libation of free thinkers and society renouncers.


Tragedy May 1st Phoenix. Photo Courtesy Gregory Allen Colson

The question I used to frame this thought process was, “How is a group of people that go as far as to reject local music establishments totally OK with accepting the beer industrial complex?” and “How can we get on restaurants about beer if our creative groups can't pull it together?”

The end game goal for restaurants (all business actually) is to turn a profit. They base decisions on what benefits them financially. This is an acceptable practice, as we all need financial stability/money to live.

Places like the Yucca Tap Room or the Lost Leaf, in contrast to the BYOB experience, are spaces that offer craft beer and generally care about creating or at least cater to an atmosphere of higher beer awareness and live music. Whats the reward for these venues to try and grow an appreciation for “craftier” endeavors such as smaller brews and grass roots musical acts if the patrons don’t show the same attitude on their own personal time?

Whilst playing similar DIY/BYOB venues abroad, I have of course seen similar scenarios, but let’s look at Portland for example. There was Pabst, there was Bud Light, but more so, there was Olympia and Rainier. Olympia and Rainier, much like Rolling Rock, are beers in name only, produced by one of the mega conglomerates and marketed to appeal to the beers original image. I am not sure most know this, and probably consume these beers because:

They are cheap (number one reason probably)
The brand reminds them of a by-gone heritage in the region.

We can look at regional loyalty further, while playing a house show in Chico California, there wasn’t a beer on the premises that wasn’t Sierra Nevada. Chico is a smaller place than Portland which in turn is a smaller place then Phoenix. There are asterisks to these comparisons, but I’ll ask the question. Is our regional economic beer Budweiser? (I would live in a town that had Sierra Nevada as its “cheap” beer any day.)

Is Hensley the provider of our regional beer? Is there a stigma to spending money on a beer that costs more then the price of admittance? Does craft beer belong in the economic beer category? Would showing up to an underground warehouse event with a growler of 8th Street Ale (same cost as a package of domestic tall cans from the convenience store) attract questionable looks from people involved in the pageantry of looking like they don’t care? Is carrying cheap beer and wearing thrift store clothing a badge of honor more then supporting your local business infrastructure? It seems like it.

To me awareness of how I spend my money has always been the ultimate tool to reject what I disapprove of and to support what I feel is a better alternative. I find it odd that people who want to denounce the Wal-Marts of the world do not take that same vigor to other avenues. It is way more anti-establishment to purchase a six pack of SanTan at Bashas then buying Coors at a Shell station. We can personally see the effects of Bashas and SanTans and in theory actually speak with them if the desire arises, as opposed to a larger national brand.

How are we to hold the people with the most to lose (the restaurants and their money) accountable when the vast majority of sports fans, punk rock fans, artists, weirdos, joe schmoe’s and the rest are free to (carelessly) use our money to keep well enough alone?

If the creative and indy taste makers are making decisions purely on cost and the venues support them, how do we break this cycle? Should we break this cycle? Isn’t it the desire to innovate and impress our peers that drive us to improve/create/take risks? Would a world with less bud light still encourage us to innovate/improve? Or are we fine enough with the dichotomy of indie craft beer fans and folks who just like to drink on the cheap, regardless of its impact on our economy, our culture and our general collective community?

Here are some links for your further consideration:

Salon.com article about quantity vs quality and big vs small.

The new growler rules in AZ

The downtunedhardcore band that provides me the opportunity to travel & drink beer in "far" & "exotic" places

Some shows across many styles you may or may not want to check out

Beer City USA | Voting Is Not Enough

2012-05-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

Today is opening of the Beer City USA poll put on by the legendary Charlie Papzian. I've expressed my thoughts on the poll previously (Dr Slactivist | Or How I Came to Accept the Poll). I concluded that the poll represents an opportunity to actually do something instead of passively clicking and (for the even more involved) cutting and pasting a link.

Patrick of the Brew Bros has spearheaded the get out and click campaign. He writes:

The preliminary voting took place a few weeks ago, and the final ballot has been set. We will post the link for the ballot when it is available, and be sure to vote for the city that you believe deserves to be crowned “Beer City USA”. Of course we have a large base of contributors in Arizona, and would love to see the state do well but overall, would love to see more participation from all across the board.

We also asked people to opine on why they thought Phoenix deserves the title. We have 12 days of voting but 1000's of days of getting things done. If you'd like to submit your opinion on Beer City USA, you can email us at BeerPHXation at Gmail and we'll publish it. This submission comes from Noah Curry:

"Phoenix and the surrounding areas sure don't get the respect and the attention they should when it comes to the craft beer world. For some reason people still think we're nothing but cacti & cowboys. Beer has always been the worlds favorite beverage of choice and this is no different for the craft beer lovers in AZ. We here are passionate fans of the craft and should be considered the best beer city because we can supply some of the best craft beers for the best craft beer lovers and do it outside of the spotlight. Winning the title of best beer city will not change my opinion of the Phoenix beer scene because I know we produce equal if not better beers and places to drink these beers than the big boys in Denver or Portland. Phoenix deserves this title and will eventually win one year. Until then, I'll just sit back and continue to drink local."

I locked in on Noah's comment about Cactus and Cowboys. Traditionally, Arizona was known for the 5C's: Copper, Cattle, Cotton, Citrus and Climate. Somewhere in the 90's the southeast valley tried to incorporate Chips as a 6th C owning to the growing chip fab industry in Chandler. The 50's Hollywood version of Phoenix is definitely captured in Noah's sentiment as is the Old Town Cowboy sign.

How do we add Craft Beer as the 6th C? This poll won't do that.

What a Beer City Mayor Looks Like.
Former Denver Mayor Hickenlooper

I look at this poll not as something to be won but as an opportunity to find out what our level of enthusiasm is in the valley. This should be the beginning of how we move people that are not currently involved in craft beer as a local business and get them thinking about how it contributes to the economy and quality of life. We could cobble together the votes to make a good showing this year. We may even get the most votes, but I can't say that it will feel as though we've won.

How will we know when we've arrived?

