2008 Strong Beer Festival

On Saturday, Matt and I went to our first Strong Beer Festival in Mesa. Held at the Mesa amphitheater it was quite fun with a number of brewers on hand. I got to taste some things that I really wanted to try. I started with an oldy but goody, the Four Peaks Hopsquatch Barleywine. I had heard they were only bringing a single keg of this and wanted to make sure I got a taste. From there I had:

Prescott Brewing RIS
Papago Brewing Grand Cru, Double Dry Hopped IPA
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery Cask Milk Stout
Sonoran Brewing Cask Barleywine
Anchor Brewing San Francisco, CA Anchor Steam
Beer Valley Brewing Ontario, OR Black Flag Imperial Stout
Big Dog Brewery Las Vegas, NV Barleywine
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Chico, CA Bigfoot
Stone Brewing Co. Escondido, CA 10th Anniversary Ale, Old Guardian
Widmer Brothers Brewing Portland, OR '08 Special

I did the math and I had 2 more tastings, and can't recall from where. I think one was a Flying Dog ale, but I can't remember the name. As you can see from the picture Matt wore his X-Mormon Drinking Team shirt, but he didn't leave with it. A guy from Sonoran Brewing offered him a shirt for trade and he took it. We eventually got 2 shirts for the trade and he gave me one. Now I owe Matt a shirt. I hope they are at the Tempe festival in 3 weeks so I can buy him one.