This past weekend I joined up with some new found friends up on Mt. Lemmon, less than an hour’s drive north of Tucson. Temperatures went from 91 degrees in Tucson to 58 degrees at the campground!
The occasion was to celebrate Oktoberfest, the organizers being the Arizona BBQ Association (AZBBQA) and the Tucson Homebrew Club (THC). At an 8000 ft elevation, it was truly a match made in heaven if there ever was one.
I arrived on Friday afternoon, picked a nice spot out on the excellent White tail Campground area. The campground had a large number of nicely spaced tent pads, along with a large central Ramada with running water and electricity and an adjacent fire pit.
I met up with Mike, one of the organizers from the Que side of things, and he promptly offered me a brat and a beer.
Lots more people showed up as the evening progressed, including the main guys that would be doing the BBQ for Saturday.
We “taste tested” a number of different beers on into the evening, I found my favorites to be the Agave Ale and Cisco’s Belgian Amber.
I found my way to my tent at some point that evening, and had a very sound sleep with an overnight temperature outside my tent hitting 40 degrees.
I awoke the next morning without the accompanying cranial pain so often associated with prolonged taste testing. In fact, I felt quite spry!
I heard some noise going on down at the Ramada, so I got down there to find Marty whittling away the fat from two very nice looking choice Briskets.
Marty competes 5-6 times a year, and you can really tell he knows what he is doing. He treated us to some excellent Pork Butt and Shoulder, as well as the brisket that day.
While he was busy with that, I went over to the Omelet station and mixed myself up a baggie omelet and tossed that into some boiling water, then went back over to see what Marty was up to.
He was using a couple different seasonings on the Pork; one was a habanera/mango rub, the other a combination of Palm syrup (supplied by a couple from Chile) and a “secret” rub.
I decided to go on a hike since I was in such beautiful country, and soon found myself overlooking the city of Tucson.
There was evidence of the fire that ravaged this area a couple years ago, but overall the mountain was recovering nicely, and most of the public use areas were unaffected.
got up to the Mt. Lemmon Ski Area, and found out they were setting up for a little Oktoberfest party of their own.
I scanned the menu and beer selection they were to offer, and realized that I had it much better over at the campground!
Getting back to the campsite, I treated myself to a nice siesta, then decided to re-affirm my beer preferences down at the Ramada.
Ross, a guy from the beer side of things, was busy setting up with a band he belongs to in Tucson. About mid-afternoon they started in, playing excellent covers of various legendary classic rock tunes.
The kid’s got a career in front of him. Seriously.
Aaron, another of the BBQ guys, had been smoking his briskets since about 11PM the night before, so those showed up in the afternoon along with a Pork Butt, to everyone’s delight. Also, an excellent Green Chile Stew showed up from somewhere…man, I couldn’t pass that up!
Brats of various configurations along with steaks, veggies and who knows what else was being cooked throughout the day, so no one was going hungry (or thirsty) waiting on Marty's Pork and Brisket.
I even contributed to the meat selection with my Caribbean Boneless Pork Ribs.
Several mean games of Extreme Bocce Ball were played throughout the forest that afternoon, with trees, branches, rocks, plants, ravines and steep slopes all coming into play. Bet the folks playing in white uniforms and manicured lawns never imagined it played like this!
A raffle and silent auction was also held for everything from a bumper sticker and beer glasses, to brewing equipment and a beer refrigerator.
A few from the brewing club brought up their home brewing gear for a little home brewing demonstration, one of them doing a half grain and another doing a full grain brew.
I was very impressed with the knowledge these guys had on the process of making something I enjoy drinking.
Bill, the president of the THC, was very helpful in explaining the entire process and what tips and tricks to apply to get it juuuuust right!
As the meat come out of the smokers and off the grills, side items too numerous to mention popped open on the tables.
Live music, Great food, outstanding beers and lively conversation were had for the rest of the evening and well into the night.
A nightcap came to me from Steve, who, along with another guy named Steve, became party Buds, he was gracious enough to share with me a beer he brewed over
5 years ago. This beer was similar (IMHO) to a port wine, and definitely a sipping beer at 19% alcohol. Delicious and unexpected!
It was an amazing group I have to say, many people lasted longer than I did the night before, but there were other folks up waaay before me in the morning.
Everyone had their own specialty, whether it was the guys on the smokers, or those grilling brats, the beer guys checking their beers and cleaning the equipment, and me.
Personally, I think I did a great job at quality control. I believe I tasted just about everything that was available for human consumption this weekend!
Needless to say, Sunday was a very light day of caloric intake. Monday is looking that way too.
Thanks again to the Arizona BBQ Association and the Tucson Homebrew Club for putting on such a fantastic event. It was a privilege to have been a part of it. Already looking forward to next year!
