Tap That AZ - The Arizona Craft Beer Podcast

From day one Gabo Fayuca and Helio Basin Brewing Company has been great supports of this podcast. So awesome to see them putting together this awesome event of November 22nd to benefit Phoenix Childrens Hospital. Great beer, great music, and all for a great cause. In this episode I sit down with Dustin from Helio and Gabo to discuss the festival. Always a blast hanging out with these guys. Free admission so make sure you get there.

Fayuca Rizing Xtra Pale Ale's first Beer Fest

Presented by Bravo - Tip or Pay, Stir It Up Records & Productions and Helio Basin Brewing Co. Festival de Beer y Musica is a free music and beer fest hosting 9 bands on 2 stages, food, vendors, family activities and ice cold beer!!Wednesday, November 22 at 4 PM - 10 PM

FREE - All Ages

Helio Basin Brewing Company - 3935 E. Thomas Road, Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Ticket Information BAND SCHEDULE: BEN ANDERSON 4:00PM FAIRY BONES 4:30PM A.C RIGZ 5:00PM JAM NOW 5:30 HALEY GREEN 6:00PM THE BANTER 6:30PM BEAR GHOST 7:15PM FAYUCA 8:15PM info: www.fayucabeer.com

I have a secret to tell you. I've never told anyone this before. I really enjoy beer. I know. Shocking. But I wasn't always a beer drinker. In my early years I was surrounded by the likes of Genesee and Natural Light so on nights out I would usually opt for a Jack and Coke even though I wasn't a huge fan of pop (as we called soda in the Midwest). But hey, I had to drink SOMETHING. Then I moved to Arizona and my life changed. In many positive ways. But in the category of alcohol consumption for the purpose of this article. I was first turned on to craft beer which I quickly feel in love with. My love affair with quality spirits was a much longer courtship.

The first taste of Scotch I even had was a 15 year Highland Park that my father in law bought to share with a group of us for Christmas. There were about 8 of us and we each got a pour to taste, contemplate and discuss. The first sip immediately triggered my inner dialogue to respond with "Spit it out! Now! You have just ingested some sort of handcrafted black-market Mongolian cleaning solvent!". Luckily I had the self-control to NOT spit it out on the table and avoid embarrassment despite my strong desire to do exactly that. Now my mind was racing ("This sip was less than 10% of the total volume of liquid still left in my glass. I can't keep this up. What do I do?!?!" So I did what I have done for years to get out of anything that I HAD to do: I closed my eyes, said 3 Hail Mary's and threw it back like an old-school Slick Rick album. Damn, that wasn't so bad. And now it's over. But then they get to me in the roundtable discussion.

Them: "So what do you think?"

Me: "Of what?"

Them: "Of the Scotch"

Me: "Oh. Yeah. It was good. REAL good"

Them: "WAS?!? You drank it already?!?!"

At this point I had no choice but to confess I drank my portion of this $90/bottle Scotch in less than 2 seconds like it was a $3 Flaming Dr. Pepper to get amped up for the Limp Bizkit concern. Needless to say they gave me flack for that for a long time. But they also never gave up on me. Every time we all got together someone would buy a bottle of good whiskey and we'd all taste it. And my palate developed quite nicely. Now there are times where I enjoy a good whiskey more than a beer. Not often. But occasionally. Why? You got some of the good stuff?

So anyways, since starting this podcast I have ventured off the beer path a few times to check out some of the awesome spirits being made in this great state with my visit to Hamilton Distillers and Arizona Distilling Company. Not too long ago Chase from Adventurous Stills reached out and invited us over to check out their place in Tempe. I had heard some great things about their products before going there so was excited to check it out but was even more blown away once we go there. The fact that pretty much everything they use is hand made is amazing in itself but their spirits were REALLY good.

In this episode I sit down with 2 of the 3 owners, Chase and Kelly, to talk about the challenges they face selling top-shelf spirits and how the water is Tempe is perfect for making spirits. Enjoy the show!

