I’ve never met Kirsten Eccles, but she’s got my vote for mayor. Kirsten is the manager of a new beer and wine bar in Tempe called Taste of Tops, and she’s done what I thought nobody would ever have the guts to do – she refuses to serve mainstream brew, opting instead to offer more than 500 (yes, five hundred!) different varieties of beer from all over the brew-niverse. And you won’t find a Bud, Miller, or even a Guinness among them.

She’s on a mission to broaden our beer horizons, and she’s created a cozy little hamlet from which to embark on our journey. Now as luck would have it, Taste of Tops is located about 3 blocks from my office, so it’s a fair bet that I’ll be reporting back to you soon enough with some interesting new discoveries. Stay tuned.