In honor of Arizona Beer Week, and celebrating Tucson's place in Arizona's craft beer pantheon, we spoke to folks all over Tucson's craft beer spectrum from shop owners to brewers to fans just trying to spread the love.

Rebecca Safford, along with her husband Scott, owns Tap & Bottle, 403 N. Sixth Ave., a hybrid beer & wine bar/bottle shop. In less than a year, T&B has jumped from new storefront to one of the region's top beer bars, as voted by CraftBeer.com users. She sat down with us at Exo Coffee amidst preparations for Arizona Beer Week, which figures to be among the busiest in T&B's short history.

So, how long have you been in Tucson?

Since...2002? Sounds about right.

You've been here this long, and have always had an appreciation for beer, so what's it been like watching the craft beer scene grow up?

Well, Scott and I have been in Tucson for about the same amount of time, and we came to this town with a love for different microbreweries, and really loving beer, and coming here...there was a craft beer scene, it was very small, so it was like "well, where can we go to drink good beer?" Obviously when 1702 came around, that was huge. We live around 17th Street, so a big milestone for us was when Barrio brewery was built, it was...we waited and waited and waited and counted the days, and we were so happy to have a brewery to walk to. Then, there seemed to be a lot more places to drink downtown.

Why do you think craft beer has gained such a following in Tucson?

I think that Tucson’s always had an appreciation for the art of production and people who make things and craft things, from artisans to chefs to woodworkers. I think that our brewing community here, the people that appreciate craft beer, it’s what Tucson’s all about: Supporting local, supporting small businesses, being able to tell a story, even if it's not necessarily a local beer, about where a beer comes from. it really shows that breweries see that not just Tucson, but that our state is a place that really appreciates and loves craft beer.

So when you first opened up, I remember that you were talking to everyone, getting help from the community, like Plaza, and for a long time they were the only place you could go to get craft beer.

Yeah, and even before Safeway had a craft section, Plaza was bringing in stuff, and that's where all of us went to where we went to get everything. When we initially opened and were donig our first orders, some of the team over there helped us with our first orders, particularly with some of the distributors that only work with smaller breweries and imports; to purchase those costs a lot of money, and we weren't even open yet, so they were super nice and split some cases with us. I mean, one of my first orders, we talked through together, it was really collaborative. Now I look back, and I'm like “I had no idea what I was doing.”

I think that shows that, our community here, we don’t look at it as like, "Hey, I’m here, I’m established, I don't want any other players involved, it’s like "hey, I’m here, I can help you, how can I get involved?"

I mean, Austin from 1702 was key; we told him our idea, we talked beer, and he showed us their cooler, and he still comes by to Tap & Bottle to hang out and talk beer.

So what's it been like building relationships with the local brewers in town?

That's been one of my favorite parts, building this community with the brewers. Borderlands is just down the street and will help us with growler caps, Dragoon helped us with our initial order of growlers, and they look at us as a way to showcase new beers. I think that being able to have that relationship and talk about what goes over well here, and what people are enjoying helps everyone.

So, tell me a bit more about the local craft beer community. How do you think having a network like that provides for Tucson?

I think that it's going to make us all thrive even more. Teaching people about craft beer and what it's all about, and not mass-market beers, and really looking at it, going "What is this beer and where is it from, and who makes it?" rallies the community, and is good for everyone involved. I think that some of my favorite nights at Tap & Bottle are when I can look out over the bar and go "oh, hey the Dragoon guys are there, and there's the Sentinel Peak guys, and there's Ten Fifty-Five," and that it's not Us versus Them, it's everybody in this together. I love it.

Tap & Bottle is going to be running events all week long, from Feb. 16 through 23, including a Beer 101 brunch at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16; craft fans might also want to check out their "AZ Loves CO" night, where half of their taps will be running beers brewed by Colorado's top breweries, and half will feature local brews from the Grand Canyon State.

For more event information, check out Tap and Bottle's Facebook page, or the center spread of this week's Tucson Weekly.

You might know Jim "The Fastball Special" Nintzel from his expert journalism skills here at the Weekly and weekly AZ Public Media news show. Nintzel is going to join some local personalities to bartend from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, 135 South Sixth Avenue. All the tips collected will go to the Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance. You should tip big if you care about the region’s heritage and stuff.

You should get good old Nintzel to pour you a drink and ask him why they call him the "Fastball Special." It's a good story. I promise.

Click here for more information about this charity Heritage Happy Hour event. The flier says to email Vanessa or call 623-7700 for dinner reservations.

Best Damn Beer Pong Period is organizing a beer pong league, and they are looking for the best beer pong players in Tucson.

DeMarco, podcaster and beer pong organizer, has been hosting beer pong tournaments for over four years. The 31 year-old professional beer pong enthusiast is looking for four teams of 5 (two alternates) to play an 8 week competitive beer pong tournament to determine the best Tucson beer pong players of 2014. DeMarco says it's house rules, so you play with six cups instead of 10. Admission is $100 per team and $10 per alternate. All the league games will be held at the Beer Pong Center, 125 E. Pennington Road.

The Parish will finally reopen its doors today at 5 p.m. The fusion gastropub has been closed since Dec. 1 for renovations and expansion. There will be a limited dining menu, but the bar will be fully stocked, according to the Parish Facebook page.