Adventurous Stills is located at 31 S Robson Suite 103, Mesa, AZ 85210

Adventurous Stills on Facebook

Adventurous Stills on Instagram

Video Production done by Aaron Markus from 8 AM Films

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band Fayuca

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For most of my beer drinkers out there when we hear "cider" we respond with "Oh yeah, my wife loves those". For many of us cider is just too sweet or tart and usually just too weak. We want a little kick with our drinks especially for us hop heads whose smiles get bigger as the ABV's go up. So when my buddy Stefan, aka AZ Beer Jedi, said "hey, there is a cider house opening in Mesa soon" I was like "cool" but also secretly thinking "ok, I'll probably never go there". But also in the back of my mind I know that Stefan is a man of good taste so I hadn't TOTALLY eliminated all chances of ever going. There was still a small thread of interest. Then I read the story behind Cider Corps. Jason Duren had been stationed in Afghanistan and suffered 2 traumatic brain injuries caused by 2 separate IED explosions in late 2012. When he returned home the adjustment was very difficult and a doctor recommended that he take up a hobby to help in the rehabilitation process. His brother Josh also wanted to do what he could to help his brother. The two decided to make cider. At first it didn't go well. At all. The first batch went right down the drain. But over time they dug so deep into this that they started to understand just more than adding ingredients together. They understood the science behind what was happening. This in-depth understanding helped to catapult them to a level where now there is a waiting list for restaurants around the state to have their cider on tap. Ok Stefan, I GUESS I'll check it out.

I was super stoked to meet these guys and try this cider. And it did not disappointment. They had 6 different kinds including a pumpkin pie cider, a cold brew coffee cider and my favorite, Dead End Kettle Sour IPA. Yeah, you heard that all right. And all of them were amazing. And to hear the story straight from them? Even better. Just a couple of awesome guys doing great things. Their slogan is "Enjoy Great Cider, Honor Great Sacrifice" and they live by that. The taproom is full of military-related items including a HUGE flag that hangs and hand grenade tap handles. Even the bar top that are putting in will be made out of purple heart wood as a homage to Jason's Purple Heart which they plan to embed into the bar top as well. Overall, one of my favorite interviews so far. Looking forward to seeing what these guys do.

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band Fayuca

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My very first experience with Arizona craft beer was Railhead Red at Beaver Street Brewery. It changed my life. For better and worse. I now know what good beer tastes like. But I also gained a few pounds. Well worth it. After hitting up Beaver Street periodically over the next year or so II was super excited when word came out that they were expanding and opening a new bigger brewery and restaurant which became what is now Lumberyard Brewing Company. Owners of what is quite possibly the best patio view in downtown Flagstaff Lumberyard has become an oasis of freshly made craft beer and amazing food.

In fact, another life-changing experience happened to me right on that very patio. I'm a huge fan of BBQ pulled pork. Hands down one of my favorite foods of all time. I also love mac n cheese because I'm an American. Seriously, you show me an American who doesn't like mac n cheese and I'll show you a terrorist. Well anyways, I'm looking over the menu and suddenly a single beam of light shone from the heavens with the sound of angels singing their heavenly tune filled my ears. I followed the shining heaven beam directly to the bottom corner of the menu and quickly realized the purpose of this beam: baked mac n cheese. Ok, you have my attention. But what fell slightly below is what really blew me away: "Don't forget to include one of our add-ons" and on THAT list I quickly shuffled past everything and saw BBQ pulled pork. Done. Deal. I didn't even look at the rest of the menu which is rare. My normal process is to narrow it down to about 4 things and then experience self-induced anxiety before making a decision that I immediately regret and dwell on for days. Not this time. I nailed it. And to top it off it was even better than I imagined it would be. So good that I think about that dish at least once a week and that was over 6 years ago! I have also not been able to eat mac n cheese without BBQ sauce ever since.

Oh yeah, guess what?! They have beer too. Really good beer.The Knotty Pine Pale is one of my go-to Arizona pale ales and their Red Ale is stellar as well. I'm a sucker for reds and Lumberyards red is fantastic. They even started a single hop series which I love. I want to know what each hop tastes like so that I know what to look for when making future selections. These guys have won awards. Like, the big kind. Not the "Most Shotgunned Beer at Glenns Bachelor Party" kind of awards. I'm talking Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal type of stuff. They know what they're doing.

