Beer Week is getting close and we're finally starting to see a bunch of events go up. What are folks most excited about? Last year's Avery beers and Wedge & Bottle cheese pairing at Papago was incredible. Hoping to see something like that again. The one thing I noticed is a lack of special events at Whole Foods Chandler (at least so far). They had some great events during the first couple Beer Weeks.
Since King James left Whole Foods it has been on a consistent downslide as far as events go. Love him or hate him you have to give him credit for being a non-stop promoter. Sun Up, Huss and Hess all look to be doing/or at a number of good events that week.
Hopslam and Donuts sounds tempting. Special stuff from DFH at The Attic and Union Barrelhouse. Saw some Sierra Nevada, Avery (including Mephistopheles), and more that are on the schedule. Colorado brewery night at Ground Control. Green Flash Belgian Beer night at Union Barrelhouse. EPIC brewing at Pig&Pickle. More will be added, or more places will have events but not on the official schedule of course. A little birdy told me someone will have Bourbon County variants on draft. But hey, the ones appealing to me might be very different than those for many folks on here. Maybe you guys go to the Locals Only night at Whole Foods, do the SanTan discounted pints at various places, etc.
I recall mention of a Firestone Walker rare beer dinner at Hungry Monk, but haven't seen details....that certainly piques my interest. I second the disappointment of Whole Foods events. They do still maintain a pretty nice taplist, but I always enjoyed the special events and brewery nights that James brought in. Though I've gotten the impression from some that WF management wasn't particularly supportive of such things.....not sure how true that is; seems silly if so.
Cupcake pairings at SunUp sounds interesting too mitchgx - interesting about WF management not backing all the beer events. Doesn't seem to be a problem at the Scottsdale/Mayo location. They seem to be doing a lot at that one lately. yemenmocha - I love that so many local breweries have popped up in recent years. Makes things exciting and gives us a lot more choice. But I do agree with you in that we still have to hold them to the same standard as breweries outside of AZ. I'm not going pick an average local beer over an incredible non-local just because I'm tying to support local.
Hopefully there are some events in Tucson. I can't really justify multiple trips up toward Phoenix for beer week.
plus there's some unofficial events happening that are not on the sponsor page. Few bars will have special events or discounts or whatever. Some are going to be quite good.
