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THE
What could be more appropriate than a "Hot Issue" in the
middle of winter? Seeing as most of the
nation is suffering through the bitter cold I thought, why not. So what would be the hottest thing in The
Valley right now? No, not the abundance
of "celebrities in the waning days of  their popularity" DUI mug shots (also HERE, HERE and HERE) taken in
the Valley over the last couple of years, I'm talking about the Arizona
Cardinals!
That's right, once the laughing stock of the NFL, they are
now the hottest ticket in town! After
the Philadelphia Eagles ended the Giants season, the NFC Championship Game was
officially coming to the Valley for the first time EVER.
According to my sources (any sports website) playoff tickets sold out in
6 minutes! This is a game of historic proportions; you do
NOT want to be watching this at home!
Trust me; people are going to ask you where you were when you witnessed this
piece of Arizona history and we
want you to spend it with us! Don't
believe me? How many people still ask
you:
Where were you when the Challenger exploded?
Where were you when Kennedy got shot (take your pick)?
Where were you when Kelly Clarkson won American Idol?
Where were you when Napoleon, fearing that French naval
power was not strong enough to take on the British, decided to invade Egypt
instead?
Where were you when the Germans bombed Pearl
Harbor (For you Animal House fans out there)?
If you answered "not born" or "at home" to any of
these, I'm talking to you! Kick off is
around 1:00 this Sunday afternoon with the winner  going to the Super
Bowl. That's right, one more win and
they're going to the dance! Be here to witness history with us!
What else is hot and going on in town? The P.F. Chang's Rock n' Roll Marathon that's what! Also coming up this Sunday, there will be over 70 bands and a concert at Tempe Beach Park that evening, we are going to have a busy weekend in the Valley! Be prepared for a lot of road closures or avoid them altogether by utilizing the new light rail system.
That's right, the other hot topic in town remains the new Valley METRO Light Rail. Trains are operating throughout the day and have stops less than 1 mile from the starting line, about 1/2 mile from the finish, and roughly three blocks from the wonderful Four Peaks Brewery in downtown Tempe! It should be no problem to retrieve your car now, use it!
Now, on with the Brewsletter. This week we have a discussion with the brewers about the long drought of quality Professional Football in the Valley, we give you another option in case you missed out on tickets to our latest Beer Dinner and Mike from Satellite Scottsdale gives you a brief history of Barrett-Jackson. Oh yeah, I single handedly break the Ice Princess of Vail, Miss Heather Bagley, with my cunning wordcraft in this weeks Five Questions. Now, by all means...read on!
Paalam,
Your Friends at The Four Peaks Brewery and Four Peaks Grill & Tap
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Pesto Brothers Piazza Beer Dinner!
So you waited too long and didn't get your magic ticket to this February's Four Peaks Beer Dinner. You kept looking for extra tickets to be made available at Stub Hub, Craigslist and even RazorGator.com but that came to no avail. You've bribed, begged and pleaded, you even went to church for the first time in 5 years but still nothing.
Maybe you DO have your ticket, but upon further review February 3rd is still so damn far away. What if you need a fix before that?
For parties in both camps, as well as all our friends in the Flagstaff area, have we got a gift for you! On Thursday, January 22nd, the good folks at Pesto Brothers Piazza will be hosting a beer dinner of their very own! At the time of this writing all the details are being taken care of so I don't have any real specifics to tell you about the final menu. What I do know is that the Official Four Peaks Recon Unit (Ted Golden, Randy Schultz, Andy Ingram and Jim Roper as of this moment) will be showing up to supply all the tasty beer at this event! Festivities will begin at 6:00 sharp. If they can brave the elements, why don't you? For further information, call Pesto Brothers Piazza in Historic Downtown Flagstaff (MAP) at (928) 774-3020 or contact Ted Golden at (480)  250-0640 or email ted@fourpeaks.com if interested.
All I know is that it is bound to be a good time, so show up early, do some skiing, breath in some clean air and enjoy your favorite beers with your friends at the Brewery!