We'll have a dozen more independent breweries in Phoenix.
The Mayor of Phoenix and the Governor of Arizona will be clamoring to open Strong Beer Fest and Arizona Beer Week with a ribbon cutting.
There will be dozens of walkable neighborhoods with breweries and good beer bars.
There will be at least one brewery in downtown Phoenix between the 7's and south of 1-10.
We will have 2 more curated beer festivals besides Strong Beer Fest and The RAREAffair.
Our breweries will offer more collaboration projects.
We have at least one event focused beer blog that covers all of the beer events of the week.
We will have 10 beer bars or restaurants that have cellared and vintage beers.
There will be at least one Belgian Beer bar that offers moules and frites.
At least once a month, you will hear about a Pro-Am beer being tapped.
When there is a request put out to have people call their legislators about a liquor issue, the groundswell of response will make the news.
When I buy a six pack at the local grocery store or order a beer at the airport bar, the clerk or bartender will tell me something about the brewery.
We'll have one or two personalities like Don Younger or Greg Koch or maybe someone more behind the scenes like Angelo De Ieso who has the power to bring people together on an issue or conversely get people talking and excited about an issue.

The poll opened today, May 1. It will close 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time, Sunday, May 13.

Vote.

The real work will be on-going.

If Wine Is Not Unlike Toilet Paper to Costco, What is Beer?

2012-04-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post about the buying practices of Costco from a segment on CNBC called, "The Costco Craze: Inside The Warehouse Giant". Behold this exchange between the host, Carl Quintanilla and Costco wine buyer, Annette Alvarez-Peters on wine's place as a product.

Alvarez-Peters: "Is it more special than clothing, is it more special than televisions? I don't think so."

CNBC's Carl Quintanilla: "Certainly it's different than toilet paper? Or different that tin foil?"

Alvarez-Peters: "Why?"

Quintanilla: "Because it's personal."

Alvarez-Peters: "People can look at it that way. But at the end of the day, it's a beverage."

It should be noted that Alvarez-Peters is responsible for over one billion dollars in sales though she did not appear in the Daily Meal's, "America's 30 Most Powerful People in Drink". As Eater points out, Alvarez-Peters heads a team of seventeen international and domestic buyers which sets the price of wines of smaller retailers across the country.

I've taken some flack for being skeptical of big box retailers and beer-centric restaurant concepts before because I think these places tend to treat beer as a commodity. Are places like Copper Blues, World of Beer, Thirsty Lion, Whole Foods, Total Wine and Bevmo more detrimental than beneficial? I don't have an answer. We see here what the effect of purchasing power in it's extreme with Costco. It makes you wonder about the hidden effects of larger places on the brands that they select.

See the CNBC segment ~~here.~~ The longer piece is actually at the bottom of this page.

Disclosure: I seldom, if ever, buy beer, wine or spirits from Costco. Coincidentally, I did just yesterday buy a brick of Kirkland select toilet paper.

Update: Hat tip to Jason Petros for the link and Beervana for making me aware of the Beverage Power Ranking.

Growler Law | More Thoughts.

2012-04-27T12:14:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, I re-capped the change to Title 4 that makes growler sames by bars and liquor stores possible.

Here are some more thoughts on the matter:

This change makes it legally possible for bars to sell growler or anything they have on tap, however, there are reasons why they may not want to for certain beers or for certain breweries or at all.

Everyone in the industry wants to get the best beers in your glass, but each business has the right to decide what to do with this rule change. We should respect that.

There is a cost to having an inventory of glass growlers on hand. They take up space, they take longer to fill, there is beer loss in pouring them. No one wants to show up for a special pour only to find out that 3 or 4 people bought growlers and kicked a keg.

A point that I did not give too much attention, was the new power given to the DLLC Director to request floor plan changes to clearly delineate license and non-licensed areas. Could the director request that a bar have a growler checkout area more in line with a grocery store? It certainly seems possible.

It's already legal now for bars to serve half-pints though some do not. I actually support that idea more than growlers. Variety and moderation are great things.

The breweries had a special relationship with all of you thorough the growler. I encourage you all to buy from the freshest place available... the source... the brewery first.

Growlers To The People | Rule Change This Summer

2012-04-26T16:22:00.002-07:00

Update: We got a big traffic bump due to Four Peaks, Mouth by Southwest and Reddit. I have more thoughts on the growler law here. If you love Phoenix and good beer, please re-visit us and comment.

The growing number of quality beer bars and retailers will soon be able to sell growlers of beer just like the breweries. Right now, only breweries are able to sell growlers and they are restricted to selling the brands that they brew or contract brew. Bars like Flanny's are not able to sell growlers. Places like Papago Brewing and 1702--beer bars that either brew on premise or by contract--were restricted to selling beer from their own product line. Want a growler of Elsie's from Papago? Sure. Stone Arrogant Bastard? No Dice.

This made little sense to the consumer and probably to many beer bars.

Enter HB 2606, an omnibus bill which amends Title 4 of the Arizona Revised Statutes and has a mix of new definitions and clarifying language. There is this particularly relevant amendment to §4-244 Unlawful acts and the exemptions that allow us to buy and take beer off-premises:

4-244. 32

c) A Bar, Beer And Wine Bar, Liquor Store, Beer And Wine Store Or Domestic Microbrewery Licensee Who Dispenses Beer Only In A Clean Glass Container With A Maximum Capacity That Does Not Exceed One Gallon And Not For Consumption On The Premises As Long As:

(i) The Licensee Or The Licensee's Employee Fills The Container At The Tap At The Time Of Sale.

(ii) The Container Is Sealed With A Plastic Adhesive And Displays A Government Warning Label.

(iii) The Dispensing Of That Beer Is Not Done Through A Drive-Through Or Walk-Up Service Window.

There is a provision for the Department to report to the Governor and the Legislature on July 1, 2015 on the effects of this particular amendment.

The upshot:

The inclusion of bars, liquor stores and beer and wine stores means that all taps are legally OK.
There is no self service (I can live with that).
There is a government warning label required, but no branding requirement (looking at you California).
No drive through service. That seems restrictive, just for the sake of restrictions or perhaps a kowtow to MADD.
Glass?

The glass thing was not as forward thinking. We're on the verge of the era of Stainless Steel growlers. Our environment here is unforgivable when it comes to glass. Parks and outdoor areas ban glass and rightly so.

My message to you is don't mess this up. Don't sneak glass into places where it is banned. There is very little in the way of craft beer litter on the sides of Arizona's Highways. Don't make me go all CSI (fingerprint ENHANCE!) on you if I see a broken growler.

Broken Growler by http://www.mybeerpix.com

The bill passed the House and Senate last week and is expected to take effect sometime in August. Other provisions include a definition of a guest (houseparty rule), what defines a member of a club, official sample of liquor increased from 1/2oz to 1oz (whee!) and the ability for the AZDLLC Director to require physical barriers on floorplans to ensure safety, limit underage access and control licensed and unlicensed spaces.

