Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
It is always fun to welcome in breweries from other states and on the 25th, Southland Beer in K-Town will be bringing the Arizona brewed beer of Wren House to Los Angeles.
And as a special bonus beer from Arizona Wilderness will be on tap too!
Arizona is not often included on my annual Christmas beer survey but that changes today with Christmas Cactus from the growing in acclaim Wren House Brewing. It is another fine example of excellent can label design. This time with simplicity and a nice choice of muted color on a white background.
A side benefit of L.A. Beer Week is running into other beverage people that you might not have met yet, like ….
Head over to the Classy Alcoholic Facebook presence as well as other social media to kinda/not kinda see and read about the beer scene in Arizona.
Whilst window (of the coolers) shopping at Sunset Beer, I spied a new set of arrivals from SanTan Brewing of Chandler, Arizona so I picked up a can and it so happened to be the one that was selling the fastest. People like pineapple I guess.
Mr. Mister pours a hazy light orange. Sweet fruit notes hit the nose. Pineapple is there as is, strangely, banana. It has a very smoothie-esque consistency and taste to it.
I was expecting more wheat and a brighter fruit taste but on the flip side, I was worried that the pineapple juice would totally overwhelm the proceedings. Neither happened and I was kinda disappointed with the the more Radler effects that seemed to take over. More wheat and a little more carbonation would have made this better for me.
OK, that was worded a little too vaguely, but beer lovers probably read between the lines and made the deductive leaps. Grand Canyon Brewing in Williams (which is near the large and popular Arizona National park will be moving into a new and expanded brewing facility so they can brew more beer. The brewery will increase its brewing capacity from (currently) 6,000 barrels a year to a whopping 40,000 once operations are fully ramped up.
Maybe they will have enough to send to California so I could conceivably take Grand Canyon beer to Yosemite.
The fastest growing brewery in Arizona? According to some it is SanTan Brewing based in a historic bank building in Chandler.
Since 2007, they have been pairing craft beer with craft food and if you are a better talker than I, conversation too.
Their Brewmaster is Anthony Canecchia who releases “specialty seasonal beers, small batch specialty beers, a weekly Cask Conditioned Ale as well as guest beers from brewers both local and around the nation.”
And these beers caught my attention…..
Mr. Pineapple
“Winner of a silver medal at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival competition, Mr. Pineapple was originally conceived for SanTan Brewing Company’s annual Luau Day. Hazy straw gold in color, we add natural pineapple juice to a traditional wheat beer creating a refreshing tropical flavor. The pineapple is balanced with a firm malt character and a slightl hint of clove. Mr. Pineapple is the perfect way to beat the heat on a warm summer day!”
Railslide
“RailSlide Imperial Spiced Ale is based on a traditional English Strong Ale and brewed with Winter flavors, including fresh ginger, cinnamon and licorice that add an edge to this smoothly spiced ale. Deep Autumn Brown in color, SanTan celebrates the pioneering punk spirit of the American Craft Brewer with this delicious brew.”
Negro Nitron IPA
“Negro Nitron Black IPA Arizona’s first Nitrogenated Black I.P.A.!!! Midnight Wheat gives this beer its deep garnet black hue without the sharp burnt flavor of traditional roasted malts. Negro Nitron is a clean, crisp & hoppy Black IPA. Nitrogen gives this beer a soft velvety mouth feel & the bold American hops on center stage.”
Our next stop in Arizona takes us to Dragoon Brewing Company was founded by Bruce Greene and his son Eric “with a simple goal in mind: to increase the quantity and quality of local beer in the Arizona market.” And I say kudos to anyone who is brave enough to take the leap from home brewing to the pro ranks. It is hard leap and sometimes people who write about it forget that.
After Eric founded a homebrew club (Northern Arizona Homebrewers) and studied at the American Brewer’s Guild and Harpoon Brewing, he returned to Tucson and with Tristan White, another home brew member created Dragoon.
Stronghold Session Ale
This beer starts at a relatively low gravity, and thus finishes with a low alcohol content (about 4.8%). Make no mistake though, it is by no means a light beer. It is rich with roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate, and a touch of herbal hop flavors. It is made from a blend North American and British base malts with rolled oats, chocolate, brown and caramel malts. We finish it with a great big dose of earthy American hops (Sterling, Willamette, and Northern Brewer).
Our first brewery stop in Arizona is Fate Brewing whose “beer philosophy is to make a little bit of great beer, a lot. With a small-batch, 7 bbl system we’re afforded the opportunity to brew often and consistently rotate what’s on tap.”
They have traditional and modern favorites (hefeweizen and pale ale), seasonal, experimental and cask conditioned ales (Black IPA and a root beer too).
And coming soon are an Imperial IPA, American Brown Ale, Irish Red and an Imperial Irish Red
Plus, I love their tagline, you will be “pleasantly surprised by what Fate has in store.”
Part of Leftover Month from the 50 Beers – 50 States Challenge. We travel back to Arizona for some Old Monkeyshine from Nimbus Brewing.
The barrage of craft beer in cans continues. And that is good news. It means more economies of scale and more beers being shipped! And we can all agree that is a great thing.
Here is a Arizona beer that would look good on my 50 Beers from 50 States list….from Mogollon
“Wapiti Amber Ale. This is our flagship ale and is pronounced wop-eh-tee. The label for this beer is adorned with the majestic Wapiti (aka elk). Wapiti are abundant in northern Arizona. They are large and beautiful creatures, which is why we chose this animal to represent this beer. Wapiti Amber Ale is hand crafted with mountain pure water, two row malted barley, yeast and Yakima Valley hops. Our brewers use traditional methods to create this full-bodied amber ale with a distinct hoppy aroma. “