The Wandering Tortoise Sour Fest: 15 Beers, Ceviche, Poke Banh Mi & One Giant Straw
Adam and Dedra hit The Wandering Tortoise Sour Fest for a full day of Phoenix craft beer chaos, tasting their way through smoothie sours, hazy IPAs, and one clear favorite from Great Notion. Before the beer marathon, they fueled up at Nelson’s Fish Market with ceviche and a poke banh mi that nearly stole the show. Add in Dedra’s latest mystery purchase, a giant paper straw situation, and freezing in 75-degree Arizona weather, and this episode is exactly the kind of food-and-beer adventure The Adam & Dedra Show was made for.
Adam & Dedra
5/14/20269 min read
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Sour Fest, Fish Market Finds, and the Great Paper Straw Crisis
Some weekends are calm, peaceful, and responsible.
This was not one of those weekends.
This episode of The Adam & Dedra Show takes us to one of our favorite kinds of places: a craft beer taproom that knows exactly what it is doing, does not pretend Coors Light is “variety,” and gives us enough sour beers to turn our taste buds into tiny confused gymnasts.
We headed to The Wandering Tortoise for their Sour Fest, but before the beer parade officially began, we made a very important strategic stop right next door at Nelson’s Fish Market. Because nothing says “responsible drinking preparation” like ceviche, poke banh mi, and trying not to buy every hat and sourdough loaf in sight.
First Things First: What Did Dedra Buy?
Before we even got into the beer, Dedra introduced a new segment that may quickly become a fan favorite: What Did Dedra Buy?
This segment exists because apparently every trip to the mailbox now requires a small forklift and possibly a shipping department. This week’s treasure? A men’s t-shirt from Dixxon that Dedra is absolutely claiming as her own.
And honestly, fair.
Women’s shirts are often either cropped, weirdly shaped, or designed by someone who has clearly never eaten a full sandwich in public. Men’s shirts? Comfortable. Cool designs. No beer belly evacuation window.
This one was a Halloween-style shirt, but Dedra made it very clear she will not be waiting until Halloween to wear it. Which means this shirt has already entered the official rotation and will probably be seen in public before October even thinks about showing up.
Adam, meanwhile, is just happy to be financially involved.
Nelson’s Fish Market: The Dangerous Place Next Door
Before Sour Fest, we stopped at Nelson’s Fish Market, which is conveniently located right next to The Wandering Tortoise. Even better, you can order food from Nelson’s and take it right into the taproom. They will even bring it to you.
That is the kind of teamwork we support.
We started with the ceviche, and this is not your typical cucumber-tomato-onion situation. This ceviche is simple. Almost suspiciously simple. The first time we saw it, we had one of those “we paid how much for this tiny cup?” moments.
Then we tasted it.
Five minutes later, it was gone.
The version we had this time was more of a Peruvian-style ceviche, with a yellow chili sauce that gave it this bright, flavorful, slightly spicy kick. The fish was hake, which we were told is similar to cod, and the pieces were big, clean, and delicious.
It is one of those dishes where less really is more. No unnecessary distractions. No salad pretending to be involved. Just fish, sauce, chips, and happiness.
The Sourdough Loaf That Got Away
While we were at Nelson’s, Dedra almost bought one of their huge Noble Bread sourdough loaves.
It was $12.95.
At the time, that felt like a lot for bread.
Looking back, this may have been one of the greatest mistakes of the day.
Because Noble Bread is not just “bread.” It is the kind of sourdough that makes you question every grocery store loaf you have ever allowed into your home. Their sandwiches are amazing, their pizza is amazing, and even though we were not impressed by the salad, let’s be honest: nobody goes to Noble Bread to have a spiritual salad experience.
You go for the bread.
And maybe next time, we are buying the loaf.
The Poke Banh Mi That Almost Ruined Drinking Day
Adam also ordered the poke banh mi, which was basically a Vietnamese-style sandwich with fresh tuna instead of the usual pork.