UPDATE: The Parish is taking their sweet time and will re-open the bar tomorrow, according to the Parish Facebook event page:

The Bashful Bandit has been remodeled and will be featured on a new Travel Channel reality show called American Road House. It's like Bar Rescue but for biker bars. The episode won't air until early 2014. We hear that the bar has been redesigned to attract a wider audience. The bar is famous for being a gritty biker pub. There will be drink specials and live music to celebrate the grand re-opening.

The party starts at 7 p.m. The bar is located at 3686 E Speedway Blvd. Send us pictures at [email protected] and we will post them on The Range tomorrow morning.

There's word that a new drinking and eating spot is setting up shop in a spot at Broadway Village, the ages-old shopping center that has taken up the corner of Broadway and Country Club since 1939.

A liquor license application has been filed for the place under the name Sidecar Bar and Lounge. A representative for Commercial Retail Advisors, which handles the business of renting out the numerous spots at Broadway Village, also confirmed the opening, saying the doors of the new lounge should be open in early 2014.

In other news at Broadway Village, Cashew Cow is opening a retail location there. I contacted owner Jeremy Shockley today and he says his little and very interesting ice cream shop should be open sometime next spring.

Shockley was at some sort of an ice cream science class in Las Vegas when I got in touch with him, so suffice it to say that this man means business. Details to come but for now he says his "indulgently healthy" gourmet ice cream is of an ilk otherwise unknown to the Old Pueblo.

It's the 80th anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition today, honoring the end of one of the more absurd moments in American history when an amendment was added to the Constitution to try to keep people from doing something they were going to do regardless of its legality. But hey, it brought us the premise for Boardwalk Empire, which keeps Steve Buscemi employed, so that's something.

If you're looking to celebrate your freedom to get a drink, here is a likely incomplete list of local options (feel free to let us know if your local watering hole has something planned; we'll add it to the list):

Sky Bar is having a party, complete with "Roaring 20's drink specials" and music from Sunny Italy.

Saint House is offering a $6 special on a drink called the "Florita #3," named after the Miami bar that might have invented the daiquiri. Made with Ron Matusalem Rum, Luxardo Maraschino, grapefruit juice, lime juice, then shaken and strained, I want one now.

Scott & Co. is offering a $6 special on their take on the Sazerac. Sometimes considered the first cocktail and invented in New Orleans, their Sazerac contains rye whiskey, brandy, Demerara sugar, and Peychaud's bitters stirred and strained into rocks glass neat with an absinthe rinse. This also sounds affordably delicious.

I walk in to the Buffet and there's already 15 men slouching at the bar. The joint smells like hot dogs and day old whiskey breath. The jukebox is streaming Walking on The Moon by The Police. I take the closest available wobbly bar stool and order my first drink at 10:30 a.m. Day drinking and writing go hand in hand like riding a scooter without a helmet.


The bartender is easy on the eyes and friendlier than a pissed off hedgehog. She tells me her name is Cindy Clark. Clark is a native Tucsonan and loves to travel. One of the reasons she works at the Buffet is because she's always welcomed back to work as long as her shifts are covered while she's gone. Clark said she went to Boston, Nantucket, Mexico, Seattle and Portland this past year. "Have you ever been to Hotel Jupiter? It's the shit," Clark shouts. During our conversation she switches from wearing a black baseball cap that reads Brooklyn in gold letters to another all black furry Russian style hat. One of the day drinkers yells, "You can serve fucking vodka in that hat!" The entire bar, including Cindy, erupts in laughter. Everyone starts doing bad Russian impressions, and then the room gets awkwardly quiet for a little while. Even the jukebox stops playing music.


Then a voluptuous Hispanic woman walks in and everyone knows her name, but me of course. Cindy introduces me to Aurora. They compare outfits and start swapping stories accompanied with pictures and videos. "All the bartenders here are friends and we all hang (at the Buffet)," Clark says. Aurora has been working for the bar for over two years and loves what she does. She's another traveler and former Army war veteran. Aurora was born in Tucson and moved to the Midwest, back to Tucson, and then Las Vegas and has been back for the last two years. The war veteran works the Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday morning shifts. "We get a diverse crowd like the trauma nurses from UMC, firefighters and fourth avenue bartenders. There are a lot of older men from the gay community that wander in here on Sundays. They are so much fun," Aurora says.

The San Francisco Chronicle named Rob and Sara Hammelman's Sand-Reckoner Vineyards' Malvasia Bianca as one the top 100 wines in the country for the second time. 

This aromatic grape could be Arizona's great hope, certainly based on Sand-Reckoner's efforts. A day soaking on skins and fermentation in old barrels provides the seriousness found in great dry Alsatian Muscat: intense blossom aromas, plus a chaparral-like woodsy side, rose petal and dried pear. It's densely flavored and bone-dry, full of rich orange and ripe tree fruit flavors.

You can taste the Arizona wine at Proper or buy a bottle the next time you're at Whole Foods Market on 5555 East River Road. You can get more information about the Sand-Reckoner Vineyards and wine selections on their website and Facebook page.

This list is no particular order, so you choose which establishment you feel is worthy of your abundant time.

The Buffet Crock Pot & Bar: Looking to get an early start to your Thanksgiving day drinking marathon? The legendary bar that's located in the Iron Horse district will be open as early as 6 a.m. Don't like turkey? You should try a delicious hot dog that's been boiled (in beer) all day in a "formerly-almost-state-of-the-art crock pot." There will be a Thanksgiving potluck at 6 p.m. Bring your left overs and good times.