By Rawley R. Macias: Do you appreciate good beer? Ever wonder if you could it make at home? If so, you are in luck; brewing beer at home can be as easy or complex as you want. A person can get into home brewing for as little as $100. Online homebrew stores like Morebeer.com make it easy by offering basic startup kits. They usually include a 3-5 gallon pot to heat the beer in, a 5 gallon glass or plastic vessel to ferment the beer in, a handheld hydrometer to measure alcohol content, bottling equipment, and a step-by-step instruction guide. Once you get going, home brewing kits can be upgraded to suit your own brewing style.

A delicious beer typically consists of five ingredients: grain to give the beer its malty backbone, hops to add some bitterness and aroma, yeast to convert the sugars to alcohol, water, and time. Homebrew supply shops offer kits for all styles of beer. Patience is also a virtue with homebrewing as a typical brew takes about three weeks before it is ready to enjoy. The process can be divided into three main events: the brew day, the fermentation period, and the bottling day. The process starts with the brew day which usually takes anywhere from 2-5 hours to make the wort. Wort is the sweet liquid produced from the malted grain which will later be fermented by the yeast. Once the wort is produced, it is cooled, transferred to a fermentation vessel, and brewer’s yeast is added. And then you wait…for approximately 2 weeks for the yeast to consume the sugar in the wort producing the alcohol. Once the fermentation period is complete, it is time to move onto the bottling day. Bottling day typically consists of transferring the fermented beer into individual bottles and introducing a small amount of corn sugar. The corn sugar provides a little food for the yeast to consume to create carbon dioxide which carbonates the beer. After about a week of sitting in the bottle, the beer is ready to refrigerate and enjoy. It is that easy!

Most homebrewers start off with a simple system but often upgrade and individualize it as time goes on. Brewing beer at home is a great way to impress your friends and tailor the beer to your taste buds. Cheers and happy brewing!

AZ Music

Barley Brothers

Beer, it’s happening at Barley Brothers! Brew Master Lon Weatherson is back at it again with a wide range of seasonal beers on tap. Whether you enjoy holiday Spice Ales, regional Framboise’s or even vanilla porter you’ll find a beer that is guarantee to tantalize your taste buds. Be on the look out for new Porters featuring blueberry, coconut, and hazelnut coming in the following months. Lon is also working very hard to ensure all of your favorite year round beers are on tap as well which include our Blond Ale, JennaGrace Hefeweizen, Big horn IPA, GABF Gold Medal winning Kick-start Stout, along with the local favorite Triple Berry. Can’t decide, try them all with a sampler platter. Barley Brothers also offers all of your favorite beers to go in 64-ounce growers, just make sure to bring it back on your next visit for a refill. – Brewer; Nicholas Macal

Mudshark

There is SOO much going on with Mudshark Brewery! We just put in our new Solar System! That’s right, our amazing beer is now being made with the sweet AZ sun! Can you taste the light? We are growing our brewery, AGAIN! A new 30 barrel bright tank was installed in January with 3 more on the way this month. Our newest club, the PMS Club (Pink Mugs Society) is a Woman only group which meets at our tasting room the 2nd Thursday of every month. The $5 donation benefits the OWLS, a chapter of the local Cancer Society. The original motor to our Double Decker English bus has been rebuilt and put back in! Another step closer to having the Mudshark Pub Crawl Party bus on the road! Awsome seasonal beers include the 2012, a Scotch Ale hitting 8.68% on the alcohol scale. The new Blueberry Vanilla is very refreshing and includes a coupe of blueberrys’. For those that love truffles in a red box, February inspires a silky smooth Chocolate Stout. Bring in your love and give it a taste. – Brewmaster; Guy Bartness

College Street

College Street Brewhouse & Pub opened in November. Brew-master and owner Lon Weatherson, along with brewers Nick Macal and Colby Hansen are focused on creating one-of-a-kind handcrafted, award-winning beers. Currently College Street produces a Pale Ale, American Wheat, Stout, and IPA. On top of the traditional micro-brew beers College Street is also producing exciting new beers. They have a blueberry and vanilla wheat beer called Big Blue Van that has quickly become a local favorite. Also, College Street produces Havasu’s first malt liquor called Jesse’s Malt Liquor, which is served in a paper bag! Another unique beer is the College Street Pilsner, which harkens back to what the traditional American pilsner tasted like pre-prohibition. The brewers are also working on starting a barrel-aging program. Be sure to stop by College Street  Brewhouse and Pub and order a few of these new Havasu made brews, or tease your pallet with the sampler so you get to try the whole line-up! – Brewer; Colby Hansen