While your up there, feel free to grab a bottle or draught of Four Peaks beer at any of these fine establishments. Plus, with beautiful vistas like the one below, how can you stay away? Stay classy Flagstaff!
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CASK-CONDITIONED AND SEASONALS
IN SCOTTSDALE THIS WEEK
Hop Knot I.P.A.: Combining only the finest in North American ingredients, our Hop Knot is truly representative of the U.S. As that Chevy commercial back in the '80's once chimed, we love "baseball, Hop Knot, apple pie and Chevrolet." (Any endorsement of Chevrolet was completely unintentional, we just remember the jingle!) IN TEMPE THIS WEEKHop Knot I.P.A.: Please see the above commentary for all things Hop Knot. Should we run out of this before the weekend, fear not, we have a back-up plan and it is called... 8th Street Ale: There are some beers that just come into your life and never leave, that is why I would like to, first of all, thank the Academy for this honor, God for making all this possible, and 8th Street Ale for always believing in me, especially through all the hard times... SEASONAL DU JOUR
Currently in between seasons, check back for updates!
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5 Questions With Heather Bagley...
Who is Heather Bagley you ask? Well she is the latest addition to the Tempe bartender squad, an elite corps of shock troops who defend the world against sobriety. She has a long and fascinating history in both the bar/restaurant arena and personally. Originally from the greater Salt Lake City area, she has also spent time in Orange County (The O.C. for  all you hipsters) and Vail, Colorado before finding herself here. But what do we really know about this Heather? What makes her tick? Is she secretly a ninja? Perhaps she is a highly advanced android hellbent on overthrowing the Brewery. I'll tell you what I think, these new pink highlights in her hair are indicative of some sort of right of passage, but she insists its just "something new." Well, I'm on to you and will NOT rest until you complete the interrogation I call...The Five Questions! I spent a few moments with her in room vaguely reminiscent of the scene from the movie, Frost/Nixon. Over the course of a whole 10 minutes, I broke her down until she started singing like a canary. Now sit back and read the transcripts to Neuman/Bagley, Confessions Of A New Hire vol.1.
1. You've worked at the Tempe location for several months now; do you have a
favorite Four Peaks beer? Answer me and we may take mercy on your soul.
I keep changing my mind, but my favorite right now in the Hefeweizen. It tastes like Bubblicious in a glass. Mmmm! 
2. I've been informed you have
worked at a total of 3 bar/restaurants, in all that time you must have had a hilarious moment, please share if you want to see your dog again.
As a young naive girl straight out of Utah, I had a customer inquire what we garnish our entrees with. Well, not knowing what sage was (stupid!), I asked the bartender and he jokingly referenced it to "cannabis." When I reiterated the information to the patron, they were, needless to say, unamused. I had no idea what cannabis referred to at the time!
3. What was the first Four Peaks entrée that you absolutely fell in love with? What, pray tell, is your weakness?
The Portabella Veggie Beer Bread Sandwich. Its full name is even sexy!  4. You were born in the 1980's;
what was more iconic for you growing up, the Ronald Reagan presidency or that
dreamy Mel Gibson? (Extra credit if you use, "The post apocalyptic vision witnessed
in Mad Max" and/or "sharing President Reagan's love of jelly beans.") Why is this? I am starting to grow impatient!
Well, since I definitely do not share President Reagan's love of jelly beans I would have to choose that "dreamy" Mel Gibson! Who doesn't love those "bedroomy"eyes?
5. We at 4PBC like to think of ourselves as "one big
family." In order to avoid any further torture, who do you think best represents
dear old dad? Big Brother? Big Sister?
