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Diamond
Dave was having his best years back in the '80s. Also
back in the '80s, school started AFTER Labor Day.
Remember that?
We - and David Lee Roth,
certainly - often wax nostalgic for those days of
Pac-Man, benefit concerts, no such thing as too many
bandanas and summer lasting all summer long. But Four
Peaks has some good news for those of you who feel the
"summer" of today's school calendars too short, and that
is... once you've spent the majority of left over
student loan money on overpriced new editions of last
year's books, there will be plenty of beer to drink and
lots of excellent comfort food at the Tempe Brewpub or
the Scottsdale Grill & Tap. In fact, we promise to
consistently provide you with quality distractions from
your studies and obligations, any time you need them,
from 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. Monday - Saturday and 10 a.m. - 2
a.m. Sunday. Many of said quality distractions will be
specially-priced during the hours of 3 - 7 p.m. and 10
p.m. - close for those of you without the luxury of mom
and/or dad's credit limits.
Oh, hey! What's
this? A link to the poll for The Phoenix New Times' Best
of Phoenix Readers' Choice Award?!
(Convenient,
eh?)
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The New
Sport Sweeping the Nation
by Tim
Nnnnneuman!
A new sensation has been
taking over late nights at the renown Four Peaks
Brewery located in the heart of Tempe... Cornhole!
Yes, it's true, people by the hundreds east of the
Mississippi have been enthused with it to the
point of obsession for years now, and we're
bringing it to the "Old West".
Now before
you get any crazy ideas, I'm talking about bean
bag toss, or "bags" as it is sometimes called. The
kids these days also refer to it as baggo, sacks
and holes, Indiana horseshoes, tea bagging (I'm
not kidding), and tailgate toss to name a
few.
The ACA, or American Cornhole
Association (once again, not kidding), goes
insofar as to say, "It has been said that the game
originated in Germany in the 14th century, and
then was rediscovered in the hills of Kentucky
over 100 years ago." Where can you go wrong with
that statement? When was the last time anything
bad ever came out of Germany? I've also heard that
the school system in Kentucky is currently
teaching at a 14th century reading level these
days, so good for them!
It is also
amazingly similar to horseshoes, and since livery
stables are no longer a dime a dozen in this
state, finding a good horseshoe wholesaler may be
a bit difficult. This is why we have Four Peaks
manager and fellow cornhole enthusiast, Ryan
Rudzinski, in charge of setting up the cornhole
station on these nights! "It's fun to take
your lady out for some good, old fashioned
cornholing every once in a while, it's good
wholesome fun and it rarely gets messy," he once
was never heard actually saying.
Cornhole
is available to all takers Sunday through
Wednesday night after 11p.m. until close. Be the
first on your block to register at least one of
the following (again, not kidding, and according
to that wealth of knowledge,
Wikipedia):
1) "Two
Bagger": also known as a "Raczka". A
toss where a player gets two cornholes in one
throw. This usually occurs by knocking in a bag
that was already hanging over the
hole.
2) "Ménage à
Trois": when a player knocks in one
of their bag and two bags of their opponent, or
two of theirs and one of their opponents.
3)
"Woodie": a bag that lands on the
board.
4)
"Leprechaun": getting all four bags
on the board.
5)
"Munsoned": the act of a player
missing every shot for at least three turns of
throwing.
6)
"Hutniked": the act of losing a game
by minimum of eighteen points.
7)
"Deano": a toss that falls short of
the board.
Let's all be in this together to
not make cornhole another East Coast elitist sport
like lacrosse, rugby or spying on the Kennedy
compound during a "mixer". Plus Reverse Happy Hour
specials abound with $3 pints, $11 pitchers, and
discounted well cocktails from 10 p.m. to close.
Unfortunately no moonshine is available (sorry
Kentucky!).
Cornhole
101
For The
Professional Bagger |
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Ladies
and Gentlemen, Elvis Has Left The
Building
Elvis made his big return to center
stage at Four Peaks last Saturday night to an
uproarious response! Just to recap, there was
masterful hula hooping and mass cheese puff
consumption bordering on gluttony whilst
surrounded by "Elvii" of all decades.
Blue
Hawaii Elvis seemed to be the most popular of all
his incarnations by far, and no one channeled The
King's island style and panache quite like costume
contest winner Juan Presley!
