SunUp Brewery

It seems like Arizona has no end to local and regional breweries. There's Four Peaks in Tempe, Sonoran Brewing Company and Rock Bottom in Scottsdale, Oak Creek up in Sedona, Mudshark out in Lake Havasu, the list goes on. And the list, which is real friggin' long, can be found through the handy search feature at Beerme.com. There's a lot of beer facts that can be found at Beer Me, of which I've only taken the briefest of peeks. One more item for the "to-do" list, for another time. Today I'll be reviewing the selection offered by the SunUp Brewery in Phoenix, located at 322 E Camelback Road.

Now, there's a little bit of confusion about the name. There was a time not too long ago when SunUp was called the Sonora Brewhouse, in fact I remember seeing the sign that way as recently as early 2009. However, there was conflict with the Sonoran Brewing Company claiming the names were too similiar, and there being a lot of confusion between customers of one going to the other, so the name was changed to SunUp. The brews are the same, however, which is really the important thing.

I sampled six of their year-round beers, a diverse selection from the taps. The first was their Horizon Hefeweizen, their wheat beer. It had a bright, unusually clear yellow color; the clarity is more typical of a kristallweizen than a hefeweizen, where the yeast is filtered out to remove the hefe's cloudy appearance. It was also milder in taste than a typical hefeweizen, very light finish and hardly any hop to it. There was a hint of sweetness, but really overall it was a modest taste that lingered on the roof of the mouth. In fact, it was so mild that it didn't need the citrus from the lemon wedge garnishing the top. I've never run into that before with a hefeweizen.

The Light Rail Cream Ale (named for the fact that the brewery is quite close to the Phoenix light rail) was also a mild taste, but it had more body than the hefeweizen of course. It's a dark yellow, like good whiskey. It starts out somewhat bold, and there's a hint of sweetness to this as well. It's also very smooth. I couldn't detect the creaminess of the name except at the finish, where it balanced out the boldness of the taste for easy drinking.

The Stinger Pale Ale starts out bold like the Light Rail, but stays bold and strong because of the hops for a well balanced taste. It's a bright, clean, clear amber color, and it feels oddly warm as it goes down. There is some bite to the Pale Ale, and you can clearly smell the hops and detect the malt in the flavor. The balance and strength of the Pale Ale made this a personal favorite.

Now, the Sun Up Amber stars out stronger, much stronger, than the Pale Ale, but the taste mellows out as it reaches the back of the tongue. The bouquet is very faint, I could barely detect the hints of the malt. A dark reddish amber color, it put me in mind of a less overpowering Killian's, especially in the finish. Now I do like Killians, but I'd take this Amber over the Killian's any day.

The Trooper IPA was intimidating, because of my last experience with the Abita Jockamo, but this brew renewed my interest in IPA's. It's a very dark amber, and the bouquet was surprising, it was harder to detect the hoppiness than I'd expected in this type of beer. But the taste, oh yes you will know how strong the hops are in this, and it will linger on the tongue. For a beer as bitter as this IPA was, it was exceptionally light on the bite, far more smooth than sharp on the palette. It has to be the malt. That to me made this IPA more than just a damn good beer, it was a friggin' revelation.

Then there's the Vanilla Porter, and I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, how good this was. A deep ruddy black, the red showing in the head around the edges, the bouquet had the most enjoyable aroma of chocolate. The chocolate was the strongest ingredient in this brew, but there are layers of flavor, I could detect traces of cherry and nuts, with subtle hints of vanilla all throughout. Very full bodied, to be expected from a dessert beer, and so smooth and warming. This porter was an absolute joy to drink. My waitress suggested trying it as an ice cream float. Oooooh cheezburgers fries and shake what a good idea. She also suggested I sample a couple of the seasonals they had on tap, the Double and Triple IPAs.