The black sheep of the family, good
ole Uncle Larry? If we affectionately refer to "good ole Uncle Larry as "crazy" Uncle Larry, then that would be Mr. Tim Neuman himself! I think the name explains it all! Dear old dad would easily be represented by the All Wise Randy  Schultz! He always shows concern for his staff. Big brother would definitely be Marcus Johnson!! Because he is stacked (that's the "BIG" part, hahaha!) and brother because he teases me incessantly like an older brother would! When it comes to big sis, that would obviously go to Kasey Stewart, she always cares :) That is quite enough! I have had to listen to your sworn testimony of cleverly executed supposition and lies for far too long. Anyway, I have already surmised through a little conjecture of my own that you are a Bavarian-style wheat drinking, vegetable consuming, Aussie lover with a clear lack of understanding about the subtle science of garnish-try and our 40th President while at the same time considering ME crazy! Time will tell, Heather...I hope you enjoy a little thing we call "water boarding!" I have "Gitmo" on the phone right now, don't even bother to pack!
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Wednesday, January 14th: Cheese Puff Day, if you are just reading this now, it may already be too late! Sunday, January 18th: The P.F. Chang's Rock N' Roll Marathon. Dancing your way through all 26.2 miles is NOT recommended! Tuesday, January 20th: Classes resume and some Obama guy gets inaugurated! Thursday, January 22nd: Beer Dinner at Pesto Brothers Piazza in Historic Downtown Flagstaff, all beer provided by your humble little Brewery! Call (928) 774-3020 for Reservations and details!
Tuesday, February 3rd: The First Beer Dinner of the year. Officially SOLD OUT!! Seats were filled almost as fast as Cardinals NFC Championship Game tickets. Scalp if you must, but this is not endorsed by us!
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The Brewers Blog
OK, a slight departure from
the usual beer talk but we'd like to address the Cardinals turnaround if we
may.
No one is more proud to
finally have a "winner in town". Our
allegiances are, and have been, with other teams over the years  (after all we
pre-date the Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals) but we've always reserved space in our
hearts for the hapless hometown boys.
But here's the rub, the Cards have finally become relevant after 47
years and some of the players and management have adopted this
it's-us-against-the-world-alone attitude.
"No one gave us a chance", was a common refrain after the Carolina game
with fingers pointed to the Chris Collinsworths of the world who declared
Arizona to be the worst playoff team ever.
Or the Darryl Johnstons who declared at halftime when the Cards were up
27-7 that no team can collapse quite like the Cardinals. It's what kept us watching and going through
the hundreds of scenarios of how it could slip away with two minutes left,
because, well, with the Cards you never really know. It was even touch and go whether or not the
fans would sell out the stadium two weeks ago for the first playoff game in ten
years, thus potentially blacking it out locally.
My question to the team is,
REALLY? You're surprised by these
attitudes? Because since  1987 you've
been cramming some of the worst teams in organized sports down our
throats. Sorry if we're a little gun-shy
after the Monday Night Meltdown, the countless sub .500 seasons, Andre
Wadsworth, Wendell Bryant, Tom Knight, and on and on. Sorry if you don't get the respect from the
national media but, c'mon, over the past decades have you really earned it? Really? We understand that true fans are loyal through
thick and thin, no matter what, win or lose, but you guys have really tested
the limits here.
The worst part is that, now,
folks around town are being called bandwagon fans because they went and
purchased their first Cardinal jersey or hat.
We say, no sh*t we're bandwagon fans, what else could we be? A dog will only stand so many beatings before
it runs away. Sure, throw us a bone and
we'll come back. Just don't act like we
should have enjoyed the pain for so long.
Ahh, that felt good.
Now, GO CARDS!!!
All Seven Playoff Games The Cardinals Have EVER Played!
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The Grill & Tap Dispatch
with Mike Kruchko
So unless you're somewhat new to
the Valley of the Sun or just don't go north of say, Shea, then you may not be
aware of the plethora of events in the N.  Scottsdale
area these next few weeks. The two
biggest of these events that I'm talking about are the Barrett-Jackson and The
FBR Open and Four Peaks Grill & Tap just happens to be as centrally located between these two as one could be.
