I remember thinking 16 tasting tickets wasn't going to be near enough as I walked through the gate into the festival...
I was right...
beer tents stretched as far as the eye can see...it was heaven...
general admission gates opened at 1pm, we made it in by 1:05...
this was the line to get in...
as my buddy went to use the restroom, me and another friend went to check out
lumberyard brewery from flagstaff, az for a taster...
he got their barleywine and i tried their scotch ale...
two tents down from them was another flagstaff brewery,
Mother Road, which just happens to be my friend's friend from college who opened it this past year...
they had four of their standard beers and The Baconator - nice and smokey...
this is what their custom tap handles look like...
Also, their Black IPA is incredible...I could've stopped their and used the rest of my tickets...but I am glad I continued on...
right over to the
Four Peaks tent!
they had many different cask-aged offereings to pour, my friends got the Sirius Black (bourbon barrel aged russian imperial stout) and I got the Hopsquatch 2007 (american barleywine)
the other highlights of my day (that i can recall)
New Belgium -
Cocoa Mole (finalist for my best beer of the day)
Sonoran Brewing (Scottsdale, AZ) -
Inebriator Stout cask conditioned on fresh rasberries
Odell - They had a sour beer, I cannot remember the name...probably my favorite of the day
Mudshark Brewing (Lake Havasu City, AZ) - a saison that I can't remember what it was called
Thunder Canyon Brewing (Tucson, AZ) - Quad The Impaler... a belgian quad that was INSANE but this is probably the only time i'll ever get to taste it...to think i used to live 2 miles from this brewery and never knew about it!
Borderlands (Tucson, AZ) -
Noche Dulce Midnight Vanilla Porter - so creamy, so good...sweet nose but not too sweet of a finish...
Beer Valley Brewing Company's Leader Madness - Imperial IPA
Oak Creek Brewing (Sedona, AZ)- Knickerknocker barleywine...i bought a shirt from them!
Redstone Meadery - A Blueberry Mead....looked like water, hit you like a small car in the face! very good, very drinkable, very dangerous!
there were more...i'm sure of it...but i'm sure you're bored of reading about my drinking so i'll finish it up...
in closing, i can't wait til next year and will definitely be attending again!
cheers!
dan
arizona strong ale festival
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