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JANUARY I 2010
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Issue: # 1
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It's Armageddon Week
Seeing as America is celebrating the birth of this new year by being preoccupied with the possibility of its cataclysmic destruction, let us join the fray and devote an entire issue to that topic as well. From Armageddon Week on the History Channel, the latest installments (both  the television series and the last year's feature film) from the Terminator franchise to the upcoming release of the movie "Legion" to name just a few, try to get away from the theme. It used to be that you could
easily avoid such fare by staying away from Charlton Heston or Mel
Gibson movies, but these days it's everywhere. All these factors made me sit back and examine everyday things a little more carefully in the hopes of finding other indicators. Are there some actual signs out there that I am overlooking? The results of my exhaustive 45 minute exercise may surprise you.
Had he lived, Elvis would celebrate his 75th birthday on Friday the 8th. We at Four Peaks hold him in high regard oftentimes holding an Elvis Day extravaganza to commemorate his death. What does this have to do with the end of the world you ask? Seeing as Elvis is considered the King Of Rock n Roll and Rock n' Roll is the "devil's music", Elvis, by default, is obviously Satan himself... how could he not be included. It appears that around 50,000 people are going to make a pilgrimage to Graceland this Friday for a candlelight vigil (read: raise him from the  DEAD!). If these nefarious plans come to fruition Friday night, shouldn't that be all the more reason to stop in to Four Peaks and enjoy a Kilt Lifter one last time? You know I'm right!
The Arizona Cardinals have won the NFC West 2 years in a row and will subsequently try to make it back to the Super Bowl starting this Sunday at 2:40pm. If this is not one of the proverbial signs of the Rapture in light of the last 70 or so seasons, I don't know what is! Fortunately, we at Four Peaks will be televising these developments live and in High Definition every step of the way. The day of Jehovah's fury has never looked so crisp!
Later that evening the FOX animated sitcom "The Simpsons" will be televising their 450th episode further cementing their place as the longest running prime time TV series. What is their connection to the final endgame? I don't know!!!
With the Brewers on hiatus for one more week, I felt compelled to pull out a classic Blog from early last year, I followed that up with a piece on the 3 things you should do before Armageddon arrives. Lastly, David Tanzi from North Scottsdale covers for Mr. Krutchko for an article that can only be described as thought provoking. Enjoy this weeks brewsletter and what better way to send you off than with a quote form the original Hollywood doomsayer himself, Mr. Charlton Heston:
"You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ahhh, damn you! God damn you all to hell!"
Your Friends at The Four Peaks Brewery and Four Peaks Grill & Tap |
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1340 East 8th Street #104
Tempe, Arizona 85281
480.303.9967
480.303.9964 fax
MAP IT
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15730 North Pima Road
Suite D5-7
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
480.991.1795
480.991.1796 fax
MAP IT
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"The End Is Nigh" Event Planner
Aren't there a few things that you've been meaning to do? Activities and events that keep coming up but you continually utilize the, "I'll do it next time" excuse. You know what I'm talking about. Seeing as the end of the world is right around the corner according to all sources, I have compiled  a list of 3 "must-do" events you should experience before you are taken to the great hereafter.
The first (and possibly last) Four Peaks Cheese Puff Day of 2010 will be taking place on Wednesday, January 13th. Our kitchen lovingly prepares a delicious combination of potatoes with our secret blend of cheeses. They are then lightly fried to perfection for a fluffy taste treat your mouth will salivate over. Our very own homemade marinara sauce is the perfect accompaniment to the original Four Peaks appetizer too good for our conventional menu. Let one order of these delectable concoctions help you to reach
the equivalent of culinary nirvana before the actual one approaches Stop in early, supplies are as limited as your time on this mortal coil!
If the worlds' end doesn't coincide with the first Cheese Puff Day of the year you should take part in the P.F. Chang's Rock n' Roll Marathon on Sunday, January 17th. Do the full marathon or take part in the half, the weather is too nice to not be regaled by live music while you try to accomplish what the very first marathon runner couldn't do...survive! This year's Rock n' Roll Marathon will feature headliners Everclear (whose song "Santa Monica" includes the apocalyptic lyrics "swim out past the breakers/watch the world die" SPOOKY!) as well as our own Sarah Kelly who has been preparing for the run by breaking ceramic tap handles in her spare time! After successfully completing the marathon (which ends in Tempe) feel free to stop by Four Peaks to have some Sunday Brunch, a Bloody Mary or a Mimosa. While you're here make sure you catch the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional Championship Game, yet another NFL team that would, should they win the Super Bowl, mark the onset of what the Norse call Ragnarok.
