A beer and minor buzz later, we pulled up at Four Peaks. (www.fourpeaks.com ) We were taken to the back of the brewery, greeted by a private table full of finger food. (Artichoke dip, pita, and hummus—yum!)
Steve Lynch, General Manager of Four Peaks, then took center-stage; introducing us to the five brews we’d be taste-testing. Out came the overflowing of beer—an oatmeal stout, a couple pale ales, an IPA, and my personal fave; a peach ale. Cheers.
After a few shots of beer it was tour time of the 15-year old brewery. Lynch brought us around the red-brick building that was built in 1892—at one time, it was a photography studio. He explained how the 13-day fermentation process produces the brewery’s eight unique beers, and we even got a backstage pass into the freezer. (I only lasted a couple seconds inside.)
Our Four Peaks adventure eventually came to a close because our day was only half-way over.
By this time, our six-person crowd was getting a little rowdy, which made the road-trip to SanTan Brewery in Chandler rather entertaining—especially to our sober tour-guide.
Finally, we arrived at SanTan, a “green” brewery about four years old. (www.santanbrewing.com) We had quite a welcome committee—the outgoing Chip Mulala, minister and self-proclaimed evangelist of craft beer. He sat each of us down in front of a plate-full of grub: bacon, a BBQ pork slider, and some blue cheese. A little bewildered, Mulala explained there’s actually an art to pairing beer with food. We then taste-tested each item, washing them down with a specific Ale, Hef, Hop, or IPA. Once full, we worked off our intake with a tour through SanTan.
We learned the local brewery averages about 2,500 barrels a year—that’s about 5,000 standard kegs. And if you can’t make it to Chandler, you can guzzle SanTan beers at local bars and restaurants.
The best news learned (especially for our beer-loving boys), is that booze actually has a nutritional value—in moderation, of course. Beer offers a significant amount of B-vitamins, as well as good carbs and protein.
After a day-full of drinking, it was definitely time to head home. We were tipsy and burnt out, but our beer-studded escapade was well worth it.
Tours on Tap surely gave us a buzz we would forever savor.
Click here to Like Nadine on Facebook
