I’ve been working really hard to bring you guys some good beer stuff! We got to Tempe early on Thursday and had to wait for our room to be ready, so we headed to the hotel restaurant for some foods.
BEER IS FOOD. Oh yeah, and we had tortilla soup. No, seriously, the tortilla soup was absolutely amazing: spicy, rich, chock full of soft veggies and crispy tortilla strips, but the beer rounded out the meal. Four Peaks Raj IPA – VERY bitter, wonderful aroma, but almost no flavor. It was basically like sipping a bear trap that clamped on your tongue. You want to be macho and brave through it, but it’s really not enjoyable at all.
Today was better. There happens to be a GARDEN of BEER at the Tempe Art Festival. My boss ordered me to go to the beer garden for lunch to taste the local brews and decide on our future drinks. She’s so tough on me!
First up was Dave’s Electric Brewpub (because you couldn’t tell from the picture of the banner I just posted)…
I tried the original Dave’s Electric Beer. Honestly, it was overcarbonated and tasted like a lame Budweiser. Sorry, Dave, I really wanted to like you!
Next up was something new from Four Peaks. Wasn’t a huge fan of their Raj, but I’m always ready to give second chances!
First up was their Hop Knot IPA. SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE RAJ! This is possibly the hoppiest beer I’ve ever had. I don’t know the specific IBU, but it was like a beautiful facepunch! It was hoppy, but had TASTE unlike Raj. The bitter pain was absolutely endearing.
FOUR separate hops additions. I may be in love.
Next up was the Kilt Lifter. Hilarious name, delicious beer. Very malty with a hint of smokiness and some kind of fruit essence – Paul, whom I was sharing a table with, told me it was raspberry. I’m not in-the-know enough to detect something that specific… yet…
Finally, Sleepy Dog. The lovely gentleman working the taps gave me a few tasters before my “official” taster. I tried their Dunkel Weizen which is their seasonal beer (the dark version of their Leg Humper Hef – heehee!). It was very similar to Franziskaner Dunkel, in the best ways possible – dark and rich with banana and clove notes. Then I tried their Scootcher – a Scottish amber ale. This one tasted almost exactly like Spaten Optimator! Except better. It’s from a microbrewery, of COURSE it’s better! This and Four Peaks are in a tie for the best beer names – Kilt Lifter vs. Leg Humper!
Oops. This is where the pictures of Scootcher was supposed to go. It may or may not be the previous picture. After four tasters of beer, I was apparently losing my mind. I’M SUCH A LIGHTWEIGHT! I still have two tickets left for tasting that I’ll have to use tomorrow or Sunday. Durn!
That sums up my microbrewery tour of Tempe, Arizona! More updates coming up – with beer AND food this time! For now, I’m going to put down the fork and plate of bread pudding that I just polished off and waddle off to bed. I have a gigantic workout awaiting me in the morning. Oooooh, yes!
On an unrelated note – the Angels are staying in the exact same hotel I am! I’ve seen a ton of them – or I may have seen a ton of them… I really don’t know anyone from the team, but I’m guessing they’re the ones wearing Angels jerseys? Just a guess….
We visited Grimm Brothers Brewhouse in Loveland, Colorado.
This quaint little brewhouse opened in July 2010. They’re located in a small business park that you would pass by if you didn’t know it was there. That is the best part – you have to really love beer to know it’s there, so it’s not a place where people go to get trashed. This is for the true beer enthusiasts.
We got two flights to sample all of the brews. Unfortunately, the hops only increased my coughing, so I couldn’t fully appreciate the deliciousness of this true German-style beer.
All their beers are named after, you guessed it, Grimm Brothers fairy tales (which are a lot more ominous than the happy Disney versions). They were hand-labeling bottles (which had the most amazing artwork) for distribution when we got there.
It was a toss-up between Little Red Cap and Master Thief for my favorite… You know me though, I always fall hard for a good amber!
We got to check out the brewery in back where they were brewing up another batch. Nothing smells better than a working brewery!