Now both of these IPAs were a deep rich amber, with the Triple being just a shade darker than the Double, I mean you really have to look. They're both heavy on the hops, so much so to me that the Triple's bouquet seemed just a little stronger. The Double IPA was very sharp, very strong at the start with a hard bite to it, but sweet at the back of the tongue. And yet in spite of that bite it still had a smooth finish! The Triple on the other hand, was very malty, with less bite to it than the Double if that makes any sense. It was almost syrupy in consistency, and sweeter all throughout and not just at the end. They were both also much stronger in alcohol content than your typical IPA. Oh yes, these two make me want to try more IPAs.

SunUp is a small microbrew compared to others like Four Peaks, and their beers are only available on tap or in kegs, but they are absolutely worth the effort. The beers are easy to drink, either light on the palette or smooth all the way down, without any disappointment to be had. As far as food goes, I only had a cobbler with my beer flight, but it was delicious. I'm thirsty for the next occasion to stop by SunUp, maybe I'll give that porter float a try.

Addendum - It wasn't till two years after I wrote and posted this article that I gave that porter float a try. Honestly, it was a bit of a letdown. The stout was too chalky, and didn't balance with the ice cream as evenly as would regular root beer.

The Abita Brewery Tour (November '09)

I have two absolute, drop-dead favorite brands of beer, Four Peaks and Abita. Now, Four Peaks is a local brand. They don't have a brewery tour, just an adjoining restaurant. Ha, JUST an adjoining, like that's a crime. It's an excellent beer, and I'll cover it in more detail later. Abita is a Louisiana-based brand, brewed in (of course!) Abita Springs, north of New Orleans... a loooong ass way north of New Orleans. Sure as hell felt long the first time that I toured the brewery.

Here's a little back story. I've been visiting New Orleans for going on ten years now, at least once a year. I have friends who live there, and even more that come there to meet up, hang out, see the sights for a few days, like you do. They began touring the brewery in '06, and it became an annual thing for most everybody to have a shuttle take them across the lake to the brewery. Me, I kept sleeping in... sleeping it off. A flat tire in '08 kept me from making it then. Last year I finally joined everybody for the tour. Well worth the repeat visits!

The entrance was through an open patio decorated in the same architectural style as the rest of the French Quarter, balconies with rod iron railings and gas lit lanterns on each side of the upper story windows. Red brick fences and clay fountains bubbling away, and more rod iron patio seating. The Abita logo was set as a tile mosaic in the sidewalk through the gate. Past the patio was the Tasting Room, the combination gift shop/waiting area/all-you-can-drink-tap for visitors going on the tour. The gifts were pricey, the seating was leather and overstuffed, and the beer was practically endless. The waiting area was made to look like a pub, with a polished dark wood countertop, stools and a long mirror framed by the same polished wood opposite the seating, and right behind the taps, with the Abita brand etched into the glass. All of their various beer products, be it the Amber, the Purple Haze, the IPA or even the ever-so-delicious Andygator, were available for the visitors to sample as often as they liked (cups were included). Can you tell which one was my personal favorite? Oh yes.

Andygator was a gold colored ale with a sweet taste, sweeter than I've been accustomed to tasting in beers, with a fruity aroma and no bitter finish. I like beer with a little sweetness to it, so this one truly stood out ahead of all others in my recollecting. And smooth, it was almost like water it was so easy to drink. The Amber was hoppier, very close to my tolerance for hops before it becomes the last thing I drink, with a modest bite to it at the end. And I don't mind telling you that it tapped my sobriety on the noggin fast. The Purple Haze was not as sweet as the Andygator, nor as smooth. I'd actually call it a fruitier version of the Amber, with a lighter finish that was quite nice altogether. The Restoration Ale, another pale ale, was agreeable, but it doesn't stand out. The ingredients list it as having a mix of "Pale, Lager, Crystal and Cara Pils malted barley," and it shows because I could only see it as a middle-of-the-road brew. Actually, Restoration would be a good starter beer for someone getting to know the Abita brand. The Jockamo IPA was friggin' harsh, very hoppy, very bitter finish, were it a wine I'd call it full bodied because it was almost as thick as an oatmeal stout. Think of taking your coffee black, no sugar, with a finish like something charred by the fire, that's my impression of the IPA. My least favorite, I would say it's for someone with a developed pallet, who likes it that way, perhaps both. As for me, for fuck's sake, it turned me off ALL IPA's.

