Taps across the state will be working overtime over the next several days as Arizona Beer Week kicks into full swing.
Breweries, bottle shops, bars and restaurants from Tucson to Flagstaff will host around 200 craft-beer-themed events as the celebration of all things pale, amber, sour and stout gets underway.
Tucson is holding its own this year, with well over 70 separate activities planned, today, Feb. 9, through Feb. 18.
“I don’t think Tucson has taken advantage of Arizona Beer Week as much as they have this year,” said Rob Fullmer, executive director of the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild, which coordinates Beer Week.
When the event first launched in 2011, only a handful of breweries existed in the Old Pueblo, Fullmer said.
That was part of the reason.
But now, “there are a lot of new breweries, new places trying a lot of new and creative things.”
“If someone is coming into the state who didn’t have a preference, I would send them to Tucson,” Fullmer said.
Caliente has meticulously examined Beer Week’s schedule to nail down some “must-attend” events.
Here are our favorites.
Take a road trip
We know. After talking up Tucson’s offerings during Arizona Beer Week, it seems odd to start off our “to-do” list with a trek up to Phoenix, but hear us out.
We highly recommend attending this year’s Arizona Strong Beer Festival, the granddaddy of Arizona beer festivals — now in its 17th year — and easily one of the best ways to get acquainted with nearly every brewery in the state in one sitting.
More than 160 craft-beer purveyors from within and outside Arizona will fill Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix proper, serving samples of their goods amid live music and a healthy selection of Phoenix food options.
Fullmer of the Brewers Guild said the Strong Beer Festival is the best way to find out what to do with the rest of the week when it comes to beer.
“Go there and talk to 10 people, ask what they have planned,” Fullmer said. “You will get a wide variety of responses and a good idea of what is being offered.”
The event runs from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Steele Indian School Park, 300 E. Indian School Road.
Tickets, available at arizonabeerweek.com, are $45.
Embark on a beer crawl
One of the biggest Arizona Beer Week events in the Tucson area this year will be the Tucson Craft Beer Crawl, set to take place downtown on Feb. 18, a tasty cap to beer week revelry.
Participants start their journey at the crawl’s main beer garden at 55 N. Fifth Ave. — one of two beer gardens set up for the event — to pick up their wristbands, drinking tickets and 5-ounce sampling glasses.
From there, you can choose your own adventure, hitting breweries and taprooms throughout the downtown area, including Crooked Tooth Brewing, 228 E. Sixth St., and Public Brewhouse, 209 N. Hoff Ave., both new to the crawl this year.
Crawl founder Laura Reese said having a multi-venue event in the downtown area offers participants a strong sense of place.
“You are inside a lot of locally owned venues, many of them historic buildings,” Reese said. “You get to walk the streets of Tucson, absorb the culture and the architecture.”
Added bonus: A portion of the proceeds will go toward the Watershed Management Group, a nonprofit that “works to restore flow to desert rivers, create urban watersheds and promote green, walkable neighborhoods,” according to the Craft Beer Crawl website, tucsoncraftbeercrawl.com.
The event, now in its third year, is popular. It easily reached its 350-ticket limit in its first year, and coordinators sold 1,000 in year two. This year they are aiming for 1,200.
Tickets are $45 and can be purchased through tucsoncraftbeercrawl.com
Have a sweet time
Arizona Beer Week has several offerings in store for those who have a sweet tooth to match their craft beer palates.
We are partial to local pastry chef Emily Peterson, whose Beer Geek Bakery creations will be showcased and sold at a couple of fun events.
Peterson’s specialty is making flavorful treats, things like mini-pies, cookie sandwiches and citrus bars, using beer from the breweries in which she is selling.
Tonight, Feb. 9, Beer Geek will join forces with Dillinger Brewing Co., Tucson’s newest brewery, at 3895 N. Oracle Road, working its Wild West Coast IPA, Hunny Porter, and Serrano Seduction into her baked goods.
Peterson also is collaborating with 1912 Brewing Co., 2045 N. Forbes Blvd., for a Valentine’s Day Painting & Dessert event on Saturday, Feb. 11, from 3 to 5 p.m. 1912 has multiple events during AZ Beer Week, including an old school hip-hop party on Sunday, Feb. 12.
In addition to Beer Geek events, you can participate in a Sentinel Peak/Girl Scout cookie pairing at Sentinel Peak Brewing Co., 4746 E. Grant Road, on Saturday and a coffee beer and doughnut hole event at Pueblo Vida Brewing, 115 E. Broadway, on Sunday.
Batch Cafe & Bar downtown will be providing the doughnut holes.
Burn off that craft beer gut
After drinking all that beer and eating all those sweets, consider some of the healthier options being offered in Tucson during Arizona Beer Week.
Gentle Ben’s and Barrio Brewing, sister venues in which Barrio brews for both, are playing roles in two runs.
Barrio Brewing, 800 E. 16th St., has partnered with Fleet Feet Tucson to host a BFF Run at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11. The 3-mile run south of downtown, through the neighborhood surrounding Barrio, will end at the brewery, with Fleet Feet providing a free beer.
Gentle Ben’s, at 865 E. University Ave., will serve as the starting point and after-party location for the Fine Valentine Relay on Sunday, Feb. 12, where participants can choose to run a 4-mile relay, a 4-mile individual race, a 2-mile walk/jog and can also play in a group challenge to win a keg of beer, among other activities.
And Tap & Bottle will be hosting a Beer Mile and Beer Brunch to celebrate the end of Arizona Beer Week on Sunday, Feb. 19.
If you are more of an El Tour de Tucson type, a 9-mile moonlight bike ride through Saguaro National Park East will kick off at Saguaro Corners, 3750 S. Old Spanish Trail, at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10.
Fun and games at Tap & Bottle, Hop Shop
Some of the most entertaining events on this year’s schedule come from two of Tucson’s main tasting rooms, Tap & Bottle at 403 N. Sixth Ave., and Tucson Hop Shop in the Metal Arts Village, 3230 N. Dodge Blvd.
Tap & Bottle is hosting a week of bar games dubbed “Revenge of the Beer Nerds,” with activities that include Pin the Beard on the Brewer (tonight), Beer rep Pictionary (Monday), Lotería (Wednesday) and a bottle flip challenge (next Thursday). Games will be played in addition to a selection of tap takeovers, special tastings and collaboration releases with Arizona Wilderness from Flagstaff and Historic Brewing out of Gilbert.
Tucson Hop Shop is staying equally busy, with events happening nearly every day of Arizona Beer Week. Festivities include a Local Love event on Tuesday, where the venue’s beertenders choose their favorite local beers to serve and the return of Sour Saturday on Feb. 18, which will feature 19 sour beers on tap.
Hop Shop owner David Zugerman said the sour event was a big one for them in 2016.
“People lined up half an hour before we opened,” he said. “We were instantly packed in here from the second we unlocked the doors.”
Tucson Hop Shop’s anchor event will be its second annual SyncHOPation, a big craft beer party slated for Saturday, Feb. 11, that will have live music, DJs, roaming fire spectacles from Cirque Roots and cuisine from Luke’s Pizza and The Curry Pot, from 3 to 11 p.m.
Zugerman said SyncHOPation will coincide with the Metal Arts Village’s Full Moon open studio tour, so the entire place should be buzzing with activity.
“For fans of craft beer in Tucson, it is a really exciting week,” Zugerman said. “I don’t know how you pick which event to go to. it should be a great time for everybody, everywhere.”