Life Beyond Patron

Patron tequila is perhaps the best marketed product in tequila history. That’s why you know the name! The Patron Spirits Company was founded in 1989 and has become every distillery’s success model. Those who start their tequila journey with Jose Cuervo often shift towards Patron (a natural transition if you ask me.) Both are well known, have large marketing budgets, and appeal to younger audiences.

I am here to tell you that your tequila experience should not be limited to Jose Cuervo and Patron. If so, you are definitely missing out. In my opinion, there’s more marketing than tequila in Patron. Just to be clear, Patron is NOT bad, it’s just not the best you can get for the price in my opinion. The flip side of this is that it’s EVERYWHERE. Bars, nightclubs, retail stores, your friend’s liquor cabinet… trust me, it’s there. If an establishment is going to have only a few tequila’s, they will have Patron, it’s that marketing thing again. All in all, Patron’s a safe bet, but don’t let the price fool you into thinking it’s the best.  Soooo… the whole purpose of this section of the publication is to introduce you to the afterlife. So here we go. First lets go through some tequila basics and then we will continue with some of my favorite picks (life after Patron:)

TEQUILA TYPES
With close to 1000 Tequila brands to choose from, it helps to know the different types of Tequilas and the categories they fall into. Strict regulations on labeling assist the consumer in determining the type of the spirit, where it was produced, and the term it was aged (if any). The main two types of Tequila are first split into two categories, 100% Blue Agave, and Tequila Mixto (Mixed). Mixto Tequila contains a minimum of 51% Blue Agave, and the remaining 49% from other sugars. The additional products allowed in Mixto Tequilas are caramel color, oak extract flavoring, glycerin, and sugar based syrup. Since January 6, 2006. Common brands of Mixtos are Jose Cuervo, Sauza and El Jimador. By reading the label on the bottle you can tell which classification it is in, as all Tequila that is made from 100% Blue Agave will say “Tequila 100% de agave” or “Tequila 100% puro de agave”. All other Mixto Tequila labels will only read “Tequila.” Got it?

The above two categories of Tequila are then divided into the following five types of Tequila and are labelled as such:

Tequila Silver – Blanco – Plata – White – Platinum
This is the Blue Agave spirit in its purest form. It is clear and typically un-aged, where the true flavors and the intensity of the Agave are present, as well as the natural sweetness. It can be bottled directly after distillation, or stored in stainless steel tanks to settle for up to 4 weeks. This tequila can be the harshest in taste, but can also be irresistibly powerful for all those who dare to try it. There’s no better way to fully experience the essence of pure blue agave… just don’t expect any subtleties from it. It can mix well, but hardcore tequila aficionados will always drink it straight up.

Tequila Gold (- Joven – Oro) blahh
Gold Tequila is typically a Mixto, where colorants and flavorings have been added prior to bottling. These “young and adulterated” Tequilas are less expensive and are the common “well” brands used for “mixed drinks”. This type wont be talked about in the future because well….they are wells. Well tequila is well tequila. Jaurez, Pepe Lopez and Montezuma are the local wells…. YAWN

Tequila Reposado
A Reposado Tequila is the first stage of “rested and aged” and are sometimes referred to as such. The Tequila is aged in American or French oak wood barrels or storage tanks between 2 months and 11 months. The spirit takes on a golden hue and the taste becomes a good balance between the Agave and wood flavors. Some Tequilas are aged in used bourbon / whiskey, cognac, or wine barrels, and will inherit unique flavors and color from the previous spirit. With a reposado, you are dealing with a very versatile yet subtle combination. A good reposado retains enough of the agave punch of a blanco but the 2 to 11 month aging in the oak barrel give it a richer more sophisticated woody flavor. By the way, reposados are the most popular type of tequila, since it’s both a sipper and a mixer. You can never go wrong with a good reposado!