The
First Ever Cheese Puff Eat-Off
The first and most popular
competition by far was the cheese puff eating
contest. Although there were many contestants,
there could be only one cheese puff eating
equivalent to The Highlander, Mr. Kyle
Welch! Yes, this puff-loving madman went
the extra mile and defended his mind blowing first
round time of six puffs in 34.723 seconds with a
second round time (and ANOTHER six puffs!) of
41.224 seconds. (All times recorded to the
thousandth by the Rolex TimeMaster 3000, just to
one up the Olympics). No one else even came close.
We even witnessed for the first time in 4PBC
recorded history someone take down a ramekin of marinara as a
chaser. Hats off to you, Kyle Welch, you are a
bigger (and now heavier) man than
I.
Hula
Hooping With The King
 Although many folks took advantage of the
hula hoops provided by our esteemed management
team, when challenged with the hoop mastery of one
Savannah Boles most were just left in awe. It is
true, alcohol and hoopery do seem to mix! We
just ask, as always, please have a designated
driver and always attempt under strict
supervision. And if you have to ask, "Does this
make me look dumb?" trust the answer is, "No, it
makes you look totally awesome!" Just behold the picture of our champion to
the left!
We would like to thank all the fine folks
who participated and enjoyed our return to Elvis
night. We hope you had as much fun as we did, and
look forward to doing more functions of this type
whenever we feel there is a celebrity we can
exploit!
One Last
Chance If You Can't Get
Enough
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Reminder: Endless Sum mer Ale On Tap!
Get it while you
can at the Tempe Brewpub or at the Grill &
Tap. Then send all heartfelt thank-yous for this
delicious, refreshing cure for endless summer woes
to brew@fourpeaks.com. Here's an imaginary
interview about this wonderfully mysterious brew
written by our Brewmaster and yours, Andy Ingram.
What is it?Endless
Summer Ale is our version of an English-style
Summer Ale. This type of English specialty beer is
usually marked by a light color (golden, straw),
light body and a noticeable but not overpowering
fresh hop aroma. English Summer Ales have
traditionally also had some secret ingredients
added to enhance the crispness of the beer and
also to kind of keep the drinker guessing. Endless
Summer Ale is no different; although we won't
reveal the ingredient here. Let the rumor mill
begin... What's the "secret
ingredient"?Nice
try. Who brewed
it?Charlie chose this style. It
seemed perfect for a late (seemingly endless)
summer beer. What's it
like?Well, there are few commercial
examples of this style but it can best be
described as a lighter, more crisp version of an
English pale ale. Very refreshing.
What's the
"secret ingredient"?Oh, alright...
Grains of Paradise.  What the hell is
that!?A West African spice reminiscent
of coriander, black pepper, jasmine, and some say
hazelnut. You'll have to decide for yourself. It's
also widely used in Voodoo ceremonies for its
"medicinal" properties. (I don't know, Randito
told me that). The character it lends to Endless
Summer Ale is one of a dry spiciness that's hard
to describe but very drinkable. In fact,
Hendrix is probably drinking or smoking something
right now with Grains of Paradise in it. Mazarabic
Monkfish with Grains of
Paradise | |
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| UPCOMING EVENTS |
Friday,
September 26th: Grill-Tastic Beer
Dinner @ The
Phoenician Resort's Windows on The Green.
Featuring five craft ale and food pairings at $60
per person, all-inclusive. For more information at
this time, you can email Ted Golden. Sunday, October 12th: Walk to
Defeat ALS. To join Four Peaks' Walk Team, or for
more information, visit our Walk Team
Page!Wednesday, November
12th: Fourth Annual Four Peaks
Charity Golf Tournament to Benefit The ALS
Assocation of Arizona. Details to
come. |
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Brewers
Blog XI:
Giving Back to the Community One Beer at a
Time We came across a pretty
interesting website the other day that really
proved what we've known all along: beer serves
America. Actually, that's the
website, beerservesamerica.org. It's
put out by the legislative watchdog group for our
industry, The Beer Institute. If you have a few
minutes and have ever wondered what sort of impact
our industry has on the nation and on our state we
urge you to check it out. And the next time some
neo-prohibitionist/MADD member tries to convince
you of the evil that is done by the brewing
industry just forward the site to them. Not
that they'd read it.