Should the world last so long, I am proud to announce for the first time in print that the 10th Annual Strong Beer Festival will be held on Saturday, February 13th! This year it will be held at the Margaret T. Hance Park (map) in Downtown Phoenix (only 4 blocks away from the Phoenix light rail). The Strong Beer Fest was recently awarded the "Best Beer Festival of 2009" in the Phoenix New Times thus making it one of the premier beer tasting events to attend! The 10th Annual Strong Ale Festival is sponsored by the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild and tickets will be going on sale starting January 7th directly through their website HERE or at the Brown Paper Tickets website located by clicking HERE.
Similar to last year they are making available both regular ($35 advance/ $45 day of) and VIP ($50 advance) admission. Sure you could spend the $35 and just get the basic admission but why not throw down the extra $15 and get the VIP treatment? Seeing as the apocalypse is coming soon, just spend the extra cash since you can't take it with you. I've already cleared off some space on my "Doomsday" Calendar and you should too! More details to come next week.
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CASK-CONDITIONED AND SEASONALS
IN SCOTTSDALE AND TEMPE THIS WEEK:
8th Street Ale: Now being poured at both locations, our 8th Street Ale could quite possibly be the finest beer for you to enjoy for this upcoming apocalypse according to the History Channel.
SEASONAL DU JOUR:
Currently In Production
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The Grill & Tap Dispatch
by David Tanzi
Injuries are a fact of life in the NFL, and winning
organizations in the league know that you need depth at every position to win a
championship. Welker's out, Edelman's
in. The only thing you can do is hope
the  number two guy knows the game plan and comes ready to play. The Dispatch makes its calls to the bench as
well, as such we try to be sure we always have a few sports metaphors and some
evergreen type in the can. Two concepts
under consideration for these semi-regular pinch hits are Bitter Brews and
Half-Brewed Ideas. Bitter Brews are
opinion pieces (usually sour rants) accompanied with a Four
Peaks Ale to depict the appropriate level of bitterness, i.e:
Kiltlifter - Not bitter at all,
even a sweet undertone. A mere suggestion really, or just something we've been
mulling over.
Hop Knot IPA - A brew wholly
anchored in its bitterness. Characteristically
pungent vitriol.
Half-Brewed ideas are simply tedious brain static we service
industry types contemplate aloud with each other during periods of exceptionally
low volume. Like this one:
A Half-brewed idea...
It's long been a wish of mine that every quantitative aspect
of our lives were tallied up for us automatically in a massive database
somewhere (like the Matrix, but analog).
Imagine it; all your individual consumptions and expenditures rolling up
like mileage on a thousand tiny odometers and as accessible as baseball
statistics. I have a dream that looking
up Kirby Puckett's RBIs for the '89 season is no easier than checking my
McNugget totals for the spring of '94.
You would have to figure some career milestones would garner more
attention than birthdays and  anniversaries - and better parties too. Beer comes
to mind - are you approaching the thousand gallon mark yet?
The analytical possibilities are mind-boggling. What's a good push-up to cheeseburger ratio,
for instance (20/1)? Textbook pages read
vs. minutes of reality television watched?
You could be certain the stat geeks would come up with numerous formulas
to gauge our effectiveness in every conceivable fashion. Your carbon footprint = recycled pounds +
auto MPG / water usage in gallons. Your strength of character = volunteer
minutes worked + charitable donations / dollars spent at the strip club (are
those not charitable donations too)?
Social Virtuosity = Facebook minutes logged + Twitter posts / words
exchanged in actual human conversation.
Pitch man efficiency = units of Oxiclean sold / grams of cocaine
snorted.
Scary, huh? These are
the type of notions our malleable brains are suspect to when we have too much
time on our hands at the Grill & Tap.
Save us from ourselves by keeping us busy with your patronage. This week we are featuring audio for all the
post season football: BCS Championship game on Thursday night, and NFL Wild
Card weekend on Saturday and Sunday. The
Seasonal may be gone, but we are rarely without Barleywine and Cask up north
-make the pilgrimage!
You can contact us in
Scottsdale at 480-991-1795 or at Scottsdale@fourpeaks.com
submit all "can" photography to:
mike@fourpeaks.com
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Wednesday, January 13th: First Cheese Puff Day of 2010! We'll see you here!
Sunday, January 17th: The P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Marathon goes through town
Monday, January 18th: MLK Day
Tuesday, January 19th: ASU Spring Semester starts in case any of you "hard core" students were wondering.
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The Brewers Blog
The Brewers are taking a little extra time this week to get everything back to capacity so I delved deep into our archives and pulled out a classic from early 2009. Please enjoy their piece on getting the most out of our Kilt Lifter Scottish Amber.
It's time for another installment of "What The Hell Am I Tasting".