We welcome anyone who can help us parse through any of this legal word salad.

Hat tip to RK!

Dr Slactivist | Or How I Came to Accept the Poll

2012-04-16T18:24:00.001-07:00

I woke this morning with an email blog post from the Brew Bros on the Beer City USA poll. Oh dammit, the damn poll. I hate that poll.

Patrick writes,
"Phoenix will be this year’s Beer City USA champion."

There's a Facebook page too wherein several arguments are made as to why Phoenix has a growing beer culture and poised to win. Some of the arguments on beer culture are made by me... It's uncomfortable.

In the 3 years that I've been aware of the Charlie Papazian Beer City USA poll, I've mocked it. It's an internet poll after all--subject to internet shenanigans, foolishly daring to quantify the un-quantifiable.

Who can forget this poll?

Charlie Papazian

It's been a two horse race between Asheville NC with Portland OR and San Diego trading places. Last year, Portland bloggers called in a boycott or encouraged votes for Portland ME. The upshot is that, Asheville is the three-time winning Beer City USA titleholder with the rest of the top 10 not caring all that much. Third place has never breached 10% of the vote. Ft Collins, racked up 210 votes in 2010 despite being home of New Belgium Brewing with it's 300 employees. That spells quite a bit of disinterest from an fairly interested party just an hour north of Boulder. No intended disrespect for New Belgium. More on New Belgium below.

My knock on Asheville and the poll is that scarcely anyone has been to the Top 10 cities in the poll and there are fewer than that I'd trust to make a qualified judgement. I frankly know more about the beers, brewers and culture of St. Louis (3.66% in 2011) or Missoula (2.70% in 2010) than I did Asheville.

This year some of that changed and perhaps this confirms a bit of what Mr Papazian offered after 2009's results were in (my emphasis):

One thing that a poll like this indicates is the degree of beer culture and networks that exist in various areas of the country. It helps to bring to the forefront that beer culture, beer community and beer enthusiasm are relevant forces in the quest for access to better beer.

In 2012 we saw the announcement of east coast locations for Sierra Nevada and New Belgium to the area surrounding Asheville, so perhaps there is something to the network argument. Papazian explained in last year (my emphasis):

The city is not only behind its small brewers, but behind local business. I encountered several people at non-brewery restaurants, ticket counters, rental car desks, hotel management and more who were far from being what one might “brand” as beer enthusiasts. Yet they were very aware of their city’s brewers and what they meant to the people of Asheville. Some didn’t even drink beer, but loved the idea of hometown small business.

Patrick's comments are right in line with Mr Papazian although he sees Social Media as the battlefront.

What it really comes down to, and I am sure Asheville can back us up on this assessment, is that the craft beer community of Asheville bands together and raises awareness in order to win the title.

And yes, dear reader, this is yet another 550 word run up to the point of my story and it it this:
If I put my money where my mouth is, I should use this opportunity to bring to the forefront that beer culture, beer community and beer enthusiasm are relevant forces and make others very aware of their city’s brewers and what they meant to the people.

Still, I hate that poll. It reeks of slactivism. I want you to do more than just click on a poll, paste a status on social media and feel as though you've accomplished something. You haven't.

I ask that we do something more tangible. I demand that you do something. I require that we all learn more about our beer culture. And so, through a spirited discussion, Patrick and I arrive at a couple things we's like you to do:

Vote in the poll. (We've made the threshold to be nominated, there will be another poll May 1).
More importantly tell me or Patrick why we are deserving of Beer City USA. Write a paragraph or two. You can email, comment here or on Facebook for either blog. We'll publish your opinions.
I'd like you to contact your Senator and Representative about the Small Brewers Excise Tax Relief bill. Tell me who you called or emailef and the substance of the call. Be prepared to call back and demand more than a boilerplate answer. Do not allow them to withhold an opinion because they do not drink. They vote on a number of issues where they have no expertise or first-hand experience (or the womanly parts in some circumstances).
There will be other things between now and May 13.

Stay Tuned.

The Session #62 | What Drives Beer Bloggers

2012-04-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

This month's Session comes to us from Brewpublic, one of a handful of beer blogs that inspired the mission we undertake here at BeerPHXation. Angelo asks that we explore why we beer blog.

I remember very clearly why we started because we had a clear vision as to how it would end. This may be the only beer blog that started with an exit strategy.

The web had always been a beer and brewing resource. As a brewer, Homebrewtalk became the place to learn techniques from some of the finest homebrewers in the country but I discovered that I was becoming more and more interested in beer culture. I wanted to understand the reasons for the robust beer culture I was seeing in Portland, Denver and San Diego. I wanted to understand the rich brewing history of Belgium, Great Britain and Germany and learn its impact on present day life. I wanted to learn the factors that made those places burst with life. Surely Phoenix had some of those factors. I know that we here in the Valley have a great many things that other cities have. It's the case that those things spread out over 500 square miles. I needed to know where our beer culture was strongest. I needed to know where the pieces were. What needed to be built.

Who had these answers?

I was willing to settle for. "Who is asking these questions?"

During this time, I had been reading and commenting on several beer blogs. I quickly lost interest in blogs that review beers, bars and events. (I understand why people write them, I don't understand why people read them.) I gravitated towards those that were centered on analysis and opinion. These were blogs that spoke of local communities or communities of interest. I was positive that there was already local blog here in Arizona like Appellation Beer, Beervana or Brewpublic. I was sure there was a writer here in Phoenix like Lew Bryson, Stephen Beaumont or the dour and insightful Alan McLeod. I wanted to find that place, learn from that individual, comment on their blog and have a conversation.

In June of 2010, David Schollmeyer, a fellow ASH member asked, "Why not start a blog with me?" I replied that I didn't want to write a blog, I want to read one. I want to read the blog of the person that knows the answers to my questions. I want to read the writings of the people that know more than I do. I want to learn from these people.

"We can write it until we find those people."

We'll write the opinions. We'll highlight the best. We'll be critical. We'll ask the questions. We'll offer perspective and analyze trends. We will tell the stories that won't otherwise be told. We will tell people what needs to happen in this city until the real experts find us and tell us we're idiots. They will tell us we're wrong and we will learn from them. I know. It seems like an arrogant and egotistical premise.

We're still writing.

But the plan has evolved.