It
got us thinking, though (which is dangerous). On
any given week there are 20 to 30 different
contractors with whom we deal. From electricians
to plumbers to welders to the guys that supply our
malt and to the drivers that deliver those goods,
we touch a lot of people in the community. And
that's typical for any brewery. It's been that way
for decades. We can't survive without those
services, and in turn those businesses would be
worse off without us. Also, we do try to make an
effort to use only local contractors and, whenever
we can, we buy locally. It's a way for us to keep
the dollars our patrons have so graciously spent
on us close to home.
Now, The Bird is a big
place and our impact on the economy is probably
not huge (despite what we pay in taxes...ouch),
but consider the impact in a smaller town or
somewhere where the economy is slower and you
could see the value a brewery brings to a
community. We're just proud to play our part and
we're thankful that others in the Valley decide to
spend their money on a locally made beer. In the
end it helps everyone.
This is
cool, the economic impact of the brewing industry
to
Arizona!
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Matt
McCormack, Elvis' Lost Son?
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National Strength and
Conditioning
Association
and
CASK-CONDITIONING
IN TEMPE
THIS WEEKKilt Lifter:
It isn't often the Kilt Lifter gets casked.
Trust us when we say an Imperial pint of
cask-conditioned Kilt Lifter is delicious enough
for a special trip to the Tempe Brewpub for an
Imperial Pint. Kent Golding hops gently kiss the
Kilt's malty richness with just the right balance
of bitterness (and inspire poetry, apparently). In
a word: Yum. 6.2% Alc./Vol.
IN SCOTTSDALE
THIS WEEK
8th Street Ale: It's
like our award-winning English Style "Best Bitter"
was made for cask conditioning. Mellow bitterness
and a slightly sweet malt flavor accompany a
heavenly hop aroma derived from lots and lots of
rare imported Kentish hops. 4.5%
Alc./Vol. Man, we're having to stretch to
come up with SOMETHING conditioning-related. We've
exhausted the word "cask" and after just two
Brewsletters, we feel "conditioning" is also on
its way out - unless we can come up with some cool
anagrams for it. But who has time for
THAT? Link to
the NSCA, in case you're
interested.Anagrams
for
"CONDITIONING" |
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The Grill & Tap
Dispatch
by Karina
Lang
Well, shoot, the summer has
basically come and gone, and those of us in school
must once again spend our days and nights learning
about the wonders of the world. It feels like just
yesterday that we finished up the spring
semester... but alas, summer fun does come to an
end. Fortunately, I have no complaints since I
graduate in December (yay!).
 Anyway, the crew
up here at Four Peaks Grill &
Tap has something new and exciting for you. So,
this is how it works; along with our daily dinner
specials, we will also offer a beer and cheese
tasting menu every Wednesday night. There will be
three cheeses paired perfectly with three pilsners
of our own Four Peaks hand-crafted ales, with
descriptions of each alongside.
The best part is the beers and cheeses will vary
week to week. You can't miss out on this extra-fun
feature every Wednesday.
All you
football enthusiasts, it's about that time, so if
you haven't been keeping up with our Brewsletter
each week, I just wanted to remind you that the
Grill & Tap has some great specials for the
football season. Not only do our pints of beer
flow freely but look out for our personal twists
on the traditional Bloody Mary to go along with
the Valley's best brunch! I hope all you
students have a good first week back in school,
and we'll see you next week!
Cheese
serious!
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And so ends another Four Peaks Brewsletter.
We thought it only fitting to remind you all once
again that school will be starting soon and that
means two distinct things, football and cooler
weather! But even though the beginning of
the end of summer is nigh, that doesn't mean that
our Endless Summer Ale is anywhere near being
out! We still have plenty for all the warm
weather lovers out there!
If that
isn't enough for you, keep your eyes open this
Autumn (not this week, next week, nor the week
after that - but SOMETIME in the Fall) as we will
proudly be unveiling our Hop Knot in bottles! You
read correctly, after years of being in the
planning stages we will be making available our
popular Hop Knot I.P.A. exclusively at our Tempe
and Scottsdale locations. It will be packaged only
by the case so as not to leave you thirsty! More
on this topic in the coming weeks!
Did
someone say Hop Knot in bottles?! 
The Rabble at Four Peaks
Taking It Up a Notch
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