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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: April, 2017
Apr 17, 2017

Me: "I'll do #'s 1, 6, 7, 8, and......"  

Dude at Crooked Tooth, without hesitation: "3!"  

Me: "Huh?"  

Dude at Crooked Tooth: "If you like those 4 you'll love #3"  

Me: "Well alright, alright"  

That was my first interaction with Ben Vernon from Crooked Tooth Brewing Company in Tucson. And you know? #3 was my favorite. I knew right then that Ben was a cool dude who truly cared and knew a lot about beer and how to make his guests feel welcome. In this episode I sit down with Ben and talk about the challenges/joys of transforming an old service shop into a fantastic brewery and whatnot.   

A little while back I took a trip down to Tombstone to visit Matt Brown at Tombstone Brewing Company which was a great place making great beer. But I also had a secondary objective that day: get back to Tucson ASAP and grab chimichanga at the place that apparently invented it and just an awesome Mexican food joint in general. The story about the chimichanga is great. But they had me at “fried burrito”. I had even skipped 2nd breakfast to make room for this legendary treasure. So we made the trip back to Tucson and walked into El Charro at around 2:30. “The wait is about 45 minutes”. My heart sank which is probably preferable to what that chimichanga would have done to my heart had we possessed the patience to wait that long. But 45 minutes was much too long for me to wait in my fragile state so we decided to go with Plan B: take the 0.3 mile walk to Borderlands Brewing Company to come up with Plan B.  

Borderlands Brewing Company was a really awesome place too. Located in an old brick warehouse right by the railroad tracks this place has character for days and some marvelous beers. The bartender was cool as hell and when we expressed a desire to check another brewery without hesitation she said "Crooked Tooth. You gotta check them out. Cool people making great beer". It was decided: Crooked Tooth would be the next stop. Another 0.3 mile walk (by the way, I was burning WAY more calories than was necessary at this point) and we were there. On the journey over we noticed hoards of people stumbling around the streets and realized we were right in the middle of a pub crawl. Lots of people wandering aimlessly trying to find the next place to find a great craft beer? I can relate to that.  

We came around the corner and there is was: another great Tucson brewery in a brick building that looked like it had been there for a hundred years. As soon as we walked in I knew I was going to love this place. Right when you walk in there is an old payphone with vines on it sitting beside an old safe filled with board games. And the place was beautiful inside. Exposed brick everywhere and the huge wooden tables were heavy duty as could be. The place just had a cool vibe to it. And then I saw what they were serving flight tastings in: wooden skateboards with 5 holes in them to hold the tasting glasses. Heck yes! That when I first met Ben (see beginning of this article). I knew right then I had to cool this dude on the show. And he was totally down. Plus their beer is the real deal. Especially the It's Always Sunny in Amarillo (and such a great name).  

A few weeks later I was back in Tucson with mics in hand to record this episode. It was on a Saturday before they opened for the day during a "Pints and Poses" thing they do where people come in for an hour of yoga and then have a pint, all for $5. Yoga is just one of the events they are known for. Don’t forget about speed dating, live music, stand up comedy, the list goes on. So in the background of the episode you'll hear the Zenful music of the yoga in the background as Ben tells me the story of Crooked Tooth Brewing Company thus creating "Ben The Beer Zen Master". Has a nice ring to it. Enjoy the show. And go have a beer there. Today.  

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by Arizona's own Fayuca

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Apr 3, 2017

On the corner of 32nd Street and Shea Boulevard sits a little gem called.....well, 32 Shea. Established in 2011 this place has been changing the face of the neighborhood as well as proving how creativity and hard can break down any barriers of how you view your local espresso bar/café/lounge/drive-thru/Zen space. In this episode I sit down with owner Rebecca Golden to talk about how her vision and determination have turned this Up-Uptown* neighborhood spot into more than just another place to get a chai latte. Or a craft beer. Or bacon-cheddar waffles. Or a glass of wine. Or a Nutella Espresso Martini. Or braised short ribs. You get the point. Seriously, all of that stuff is available there at one time or another during the day. This place rocks.  

My wife Jackie and I initially came across 32 Shea one day when we were going to take an early morning trip to Flagstaff. Using trusty ol’ Yelp I found this new place close to the highway that allegedly had some pretty awesome coffee options. We found the place in an unassuming parking lot in front of a strip mall and proceeded through the drive-thru. We looked at the menu, pulled up to the window, and began to place our order when the girl at the window said “just so you know our specialty coffee today is a pistachio Nutella latte”. I saw the pure joy on Jackie’s face and I could tell that she was hooked. And then she actually TASTED it. I immediately heard the classic love song emanating from Jackie’s brain ("Just the 2 of us. We can make it if we try. Just the 2 of us. You and I!"). And my vanilla latte had enough kick into it to allow Jackie and I to solve all the world’s problems during our 2 hour drive. I knew at that point that I would (happily) be spending lots of money there over the next few years. 

Since then 32 Shea has expanded in multiple ways. For starters they are open for 15 hours a day six days out of the week which means you could spend all day there and:  

They have expanded the quaint physical structure into an amazing patio with a Buddhist statue fountain as the centerpiece. This fountain really pulls it all together and creates the ambience that perfectly matches the energy of this place. Trees also fill the patio which create the perfect oasis. Between the trees and the fountain you have no idea you are literally 50 feet from the busy traffic of 32nd Street.  

Next time you are around 32nd Street and Shea Boulevard stop by no matter what time of day it is and I bet you find something you like.  

* Up-Uptown is a Copyright of Rebecca Golden  

Intro/Outro music is "La Negra Tomasa" by Arizona's own 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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