Barrett-Jackson began Sunday
the 11th and runs through the 18th and is located just east
of us at West World. It is THE Collector Car Event
of the West Coast and draws people from all over the world. The one question I get each year at the bar
however is, who is Barrett Jackson? It
dawned on me that very few people seem to know how this whole thing started, so
why not do my best to help everyone out?
It began in Scottsdale
- Russ Jackson and Tom Barrett were drawn together by a car advertised for
sale. It seemed Mr. Barrett was selling his 1933 Cadillac V-16 Town Car,
and it appeared Mr. Jackson was interested. "Appeared" may be
the operative word, as a deal was never struck. However, the beginning of
a lifelong friendship and partnership was  firmly cemented between the two
gentlemen.
That initial enterprise set the
tone for what would become the Barrett-Jackson legacy. In 1967, Barrett
and Jackson presented a car show they called, with the appropriate flair,
"Fiesta del los Auto Elegance." The event was a fundraiser for
local charities, including the Scottsdale Library.
In 1971, the two combined their
talents to present the company's first collector car auction, featuring
classics from their individual collections. Barrett's Mercedes 770
Phaeton captured industry headlines, selling for $153,000 and grabbing the
attention of collectors worldwide. The sale and the inaugural event
thrust the Barrett-Jackson name into international prominence. *(Info. provided
by barrett-jackson.com)
Now that we know how this all
started and the history lesson has ended, what does this mean to you and
me? Well, it gives us an opportunity to
see some amazing automobiles and rare collector items as well as a great option
to spend our time leading up to the Cardinals big game and, who knows, maybe even
an opportunity to bid on something that we couldn't possibly afford! If you're heading that way, tickets range from as
low as $10 all the way up to $160 and gates are open from 8am till roughly 10pm
each day (schedules vary depending on day)
and if you're in the neighborhood stop by the Grill & Tap and have a
beer.
Remember all those times Karina told you about our large number of
HDTV's? Well, last I checked, we still
have 'em, so even if you're not going to make it over to the auction, parking
(get it, parking...I'm so clever sometimes) yourself at the bar and watching it on
TV may be even better....that way the wife can't get mad at you for accidentally
spending the kids college fund on a 1955 Packard Caribbean.
Well, while I only touched on the Barrett-Jackson (I know that the long name can get a little
repetitious, but if I abbreviated it that may send the wrong message) this week
and didn't quite get to the FBR, I can't stress how much I love both of these
events. Not only the events themselves,
but what they bring to the area, the excitement that they create and, well, the
great excuse they make to have a few beers while we partake in the hoopla. That being said, have a great week everyone
and may your beer be nice and "hoppy" and your football picks bring you happiness
and joy!
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A Few Parting Words... So a few quickies as we wrap up another fantastic week at both the Brewery and The Grill & Tap. With the new 90 minute parking restrictions now firmly in place along 8th Street in Tempe, we are happy to say a lot more street parking has become available for our lunch  crowd. We hope this is helpful for all you business lunching people out there. If this was a regular problem for you in the past, please drop in on us again and enjoy the "extra" spaces now available. This Friday we will also be attempting a test run of our new "Ales On Rails" promotion. We have great expectations for this concept in the coming months. Although no particular locales are planned out this time around, similar to what the Phoenix METRO LRT did over the summer, we will be spending the better part of the day mapping out great locations that serve only the finest of Four Peaks beverages, delicious entrees while providing excellent service. With any luck we will have the inaugural run next month, we'll keep you posted! We want to be the first business in the Valley to give their full support to the light rail. That is why we are hereby proclaiming our very own 8th Street Ale as the unofficial beverage of the LRT! You read it here first, 8th Street Ale and the Phoenix Light Rail, here is to a long, fruitful relationship between the two! I've always believed that paradise will have my favorite beer on tap. - Rudyard Wheatley
Last Know Picture Of Heather Before Her "Unscheduled" Trip To The "Guantanamo Water Boarding/Ukulele Competition"
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