Writers know that you can learn by writing. You can also learn by helping others learn and they can teach you things that you hadn't considered. We've also come to realize that beer culture is influenced as much by the larger culture. We've learned to broaden our perspective. And I am personally very proud and excited to announce that we are bringing on 4 new writers to BeerPHXation.

Ben Norris is a copywriter and homebrewer who had his craft beer epiphany at NAU. Mike Lauersdorf is also a copywriter by trade and is a member of the Arizona Trappiste Club. Corey Rial is a musican, homebrewer and amateur horticulturalist with a strident local first attitude. Bethany Helvie is an Arizona native that has traveled to Prague and Munich. It inspired her to brew beer (4th batch fingers crossed).

We hope that you learn from their perspectives through their writing. I am planning on it.

March 30 | Misquote Ben Franklin Day

2012-03-29T16:19:00.001-07:00

Adorning the wall of one of the newest beer bars in the Valley is this quotation.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

It's one of the most persistent myths in beer.

It's been heavily debunked for over 5 years and it simply refuses to go away. Ben Franklin never said it. He said something strikingly similar about wine in a 1779 letter to André Morellet:

Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. (Source: Isaacson, Walter. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003. p.374.)

It's a bit wordy for a t-shirt and frankly you don't see very many oenophiles in t-shirts, so you can see where somewhere in the modern beer and t-shirt era this was creatively edited and it stuck.

And it kept on going.

And going.

Breweries even.

Now I am among the first to point out when beer is treated unfairly when compared to wine, but we ought to let Team Wine have this one back. Even when people write about how wrong it is it won't die quietly. That's why since 2009, I've supported Misquote Ben Franklin Day. On March 30 every year hence, I've encouraged people to make up quotes and attribute them to Ben Franklin.

A documented Franklin beverage quote

It started on Homebrewtalk.com, a homebrewing forum, and continued on to social media outlets like twitter and now Facebook. Join us on Friday and use the #misquotebenfrankinday hashtag on twitter or hit us up on the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MisquoteBenFranklinDay).

If you blog about it, leave us a comment. Maybe you have a guess to which Valley establishment I'm talking about.

Who knows. Perhaps your equally non-genuine quote will live on in t-shirt or mural form!

Bloggers Take Inventory.

2012-03-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ah, the craft beer world. Full of good people. There was even a #beerpeoplearegoodpeople hashtag on twitter for some time although it seems to have lost considerable steam.

We say our industry is 99 percent asshole free. - Sam Calagione

I'm reasonably sure that Sam Calagione may have uttrred some variation of this in the Beer Wars movie. I'm positive that I've heard him relate the same idea prior to reading it on the web. Regardless, there it is in the dcist last October and I'm here to disagree, not in kind but in degree.

Personally, I'd put it at about 75% asshole free. I don't think a growth oriented movement like beer is immune to the short-comings of human kind and besides every industry needs a bit of ego-driven self-interested mean-spiritedness, right? We need all kinds to move the ball forward. An asshole can be very motivating and a proper foil when highlighting the good.

In the beer writing world, we also have some dynamic range of asshole and evangelist; hater and fanboi; or truth-sayer and corporate mouthpiece going on. The good people of Boak and Bailey have offered up a Beer Blogger Attitude Spectrum. I've appropriated it below.

Boak and Baily's Beer blogging attitude spectrum

In my own estimation, we aim to be a 4 or a 5. Or mission is to be, "A local Phoenix Metro beer culture celebration and admonition." I also subscribe to Andrew Sullivan's Biased and Balanced byline. In the end, it matters most what you think.

If you are a beer blogger, I encourage you to go over to Boak and Bailey and comment directly on their site. if you are a reader and want to tell us where you think this blog falls on the 1-7 scale, you can do so in the comments on Twitter or Facebook.

Charter Oak Brewing. Stop Comment Spamming

2012-03-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

Over the last week or so, this blog and at least 30 other beer blogs have been hit with comment spam by Charter Oak Brewing (Google results here).

We enjoy reading about all the beers and beer stories this blog reports on. We are in the planning stages for a new brewery in Northeastern USA called Charter Oak Brewing Company LLC and our business plan is to grow to over 25,000BBL within 5 years.

The breweries and stories you report on, allow for much encouragement.

http://charteroakbrewing.com

A True Legend!

Congratulations Charter Oak. This is all that I will ever be writing about you and my business plan is to also not write about you in 5 years.

Competing to Compete: How to Avoid Kickstarting A Dead Horse.

2012-03-09T12:47:00.001-07:00

Arizona Wilderness Kickstarter

This month brings the first 2 of 3 Kickstarter brewery start-up campaigns that I know of and I'd like us all to consider the ramifications. Kickstarter is an online service where creative projects can pitch an idea and folks that want to support that idea can contribute. The campaign has a goal amount and a time frame. If the goal is not met, the prospective donors are off the hook. There is no ownership of the enterprise. You support the idea with your dollars if you want to help make it happen.

Given the recent popularity of this concept for start-up breweries, the potential for over-saturation exists. I predict that we'll probably see as many as 8 campaigns this year. Even a modest contribution of say $20 here and $50 there begins to add up.
At the extreme worst, this could amount to a very expensive Girl Scout Cookie type of shakedown for the beer community. In this scenario, we're just asked to support indiscriminately because we support the concept of growing the overall beer community. It's a wrong-headed notion. No one of us is responsible for the success or failure of any one of these breweries or their campaign. We're going to have to say no to a few of these, by perhaps overlooking a few or in some cases an all out and explicit, "No".

Granite Mountain Kickstarter

We can all get a bit warm and fuzzy about helping as many breweries take off here in Arizona by spreading around our dollars like peanut butter, but that's not the right message either. Although we'd all like to see each brewery succeed, a successful Kickstarter campaign ensures... nothing.

I've personally sent money to 3, maybe 4 Kickstarter projects, Mystery Brewing was among the first. At the time, it was a unique idea and despite the geographic diversity of some of the breweries I supported, I had an online history with some of the people involved extending several years.

How do we make sure that we're not on the hook for every one of these? After all, we don't buy beer from every brewery.

We ask them to compete. After all, they are in a business and they will be in competition with other breweries and potentially each other. They've decided to ramp up their operation by putting out a product. That primary product is now their Kickstarter page, the merchandise they offer at various levels, their social media presentation, and their involvement in the beer community right now. Everything but the brewery and the beer that has yet to exist.

We owe that to ourselves and to everyone that trying to scratch out an existence in the professional beer world.

