Year: 2015

Kief-Joshua Vineyards – Elgin, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Sonoita/Elgin Wine Trail, Southern Arizona, Vineyard, Wine, Winery

Located at 370 Elgin Rd, Elgin, AZ 85611
Open 7 days per week 11a-5p
http://kiefjoshuavineyards.com

FADE IN:

EXT. ELGIN, AZ – DAY

Today we’re heading back to WINE COUNTRY. We’re revisiting the southern Arizona town of ELGIN on our way to KIEF-JOSHUA VINEYARDS for another wine adventure. The sun shines brightly on this day but there’s enough of a summer breeze that it doesn’t feel miserably FUCKING HOT.

CLOSE ON an 89 GRAY HONDA ACCORD with BULLET HOLE STICKERS on the side and a WHITE BUMPER that is held on only by a CHAIN. The previous owners of the car clearly had a lot of SEX in it.

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Huss Brewing Company – Tempe, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Beer, Greater Phoenix Area, Microbrewery, Tempe

Located at 1520 W Mineral Rd, Tempe, AZ 85283
Open Mon-Thurs 3p-8p; Fri 3p-10p; Sat 12p-8p; Su 11a-2p
http://www.hussbrewing.com

Huss (1)

Hey, everybody! Today we’re visiting the southern region of Tempe, which is petty far removed from the part of town full of ASU college kids and Bro Bars. In fact, we’re in an area that looks more like an industrial park on our way to a place called Huss Brewing. The Arizona summer heat can seem pretty oppressive at times but today wasn’t too bad. I embraced the desert sun by shedding my suit jacket and wearing a blue dress shirt with a bright pink necktie. The outfit managed to represent my good mood this day.

Huss (3)

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THAT Brewery – Pine, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Beer, Brewpub, Liquor, Microbrewery, Mogollon Rim, Northern Arizona, Pine, The Rural Brewer, Wine

Located at 3270 N Arizona Highway 87, Mile Marker 267, Pine, AZ 85544
Open Sun-Thurs 11a-8p; Fri-Sat 11a-9p
http://thatbrewery.com/

THAT (3)

The Classy Alcoholic has been through many adventures since the start of this blog and has already traveled through most of Arizona’s major cities. But there is another area that lies just between two of the more prominent regions. This area is called the Mogollon Rim and it’s pretty much equidistant between Phoenix and Flagstaff. This region starts in Yavapi County around I-17 on the west and extends about 200 miles to the east to nearly reach the New Mexico border. If you’re driving around this area you’ll start to discover a lot of long, rural roads with green landscapes that don’t feel like most people’s typical idea of Arizona.

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Programming Note

The Classy Alcoholic Uncategorized

I’m just letting y’all know that posts on this blog will be officially going up every two weeks now as opposed to weekly. There will be no post for the week of June 14th. There will be a new review posted the week of the 21st and so on. The week off in between posts will give me a chance to come up with new ridiculous adventures and even stupider jokes than before. You’re welcome.

Salud!

Owl’s Orchard Brewery – Queen Creek, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Beer, Greater Phoenix Area, Microbrewery, Queen Creek

Unfortunately Owl’s Orchard Brewery has closed as of July 2016. This post will remain here in honor of the awesome brewery that once was and will never be again.

Owl's Orchard (7)

Owl’s Orchard is a brewery that’s literally run out of a guy’s garage. I know what you’re thinking: It sounds super shady. Just like my parents’ “businesses” that they used to run out of our home when I was a kid. I remember what a pain in the ass it was having to help my dad in the garage, bagging and packing all those slabs of delicious zebra meat.

