Ommegang’s Game of Thrones Iron Throne Blonde Ale

gearpatrol.com Beer: Game of Thrones Iron Throne Blonde Ale Brewery: Brewery Ommegang Style: Belgian Blonde ABV: 6.5 percent Winter is coming, my brothers. I’ve just received a raven from the far-off land of Cooperstown, New York, where the alchemist guild at Brewery Ommegang has been working hard on a series…

Corpse Reviver: Bringing a Cocktail Back from the Dead

Ring the bell — it’s time for Last Call, where JK Grence, bartender at Shady’s, serves up booze advice and recipes. Got a burning question for your bartender? Leave it in the comments and it might be answered in a future column. Names are a funny thing. Names get even…

A Basketful of Wine Recommendations for Easter

We love drinking wine at Easter time. And we’re not talking about communion wine. Easter is a holiday known for its amazingly diverse varieties of “brunch.” This often includes everything from quiche and lamb to ham and fruit. Choosing a wine for Easter is not for the faint of heart…

Windsor in Phoenix: Happy Hour Report Card

The Spot: Windsor, 5223 North Central Avenue, 602-279-1111, www.windsoraz.com. See Also: – Culinary Dropout at The Yard in Phoenix: Happy Hour Report Card – Butter Pecan and Vietnamese Coffee Ice Creams at Windsor/Churn – Windsor: Happy Hour Report Card The Hours: Happy Hour is offered daily from 11 a.m. to…

Now Available in Arizona: Upright Seven

Beer: Seven Brewery: Upright Brewing Co. Style: Saison ABV: 8 percent Not sure if you guys have noticed, but craft beer is going all Manifest Destiny right now. With the likes of New Belgium, Oskar Blues, and Green Flash breaking ground on East Coast facilities, big brands are going nationwide…

How To Make (and Pronounce!) Great Caipirinhas

Ring the bell, it’s time for Last Call, where JK Grence, bartender at Shady’s, serves up booze advice and recipes. Got a burning question for your bartender? Leave it in the comments and it might be answered in a future column. The folks who come in to the bar lately…

Sangria Recipes from Three Restaurants in Metro Phoenix

Not that there’s ever a bad time for sangria, but sunny days and warmer temperatures mean that you might want to perk up your wine with some fruit, brandy, and other delicious sweetness. We asked three Valley restaurants to give up their amazing in house sangria recipes and tips (Did…

Culinary Dropout at The Yard in Phoenix: Happy Hour Report Card

The Spot: Culinary Dropout at The Yard, 5632 North Seventh Street Phoenix, 602-680-4040, http://www.foxrc.com/. See Also: – Culinary Dropout: Happy Hour Report Card – 9 Great Places to Drink Outdoors in Metro Phoenix – Black Apple Mischief at Culinary Dropout The Hours: Happy Hour is offered from Monday through Friday…

Wynkoop Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout: A Beer With Balls

wynkoop.comBeer: Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout Brewery: Wynkoop Brewing Co. Style: Foreign Export Stout ABV: 7.5 percent This week’s beer is…huuurrrp. Excuse me. Um, this week’s beer…HLEEAAHHHurkurkBLLEAAHH! Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Let’s get a little distance between us and that picture, shall we? :)…

What the Heck Is a Soledan Cocktail — and How to Make It

There are a number of things I love about my career as a bartender. One excellent part is that when I take my work home with me, that means it’s time to try some new cocktails. A favorite source of mine is the nice folks at the Phoenix Public Library…

Arizona Wine at Devoured 2013

Pavle Milic knows his way around a bottle of Arizona wine, so when he graciously offered to give us the rundown on the local wine showcased last weekend at Devoured, we jumped at the chance. Full disclosure: As co-owner of FnB in Scottsdale, Milic serves AZ wine and he’s in…

Sun Up Brewery in Phoenix: Happy Hour Report Card

The Spot: Sun Up Brewery, 322 East Camelback Road, 602-279-8909, www.sunupbrewing.com See Also: – Fate Brewing Company: Happy Hour Report Card – Eleven Favorite Phoenix Beers – Uwe Boer of SunUp Brewing Co., the Jolliest Man in Brewing The Hours: Happy Hour is offered daily from 3 to 6 p.m…

Ballast Point Indra Kunindra: The Weirdest Beer You’ll Ever Try

Beer: Indra Kunindra Brewery: Ballast Point Brewing Co. Style: Foreign Export Stout ABV: 7 percent As we learned last week, some beers taste odd due to storage issues, dirty equipment, or poor brewing technique. Some beers, however, taste weird by design. See also: – Old World Brewery – You “Must”…

Aviation Cocktail: Your Taste Buds Are Cleared for Takeoff

Ring the bell, it’s time for Last Call, in which JK Grence, bartender at Shady’s, serves up booze advice and recipes. Got a burning question for your bartender? Leave it in the comments and it might be answered in a future column. Every now and again, a movie comes along…

Old World Brewery: The Old World Must’ve Been Messed Up

A word often flung around the beer-rating websites on which I sometimes dwell is homerism. The term has a broad definition, but most basically it means support for a local brewery that goes beyond what said brewery deserves. It’s most often used by people from states outside a certain brewery’s…

Blood and Sand Cocktail Is a Perfect Intro to Scotch

This week for Last Call, I’m venturing into sacred ground. To be specific, I’m sharing my favorite cocktail that involves scotch. I know, I just sent a bunch of scotch purists running for the smelling salts. For those folks, the only adornment that scotch ever needs is a couple of…

Talking Stemware with Paola Embry

Sommelier and Wrigley Mansion CEO Paola Embry told New Times last March that “The wine is one of my favorite parts of the job.” It shows. The Chilean wine expert is also co-owner of Christopher’s and Crush lounge, which has earned the Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator Magazine for…

You “Must” Try These Beer/Wine Hybrids

To look at it from afar, it would seem that the rivalry between beer drinkers and wine drinkers is as heated as the stink between, say, the Hatfields and the McCoys, or Duke and UNC. Oenophiles turn up their noses at the uncultured rubes chugging what they see as swill;…

Daily Dose MidTown: Happy Hour Report Card

The Spot: Daily Dose MidTown, 1928 East Highland Avenue, Suite F-107, 602-274-0334, www.dailydosegrill.com. See Also: – 1130 the Restaurant: Happy Hour Report Card – Old Town’s Daily Dose Opening Second Location – Sam Fox’s The Yard, Featuring Culinary Dropout, to Open February 11: Think Live Music, Tetherball, and (Later) Oysters…

1130 the Restaurant: Happy Hour Report Card

The Spot: 1130 the Restaurant, 455 North Third Street Phoenix, 602-368-3046, www.1130therestaurant.com. See Also: – Brick: Happy Hour Report Card – Dates of Arizona Beer Week and Arizona Cocktail Week Overlap Again — And Neither Group Is Budging – 6 Don’t-Miss Events During AZ Cocktail Week: Feb 16-22 The Hours:…

5 Things You Need to Know About Craft Beer in Arizona

Happy Arizona Beer Week, drinkers! Have you mapped out your schedule yet? There’s a lot to see, do and imbibe in the next few days — it’s a busy, beautiful time to be a beer lover. It’s also impossible to focus on just one beer during a time like this,…

Drink Like Hemingway with a Josie Russell Cocktail

Ring the bell, it’s time for Last Call, where JK Grence, bartender at Shady’s, serves up booze advice and recipes. Got a burning question for your bartender? Leave it in the comments and it might be answered in a future column. With both Arizona Cocktail Week and Arizona Beer Week…