Now I quite like oatmeal stouts, depending on the occasion, for the rich creamy consistency where the bite is fully complimentary to the chocolate-nutty taste. I've yet to try Abita's Turbodog, which is their oatmeal stout (and wouldn't you know, it's also one of the four Abita beers that actually makes it this far west!), I'll have to write that up sometime.

The brewery tour was prefaced by a video that was played in the Tasting Room, complete with lights dimming, about the history of the brewery. The music was a generic hometown tune, suitable for framing the narrative that emphasizes the importance of local business, quality ingredients, and brewers you could relate to, even (haha) see yourself having a beer with. Hell, if it'd been a presidential candidate I was ready to vote for it. It wasn't long enough to be boring, so no worries about losing interest while the lights are low. The only true complaint I would leverage at the intro video is that you couldn't get more beer while it was playing! However, you could refill it in the brief window between the end of the video and the start of the tour, and you could bring your beer with you.

The interior of the actual brewery, named The Cellar, was like some sterile, chrome temple to the gods of alcohol, high ceilings to accomodate the massive metal silos where fermentation was taking place. Lean in close and you can hear hymns sung to Ninkasi. Or Drinkasi, Ninkasi's rascal of a li'l bro. There were touches to the decor that made it a little, I don't know, homey to everyone coming through. There were banners suspended from the ceiling to denote the mash tun, the lauter tun, and the merlin kettle, all mounted around a raised platform with a sign overhead reading "Brewhouse." Behold, Drinkasi's alter! Leave the votive offerings at home.

If you have the opportunity. if you're in Louisiana, by all means. GO. You'll be glad you did! Just be sure you have a designated driver, it's a long way to go and after sampling all of Abita's stock you're not gonna be in driving shape. Myself, I'm absolutely planning to go back the next time I'm in New Orleans, and I'll be working to add the OTHER Abita landmark, the original brewhouse which is now the Abita Brew Pub. I had no idea it even existed until I looked up the Abita website. Well, the tour guide did explain that the current brewery wasn't the original, but he failed to explain that it had been made into a restaurant. Wouldn't that make for a fine capper to an afternoon of free beer, lunch where it all started.

Oh yes, there will be an Abita Brewery Tour update late this year. There's still so many brews I've yet to taste!

Now it starts.

Hello. Welcome. Bienvenida. Benvida. Guten tag, willkommen. Make yourself comfortable, with luck you'll be here a while. This little slice of digital real estate is my first public foray into writing something for a wide audience. Preferably, an audience that's over 21. Because this will be exactly what it says at the top of the page, anything and everything I can think of about beer. I'm a beer aficionado, especially of craft beers, and it's my drink of choice when available for dinner, parties, dinner parties, or even just to unwind after a long ass day. I've sampled a lot of different brands and types, visited a few breweries around the country, all just for fun. That's what this blog is going to be, fun! It's going to be a rough, subjective, totally unprofessional expression of the fun I have with beer. And it'll be a learning experience too, if I'm going to write about what I know then I should know what I'm writing about, yeah? I've been drinking the stuff for years now, and I'm a rank amateur when it comes to things like hoppiness and cold filtering, what the differences are between pale ales and lagers, and all the other nooks and crannies to do with beer because I don't know shit about it. I know I like it, and I want to know more. And I want to talk all about it. What I'm drinking, breweries I've toured or want to tour, friends that brew their own, memories of beers past. Anything that I think would make for an enjoyable read, whether the voice is clinical, academic, nostalgic, laymen's terms, or wooooooo I'm drinkin! It'll be fun! It'll be funny. It'll be foamy. So here we are.

Now then, time to sit back and see what's on tap next.