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Alcantara Vineyards – Cottonwood, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Mad Max, Northern Arizona, Verde Valley, Verde Valley Wine Trail, Vineyard, Wine, Winery

Located at 3445 S Grapevine Way, Cottonwood, AZ 86326
Open Daily 11a-5p
http://www.alcantaravineyard.com

Alcantara (2)

Today’s adventure takes us to wine country in the northern part of Arizona. Specifically, the town of Cottonwood. It’s about an hour south of Flagstaff and ninety minutes north of Phoenix. Downtown Cottonwood has several winery tasting rooms located down a single strip of road. But on my way out there I drove through a stretch of land with mountains, cacti and little else. I pulled over to pee and check my phone when I quickly realized that I had little-to-no reception in this area. Neither Facebook nor Instagram were loading and I was having trouble delivering the travel pictures that I was trying to send to my ex-girlfriends via text so as to make them jealous of all my awesome adventures and make them realize that I was infinitely more fun than the losers they were dating now. Look at me driving out to wine country, Darlene! Does your shitty boyfriend ever take you on awesome adventures like these?!?

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Borderlands Brewing Company – Tucson, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Beer, Microbrewery, Southern Arizona, Tucson, Uncategorized

Located at 119 E Toole Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701
Open Mon 4p-10p; Tues 12a-10p; Weds & Thurs 12p-9p; Fri & Sat 12p-10p; Sun 12p-5p
http://borderlandsbrewing.com

Borderlands (1)

At some point around the Fall of 2014 I got the stupid idea to visit every single microbrewery in the state of Arizona and write about my experiences. This blog was born out of a deep-seated desire to explore the state that I’ve now called home for over a decade and mapping every single brewery seemed like a great starting point for planning my travels.

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McFate Brewing Co. – Scottsdale, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Beer, Brewpub, Greater Phoenix Area, Microbrewery, Scottsdale, Wine

Located at 7337 E Shea Blvd, Ste 105, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Open Mon-Thurs 3p-1p; Fri & Sat 11a-11p; Sun 11a-10p
http://www.fatebrewing.com

Note that as of June 2016 Fate Brewing Co. has officially changed it’s name to McFate Brewing Co. after a legal battle with another brewery, also named Fate from Colorado or some shit. The original name is still used in this review as this was posted long before the name change.

Fate (2)

I know I give the greater Phoenix area a lot of shit. I’ve complained about the heat, the abundance of chain restaurants and stores, the cold, uninviting feeling of the city that makes you feel like a burden for even existing and the deep, dark despair  you feel after hours stuck in rush hour traffic. Like your own car is an oven and it’s slowly getting smaller and the constant stop-and-go on the highway starts to almost make you feel seasick while the brake lights of the car in front of you start blink on and off and start to mesmerize you, as if they’re blinking a secret message directly to you and you start to wonder if the Hyundai Sonata is trying to tell you that your life is meaningless and the job you’ll commute to every single day for the rest of your life is slowly eating away at your soul-

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Mother Road Brewing Co. – Flagstaff, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Beer, Flagstaff, Microbrewery, Northern Arizona

Located at 7 S. Mikes Pike St, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Open Mon-Thurs 3p-8p; Fri 3p-9p; Sat 12p-9p; Sun 12p-8p
http://www.motherroadbeer.com

The term “Mother Road” is a nickname given to U.S. Route 66, the famous highway that stretches from Chicago to Los Angeles. Route 66 is historically significant because it ran through several rural towns which gave farmers in the early 1900s an easier way to distribute their produce. Plus the road was a huge boon to the U.S. trucking industry in the 30s, right around the time it started being a popular alternative to transporting goods via railroads. And if that wasn’t enough the highway was also the route taken by hundreds of thousands of people heading west to escape the U.S. Dust Bowl in the 30s.

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Golden Rule Vineyards – Cochise, AZ

The Classy Alcoholic Cochise, Southern Arizona, Vineyard, Willcox Wine Trail, Wine

Located at 3525 N Golden Rule Rd, Cochise, AZ 85606
Open Thurs-Sun 11a-5p
https://www.goldenrulevineyards.com

Golden Rule (1)

I’ve mentioned before that Arizona has three main Wine Trails where grapes are grown: Verde Valley, Sonoita and Willcox. Today is our first visit to the latter but we’re not exactly heading to the town of Willcox. Instead we’re in a small town called Cochise which is an hour East of Tucson and Sonoita and is less than half-an-hour West of Historic Downtown Willcox.

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