Hangar 24 Craft Brewery Lands in Arizona

Beer: Pugachev’s Cobra Brewery: Hangar 24 Craft Brewery Style: Imperial Stout ABV: 13.8 percent The creation tale of many leaders of the craft beer industry began with a hobby; homebrewing. In need of a downtime activity, today’s master brewers started cooking up and bottling beers. They soon found they were…

How to Make a Twentieth Century Cocktail

It’s kind of fun looking through my bar books for some cocktailian inspiration. Quite a few of the recipes (especially the ones on the sticky pages, just like cookbooks) have memories attached to them, and good times are always involved. It beats the hell out of looking at now-questionable hairstyles…

Etna Rosso: Stuff I’m Geekin’ On

I know, I know, when I geek out on a wine oftentimes it’s so obscure nobody has heard of it and certainly can’t find it. But sometimes I come across a wine or category of wines that are so unique and speak so loudly of their terroir, or sense of…

15 Essential Spirits Under $50 to Stock Your Home Bar

If you’re looking to start or just beef up your home bar, it can be pretty tricky to know which spirits and liqueurs will get you the most bang for your buck. Without going low on the liquor shelf, we’ve assembled a list of fifteen recommendations under $50 that will…

Alesmith Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy

Beer: Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy Brewery: AleSmith Brewing Co. Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy ABV: 10 percent ‘Twas a time, dear readers, when getting your hands on one of AleSmith’s barrel-aged beers was a Very Big Deal. These bottles were among the rarest and most highly sought-after in all the land; those…

How to Make a Royal Hawaiian Cocktail

It’s certainly busy season around the restaurant. It’s great to see endless streams of happy folks from out of town coming in to enjoy themselves. And the corresponding bump in my paycheck is pretty damn nice, too. But I can’t help but feel a little envious. I’ve found myself researching…

The 5 Geekiest Online Wine Sites

Many of our life experiences have been enhanced by the internet. Just think about the days prior to Facebook when all we got were a few birthday cards and now we awake on our birthday to several dozen birthday wishes. Our wine experience is no different, the wealth of content…

Blame Canada for Parallel 49 Salty Scot

Beer: Salty Scot Brewery: Parallel 49 Style: Scotch Ale ABV: 7.5 percent Another week, another brewery shipping its beers to Arizona shelves. Parallel 49 isn’t your usual new entrant to the American craft beer landscape, however — namely because it’s not American at all. The brewery’s located in Vancouver, British…

How to Make a Sherry Cobbler

We’re more than a little crazy about wine at the restaurant where I work. So, it stands to reason that some of the cocktails we have draw inspiration from the wine world. For example, we recently picked up several bottles of fino sherry. At first, I wasn’t sure what to…

State Senate Passes Liquor Omnibus Bill

It’s no secret that I’m a big supporter of Arizona wine. I feel like we are in the neonatal ICU in terms of birthing a vibrant wine industry here. There are currently almost 90 licensed and bonded wineries in Arizona, some of which buy grapes and make wine; others grow…

Mike Hess Brewing Co.: In Cervisia Veritas

Welcome, class, to today’s Latin lesson. Now, you may be thinking there’s no reason to learn a language that’s been out of use for hundreds of years — but you would be, as we say in Latin, in errare. If you knew Latin, for instance, you’d know that the phrase…

How to Make the Best Hurricane Cocktail

You may have noticed that Mardi Gras is just around the corner. It’s one of my favorite holidays to celebrate, largely because even if I’m not going to New Orleans, it’s a grand opportunity to celebrate the Big Easy’s rich cocktail culture…

3 Classic New Orleans Cocktails from Geoffrey Wilson of Barrelhouse

Although a search for Mardi Gras cocktails could lead you on a dark path of artificial ingredients and goofy garnishes, Geoffrey Wilson of Chandler’s Barrelhouse is here to keep you from being led astray. While working with the legendary New Orleans bartender Chris McMillian, Wilson learned a fair amount about…

Nebraska Brewing Co.’s Barrel Aged Reserve Series

Beer: Melange a Trois, Hop God and Apricot au Poivre Brewery: Nebraska Brewing Co. Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale, Belgian IPA, Saison ABV: 10.1 percent Before last week, the following list contained everything I knew about the state of Nebraska: They grow lots of corn. They have people whose job…

The Last Call Guide to Amaretto

Recently at work, I found a bottle of amaretto in the back stock of liquor. A co-worker piped up, “Oh, yeah, that’s the almond-flavored liqueur, isn’t it?” I could only reply, “Au contraire, my friend! Everyone thinks it’s an almond liqueur, but it’s not.”…