This week it's our flagship beer, Kilt Lifter. And, again, in the spirit of not completely
demystifying the beer we're going to keep it simple and touch on the obvious
aroma and flavor high points. You really
can over analyze things to the point of not enjoying them, "worts" and all. Sometimes, we too, just like to have a beer.
First, a style note.
Kilt Lifter is technically a Scottish-Style Ale and specifically a Scottish-style
Export Ale. The style is marked by a
distinct malty sweetness with some burnt or smoky flavors with a strong but not
lip-numbing alcohol content of around 6%.
The high malt content is due to the abundance of barley in Scotland but
also in part to a high tax rate on hops, which were not so prevalent in the
north but abundant in England. And if it
comes from England
it will be taxed. The Scottish said,
"Fine, we'll do it our way", as they are genetically pre-disposed to do, and
there you have it, Scottish-Style Ale.
See it. Kilt Lifter has a beautiful dark copper,
almost bronze color which comes not just from the addition of caramel malt
(which gives more redness) but also the use of a small amount of roasted
barley. At this low level you get hints
of brown, at high levels you get porter and eventually stout inkiness. Again, the beer should be brilliantly clear
(bright, in brewer's parlance). Also
notice the foam (if there is no foam on your beer please have the bartender
either re-pour it or top it off. Beer
must have a head). It should be an
eggshell, off-white color and consist of tight, tiny bubbles.
Sniff it. A quick note on smelling, most of what we
perceive as flavor is actually derived from our olfactory bulb in our
sinus. On the one hand, we can actually
only perceive four tastes on our tongue; sweet, sour, bitter, and salty (some
say there is a fifth flavor; umami (savory), including us). On the other hand,
the nose can perceive thousands of compounds. Doubt it? Hold your nose then drink a beer, or better
yet, hold an onion under your nose and eat an apple, you'll swear you're eating
an onion. The nose is so effective that
it even works in reverse. After we
swallow we often breathe out through our nose and, subsequently, over our
olfactory bulb, gaining more insight into favor. A good example is that burps don't have any
flavor, yet, to us, they do.
The first impression should be of lightly toasted malt. There are no late additions of hops in Kilt
Lifter, stylistically hop aroma should be minimal to none at all. This is a good beer to show malt's distinct
aroma. It's grainy and toasty and a
little sweet, not unlike fresh bread. If
you're curious as to malt's aroma you can buy malt powder in the store. You will get a little burnt toast aroma from
the roasted barley as well. Roasted
barley is just that; it's barley that has been put into a drum roaster and cooked
at 500 degrees until a rich, black color is achieved. If you're thinking that this sounds a lot
like coffee then you get a gold star; same process, same chemical reactions,
and, not surprisingly, some of the same flavors. Next, we get fruit, specifically apricots or
dried apricots. This is an ester that is
unique to our proprietary strain of ale yeast and you'll get this aroma in all
of our more malty beers. Fruity aromas
are really a signature of ales that you won't find in most lagers. Remember, there are thousands of aromatic
compounds in beer, these are just the obvious ones in this beer.
Sip it.
Actually, take a good pull (we just needed an
"s" word for continuity), nobody sips beer, it's meant to be taken by
the
mouthful. Notice the same flavors that
we anticipated from our nose; toasty, malty, a little sweet, some light
coffee
or tea and maybe some smoky burnt flavors.
You'll also notice the bitterness is there but not overpowering.
Remember, good ales are always balanced. You may also notice some
heat once you
swallow. That's the alcohol which has a
distinct flavor but in most beers it's perceived in a tactile way.
That is, as heat or as body (higher alcohol
contents will give greater mouthfeel). You
should notice, as well, the carbonation which lends some acidity.
Repeat. Repeat. Re-order.
That's as far as we'll go with this one. It's no fun being told what you should
perceive in a beer. Go out and trust you
nose.
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A Few Parting Words...
We are slowly making preparations for what will be an exciting and momentous 2010 regardless of the doomsayers forecasts. In the meantime, stop by either of our locations during the day to enjoy the continually incredible weather we are having. The first few weeks of January are traditionally a little slower during the daytime hours thus providing ample time and space to enjoy a beer or two with friends on the patio. Stop in soon, the salad days are quickly waning! Make sure you keep your eyes open in the coming weeks as we start to make some changes to the look and the feel of the Brewsletter...stay tuned! If any readers out there have any questions, comments, nuggets of wisdom, ideas, or concerns directed at this publication or the Brewery in general, please feel free to email the Brewsletter at pubrelations@fourpeaks.com. We always enjoy the input of our loyal followers and look forward to hearing from you! Click on either logo below to continue your journey with Four Peaks through the hazards of cyberspace!
Cheers!
Bruce Willis Once Again Gets Sent Out On a Routine Rescue Mission as Armageddon Week Concludes
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