To top off the end of Arizona Beer Week, Tucsonans can hop in their Volkswagens and cruise on over to Maker House for some Buses, Beetles N’ Beer.
Maker House will be hosting an all-day event on Saturday for beer enthusiasts and their friends and families.
“We are the final event for Arizona Beer Week in Tucson,” said John Jacobs, the owner of Maker House.
The other local events for the week are closing down around 4 p.m., Jacobs said, and Maker House will be the main party in Tucson after the bar crawl earlier in the day.
Besides serving over a dozen Arizona brews on tap, the event will also hold a car show, live music and family-friendly movies playing throughout the day.
“We’ve got Cerebral Saturday, so we have brunch going on in the morning, so it’s kind of chill music, and that rolls straight into Buses, Beetles N’ Beer,” Jacobs said.
Musical artists attending the event, including Cadillac Mountain, a local bluegrass band, and Top Dead Center, will be the main event at 9 p.m.
The event boasts an impressive number of local brews. Barrio, Borderlands, Dragoon, Mudshark, Four Peaks, Sleepy Dog, Papago, Prescott, SanTan, Sonoran, Thunder Canyon and Mother Road are all local brews that will be featured in the only-Arizona beer tap takeover.
“At 8 p.m. that night, we have a tap blowout: Anything left in the house, $2 pints, any beer we have left,” Jacobs said.
Maker House will have the full kitchen and bar up and running in addition to the local beers on tap, said Tristyn Tucci, the event coordinator. Some of the local breweries will also have distributors attending the event.
“We’ll have freebies, giveaways, free hats, free cups, free glasses [and] free chotskies,” Jacobs said. Mr. Beer Home Brew will also be there giving a demonstration.
With opportunities to score some free goodies throughout the day, the free event pays for itself. The only cover charge is $5 for those who want to participate in the car show. While there are many events across the state commemorating the fourth annual Arizona Beer Week, Maker House makes the event its own by introducing a car show and other activities throughout the day.
“Do you need an excuse for a car show?” Tucci said.
Jacobs said that the collective following for Volkswagen cars at Maker House inspired the VW-specific car show. He said Joe Chirco, owner of Chirco Performance and Restoration, which specializes in Volkswagen automotives, has collaborated with Maker House before and will be helping sponsor the event.
Jacobs said that Maker House expects between 130 and 150 VWs at the car show, but that they can accommodate more if there’s high interest.
“You can have a beer festival,” Jacobs said, “but we find if you have something else going on, … you get a lot better attendance.”
Since Arizona doesn’t subscribe to the sub-zero blizzards happening on the East Coast, the car show will be air-conditioned in the Franklin Parking Lot. There will also be prizes for the best bus, beetle, type 3, junker and best in show.
Even though you should never drink and drive, for those who share these separate hobbies, the Maker House’s Buses, Beetles N’ Beer event has something to offer for everyone.
“We either have a bunch of cars or a DeLorean for our New Year’s Eve party or some sort of spectacle,” Jacobs said. “We make it worth your while to come out.”
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