And yes, we know. “Poke banh mi” sounds like something that could either be incredible or a complete identity crisis between two cuisines.
Thankfully, it was incredible.
Fresh tuna, pickled vegetables, great bread, big sandwich energy. The kind of sandwich where you take one bite and immediately start making noises that should probably be edited out of a family-friendly show.
Dedra only took a couple of bites because she had to protect the rest of her drinking day. Too much bread too early can turn a beer adventure into a nap with witnesses.
Adam, being the hero that he is, finished the rest.
Sharing is caring. Finishing someone else’s sandwich is marriage.
Sour Fest at The Wandering Tortoise
Now for the main event: Sour Fest.
The Wandering Tortoise had a massive tap list, with around 47 beers on tap, and we did our best to represent the people. Between the two of us, we tasted 15 beers, which sounds intense until you remember we were mostly doing small pours.
That is not chaos. That is research.
We started modestly with a couple of 8-ounce pours. Then we moved into 4-ounce pours. Then somehow every trip back to the table involved more tiny glasses.
It was like beer multiplication.
Eventually, after several sours, we had to break things up with hazy IPAs because there comes a moment when your mouth starts asking, “Are we drinking beer or melted candy with consequences?”
The Winner: Great Notion’s Tropical Smoothie Sour, Mellifluous: Batch #5
The beer we drank on the episode was from Great Notion, and Adam spent a good portion of the show trying to pronounce the name.
We are not going to judge him too hard because some craft beer names look like they were created without thought of how many drinks one would have before trying to say it.
But the beer itself? Fantastic.
It was described as a tart fruit punch smoothie ale with tropical smoothie vibes, and it ended up being our clear winner from the day. We liked it enough to go back for more, share it with friends, watch them immediately go buy their own, and then bring a can home.
That is the official Adam & Dedra rating system:
Would we drink it again?
Would we make our friends drink it?
Would we buy one for the house like responsible adults pretending this was planned?
This one passed all three.
The Sour Lineup: A Beautiful Assault on the Taste Buds
We tried a lot. Some were sweet. Some were tart. Some were dry. Some tasted exactly like the description. Some made us say, “Hmm,” which is not always a compliment.
A few standouts included:
rAr Out of Order — Who Got Spirit
Strawberry, lime, and lemonade. This one was bright, fun, and one of Dedra’s favorites.
rAr Out of Order — Rang
Guava, mango sorbet, and vanilla. Because apparently beer can now sound like a smoothie shop order, and we are not mad about it.
Casey Blending — Ghost Note
A plum cuvée saison. This one leaned drier and more tart. Dedra was not as into it. It fell into what she calls the “watery sour” category, which somehow led to a comparison involving Windex flavor. Craft beer reviews: classy as always.
Great Notion — Jammy Pants
Blueberry, boysenberry, and blackberry. With a name like Jammy Pants, expectations were high. It was good, but maybe not the pajama party we hoped for.
WeldWerks — Bam Bam Rubble Rubble
Described as Fruity Pebbles in drink form. Adam thought the description was pretty accurate. Dedra thought it was milder than expected. Either way, if your beer makes people debate breakfast cereal, you are doing something interesting.
Great Notion — Blueberry Muffin
This one tasted exactly like biting into a blueberry muffin. Which is dangerous, because beer should not make you wonder whether it counts as breakfast.
Trillium — Daily Serving Peach & Apricot
Anytime Trillium is on a menu, it gets our attention. We are pretty sure it is from Massachusetts. Or maybe Adam said that confidently enough that Dedra just went with it. Either way, it is now on the travel radar.
Drekker — Chonk Peach & White Chocolate
Because it would not be Sour Fest without Drekker showing up with something thick, fruity, and possibly illegal to drink with a straw.
Drekker — There Will Be PRRRT
Yes, the name apparently has fart energy. Yes, we discussed that. Yes, the beer was still good.