In this episode I sit down with Ken Wilson the sales manager at Lumberyard and an overall beer expert. Ken is also the president of the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild. Needless to say Ken knows his beer. We recorded this episode during the can release of "This Side Up", the collaboration between The Shop, Dark Sky, and Helton so things escalated from a sound perspective really quickly. This was a misjudgment on my part but hey, you live and learn right. Anyways, Ken and I have a plan of doing a mini-series about the business of beer so you'll be hearing more from him in the future. Enjoy the show!

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band Fayuca

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Justin Cross is a great episode to the podcast. We are following him on his journey to opening up his own brewery here in Arizona in a mini-series called "Somethings Brewing" (listen to part 1 and part 2 so far). As much as Justin is passionate about beer he is possibly equally as passionate about fitness. So Justin did what many before him did. He thought "Hmmm. Fitness and beer. They go together like.....well, fitness and beer". When he first presented his theory to me I thought "This poor fellas needs to tighten up his technique on skull crushers and not take it so literally". But then he explained it. And it made sense. You don't have to choose one or the other. You can really have both. Its all about balance. Another guy with the same idea and Justin's good friend Elliott aka Apartment Bartender together came up with the idea of Earn Your Booze, a philosophy about having that balance and making sure you earn those drinks by kicking butt by getting some sort of exercise in.

This concept has caught fire and finds the guys shipping t-shirts across the world. And now, they have their first event coming up this Saturday November 4th at Scottsdale Beer Company. The event is going to be a prime example of earning your booze. Rush Club is going to be putting on an awesome workout and competitions while The Viking from Peak Nutrition is going to be laying down some knowledge on how to make good choices while still enjoying yourself when out for some drinks. And you can even get a tour of the brewery and enjoy one of their many awesome beers. And we will be there as well. Aaron will be shooting video and Eric will be participating in the workout. For about 4 minutes. Before throwing up and passing out. It's gonna be awesome.

Click HERE for full event details

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band called Fayuca

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When Rob from North Mountain Brewing Company toured Europe as a young man it showed how that beer can be really good. That trip and his desire to do something different has inspired him to create certain styles that not many breweries try to tackle such as Belgian Strong Ales, Belgian Quads, and Saisons. And he nails them. And their food is awesome so so that never hurts. The food is deliberately made with the beer in mind.

Official Tap That AZ Recommendations:

• Beer - Belay Double IPA
• Food - Asian Pulled Pork Sliders

North Mountain Brewing Company: 22 E Dunlap Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85020

Video content created by 8am Films

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band Fayuca

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In this episode I sit down with Steve McFate, owner of McFate Brewing Company. We talk about how a leap of faith propelled him into a career in craft beer and we talk about how every neighborhood should have its own brewery. Since starting this podcast I have wanted Steve to be a guest and really enjoyed our conversation. Enjoy the show!

South Location/Brewery - 1312 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85257

North Location/Tap & Barrel - 7337 E Shea Blvd #105, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band Fayuca

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Since it opened its doors in 2015 Goldwater Brewing Company has hit the ground running. Spawned from their dads passion for brewing Dillon and Chad McClelland have turned this Scottsdale brewery into the place to be in Old Town Scottsdale. Above ground there is a beautiful taproom and brewery that pumps out more beer than you could ever imagine from the space given. But the real gem is The Goldmine: a former underground shooting range that houses barrels currently aging some future awesomeness ad well as a few Brite Tanks laying horizontally in some of the 75 deep wholes previously used as the firing areas of the shooting range. Yeah, you heard that right. This place is unlike anything you've ever seen and these guys maximize its uniqueness.

These guys are killing it and a recent Bronze metal at the Great American Beer Festival for their Machine Gun Teddy Brown Ale proves it. In this episode I sit down with Dillon, Chad, and assistant brewer Jordan to talk about how their dad influenced their beer styles, how Chad made them better, and how they are able to pump out such great beer in a limited space. Enjoy the show!