Tequila Añejo (extra aged)
Tequila can then be classified as an “Añejo” after aging for at least one year. This longer aging process darkens the Tequila to an Amber color, and the flavor become much smoother, richer, and more complex. Anejo tequila is sought after like a fine cigar. Not everyone can handle (or afford) a premium anejo. Think of anejo tequila as a high-class aged spirit such as a good bourbon or scotch. Since it must remain in oak barrels for 1 to 3 years it provides a more complex flavor than the reposado. A good Anejo is top-class material. You’ll feel more elegant yourself just by sipping it. Swirl it in the snifter, let it breath and experience the change. Anejo tequila should not be mixed with any other ingredients. If, however, you cannot resist the urge to prepare a premium margarita, make sure the ingredients you DO use are top-notch as well. The damn thing’s been aged for years! Don’t go using a cheap mix…

Tequila Extra Añejo (ultra aged)
A new classification was added in the summer of 2006, labeling any Tequila aged more than 3 years, an “Extra Añejo”. With this extended amount of aging, the Tequila becomes much darker, more of a Mahogany color, and is so rich that it becomes difficult to distinguish it from other quality aged spirits. These Extra Añejo’s are extremely smooth and complex. Some can be compared to a fine bourbon or coniac.

The CASA NOBLE tri-fecta
This is one distillery that got all three (Silver, Repo and Anejo) of their types right. I won’t even talk about their single barrel or 5 year anejos (if you can find them) other than to say that they are awesome, just the basic three.

A PARTING TIP:
Drink good tequila from a small snifter or wine glass, never a shot glass. For one reason, the snifter lets the tequila breath and delivers the “nose” portion of the fine tequila sipping experience. But more importantly, a shot glass limits the pour. You can only put so much in a shot glass. Think about it!

Well football fans, if you’re like me, at this point of the year your team is out. You’re just looking for reasons your team didn’t make it, or why the teams in contention are nowhere near the caliber of excitement your team would bring. This year brought a few upsets and surprises to sports fans across the board. We see what happens when your entire team revolves around one guy, and he doesn’t play a single game. We all know Peyton is the man, but almost having a winless season just because he was riding pine? Kolb was not the second coming of Warner that Cardinals fans saw in the least bit. News flash: just because he did a decent job backing McNabb and Vick doesn’t mean he should start for your team… but that’s just Arizona team luck.

Injuries plagued every team from the Chiefs losing Charles, my Boys losing Austin for most of the year, the Bills losing Fred Jackson (their only bright spot,) the Vikings losing AP, maybe into the next season, etc. Then there were the QB’s that had some injuries: Vick, Cutler, Schaub, Cassel, whatever was happening in Washington, and whatever Carson Palmer was doing. Needless to say, it was not the best year for healthy players. Now let’s really talk about the Cardinals… What is going to happen with this team that went from Super bowl contention to obscurity? The only team they can reliably beat is the Cowboys. They have the receiving core, the O-line is good, Pass rush (read Docket) is decent, Secondary got a huge boost with Patrick Peterson last year, and Beanie is a great back. Now… to the issue of Quarterback. Long story short, Kolb is not the future. Cut your losses, and get rid of him. Start really pulling to bring Peyton to the desert. There have been reports if the Colts release this beast, he has a good chance ending up signing a deal with the Cardinals. Also, Reggie Wayne says he will go wherever Manning goes. Think about it… The Sheriff slinging spirals to Reggie Wayne and Larry Fitzgerald. That is what dreams are made of if you are a Cardy’s fan. Doucet and Roberts stepped it up big this year so that is a stacked receiving corps. Couple that with a great running game, and the defense making plays and holding teams to less than 3 touchdowns in the last 9 weeks. The Cardinals could be a force in the meager NFC West. The only team they need to worry about is the Niners and they split the season, both ending with a win.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s always so easy to say shoulda, coulda, woulda, but that doesn’t put a W in the column. The NFL is full of explosive players on all sides of the field, and if you rely on just one of those players, you won’t really have a season, if things go downhill. Look at the Colts… I hope everyone enjoys the commercials on the Super Bowl, because let’s be honest…who really wanted to see a rematch of 2007’s Super bowl?  …That’s what I thought.