Plaza Liquors has tweaked its layout one more time, adding a three-door cooler to the floor. This addition to what I think is Tucson’s finest beer store brings the number of beers available to around 800. I particularly like that most of the beer is available in singles. Owner Mark Thomson has done a great job in redesigning the store, at 2642 N. Campbell Ave.
USA Today recognized Tucson’s growing craft beer scene in its May 21 edition. The story mentions most of Tucson’s breweries and features quotes from Ten Fifty-Five’s John Paul Vyborny, Linette Antillon of Pueblo Vida, Mike Mallozzi at Borderlands and Dragoon’s Tristan White. Author Cate Huguelet refers to the growth of craft beers in Tucson as a renaissance.
Beer travels: A recent trip took me to Colorado. At Twisted Pine Brewing in Boulder (a great beer town) I sampled a carrot IPA. I have to admit I couldn’t pick up the carrot over the hops, but my wife said she could taste the carrots.
At Blue Spruce Brewing in Centennial (south Denver metro area) I enjoyed a chile beer. I’ve had chile beers before, but this was different. Not only did it have a nice chile hint right off the bat, there was a nice burnt chile finish. Very tasty.
And in Southern California, Figueroa Mountain Brewing and Telegraph Brewing both have great tasting rooms in Santa Barbara. We revisited our favorite L.A. brewery: Angel City. This brewery in an old cable factory is a great place to spend an evening.
Aug. 2 marks an auspicious date in American beer history. On that day in 1965, Fritz Maytag (of the washing machine family) purchased 51 percent of Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. Maytag’s purchase and what he did with the company in the ensuing years is credited with starting the American craft brewing movement.
Maureen Ogle in Ambitious Brew said “Maytag grasped what was lost on mainstream brewing: Out there was an audience eager for authenticity.” In “The Audacity of Hops,” author Tom Acitelli quotes Maytag as saying, “We had a feeling that we had a better mousetrap and the world would lead a path to its door.” Indeed, he did have a “better mousetrap” that has led millions of people to thousands of craft breweries.
Maytag bought into the company just as it was about to shut the doors. He subsequently bought the rest of the company, and the rest is history.
Maytag sold the company to a group of Bay Area people a few years back. The new owners have retained the company’s historic feel while launching new lines of beer. I wish them 50 more years of good fortune.
Anchor Steam Beer was my introduction to craft brewing and I still enjoy it to this day. So this summer, raise a glass to Fritz Maytag and be thankful he bought Anchor Brewing 50 years ago.