Edit: Despite having the screencaps from these 2 Kickstarter pages, I have not yet viewed or reviewed the content. I just skipped to a shot with a person in it. I do know the folks at AZ Wilderness. I have not met the folks at Granite Mountain.

Post AZ Beer Week 2012 Thoughts

2012-03-01T10:15:00.001-07:00

Get it out of your heads, Phoenix. We're just as good or better than anyone else at putting on a beer week. I overheard almost every out of state brewer or rep asked the question by an eager beer drinker, "Are we as good as ____?" and I walked away before the question could be answered. I know the answer. Just a few metrics to prove my point:

Among the notable nationally known brewers to be here for the ENTIRE week, David Walker of Firestone Walker and Doug Odell,
Other out of state guests coming in mid-week and staying for several days, (Typically most come in for Strong Beer Fest (SBF) and leave on Sunday,
The logjam of must-go events on Thursday,
The well attended SBF and Brewing Up Hope event on the final Saturday.
One of the largest brewouts The Arizona Society of Homebrewers (ASH), has ever put on on the Sunday after Arizona Beer Week.

Pomp and Circumstance
Photo: theBrewBros.com

From a personal perspective, the events that I had a hand in planning went better than expected. On Hot Scotchy Monday, Moto chalked up 60 servings while the Hungry Monk ripped through 9 gallons worth in 2 hours. ASH managed to educate the crowds about the brewer's cocktail and homebrewing. We even had a brief ceremony to denote the first pouring of the drink in this state.

We had an ASH meeting with New Belgium's Lauren Salazar as our guest. Lauren provided an informative and entertaining sensory discussion surrounding some of the Lips of Faith offerings. She shattered some myths about aging and her tasting notes were incredibly descriptive--connecting a flavor with a memory or an experience.

Lauren Salazar at ASH

The Love of Beer Movie was well attended both nights. Many commented on how pleasantly surprised they were about Film Bar. A few memorable notes on debut night:

There were unexpected cheers by industry folk during a beer line cleaning sequence,
During the GABF awards scene, the crowd roared when Lumberyard was announced as a medalist for its IPA,
Melissa Osborne's cameo was much longer than I remembered. Melissa really identified with Bend Brewer, Tonya Cornett's story and had some heartfelt words during the panel after the screening,
There were some spontaneous cheers when Alyssa Medina's blog was mentioned during the panel. (These are the types if things that keep a blogger going.)

As mentioned above, we had a big turnout for our ASH--Beer Week Ends When We Say It Ends Brewout.

ASH Brewout

I also had the pleasure of being a bit of an ambassador to Alison Grayson, the film maker of the Love of Beer. I tried to show here the high points and low points of living in Central Arizona and how that experience maps (literally) to our beer culture. Our tour range extended from Papago Brewing to the Bikini Lounge and an equally good time was had everywhere we went.

I think that next year will have some challenges in terms of topping this year. Some thoughts on that are for a later post.

Cheers AZ!

Tonight! Go See This Beer, Women, Music Film Thing! Or Maybe Friday. Better Tonight Though.

2012-02-22T11:30:00.001-07:00

A little twitter discussion about blogging and PR between @boakandbailey and @agoodbeerblog got me to thinking about all my Arizona Beer Week posts and tweets and the level of hucksterism my reader(s) are willing to tolerate from me. Disclosure: I have opinions and I have an agenda.

Go read this from Boak and Bailey, because it's fun and it's true. That's the under-the-covers side of blogging. How do the blogs you read manage that relationship? Maybe you have suspicions.

We are an opinion blog and we celebrate and admonish the beer and beer culture we see in Phoenix. We're also involved in many beery enterprises, alliances (some secret) and societies too, so you're likely to catch a good dose of that here. Lately, you've bore the brunt of the Arizona Society of Homebrewers (ASH) PR Machine. We try and be transparent.

I want you to go to this --> Your Downtown Beer | My Valentine to The Love of Beer Movie

Why? Here's what I stand to gain: My club sponsors it. I put the idea together. I flew the filmaker, Alison, out for it. I like Four Peaks. I asked them to be a part of it. Film Bar? Love them too. Wouldn't have done it anywhere else. ASH is a large club and we aren't wanting for members. We like to get the word out about beer. We make the beer scene better and everybody wins. We'll all look cool and may even break even on the deal if it is well attended.

You? It's a great event in a part of town that is growing in to the next cool beer destination. It's an event that shows that Phoenix Beer Culture is more than Arizona flagship beers and out-of-state limited release chases. This isn't the same old beer dinner routine. This is art, music, film beer in a funky environment. It's eminently affordable too.

The main story tellers are women. What about that? Well why not? I'll let Maureen Basenberg, one of our panelists lay it out. This is from an IgnitePhoenix preso from last year and it provides a fitting backdrop.

Can't make it tonight? Go Friday. There will be less hoopla, but this film is a good time. Go.

The Brewer's Secret Cocktail

2012-02-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

The following appears in the most recent Food & Flourish Magazine

The Hot Scotchy
Nick Sofranac, used with permission.

There is an arcane ritual known almost exclusively by brewers and it involves a cocktail called the Hot Scotchy. There is no singular recipe as no two cocktails are ever the same. No one really has a grasp on when or where it started. It has never been served to the public in Arizona. All of that will change on Monday, February 20 when Arizona Beer Week collides with Arizona Cocktail Week.

The Scotchy is made (perhaps clandestinely in professional circles) by collecting a pint of the hot unfermented concentrated malt sugar of a beer mash (wort) and topping it off with a few ounces of Scotch. This may seem like a simple arrangement until you recall the many varieties of Scotch. Multiply that number by the thousands of grain combinations that comprise the 90 beer styles recognized at the World Beer Cup and you begin to see the Scotchy’s unique potential. A brewer’s wort bill will change the flavor profile of the toddy – a delicate pale Kölsch-style Four Peaks Sunbru, a malty amber SanTan Epicenter and an inky-dark and roasty Sonoran Inebriator will create markedly different drinks. Brewer’s wort is sickly sweet and lacks a transition from mid palate to finish. The addition of Scotch pulls out the grain flavors and adds an electrifying richness to an already velvety hug.

