Grand Canyon Brewing and Borderlands Brewing Release Collaborative Beer

21 Jan 2015 --- Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ale – try and say that three times fast! With Arizona Craft Beer Week right around the corner, local brewers from the Grand Canyon Brewing Company and Borderlands Brewing Company have teamed up to create a Scotch Ale collaboration brew – set to tap at the Arizona Strong Beer Festival on February 14, 2015.

“We’re excited to have this opportunity to collaborate with the guys at Borderlands. They’re fantastic brewers, invested in sourcing local ingredients like we are. This has been a fun adventure for our team,” said Alexander Phillips, director of sales and brand ambassador for the Grand Canyon Brewing Company.

The collaborative nature of this beer has been evident right from the start, with Nigel Knoy from Borderlands Brewing working closely with Jeff Fowler, Josh Ward and Steve D’Eva from the Grand Canyon Brewing Company to source the local ingredients, soak the oak, smoke the malt and brew the two Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ale batches. The team even traveled to Mt. Lemon and the Grand Canyon to hand pick the Juniper Berries used to smoke the Maris Otter malt.

After the preparation, smoking and soaking of all ingredients, the brewers created two different versions of the Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ale. Both versions will be tapped at the Arizona Strong Beer Festival on February 14, 2015.

The first version has been fermented with oak soaked for three weeks in locally sourced dark rum from Kingman based Desert Diamond Distillery. This version should offer notes of sweet and spice flavors from the rum. The second version has been fermented with oak soaked for three weeks in a premium American style scotch. This version should offer a truer scotch flavor with a hint of smoke.

“The flavor characteristics will have some slight differences due to the oak conditioning. We encourage fans to come out to the Arizona Strong Beer Festival and try both. Then let us know where they detect the different flavors,” continued Phillips.

Scotchy Scotch Scotch Ale Quick Facts

- Style:   Wee Heavy (Strong Scotch Ale)
- ABV:   12%
- IBU:     24
- Hops:  Fuggle
- Yeast: Scotish
- Malt:   Maris Otter – smoked with a blend of Juniper Berries, locally sourced from Mt. Lemon & the Grand Canyon.

Tickets for the Arizona Strong Beer Festival do sell out, so patrons are encouraged to purchase early by visiting the arizonabeerweek event website.