Borderlands Brewing Company in Tucson was my kind of place. Set in an old warehouse near downtown, this brewery had ambiance and style.  This was the first brewery I found that wasn’t a brew pub– but was just a nice place where locals could come and have a decent brew.  I really just wish that the beers  here had lived up to the atmosphere. I have to give this place an A+ for creativity though, as they really gave it a try with one of their brews and definitely were true to a brewery style feel.

The Honey Kolsch was not not very good, unfortunately. It didn’t have much nose and had an odd aftertaste the reminded me of burnt metal. This was definitely not their best.

The next was the most creative beer I think I have ever seen–Prickly Pear Wheat.  This beer was pink just like a pickly pear.  Although the color might be a bit off-putting, the taste was not. It was sweet and tasted a lot like prickly pear, but with a tangy finish. Was this a great beer? No but it was something unique and creative. I love it when a brewery tries to stay true to their location and make something that you won’t see anywhere else.

The Ol Loco IPA did have much nose but just subtle hops. This was a very smooth beer for an IPA and seemed much more of a pale ale to me. Over all a very decent beer.

Las Almas Belgian had a toasty nose with a weird aftertaste that reminded me a bit of dirt. Not a horrible beer, but definitely not the best.

The Noche Dulce Vanilla Porter was their best overall beer. It had a great vanilla nose like a vanilla latte. The vanilla was very strong so you would have to like vanilla for this one but overall a good beer.

So, should you visit Borderlands while in Tucson? I would say definitely if you want an authentic brewery experience with minimal furnishings, wooden seats and tables, and low lighting.  The night I was there also featured a good rock band.  This was definitely my kind of place and I just hope the beers catch up to the ambiance.

Today we move on to Tucson.  I actually used to live here when I went to school so I know that back in the day there were no good beer places around.  That has changed a lot.  1702 was recommended to me on Facebook by a local and I wanted to give this great place a “shout out.” Although not a brewery, I wanted to highlight this pizzeria because of their great selection of craft beers, particularly local ones.

1702 is located at 1702 Speedway at the end of campus in a little strip mall. It is unassuming and kind of a hole in the wall. The parking area is kind of difficult to find.  However, when you figure it all out, you are in for a treat.

I must mention that the pizza here is really good but the thing that stands out if the beer list.  They have close to 50 beers on the list with a large selection of Arizona beers.  I had to try a few.

On my visit to SanTan, the Blueberry Saison was not available but luckily I got to try it here. I am not a huge fan of fruit beers as they are often too heavy on the fruit. This saison had a light blueberry nose and taste. This was a very easy to drink beer.

Dragoon Unihopper had light hop on the nose and light bitter finish. It was a very fresh tasting beer that was not overly hoppy making it easy to drink and good for a variety of beer lovers, not just IPA fans.  Note to Dragoon– I really wanted to visit your brewery but you are not open on Sundays. What brewery isn’t open on Sundays? Sundays are a big have a beer in the afternoon days. You might want to reconsider this. 

Historic Short Shorts Session IPA didn’t have much flavor or nose. It was also very light in color.  I didn’t get much IPA out of this one and even for a session it was a bit too easy.

Mother Road Lost Highway Black IPA had a good nose of coffee but the taste was more of malt than of hops. It also had a finish at the end that tasted a bit like wintergreen, which I found a little off-putting.

Oak Creek Traitor Joe didn’t have much nose and had a funky taste. There wasn’t much hop here either. It tasted much more of a burnt malt that leaves a lingering coffee taste. 

This was my last stop in the Phoenix metro area and it was a great one.  I had actually never been to downtown Chandler where the brewpub is located and thought it was quite charming. With a big patio right on the main street in town, this brewpub is a great place to sit outside and have a meal and beer. A lot of people must have had this idea because it was quite busy for a weekday lunch spot.

As usual, I did a sampler so I could give most of their beers on draft a try.