Andy Ingram, Brewmaster at Four Peaks Brewing, has kept the Hot Scotchy tradition alive since the beginning days of the brewery. “We do a Hot Scotchy for every new beer that we make,” said Ingram, the most recent was born from a soon to be released Robust Porter. As to the origin of the cocktail, Ingram confirmed what I had always suspected. The Scotchy followed the brewing traditions of Europe, rode the free-wheeling US craft beer wave in the 90’s and passed down by word of mouth. “It’s an esoteric thing. We learned about it from Barry John, a career brewer for the Young’s Brewery in London.” Barry retired from Young’s after 35 years and took up residence in Scottsdale. He came down to the brewery for a day to give some brewery advice and stayed for 10 months." Similar oral traditions continued in other parts of the US. The most recent resurgence is led by bloggers, like Portland’s The New School and homebrewers that took a cue from a 1998 classic style book on Brown Ale by Ray Daniels.

Not everyone has access to a 7 barrel brewhouse mash, the precious mother of the beer business. Thankfully, homebrewers are famously oblivious to budgets, brewing timetables and are quick to popularize the obscure.

In Phoenix, on the Monday of Arizona Beer Week members of the Arizona Society of Homebrewers will be issuing Scotch ready wort for 2 select locations in the Valley. Should you find yourself at Moto or The Hungry Monk, know that you have found the rare beverage to combat a Sonoran desert night with warm comfort.

Brewer's Cocktail - The Hot Scotchy

Feb 20 | 6:30pm - 10:30pm

Moto

6845 North 16th Street

Phoenix, AZ, 85016

(602) 263-5444

The Hungry Monk

1760 W Chandler Blvd # 2

Chandler, AZ, 85224

(480) 963-8000

Open Letter to our readers on Arizona Beer Week

2012-02-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

Beer businesses are putting the final touches on their Arizona Beer Week events as we close in on the February 18 launch. Events have been live January 20th and things are really beginning to take shape.

From what I have heard and seen, this year's events will overshadow last year's inaugural offerings. There will be many guests and special beers. With just a week, many of these events are sure to conflict and everyone here will have to make some tough choices. In my mind there are three types of audiences that Beer Week traditionally caters to: The Beer Geek (for lack of a better word), the Casual Beer Drinker and those that are unfamiliar.

There is no doubt that an event with Doug Odell serving a one off beer is right in the wheel house of many of our readers, but on that same day there may be an Arizona tap takeover or an educational event or a dozen other events that will fall off your radar. Having a Sonoran tap on at a bar you would never set foot into may not be a big deal to you, but those events are far more important to the health of our nascent beer industry than any event that you and I attend. Those events need some love too and that is where I am calling upon you to take action.

You have a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker, a relative that falls into the other audience groups. It's your job as a leader in our beer community to get them more involved in the beer scene. Note that I say, "scene". The scene is the whole package and not just the beer in your glass. Your friends may not like the same beer you do, but the scene is the thing that we can all work on that improves all of our experiences.

There has been a good deal of discussion about criticism, snobbery, service, over-rating and pricing from the businesses that make up our beer community (many of whom lurk here). Here is where WE put our money where our mouths are Are we as a community, providing good service? Is our snobbery a help or hindrance? Is our worth as a group and beer clique over-rated? Would we stand up to the criticism if the breweries reviewed us? Is our the focus on the extreme and the rare money well spent?

Great beer, events and personalities will come and go, but the residents of the Valley will remain. We owe it to ourselves to use this week to build a greater beer scene and involve more of us in the community.

Don't Just While Away Your Friday. Do Something.

2012-01-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

As it stands right now, there seems to be little AZ support by our Senators and Representatives for a proposed reduction in brewer's excise taxes HR 1236/ S 534.
This legislation had 133 U.S. Representatives and 28 U.S. Senators on board last year.

This legislation would reduce the Federal excise tax (which is a tax above and beyond other taxes) from $7 / bbl to $3.50 / bbl for effectively all AZ breweries (<60K bbls). There is second relief point for larger breweries. All of this is detailed here.

http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/government-affairs/excise-taxes/talking-points-resources

My understanding is that only Rep Raul Grijalva (AZ-7) has expressed support.

In the Senate, John McCain will almost certainly have to recuse himself because of the Hensley ownership. That leaves Jon Kyle.

In the House, we have Grijalva. The resigning Giffords is a lame duck and her interim replacement will also be a lame duck. David Schweikert replaced Harry Mitchell who was OUR AZ REP on the Small Brewer's Caucus. Mr Schweikert has not taken up that post, nor has he take the time to answer my question about why he thought that that was a great idea. I can't speak to the other Reps, Paul Gosar; Trent Franks; Ben Quayle; or Jeff Flake. But I will be speaking with Ed Pastor and his office.

We all know that our brewing friends are brewing at capacity and struggling to bring us the beers that we love. We know that this relief will certainly go toward new tanks, expansion, packaging and jobs. Will anyone help by contacting your Senators and Reps.

Integration not Collaboration: Sonoran's Seven Wives Saison

2012-01-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

The buzz of the last few years in brewing is collaboration. Famously Avery and Russian River Brewing created Collaboration Not Litigation Ale when they realized that they both had a Salvation Ale. The blended creation is probably referenced for starting the recent collaboration "movement" more than it is probably consumed. Since, we have seen a slew of collaborations by Dogfish Head, Stone, Allagash, Boulevard... it may be easier to list breweries that have not collaborated.

In the Valley, we've had Motley Brue and in my opinion, it was one of the most memorable beers that this state has produced.

Now comes Seven Wives Saison from Sonoran Brewing a concept that seems to be firing on all cylinders.

Local Brewery + Local Chef's + Local Ingredients + Local Artist + Local Charity = Sonoran Brewing Company's Inaugural Chef's Series Seasonal Brews!

Sonoran's 2012 Inaugural Chef's Series is a collaboration of all things LOCAL!. We've teamed up with some of Arizona's finest Chefs; Chef Jeremy Pacheco from LON's at the Hermosa Inn, Chef Eddie Matney from Eddie's House, Chef Lee Hillson from T Cooks at the Royal Palms and Chef James Porter from Petite Mason and Big Earls BBQ in Old Town Scottsdale. Each Chef will design and brew a unique beer with Brewmaster Zach Schroeder using fresh LOCAL ingredients. The first release (March 3rd) is Chef Jeremy's 7 Wives Saison; this brew will feature wheat from Chef Jeremy's Family Farm in Marana, fresh green peppercorns from Singh Farms in Scottsdale, whole fennel & fennel pollen from LON's Garden and Peoria LOCAL Bob McClendon, mesquite syrup from Cotton Country Jams, locally produced orange & coriander. Chef Jeremy came up with the name for his brew as a way to pay homage to one time local artist and founder of Casa Hermosa (now the Hermosa Inn) Lon Megargee. The "7" ingredients are a tip of the hat to Lon's 7 Wives, yes he was married 7 TIMES! We are proud to share with you that a portion of all the March 3rd Tapping Party proceeds will go to benefit our LOCAL charity of choice, the Waste Not Organization of Arizona www.wastenotaz.org. All art work and label design is by LOCAL artist Ellison Keomaka; Ellison also designed both Centennial logos and the Inebriator Stout logo. We look forward to sharing this one of a kind brew with all of you!

