Oak Creek Brewing, Sedona, Arizona

Long Day’s Journey To Cool Climes
With daytime temperatures in the Valley of the Sun threatening the 110 to 115 degree range, this past weekend seemed a wonderful time to make an all too rare jaunt up to the relatively cooler country around Flagstaff. Johnny Southside became a willing accomplice once I told him that on the return trip we could swing through Sedona for beers at Oak Creek Brewing. (Our business in Flagstaff is immaterial, except to say we were on the trail of some 75-year-old remnants of a Depression-era work program known as the Emergency Conservation Works or Civilian Conservation Corps.) I had an additional ulterior motive in that I hoped to purchase one of the nifty ceramic beer steins offered on the Oak Creek Brewing website.

We wound our way into Sedona from Flagstaff, via the back road, stopping only briefly at Mund’s Canyon for a photo and to take in the crazed raving of a hiker sitting outside the pit toilets (evidently I’m not the only one who’s gone crazy as an outhouse mouse from the heat). We barely slowed down as we passed Slide Rock State Park; marveling at the line of cars backed up at the gate waiting to pay their entry fee. Understand, that here in the desert southwest, anyplace with running water is literally a Mecca for city folk, eager to escape the heat. Perhaps a close second would be any place where the beer flows and a drinker can sit in the shade.

There are actually two locations for Oak Creek Brewing in the greater metropolis of Sedona, Arizona: one is (evidently) a brewpub and grill while the other is the brewery proper. Being your typical anti social, I steered us toward the brewery with the hope that there might be fewer folks present.

The Oak Creek Brewing website indicates that the brewery is hard to find (but worth it) and I’d tend to agree. Nevertheless, two determined travelers managed to find their way through the tourist trap of downtown Sedona and in short order we were parked in a nearly empty lot, next to a Sedona Brewing truck circa 1930.

We stepped into the brewery, glad to be out of the glaring sun, and found perhaps 3 or 4 folks sitting at the bar and at the scattered tables. The bartendress greeted us and I dumped my notebook on a table then returned to the bar to peruse the offerings. Two seasonal beers were listed: a Maerzen and a red ale, cleverly named King Crimson, along with the regular brews.

Early on, I committed the cardinal sin of loudly proclaiming my status as an “out of towner” but the folks at the brewery were kind nonetheless and for that I thank them all, including our friendly barmaid who was working her first shift as it turned out. Johnny Southside and I decided to start with a pitcher of the Maerzen seasonal. Maerzen or Marzen gets its name from the fact that it is traditionally brewed in the month of March, with characteristics that help preserve it through the summer brewing season. Dark golden in color, the Oak Creek Brewing Maerzen seasonal had hints of grass in the smell with hints of fruit in the taste. Indeed, not a bad warm weather refresher.

Not wanting to waste an opportunity to sample both Oak Creek seasonals, Johnny Southside and I snacked on popcorn and peanuts, jawboning about every topic under the sun while the pitcher gradually emptied.

The Oak Creek Brewing brewpub is clearly a working operation with vats and machinery to prove it. The whir and thump of the brew vats sounded a workingman’s symphony to accompany our conversation as an eclectic group of people moved in and out of the establishment: biker types, families with kids in tow and individual men slumped over those ceramic mugs.

I asked our first day barmaid about buying a mug and she said she didn’t think there were any to be had. While we drained that first pitcher, she made a phone call and in short order reported that indeed, there were no more of the ceramic mugs available for purchase. That’s a pity. I was disappointed, but I determined not to let it spoil the trip.

The King (Crimson) Has Left The Building
With the Maerzen gone, we then ordered a pitcher of the King Crimson Red Ale, and, to perhaps assuage my disappointment, I ordered a glass of the Red Ale in a nifty Oak Creek Brewing pint glass. Ah, life’s good.

Life’s good and so is that King Crimson, which smelled of caramel with a sweet, dry taste, hinting of coffee. I preferred it to the Maerzen but tend toward darker beers in general. I snapped some sample photos of the beers and our surroundings, then asked the bartendress to draw me a growler of the King Crimson, which she immediately proceeded to do, only to find that, evidently, the shop was on its last keg of King Crimson. Now, I don’t know if I can rightly claim to have walked out with the season’s last growler of seasonal King Crimson, but I know that the nice lady behind the bar made a note in the log book to indicate that the last keg of King Crimson had been sold and she very graciously taped a copy of the BeerRant “business card” to the page, with a note indicating “wants a ceramic mug.” (I suspect that, fermenting in one of those big vats, was more delicious King Crimson, but in years to come, I’ll tell the story my way.)

We settled the tab and ambled back out into the sunlight and heat of the parking lot, facing nothing but the drive back to the Valley – and more heat. I imagine the Oak Creek Brewery is a swell place to sit from about 7 to 11 in the evening and if I lived in or near Sedona, perhaps it’s the sort of place I’d frequent often enough to create trouble with the bride – unless of course she were to join me.

Corporate shill.
Yeah, I bought a pint glass and a swell growler, each with the Oak Creek Brewing log. Here’s the link to their website:
http://www.oakcreekbrew.com/oakcreek/home.php

Here’s a MySpace page for the Brewery (don’t ask me, I’m old and don’t know the first thing about how MySpace works):
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=328347432

Here’s a link to a list of visitor comments about the Oak Creek Brewery. I have to agree with all the positive comments I see here and echo the comments about friendly staff and clientele. This establishment is an asset to the town.
http://www.pubcrawler.com/Template/ReviewWC.cfm/flat/BrewerID=588

For what it’s worth, here’s the Rate Beer page for King Crimson:
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/oak-creek-king-crimson-imperial-red-ale/83803/


Afterword.
I couldn’t resist popping the cap on the growler of King Crimson shortly after getting home. Mmmm, delicious. I poured the remaining beer from the growler the next day (Father’s Day!) and, while it was a bit flat, I believe the flavor was even more pronounced with a strong taste of coffee. I also poured a dab or two of the leftover King Crimson onto some salmon while it grilled and the result was a nicely brown glazed piece of salmon that tasted terrific.

I'm reasonable enough to know that I can't be a regular at the Oak Creek Brewery - it's too far away - but I will continue to seek out their product in my local stores and look forward to the time when my travels take me north again. I pray it's soon - this heat is a killer!

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.