Cigar City will be pouring at this weekend's Savannah Craft Brew Festival.
Where am I? Oh yeah, Savannah, which is why I’m writing this so late on a Friday. See, I was in a hurry to pack, and somehow forgot my computer mouse (Yes, my laptop has a touch pad, but there was an unfortunate incident a few months ago involving a full pint of beer, my arm and the keyboard. The touch pad hasn’t been the same since. And I just realized that “my laptop has a touch pad” sounds kinda dirty).
Anyway, my good hosts at Visit Savannah came through and loaned me a mouse so I can write about the Savannah Craft Brew Festival this weekend for Road Trips for Beer. (Tickets are still available, and I’ve seen the brewery booths. Well worth the drive, Florida beer geeks).
Enough of my flimsy excuses. On with Beer Bites.
Here’s the Key
If you don’t want to drive north to Savannah this Labor Day weekend, you can head south to the Key West Brewfest, going on through Monday. More information here.
Honor Roll
Congratulations to JJ Taylor Distributing and Pepin Distributing Co., both out of Tampa, for being nominated for the 2011 Craft Beer Distributor of the Year by the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Brewers Association. The winner will be announced October 1 at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. See the list of nominees here.
Sound Off
Cigar City Brewing will be holding a beer and cheese pairing on Tuesday at 5 p.m in the Tasting Room. What’s so special about that? Hell, I do that all the time at home. The cheese will be “Briny Bagpipe Cheese” from Jasper Hill. OK, that’s a little special. But … it will be paired with 2009 Big Sound Scotch Ale, not only the very first bottling of the beer, but the first Cigar City bottling EVER! Even better, it’s free! More information here (scroll down).
Who Hates Stone?
Mr. Beery’s Sarasota hates Stone. So much that owner Mark Tuchman is throwing an “I Hate Stone” night Wednesday from 3 to 10 p.m. Buy any beer that’s NOT from the California brewery, and you’ll have a chance to win some rare Stone bottles from Mark’s personal collection, including a 3 liter magnum of Double Bastard. The winner will be expected to pour the bottles down the drain. Why does Mark hate Stone so much? Read here. Why does he own rare bottles of Stone beer if he hates them so much? You’ll have to ask him yourself.
Beer 101
If you’re a newbie to the craft beer scene, you might want to check out one of the occasional beer-education classes at some Total Wine & More stores. There will be one Thursday at the Orlando store called “Beer 101: Get Your Suds On.” If you are a craft beer expert and have never been to one of these, here’s a tip from someone who has. You get to taste some great beer during the presentation, receive beer goodies (hats, glasses, etc.) and get a $10 off coupon for use in the store after the class. Not a bad deal for $15. More information here.
That’s it for this week’s Beer Bites. Sorry about the lateness, but shit happens.
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Until next time, Florida, remember: We are Here! We are Beer!