AZ Food and Beer - all about Arizona Beer - Official Website

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band Fayuca

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Arizona is a food lovers paradise. Everything from authentic Mexican food to some of the best pizza in the country we are so lucky to have so many choices. But sometimes that can be the program. How do you decide when give so many options? Do you want to rely on the opinions of many unqualified people who mainly just use the platform to feel more important than they really are? Yes, I'm talking about Yelp. I think South Park summed that whole thing up pretty well. Enter Valley of the Sun Foodies, a small yet passionate group of people who love supporting the local Arizona foodie scene. They use their Facebook page to promote positive support of the local scene.

When I recorded my very first episode at Mother Road Brewing Company in Flagstaff I met a gentleman by the name of Brian Roper. He was super excited about what I was doing and let me know that he also loves supporting the local scene and told me about a group her just started called Valley of the Sun Foodies. Since then Brian has been an awesome supporter of the podcast and has done a lot to help me make many great connections. It took a little convincing to get him behind the mic but I finally did it! Fellow Valley of the Sun Foodie Tracey joined in as well along with The Classy Alcoholic.

Keep in mind this was the 5th episode I had recorded that day at Mesquite River Brewing Company so it is possible that I was slightly buzzed at this point. Either way, we had a great time. Enjoy the show!

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band Fayuca

Want to show your support and help this show grow? Simply click here, give the show a rating and share some feedback!

Big thanks to my man Stefan Canchola, aka AZ Beer Jedi for joining me in this episode, providing the pics and for the following write-up.

In beautiful and luxurious Scottsdale Arizona you will find a wonderful playground of attractions and delights to satisfy any taste or craving, from world class restaurants, resorts, shopping and entertainment, but did you know you will also find the best craft beer in all the state, literally.

Tucked safely in the heart of what is known as "Old Town" you will find the 2nd oldest house in the area. Built in 1937, 6922 E Main St had only been home to a few businesses but for the most part had been neglected and abandoned and anyone wanting to use the location definitely had their work cut out for them.

Opening it's doors on Saturday March 7, 2015, Craft 64 hit the ground running as a force to be reckoned with not just in the craft beer community but as a destination spot for locals and tourists looking for a great place for a quality drink, out of this world pizza and a great atmosphere with a sole focus on what is arguably one of the most important thing to foodies and beverage seekers, local first and locally sourced.

The Beer:

All Arizona, All the time!

Featuring 31 handles, here you will find beer from all over Arizona, and especially from places you didn't realize had a brewery, Yuma? Kingman? If it's in Arizona they probably will get a keg of it.

This is the perfect place for locals because if driving to Lochiel Brewing in the far east valley or 8-Bit on the far Westside is too much of a chore, Craft 64 is conveniently located right in the middle.

House Beers:

Yes they brew their own beer but not on site. In a partnership that's been extremely successful Craft 64 has been contract brewing with SunUp Brewing of Phoenix and has collaborated with Dubina Brewing of Glendale on their incredible Mango Sour to which I'll say is basically a perfect beer. In regards to the house beers it's something I've said every time I've tried one of them for the first time, they know what their doing, who they're brewing for and they do it very well!

The food:

No Freezers, no fryers, no microwaves and no gas, see where I'm going with this? Just say no to no quality. Ingredients from pizza dough, mozzarella, pizza sauce, salad dressing are all made fresh daily. Tomatoes and that amazing crack bacon are all locally sourced and the marriage of these treasures are brought together in a pizza oven that comes straight from Italy powered by pecan wood

On most days when you visit you will find behind the bar working like a general to keep things smooth and flowing, local craft beer hero James Swann, a self described beer enthusiast and recovering beer snob. Swann has a storied and accomplished history in helping grow the love for craft beer in the Phoenix area. When asked about his experience and contribution to the scene he remains extremely humble and grateful to those whom he's credited learning from and allowed him to run with his ideas.

You owe it to yourself to check out what is being celebrated on a regular basis by the likes of Phoenix Magazine, USA Today, local news networks and social media as one of if not the best restaurants and beer bars in Arizona.

ENJOY!!! ~ AZ Beer Jedi

Craft 64 Website

Follow AZ Beer Jedi on his Facebook page

Follow the AZ Food & Beer Facebook page...full website coming in October!

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by the awesome local Arizona band Fayuca

Want to show your support and help this show grow? Simply click here, give the show a rating and share some feedback!