American Craft Beer Week and Other Stuff

Today begins American Craft Beer Week and I feel a bit like a minor league ballplayer trying to work his way up into the majors – perhaps trying too hard.

I selected a local beer to taste and review for this the first day of American Craft Beer Week, but let’s wait and get to that last. First some of the other stuff I’ve crammed into the last few days.

I’ve been hearing about a beer bar called Yard House, which has two locations in the greater Phoenix area. My son-in-law and I visited the one in north Phoenix this past Friday. I took the opportunity to carry – for the first time – my beer tasting notebook. First I ordered a pint of Old Speckled Hen. A rich cream ale, our server compared it to Boddington’s, which I’ve had in a can. Wow! This is a great beer. Smells of milk and fruit in the glass, with a thick head that leaves very heavy lacing.

We’d told ourselves that we’d have a pint apiece and be on our way. So, for the second round, I ordered a Left Hand Milk Stout, partly because I tend to like stouts and partly because it has a cool name. It wasn’t until later that I learned that this beer is brewed in Colorado. The beer arrived with a thick head of nearly two fingers, and smelling of chocolate. The beer tasted mildly of a chocolate milkshake or malt.

Both beers were outstanding, but of the two I preferred (by a narrow margin) the Old Speckled Hen. I dutifully jotted notes in my tasting notebook; we finished an order of onion rings, paid the tab and headed for home. (For the record, my son-in-law had something from Kona Brewing and a Killian’s Red.)

On Saturday the 10th, I tried a bottle of Four Peaks Brewing 8th Street Ale. It smells of grass and hops in the bottle. Light orange in color with a small but steady amount of beading. 8th Street Ale tastes slightly of caramel and has a weak finish. While nothing would please me more than to rave about this local beer, frankly it’s nothing to write home about. It’s a middle of the road beer that I might buy again if I were entertaining guests from out-of-town. I’ll try to get over to their brewpub and have a glass of this on tap to see if it’s better.

Mother’s Day dawned bright and hot. To save my bride the hassle of working in a hot kitchen I agreed to grill some chicken outside. I like a bit of a beer companion when I’m out there alone slaving under the ash tree. For this special Sunday, I selected a Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing. I haven’t actually taken any tasting notes for this one yet – I’ve still got 3 or 4 saved for that. Suffice it to say this is a nice beer for a hot day and it complimented the grilled chicken nicely.

Which brings us to today, Monday, May 12, 2008, the first day of American Craft Beer Week. For the occasion, I selected a bottle of Oak Creek Brewing’s Nut Brown Ale. This is brewed in Sedona, Arizona. It smells of wheat bread and roasted nuts, pours a dark tea or coffee color with a thin, tan head and a little lacing. It tastes of nuts and coffee and finishes a bit dry with a coffee flavor that’s quickly gone. I’m glad to be able to give this local beer a definite thumb’s up – I’ll buy this again and I think this beer may be the excuse I need to finally visit Sedona after over 30 years in Arizona!

Don't take my word for it.

Here's a link to American Craft Beer Week.org: http://www.beertown.org/events/acbw/index.html

Here's how to find out more about Yard House: http://www.yardhouse.com/flash/default.asp

Old Speckled Hen got pretty good grades at Beer Advocate: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/203/637

Left Hand Milk Stout, likewise at Beer Advocate: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/418/3434

Here's the Left Hand Brewing site: http://www.lefthandbrewing.com/

Here's the Beer Advocate dope on 8th Steet Ale (looks like I'll have to try it as a draft product): http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2171/6815/?ba=PhxHorn

Here's the page for Oak Creek Brewing's Nut Brown Ale over at (yes, again) Beer Advocate: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/717/7133/?ba=FMetzger

Happy American Craft Beer Week! More in a day or so.