Emergency IPA Break
After enough sours, we needed a reset.
Enter the hazies.
We grabbed Toppling Goliath Fire, Skulls & Money and Everywhere Tracing the Departed, both as bigger pours so we could sip, slow down, and remind our mouths that hops still exist.
This was the right move.
Sometimes after too many sours, your taste buds need a hazy IPA like a palate vacation. We even did the perfect halfway trade across the table, because marriage is about communication, compromise, and knowing when your spouse has exactly four ounces left.
Share and Conquer
One of the reasons we can try so many places, so many foods, and so many beers is because we usually split everything.
We call it share and conquer.
This works especially well when traveling, eating out, or pretending we are not ordering too much food. The strategy is simple: split one thing, move on, try something else, repeat until somebody mentions fries.
And yes, Dedra is trying to make better choices and order more salads.
But let’s be honest. Nobody looks across the table holding a forkful of salad and says, “Oh my gosh, you have to try this lettuce.”
Fries, though?
Fries are shareable joy.
Crispy fries. Fresh fries. Battered fries. Fries with sauce. Fries that make you forget every wellness goal you had 12 minutes earlier.
Salad is fine. Fries are a relationship-building tool.
The Mimosa Slushy and the Paper Straw Problem
The Wandering Tortoise also had a mimosa slushy, served in a champagne flute with a paper straw that appeared to be roughly the size of construction equipment.
This straw was so tall it almost changed the center of gravity of the drink.
Dedra was concerned the cup might tip over. She was also concerned the paper straw would dissolve mid-drink, because paper straws have the structural integrity of a wet napkin with ambition.
At one point, drinking from it felt like chasing the straw around the glass while trying not to create a public scene.
And because it was frozen, there was also the very real risk of the drink suddenly releasing from the bottom and launching mimosa slush directly into her face.
Elegant? No.
Memorable? Absolutely.
Arizona Weather Report: 75 Degrees and Frostbite
On the way there, Dedra pre-chilled herself in the car because she did not want to arrive sweaty.
This made sense in theory.
Unfortunately, the day turned out to be beautiful, overcast, and around 75 degrees. The Wandering Tortoise had fans going, Dedra was in a dress, and suddenly she was freezing.
In Arizona.
At 75 degrees.
She considered buying a hoodie but did not want to look weird wearing one with her dress. So instead, she chose the brave path: freeze it out and keep drinking.
Did it work?
Eventually.
Probably.
Maybe the sour beers helped.
Why We Love Taprooms Like This
This episode was a little different because we were not focused on one brewery. Instead, we were hanging out at a taproom that brings in great beer from all over and creates the kind of experience craft beer fans love.
The Wandering Tortoise does craft beer the right way.
No boring tap list. No “craft beer bar” with six domestics and one lonely IPA pretending to be special. Just a big, thoughtful, rotating lineup of beers you may not find everywhere else.
That is what makes a place like this fun. You get to explore. You get to try breweries from different states. You get to split small pours with friends. You get to discover a beer that makes everyone at the table say, “Wait, what was that one?”
And if there is a great fish market next door?
Even better.
Final Thoughts: Down the Hatch
This was a great weekend.
Great friends. Great food. Great beer. A sour lineup that kept us guessing. A poke banh mi that deserved more attention than we were prepared to give it. A ceviche that once again proved simple can be amazing. And a paper straw that nearly became the villain of the episode.
Our winner of the day was definitely the Great Notion tropical smoothie sour, but honestly, the whole experience was the win.
Huge thank you to The Wandering Tortoise for putting on Sour Fest and giving us a reason to taste our way through way too many little glasses. Also thank you to Nelson’s Fish Market for making the kind of food that pairs perfectly with a beer day and makes us regret not buying bread.
Until next time, cheers everybody.
And please like us on all your stuff.
We are still working on a better way to say that.
