Tempe, Arizona, and nearby

There are many reasons why people travel. For me, one of the main reasons is Irish dance. Irish dance has taken me all across the country, and U.K. For Mother's Day weekend this year it took me to the Arizona Grand Resort for certifying examinations with the commission in Ireland. This requires too much explanation, so for now this is all you get.

Saturday, May 10th, was the tourist day. Shane and I decided to stay around the Tempe area and not venture into Phoenix proper and in our common interest did a bit of brewery hopping. In preparation for Flights, we had a delicious lunch at C.A.S.A. Pictures speak louder than words, so I hope this gets you drooling:

And yes, I had the smarter order on the left: a delicious burrito mixture of creamy mac and cheese, and slow cooked pork with a tomatillo green salsa, and a Paloma. Shane had the veggie option with fresh made hummus. He was jealous of mine (and yes, he had to finish it for me).

The first stop in our brewery tour was Four Peaks Brewing. We started our tour pretty early and very close to their opening hour, so the atmosphere in the tasting room was pretty quiet. There wasn't much signage outside though and we were a bit confused upon entering the unmarked building. Once inside it is pretty impressive. Four Peaks' tasting room is a nice open space with tables, and some outside seating. Per brewery style, there were ample boardgames in their store.

They had eight of their own beers on tap. All quite refreshing but most notably: Oatmeal Stout, Raj IPA and, Hop Knot were great blends. Shane was especially impressed with the Oatmeal Stout saying, "Very unique, description says it's the English style rather than the Irish. Great taste and smooth bite."


Our second stop took us to a smaller brewery, Huss Brewing. Huss was one of the most charming breweries I've had the pleasure to visit. If you take a look at their website, you might understand why. This husband and wife team has certainly allowed for quite a bit of flair in the decor and atmosphere. There was a lovely lived in living room feel with very modern colors and decoration. The beer was also quite excellent. They had 20 local beers on tap, among them, seven of their own. My favorite was their IPA, which happens to be their first beer produced and it's named That'll Do! They also had an interesting winter porter called The Rice Pudding Porter, and it truly tastes like winter in a glass filled with spices of Christmas.

Huss led us to Papago Brewing Co. I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed by this particular place. I should say that this is more of a dinner joint with a wide variety of beers on tap, and an impressive stock of bottled beer which they sell in "create-your-own" six-packs. But as far as the brewing goes, their beers were lack luster.  They only had four of their own beers on tap: Oude Zuipers, Coconut Joe, Orange Blossom and Papago Park Ale. I was not a fan of their beers. They had a  very strong fake taste of coconut and orange. The Park Ale was a passable Pale Ale. Overall I would recommend this place as a location to try other great beers from Colorado and California but not for their own beers. They had an exceptional pub pretzel with cheese sauce.

After the disappointment at Papago, we decided we couldn't end the night with a low, so a quick google search led us to Sleepy Dog Brewery. The brewery taste room had just the right kind of atmosphere; a few folks playing darts, a couple of tables enjoying beer and games, and a very friendly and knowledgable bartender who clearly believed in the power of Sleepy Dog beer. We had a small flight, so only tried six of their 10 beers on tap. We skipped a few of the types of beers that we tend to gravitate away from and stuck with our favorites: IPA and dark beers. Our flight included the: Red Rover Irish Ale, Wet Snout Stout, Tail Chaser IPA, Scootcher Scottish Amber, Dog Pound Pale Ale, and Yellow #1.

I highly appreciated their puppy theme, and submitted my own sleepy pup picture for their display. I know you are dying to see it, so here it is:

Bonsai and Molly Malone are regular cuddlers.
Any brewery that has a running television showing pictures of adorable dogs instead of whatever crap is on cable, is okay by me! I hope this picture finds its way to their slide show.

So, four breweries in one day. I think that can be counted as a successful tour of Tempe, AZ. We also managed to take a stroll through the Arizona State University campus, and the Tempe Center for the Arts before returning the the Arizona Grand Resort for a much needed night of sleep. The rest of the adventure started with a missed flight expanding our beer tour through the West. More to come.

Cheers,

Ana