B. Young takes on the AmeriCAN Beer Festival!

It is often said that on a warm day it is good to keep well hydrated. Usually that means lots of water but if you prefer beer, than I recommend the Ameri-CAN beer festival in Scottsdale, AZ. On May 19, 2012 San Tan brewing sponsered the 2nd annual canned craft beer festival . Tickets could be bought for $25 or if you bought a coupon it was $13.
Why a can festival may you ask? Cans keep beer fresh by sealing out flavor destroyers like oxygen and light and new can liners prevent beer from coming in contact with aluminum. Cans are easier to chill, carry and recycle and more environmentally friendly to ship and store. The comeback of brewers implementing cans has also brought back the return of the Koozie. That lovely material that keeps your beer cold in the summer and your hand warm in the winter.

Once you entered you immediately heard the band playing and were engorged by the sweat dripping down your brow on this warm day. The first thing you wanted to do was take your miniature can and get it filled with the closest beer available. From the entrance there was a Seattle beer called Church Key Brewing. A nice Washington brewery that brought Northumberland Ale. From there it is whatever you decided to choose.

There were breweries from Vermont, Colorado, Arizona, California, and Indiana among others. Each company only bringing the products they brew in a can. You may know a brewery for a certain type of beer but if they don’t brew it in a can, it wasn’t at the festival. It was also a great place to get contacts and also a bunch of swag. Many companies were giving away T-shirts, Koozies (cubbie holders), glasses and many other objects. It was a great opportunity to try different brands of beer you might never have heard of or seen in a can.

Many of the breweries represented I was very familiar with but there were a couple that I hadn’t heard of and were a pleasant surprise. First was Sun King brewing out of Indiana. They have a Scottish Ale that is quite killer. Definitely worth a try if you are in Indiana or if you come across them. It’s a year round brew that is 5.3% alcohol. The second was 21st Amendment out of California that has a Back in Black IPA. I’m on a huge dark kick right now so that set me up perfectly. I know dark beer in 100 degree temperature isn’t the best but it doesn’t matter when it’s high quality beer. This is a brewery that is purely set on brewing their beer in cans. They have 8 different styles of beer and all of them are served in the traditional beer can.

Whether you bought a ticket for $13 or $25, this was a festival that any craft beer lover should head to. It’s basically all you can taste within a 4 hour period. Whether this festival heads back to Chandler or stays in Scottsdale, you should put in on your calendar for 2013 as you surely will not be disappointed.

Slainte!
B. Young