The Arizona Craft Brewers Guild has updated the beer list for the 2018 Strong Beer Festival. The festival website claims they have reached over 500 beers listed! I believe them…the list is huge! Taking a brief run-through of the offerings, here’s a short list of “must tastes” I will be seeking out at the festival:
- “Cyril Figgis” (Belgian Quad): an 8-Bit/Beer Research Institute Collaboration. My, oh my…I was so very sad when this ran out at 8-Bit last spring (I was on site when the tap ran dry) and so very excited to see this making a return. I will likely run through the gate to their location to taste this again. This is one amazing beer.
- “Drincelean” (Old Ale): North Mountain Brewing. Similar to the “Cyril Figgis” but the focus here is on raisins and plums rather than…figs.
- “Bingo Bango Bongo” (New England IPA): The Shop Beer Co. I missed this last time they had it on tap so I am longing for a taste.
- “Orange Bomb” (Stout): Blasted Barley. I’ve never heard of anyone putting oranges in a stout. My first thought was…”this is crazy.” But then I remembered that Historic’s Piehole Porter–with cherries–is pretty darn awesome so I’m giving this a try.
- “Royal Windsor” (Spiced Beer): Oro Brewing Company. The description of this reminds me of ‘gruit’–the spicy, herbal mixture that characterized beer before the discovery of hops. High curiosity factor here.
- “Hot Fuzz” (Apricot Saison): Richter Aleworks. I’m not much into Saisons, but at 12% ABV, I’m dying to know what’s in those apricots!
- “Astro Cookie” (Milk Stout): Dark Sky. The official description says this was “conditioned over 2000 Oreo cookies.” I’m there.
From past experience, I know that not all beers listed in the program actually make it to the festival. Here’s hoping that these all are on tap Saturday!
[BTW, for those looking to go “lite” at the Strong Beer Festival, a few breweries are offering very low ABV beers: Acoustic Ales has a Berliner Weisse at 4%, Arizona Wilderness has a Gose at 3.6%, and Pedal Haus is pouring a Lite Lager that clocks in at a mere 3.5%]
Prost!