When I travel, I'm often asked how the brewing scene is here, such was the case at the 2011 Beer Bloggers Conference in Portland last week. Arizonans consume a number of well brewed beers from places spanning the country as this list demonstrates (beers not available are in red-- my emphasis). By my count 11 or 12 (corrections welcome) American beers aren't available here depending on whether you count the recently departed from our state, Avery Brewing. All of the top imports are available here. There are a number of problems with list like these, which I don't intend to discuss. What I will tell you is that these beers represent a common set of reference points for craft beer drinkers all over the nation. With that premise, I'd argue that Phoenix is fluent in the language of beer.
Before you scan the list for Arizona beer (zero), bear in mind that most of these beers enjoy multi-state distribution and some are very near national distribution. But for perhaps Nimbus A-1 reaching San Diego and possibly the breweries in Havasu crossing state lines, Arizona beer is distributed exclusively in the state. This is famously so in the case of Four Peaks. So it would be rather remarkable for beers with such a limited scope of distribution to have an impact on a list like this. There are exceptions to this such as the Wisconsin-only New Glarus hitting number 16.
We know good beer in Arizona and I think my fellow bloggers were surprised at what we can get and drink here. They were shocked to hear that the best selling local craft was a Scottish style ale, that we recently had summer tappings of DFH 120 and that Papago brews specialty Porters year round. They thought the weather would make us succumb to light lagers at worst or cream ales at best. (I did not relate our deficiency in Witbier, Saison and refreshing wild ales, but we can keep that our secret.)
We speak beer geek here, but they are not familiar with our dialect.
See the list after the jump!
Top-Ranked Beers
We have a three-peat! Russian River's Pliny the Elder, a double IPA, claimed the top spot for the third straight year. Finishing second for the second straight year was Bell's Two Hearted Ale, an IPA.(T indicates tie)
Red - not available in AZ| 1. Russian River Pliny the Elder |
| 2. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale |
| T3. Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA |
| T3. Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout |
| 5. Bell’s Hopslam |
| 6. Stone Arrogant Bastard |
| 7. Sierra Nevada Celebration |
| T8. Sierra Nevada Torpedo |
| T8. Stone Ruination |
| 10. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale |
| 11. Stone Sublimely Self Righteous |
| 12. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine |
| 13. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout |
| T14. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter |
| T14. Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale |
| T16. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA |
| T16. New Glarus Belgian Red |
| 18. North Coast Old Rasputin |
| 19. Bell’s Expedition Stout |
| T20. Deschutes The Abyss |
| T20. Left Hand Milk Stout |
| T20. Odell IPA |
| T20. Samuel Adams Noble Pils |
| T20. Surly Furious |
| T20. Troegs Nugget Nectar |
| T26. Rogue Dead Guy Ale |
| T26. Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
| 28. Anchor Steam |
| T29. Bear Republic Racer 5 |
| T29. Ommegang Three Philosophers |
| T29. Oskar Blues Ten Fidy |
| T29. Three Floyds Alpha King |
| T29. Three Floyds Dark Lord |
| T34. Avery Maharaja |
| T34. Dogfish Head Indian Brown |
| T34. Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron |
| T34. Three Floyds Gumballhead |
| T38. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA |
| T38. Lost Abbey Angel’s Share |
| T38. New Belgium La Folie |
| T38. New Belgium Ranger |
| T38. Oskar Blues Old Chub |
| T43. Ballast Point Sculpin IPA |
| T43. Great Divide Yeti |
| T43. New Belgium 1554 |
| T43. Russian River Blind Pig |
| T43. Ska Modus Hoperandi |
| T48. Alesmith Speedway Stout |
| T48. Dark Horse Crooked Tree |
| T48. Green Flash West Coast IPA |
| T48. Summit EPA |
| T48. Victory Prima Pils |
| 1. Rodenbach Grand Cru, Belgium |
| T2. Fullers ESB, England |
| T2. Guinness, Ireland |
| T2. Rochefort 10, Belgium |
| T5. Duvel, Belgium |
| T5. Saison Dupont, Belgium |
| T5. St. Bernardus Abt 12, Belgium |
| T8. Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, Germany |
| T8. Cantillon Gueuze, Belgium |
| T8. Chimay Grande Reserve, Belgium |
| T8. Orval, Belgium |
| T8. Samuel Smith's Nut Brown, England |
| T8. Unibroue La Fin du Monde, Canada |
Please find a way to bring the Dark Horse line to AZ. T-48th is way too low for the Crooked Tree
ReplyDeleteRob, what happened to Avery? It really didn't dawn on me I haven't found some of their beers I use to grab once in a while...
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to find a way to get Russian River into this state.
ReplyDelete