I started with the Sunspot Gold, a blonde ale.  This beer was ok but didn’t have much of a nose, there was a just a hint of this on the nose and at the finish.  I am not a huge fan of this style and it would make a good beer on a hot day.  I actually have one in the fridge I got at the Total Wine in Tucson so maybe I will save it to give it a try after yardwork on a hot day.

The Hefeweizen here was not my favorite. The banana in this beer was really overpowering and not balanced. Oddly though, the banana doesn’t come through much in the nose. There was also a slight metallic after taste to this beer.

The Epicenter Amber also didn’t have much nose and was quite weak for an amber. There really wasn’t a taste of toasted malt that you would expect.

The Devil’s Ale is worth the trip to this brewery. This is a good solid pale ale with great hop on the nose. The taste is very balanced. I had forgotten how good this beer was until I drank the can I got in Tucson last night. Now I really wish I had another one.

The HopShock IPA was a good solid IPA in flavor but the hop didn’t really come through much on the nose.  It was another good beer and worth a trip to the brewery.

Gordo Stout is characterized as an Irish stout. I had good flavors of roasted malt and a very nice silky mouth feel. I would definitely go for this over a Guinness any day.

The Sex Panther double chocolate porter was, however, a bit of a let down. There was not much nose and it was very weak on the chocolate flavor.

Negro Nitro was a black IPA served on nitro. Please don’t serve IPAs on cask or on nitro– it destroys the hop flavors leaving the beer bland. In addition, you want that nice bubbly effervescence in an IPA, not that silky mouth feel. This was probably a very good beer as it had a nice hop nose. However, the flavors of those hops were lost on nitro. I wish this beer were served as it should have been because I feel I missed a great beer.

All in all, SanTan has it all– a couple of great beers, a great location, and great food. This is a must if you find yourself in the Phoenix metro area.

This was the last of my Scottsdale brewery visits and it really wasn’t my favorite. I do have to say that the pizza here was worth the trip but the beers really weren’t. I got the impression that a few of the beers here were trying to impersonate popular beers, especially ones that probably shouldn’t be imitated.

The first one I started with was the Cream Ale. This beer could easily pass for Budweiser. I don’t think I need to say more.

The Ber”lime”ner was a imitation of Bud Light Lime.  I have to say this one was a bit better as the lime tasted like real lime, not Skittles candies.  The lime nose was very strong here as was the taste. I really felt the lime overpowered the beer.

The Irish Red was was actually ok with a nutty taste on end and a nose of roasted malt.

The Pale Oat Pale was the best beer here. It had a really nice nose and a nice hop flavor. However, there was a slight bit of sulfur in it that was not really that off putting but noticeable. The mouth feel was very interesting– smooth and silky like a stout.  I thought this was very clever idea and I have actually never seen it done before.

The American Pale, on the other hand, didn’t have much nose and was a bit too bitter on the end. It wasn’t bad but nothing special.

The Candy Bar Milk Stout was a great beer for those who like sweet stouts. The nose was reminiscent of a Snickers bar. The taste was a good combination of peanut and chocolate flavor.

The Anniversary Double Porter Pale Ale had good nose of hops but again was nothing special. Also the alcohol content was low for a double.

Would I go back to Fate-– yes but more for the pizza than the beer. However, if you are going to have pizza, you have to have beer!

I kind of found O.H.S.O. by accident.  We were visiting Four Peaks brewery at their Scottsdale location and right across the parking lot was O.H.S.O.  My husband had read about this Orange Blossom Ale from Papago that was always on tap at O.H.S.O. so I had to go and try this.

O.H.S.O. does their own beers and although the day we visited there were three listed on the menu, only one was actually available. The Grovey was their orange pale ale. It had a slight hop on the nose with hints of sweetness in the aroma. However, I thought that one of the hop choices clashed with the taste of the orange in this beer. It had great potential but really didn’t work for me.

I really didn’t want to waste my time at O.H.S.O. but I really don’t like to do guest taps at local breweries as part of my review. However, here I felt that I didn’t really have a choice. So, I selected a few interesting Arizona brews from the menu from breweries I knew I would not get a chance to visit.

