As I write this on Thursday afternoon, heavy storms are still battering Central Florida. Sounds like a good excuse to get comfortable, open a beer and tap out this week’s Beer Bites.
Play Ball!
Cigar City beer now available at Tropicana Field
Tonight is the Tampa Bay Rays’ opening game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, and with the start of the 2011 baseball season comes with good news for craft beer fans. According to a story in the St. Petersburg Times, The Brewhouse at the Trop is updating its menu and will be serving more craft beer, starting with taps of Cigar City Brewing beer. (Insert your own tired baseball cliché here).
Growlin’ in the Swamp
Gainesville’s Swamphead Brewery started filling growlers this week at its tasting room. Now its customers can take home some of the award-winning brews in 32 oz. and 1 gallon jugs. Not sure what a growler is or how it works? Swamphead created a handy-dandy “Growler Information Sheet” for your education and edification.
Grand Openings
The World of Beer chain has opened another one of its bars in West Palm Beach, its lucky 13th in the state. Here’s a review from the Palm Beach Post.
Draft Global Beer Lounge and Grill, across from the Amway Center in downtown Orlando, is scheduled to open Thursday night. Owners of the upscale eatery have promised a craft beer focus with 40 drafts on tap and more than 100 bottled brands. The Draft website does not have a beer list on it yet, and an inquiry from Beer in Florida seeking a list has not yet been answered. There was a soft opening Wednesday night with local VIPS and politicos, but apparently my invitation was lost along the way. The Daily City blog did post some photos here.
A new Total Wine & More opened Thursday in Wellington in South Florida, but don’t worry if you missed it. The grand opening celebration will continue for three solid weeks! The Total Wine stores offer a huge variety of craft beers from around the world, including some that are exclusive to the chain, at great prices. Oh yeah, they also sell wine and liquor.
Tappings and such
Big River Grille & Brewing Works at Disney’s Boardwalk will tap its Maibock spring seasonal on Saturday at 2 p.m. Appetizers will be available while they last, and Maibock pints will be $3 until 4 p.m.
Next Friday, April 8, The Bruery from California will take over many of the taps at the Cigar City Tasting Room in Tampa. The Bruery folks will be in town to brew the other half of the collaboration beer that Cigar City brewed last year in California. Of course, among the offerings will be Marron Acidifie, the first half of the collaboration. Loko Cuisine will offer menu items with a “Spanglish” Theme.
It’s a slow beer festival weekend. The only one I could find was Brews Around The Zoo at the Central Florida Zoo. Not much information about the beer offerings on its website, other than “enjoy a wide variety of unique craft beers from around the world.” Other than annoying the hell out of me with the misuse of the word “unique,” that doesn’t tell me much. Oh, wait, now I see on the Central Florida Zoo Facebook page that it’s “unique Anheuser-Busch beers from around the world,” then later “delectable wines and craft beers.” OK, I’m confused, but I don’t think I’ll be attending. I suppose it’s a fundraiser, so if you’re a fan of the zoo, that might be a reason to go.
Craft Beer Find of the Week
A reader turned me on to the existence of the South Street restaurant and bar down in Naples. Its website boasts a pretty decent tap list, and I respect the list because it puts the few taps of macro crap down at the bottom under “Stuff Ya Know,” which I can almost hear being uttered with an exasperated sigh. This is especially good news because the Naples-Cape Coral area seems to be lagging behind the rest of the state in its craft beer scene.
A couple of my beer-bloggin’ buddies penned some reviews of craft beer bars recently mentioned in this space. Sean Nordquist wrote on The Hop Press about Spooky’s Black Cat Café in Orlando, and Doug Brumley, a.k.a. The Fledgling Brewer, chronicled his Road Trip from Nashville to The Porch in Key West.
Reminder: Please use our free interactive calendar to promote your upcoming craft beer events. The link’s at the top of this page.
That’s it for Beer Bites this week. Feel free to email trips4beer@gmail.com with any ideas or story tips.
Until next time, Florida, remember: We are here! We are Beer!
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