We've seen collaborations before, even restaurants and breweries (Goose Island), but generally not this deep and wide. First it is a Saison, something that we have lamented is missing in our Valley Beer Catalog. This fills that void. Second it is local on 5 levels that the brewery has identified, Brewery, Chef, Ingredients, Artist, and Charity. If you've read anything here, you know that this hits us right in our beer culture soft spot. This is not a Collaboration. It is so much more. This is an Integration of beer and food, culture, and life. Bold words, yes. Let's hope that the beer stands up when it releases sometime in early March.

So there are 7 Wives, 7 ingredients and 5 Local elements. I'll offer the 6th which is Legend - Lon Megargee. That leaves one more. If we believe the hype about collaboration then the sum is greater than its parts. If this beer signals a new communication line between restauants, artists, farmers, brewers and charity, then Integration is the 7th component.

Outside Looking Inside: This Particular Week in Beer

2012-01-23T17:06:00.001-07:00

I'm always looking an an outsider's perspective in things and so I was delighted that Jeff Moriarty took the time to write a brief outsider's inside look at our local craft beer clique. Jeff ~~fooled~~ asked some of us on the "inside" what our favorite Arizona Beers are when we're not pretending to drink the rarest of the rare beers.

Jeff, of course, is one of the founders of all kinds of Arizona social media endeavors. He is the progenitor of the Ignite Phoenix franchise which includes the new Ignite Food. Submissions are open and beer could be on the table.

Read Jeff's synopsis on the Arizona Craft Beer Lover's group and pay attention to the wonderful beer list.
http://moriartys.net/2012/01/list-of-fantastic-arizona-beers-and-breweries/

Arizona Beer Week Events Have Posted
I'm sure we're looking at about 90% of the events and we're waiting for the rest to drop before we make recommendations. You can view the events here. Disclosure: As an ASH Board member, I had a hand in planning a few of them. One thing that I'd like to put on next year's wish list is:

An RSS feed.
A data dump for the media (and quasi media).
A location filter for events. Think Northern, Southern and Phoenix. Phoenix to be broken down by West, Central, East or some such
A daily map which uses the above filters
The ability for a user to create a printable customized itinerary
A place for readers to comment, ask questions, rate and review.

What's on your must do list and what changes would you like to see for next year's events?

Local Trend Watch
Students of German and hardcore Four Peaks fans will probably have a laugh at the beer I saw this afternoon. Vier Spitzen turned up on the menu at Moto and I had to do a double take. Apparently this was a namekicked around back in the mid 2000's for Four Peaks Hefeweizen. (It means four tips (peaks) in German.) Is this the beginnings of a retro campaign for the impending Four Peaks Anniversary or one delivery guy's inside joke? Time will tell.

Tony is Back
In a post or two last year we made mention that Pitcher of Nectar Distributing (POND) was no longer distributing. This was not true, though POND took on a very low profile as owner, Tony Piccini maintained the bare bones of his catalog and restructured the company. Tony's back with Rock Art, Marin, Sudwerk, Rubicon and spirits from Dry Fly Distilling. Look for more news from POND this year.

Outside the Glass

2012-01-10T16:32:00.001-07:00

There are, I'm sure, some well reasoned and insightful blog posts on what 2012 will bring. This one, just hit my feed, though I haven't read it yet. I know that locally, Andy Ingram is preparing a piece for his Arizona Republic Beer Buzz column. [Edit: that Ingram piece now linked here.] Instead of waiting for his to come out and write a reaction piece, I thought I'd say my peace.

I could take a stab about new trends, that I hope will happen or throw our some forgettable statistic that I think will be exceeded. It's tempting to hint at some gossip, I've heard or reveal some things that I know to be true that will come to light with the fullness of time. It would make me look good, but I'm not sure it has any other use.

Here's what I think will happen, because it simply has to. Will it happen enough so in 2012 that I can pull this post up in December and declare victory? Probably not.

I believe that the revolution inside the glass has been won. Small brewers (craft, if you will), proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they could produce a new product that would support a new kind of brewery (micro, if you will). But this war was a very small war. You can fight it over and over if you want, but the results will be the same and the relatively small war chest (5% market) will be the same. All things being equal, most people have access to innumerable beers that are of superior quality. There is more beer available to Phoenix than anyone can reasonably tire of. Sure there are some that have ticked through 10,000 beers in Beer Review World, but can anyone really tell you anything about beer #746? Or this year's #746? Or the #746 in cans? Or #746 under Brewmaster 1.5 vs 3.5?

As consumers, we've never had it so good. Anyone old enough to remember a time when Andeker and Lowenbrau were considered premium American beers and finding a Import beer bar that serves Ayinger, Watneys Red Barrel was a godsend will confirm this. We have so much access to quality that we've had to create our own enemies. When were not raging against the macro beer industrial complex, we're eating our own. I can't even come to terms with the fact that Sam Caligione has to log into Beer Advocate to tell people his brewery doesn't suck.

It's pretty depressing to frequently visit this site and see the most negative threads among the most popular. This didn't happen much ten years ago when craft beer had something like a 3 percent market share. Flash forward to today, and true indie craft beer now has a still-tiny but growing marketshare of just over 5 percent. Yet so many folks that post here still spend their time knocking down breweries that dare to grow. It's like that old joke: "Nobody eats at that restaurant anymore, it's too crowded.” Except the "restaurants" that people shit on here aren't exactly juggernauts. In fact, aside from Boston Beer, none of them have anything even close to half of one percent marketshare. The more that retailers, distributors, and large industrial brewers consolidate the more fragile the current growth momentum of the craft segment becomes. The more often the Beer Advocate community becomes a soap box for outing breweries for daring to grow beyond its insider ranks the more it will be marginalized in the movement to support, promote, and protect independent ,American, craft breweries.