Now the Orange Blossom Ale from Papago was a different story from The Grovey. I have to put this up as one of my top 10 favorite beers. It  was light and fresh with not just orange but lots of vanilla. The result was a sort of creamsicle in a beer. It was not overly sweet but very full of vanilla flavors. The nose here was reminiscent of perfume.

The White Chocolate from Sonoran Brewery was another great one.  This was a American wheat that had the nose and taste of white chocolate. Although too sweet for more than one, this beer was unique and like a dessert in a bottle.

The Rice Pudding Porter from Huss Brewing was also quite unique with tastes of nutmeg, clove and vanilla. Overall this was a very good porter with a great toasted flavor.

Lost Highway Black IPA from Mother Road Brewery in Flagstaff had a great nose of hop and toasted malt.  However there was a very strong hop flavor at the end that was a bit overpowering. Not a bad beer this just wasn’t my favorite black IPA.

Today starts the first of the blogs from my recent trip to Arizona.  Things have really changed there in terms of the beer scene since I went to school there (not giving a date just a long time ago).  We thought great beer then was Pacifico and Corona and the best domestics were Budweiser and Miller High Life.  I mostly drank wine coolers back then (see I am dating myself).

Today, there are dozens of breweries in the state. Some are making some great beers.  I started out in Phoenix and was told that Four Peaks was the way to go.  I had a few of their beers at a local watering hole in downtown Phoenix called the Rose and Crown. I am pretty sure the lines still had cleaning solution in them there as the beers all tasted a bit like chlorine, so I wasn’t all that impressed with my first try.  Nevertheless, I decided to make a trip out to one of their brew pubs.

I visited the Scottsdale located which sits in a very crowded strip mall right off the interstate. Parking seemed to be an issue there so I would suggest that you get there early.  I can’t imagine what parking would be like around 8 pm on a Saturday night as I visited about 5 pm on a Thursday.

The atmosphere is friendly and the location boasts a large patio, which unfortunately faces onto a parking lot.  Being as that I had other stops to make that night, including to OHSO which sits right across the parking lot, I started with a sampler.

The Sunbru is a kolsch with a traditional yeasty finish. This was actually a pretty good kolsch as it didn’t have that brash finish that many kolsches do.  I am not a big fan of this style of beer but could see this would be great on a hot day and perfect for the Arizona climate.

The Hefeweizen here was my absolute favorite.  I am generally not a fan of hefes either but this was perfect.  It had great tastes of banana and clove without either flavor being overpowering.  There is a hint of a cleanness in the finish.  I looked for this beer in bottle or can and couldn’t find it.  I highly recommend this one, even if you are not a hefe fan.

The Peach Ale was too similar to Sea Dog’s Sunfish for my taste. In fact, to me it tasted exactly identical. I do like Sunfish so I found it a pleasing beer, I had just wished it was more original. Like Sunfish, it has a pleasing peach nose but is not too sweet in the finish.

The Kiltlifter is the Scottish style ale. This beer doesn’t have much nose but retains a bit of sweetness on the finish.  It then ends in a classic English bitter taste.

The 8th Street Pale Ale had no nose and was weak for a pale ale.  It had only subtle hints of hops and would really be improved with more flavor. Although an English style pale ale, it really was mild.

The Hop Knot IPA on the other hand had a great hoppy nose and you can smell several varieties of hops in it. It had a great hop bitter finish.  This was a good solid IPA.

Raj IPA didn’t have that great hop nose or finish.  It is very weak for an IPA. True hop lovers should stick to the Hop Knot.

The Oatmeal Stout was a good solid oatmeal stout with a good coffee nose.

The Pumpkin Stout was another good one.  Like Warlock, the pumpkin here takes a back seat to the nutmeg.  However, unlike Warlock, this beer doesn’t have a beefy mouth feel. The mouth feel is weaker, as is the color, being more like a porter than a true stout.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Four Peak Brewing Company. The beers here are mostly solid representations of style.  I even brought a few of them home with me, including the Peach Ale.  If you find yourself in the Phoenix area, this is definitely worth a stop and with four locations (including in the airport), you should be able to find one nearby.