Tap & Bottle turns 2
Tap & Bottle, 403 N. Sixth Ave., celebrated its second anniversary on June 27. Rebecca and Scott Safford did an amazing job building out the space and it’s wonderful to see the success they’re having.
“I can’t believe it’s been two years,” said Rebecca, amazed at “so many awesome new beers” over the past two years. “It hasn’t slowed down.”
Tap and Bottle is a Tucson treasure.
New brewery opens
New brewery alert! 1912 Brewing opened on July 4 near Grant Road and Interstate 10, 2045 N. Forbes, Suite 105. Owners Allan and Alicia Conger started planning for the brewery in 2013 after home brewing since 2004.
Allan Conger said they had a “really good opening” and are building a clientele. Both Congers are keeping their day jobs (Raytheon and Intuit) for the time being. They’re native Tucsonans and he’s a Marine Corps vet.
Right now they’re brewing an amber and an IPA with an additional five guest taps, two wines on tap and cider available. They have had food trucks on site.
Named after the year Arizona was admitted to the union, 1912 is open 5-10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, noon-10 p.m. Saturdays and noon-8 p.m. Sundays.
Healthy, hoppy, hot
Brew at the Zoo-Healthy and Hoppy, held at the Reid Park Zoo on June 20, is one of Tucson’s biggest beer events. This year it raised money to benefit a new animal health center.
The zoo is great venue for such an event — the featured beers are spread throughout the zoo. Between all the animal exhibits and the large grassy area there’s a lot to see.
As good an event as it is, there were some problems. The June weather did not cooperate. It was really hot. The event started at 6 p.m. and we followed suggestions to come a little later. However, when we arrived the water station in the grassy area was already empty.
As the evening progressed, several beer stands ran out of beer. Then, the lines became very long.
One suggestion for next year, which will be the event’s fourth, would be to hold it in a cooler month.
Hops on the rebound
Good news on the hop front. A few years back there was a domestic hop shortage, which caused many craft brewers to raise prices as hop prices went up.
Brewbound.com reports that in 2015 hop acreage in the Northwest increased by 16 percent to 44,000. Washington State accounts for 73 percent followed by Oregon at 16 percent and Idaho at 11 percent.
Readers’ favorites poll
The American Homebrewers Association’s magazine, Zymurgy, announced favorite beers based on an online poll of readers.
The top rated beer was Russian River’s Pliny the Elder (number three was Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA). The top two breweries are Russian River from Santa Rosa, California and Stone in San Diego. And, the top rated “beer portfolios) are from Sierra Nevada in Chico, California and Stone.
Helldorado brews
Firestone Walker, an excellent brewer in Paso Robles, California, is coming out with Helldorado beer in recognition of Tombstone’s Helldorado Days.
It’s a pretty serious beer. The barrel aged “super blonde barley wine” comes in at a whopping 12 percent ABV (alcohol by volume). Drink with caution. It will be available in Tucson in late July.