It's interesting how many posts that refer to Dogfish being over-rated include a caveat like "except for Palo...except for Immort...etc." We all have different palettes which is why it's a great thing that there are so many different beers. At Dogfish we've been focused on making "weird" beers since we opened and have taken our lumps for being stylistically indifferent since day one. I bet a lot of folks agree that beers like Punkin Ale (since 1995) , Immort Ale (wood aged smoked beer) since 1995, Chicory Stout (coffee stout) since 1995 , Raison D'être (Belgian brown) since 1996, , Indian Brown Ale (dark IPA) since 1997, and 90 Minute (DIPA) since 2000 don't seem very weird anymore. That’s in large part because so many people who have been part of this community over the years championed them and helped us put them on the map.These beers, and all of our more recent releases like Palo Santo, Burton Baton, Bitches Brew continue to grow every year. We could have taken the easy way out and just sold the bejeezus out of 60 Minute to grow but we like to experiment and create and follow our own muse. Obviously there is an audience that appreciates this as we continue to grow. We put no more "hype" or "expert marketing" behind our best selling beers than we do our occasionals. We only advertise in a few beer magazines and my wife Mariah oversees all of our twitter/Facebook/dogfish.com stuff. We have mostly grown by just sharing our beer with people who are into it (at our pub, great beer bars, beer dinners, and fests) and let them decide for themselves if they like it. If they do we hope they tell their friends about. We hope a bunch of you that are going to EBF will stop by our booth and try some of the very unique new beers we are proudly bringing to market like Tweason'ale (a champagne-esque, gluten-free beer fermented with buckwheat honey and strawberries) and Noble Rot (a sort of saison brewed with Botrytis-infected Viognier Grape must). One of these beers is on the sweeter side and one is more sour. Knowing each of your palettes is unique you will probably prefer one over the other. That doesn't mean the one you didn't prefer sucked. And the breweries you don't prefer but are growing don't suck either. Respect Beer. The below was my favorite post thus far.

This thread is hilarious. Seriously, Bells, Founders, FFF, Surly, RR, DFH, Bruery, Avery, Cigar City, Mikkeller are all overrated?

Since I'm from Ohio, I'll pile on and add Great Lakes, Hoppin Frog, and Brew Kettle to the list. Your welcome.

Hopefully soon we will have every craft brewery in the US on the list.

Image: Wikicommons

So some of us will keep fighting the war inside the glass. That war is now comparing a Ratebeer 86 to a BeerAdvocate 93. We're creating a new General from within the ranks from the Florida Division and pitting him against General Caligione in the Delaware Regulars as if we are little boys playing with tin soldiers.

The world exists outside the glass my beer brothers and sisters. That is where beer is enjoyed. That's were I live. That's what needs to get better. For the most part, that's local.

The Session #59: I Almost Always Drink Beer, But When I Don’t…

2012-01-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

In the 59th edition of The Session, Mario Rubio sets us up with this leading sentence, "I Almost Always Drink Beer, But When I Don’t…".

When I don't, I shut it down. I ask my brain to stop. My first thought is that often I prefer a glass of milk as a nightcap. It helps me wind down.

I do enjoy wine, but not enough to give anyone a list of varietals or even vintners I prefer. I'm not even sure I care if I'm using those terms correctly.

I belong to a wine club. I get shipments from Viansa and Vincent Arroyo. I look for Barberas and anything that's red and seems robust. There are some Arizona wineries getting notoriety lately. I choose those. I consider the flavors, I'm tasting briefly and I go back to enjoying the moment. I don't care about process or micro-climates.

In the summer, I used to make Moscow Mules with Ginger Beer that I made at home. I have a dozen copper mugs to serve them in. the copper melts the ice at a very high rate, making the drink extra cold. It's a desirable quality in the desert.

Speaking of ice, I had a bacon infused whiskey old fashioned served in a applewood smoked glass with one of those Japanese Ice molds.

If someone tells me the right Scotch to drink, I'll enjoy it with them.

I like Whiskey Manhattans, too. I just had a barrel aged one the other day.

It's not beer so I'm just not enthused about writing about it.

Here's a picture of that Whiskey Manhattan. Hope that helps.

Do try the milk. I do recommend that. Skim.

What in the Phoenix Beer World? Taglines

2012-01-03T16:51:00.001-07:00

Marketing and advertising.

To some, it's an ugly word. Greg Koch of Stone won't even admit to it.

You could google these and get most of them, but you probably shouldn't. Breweries hire marketing companies to differentiate themselves. If they don't throw money at a problem, they've probably enlisted a clever fan or spent valuable brewing time and considerable brainstorming resources over a beer or two. And let's be honest, they need to differentiate. They need to set themselves apart. Every one of these Arizona breweries has a Pale or an IPA. If we placed them all on a table, how many of our readers would be able to blindly identify them? Now how about the thousands of casual beer drinkers that we know.

Would you bet your life that your brother-in-law would be able to tell a Horseshoe Pale from an Oak Creek Pale. How about Raj versus a Victorian. I bet you can't name a time and place where you could compare those on draft side-to-side.

So take a stab at these, and if you don't know say so. Let's see how effective these marketing bylines are.
No googling. Let's give the breweries some feedback.

Making Thirst Worthwhile
Craft Beer for Beer Drinking
840 Million Years in the Making
It's the Altitude
Arizona's Finest Microbrewery
Phoenix's Newest Brewery
Proudly Serving Authenticity
Here It Is
Home of Tucson's Oldest and Newest MicroBrewery! (no longer in use)
Artistry and Science in One Delicious Beverage
The Proud Voice of Arizona's Breweries

Answers after the jump.

Winner gets bragging rights and a beer from yours truly.

Making Thirst Worthwhile - Papago Brewing Co.
Craft Beer for Beer Drinking - Santan Brewing Co.
840 Million Years in the Making - Grand Canyon Brewery
It's the Altitude - Lumberyard Brewing Co.
Arizona's Finest Microbrewery - Sonoran Brewing Co.
Phoenix's Newest Brewery - Phoenix Ale Brewery
Proudly Serving Authenticity - Presecott Brewing Co.
Here It Is - Mother Road Brewing Co.
Home of Tucson's Oldest and Newest MicroBrewery! (no longer in use) - Barrio Brewing Co.
Artistry and Science in One Delicious Beverage Sleepy Dog Brewing Co.
The Proud Voice of Arizona's Breweries - The Arizona Brewers Guild

How many did you get right?

Is it surprising that some breweries just don't have a tagline?

I perhaps forgot the best one, "Beer Like Your Mom Used to Make" by Flagstaff Brewing Co. It might not be original, but it made me laugh.

Well this post had plenty of traffic but really only one guesser, so Zack prevails!