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Tap That AZ - The Arizona Craft Beer Podcast

Arizona has one of the best craft beer communities in the country. But with so many amazing options, where do you even begin your journey to find your favorite spots and brews? That's where this podcast comes in. By talking with the folks who make it all happen, host Eric Walters helps you find the best local places to find a great Arizona-made beer. Weekly episodes include on-location interviews, news from the Arizona beer scene, and some great Arizona beer reviews by Marcus Piña. If you love Arizona and you love beer, this show is for you!
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Tap That AZ - The Arizona Craft Beer Podcast
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Now displaying: July, 2017
Jul 31, 2017

Helio Basin Brewing Company has go it going on! Coming up on August 12 they celebrate their 1 Year Anniversary. Make sure you get there because they are having a PAR-TAY!!!  They'll have a pig roast, a special anniversary beer and a re-release of many of their most popular seasonals. Click on this link to check out more details. 

A key angle (literally) of the "Bermuda Phoenix" triangle (along with Wren House and Helton) Helio Basin is quickly making a name for themselves in both the AZ craft beer scene as well as the AZ culinary scene. They were recently ranked as one of the top new breweries in the country by both Beer Advocate and Travel + Leisure. Head into their place and you'll see why.

  Owners Dustin and Mike started their brewing careers as college buddies and even had their college fund their brew sessions! In college I was drinking Red Dog and these guys were brewing up their own craft beer. What the heck was I doing?!?!   I love beer. LOVE it. But I may actually love food even more. Probably because I consume food more than I consume beer. Which is a good thing. I think. Is it? Anyways, the food at Helio Basin is UNREAL thanks to chef Tamara Stanger. She has a true commitment to using as many local ingredients as she can and isn't afraid to do a little foraging to get the ingredients she needs to make some of the amazing things that she makes.   I have such faith in everything she does that when I went there to interview them I told her to make me whatever she wanted. There is only one food that I don't like (horseradish) but I told her that I would even eat that if she made something that had that in it. Luckily it didn't. I mean I trust her but horseradish is the Genghis Khan of food: it destroys and pillages everything around it. But she made me ceviche. I'd never had that before but I would vote it the best in the world. Where can I submit my ballot?   Get down to their place on the southwest corner of Indian school and 40th street. Drink all of their amazing beer and have Tamara make you something. Anything. Trust me.   My beer of choice: Hoppy Amber My eats of choice: Anything. And everything
Jul 26, 2017

The Arizona Craft Brewers Guild has been around for nearly 20 years. In a nutshell the organization does all that it can to promote and advance the progress of the Arizona craft beer scene. After talking with Executive Director Rob Fullmer and Communications Manager Paul Rosevear I now realize how much this amazing organization actually does on a daily basis not only for Arizona craft beer but the state of Arizona in general.

Among the many duties of The Guild is to organization and put on some of the best beer festivals in the country right here in our beautiful state. One of these events will be this Saturday, July 29th. Real Wild and Woody is geared to knock your socks off. In a responsible way. I mean, they’re going to have REAL trees there. And it’s inside! This event is going to be awesome: live music, vintage video games, educational stuff, amazing food, and most importantly, amazing beer. I am super bummed that I am not going to be there but make sure you drink some beers in my honor. I'll be having a real tough time staying at a beach house in Maine enjoying some of the best beers the east coast has to offer. Someone has to do it. Taking one for the team. You’re welcome.

From the "Real Wild and Woody" website

Beer aficionados , clear your calendars…the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild will be expanding  Real, Wild and Woody Part Tres, a one day only, exclusive indoor craft beer festival designed for those who love the variety and diversity of the Strong Beer Festival, but perhaps crave a more intimate setting. Get ready for more pre and post events, educational seminars and an insiders look at the industry.

Buy Tickets - First 500 people to purchase tickets will receive a special limited edition “30 years of brewing in Arizona” glass.

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by a local Arizona band called Fayuca

Want to show your support and help this show grow? Simply click here, give the show a rating and share some feedback! 

Jul 24, 2017

Through my journey of visiting and talking with some of my favorite breweries across the state of Arizona I have learned many things:

  • I actually DO like sour beers
  • I can drink about 12 tasters and 1 pint during a podcast interview
  • I should NOT drink about 12 tasters and 1 pint during a podcast interview
  • And finally, opening up a brewery is HARD WORK!

If you are lucky enough to see them in action while you are visiting you can easily see that these guys and girls are busting their butts while at the same time sweating their butts off in their effort to make you the best damn beer you've ever tasted. But making beer is only a small portion of that. First you have to choose a name. Easy enough, right? Not so much. Just ask Steve McFate. Once you have a name then you have to either build or redesign your space to accommodate a commercial brewery. And many of these people are doing the work all themselves. So after working a normal shift at their regular job they are spending hours afterwards putting in the blood and sweat to literally build their dream (listen to the Crooked Tooth episode to hear Ben Vernon talk about this). The list goes on an on. And THEN you get to opening day which in actually when the REAL work begins: staying open and successful. Through this show is have developed the utmost respect for the dudes and dudettes who work so hard to play their part in what I consider one of the coolest sections of society: the craft beer world.

With that said I developed this idea to interview someone through their path toward opening a brewery so that listeners can get an idea of how the whole process works and help this aspiring brewery owner gain a following so that anticipation build and opening day brings a lot of excitement. 

Enter Justin Cross. The Man of Many Projects. Fitness Beast. Home Brew Wizard. I initially connected with Justin via his Instagram @the_alpha_ale. Justin allows his followers to see very step of his process and is great at explaining the whole process simply so that anyone can understand. and he makes amazing beer. After hanging out with Justin a few times in the real world I realized that this dude is determined and is working his butt off to make his dream happen. And he is doing it the right way: by being a good person and work to improve the lives of others.

Through this miniseries we are going to follow Justin on his journey toward opening up his brewery. In Part 1 we are going to get a little back history with his experience in the brewing world as well as the "why" behind what he is doing.

Grab your favorite local Arizona craft beer and enjoy the show!

Instagram - @the_alpha_ale

The Global Brew Coalition Facebook Page

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by a local Arizona band called Fayuca

Want to show your support and help this show grow? Simply click here, give the show a rating and share some feedback! 

Jul 17, 2017

In this installment of the podcast I head over to Peoria to hang out with 2 of the owners of Freak'N Brewing Company, Tommy and Rene, along with their sales rep Phil. I taste all of their awesome freak'n beers and we talk about all kinds of freak'n things. Enjoy the show and be sure to share with a friend!

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by a local Arizona band called Fayuca

Want to show your support and help this show grow? Simply click here, give the show a rating and share some feedback! 

Jul 10, 2017

In this episode I sit down with Jacob and Laura Hansen, owners of Saddle Mountain Brewing Company in Goodyear. A pal of mine Luis Herrera who also happens to be the Beer Ambassador for SMBC even joins us near the end of the episode. Up until they opened up SMBC there were no breweries in Goodyear. With a little tenacity and help from an awesome member of the city council they were finally able to make history. In this episode we talk about their journey and how this city council member now has a beer named after him at the brewery. Enjoy the show! 

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by a local Arizona band called Fayuca

Want to show your support and help this show grow? Simply click here, give the show a rating and share some feedback! 

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