Beer in Florida

Tampa Bay Beer Week 2013 bottle releases

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Gerard Walen

The event count currently stands at 230 or so for Tampa Bay Beer Week 2013, which “officially” kicks off at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 2 with a ceremonial keg tapping by Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn in Ybor City’s Centennial Park during the Florida Brewer’s Guild Beer Fest.

Last week, I highlighted what I considered the 6 Must-Attend Tampa Bay Beer Week Events but plenty were, of course, left out. Among them are some rare and special beer bottle releases. A lot of beer geeks enjoy collecting such brews, so I thought I’d help by pulling them out of the crowded events calendar and sharing them here. Make room in your “cellars”!

Lueken’s Liquors (944 Patricia Ave., Dunedin, FL 34698)

Monday, March 4: There will be 2011 and 2012 vintages of Cigar City Marshal Zhukovs (very limited) Dogfish Head 120, Bell’s Hopslam, Sam Adams Utopia (only 3 bottles) released. Limited quantities per person. First come, first served. Cigar City Brewing head brewer Wayne Wambles will be on hand to talk about the beer and pour samples. 5 p.m.
Tuesday, March 5: Releases of Barley Mow Foolery barley wine from Largo’s Barley Mow Brewery and Gose from Pinellas Park’s Rapp Brewing Company. Limited quantities. Noon.
Wednesday, March 6: Special release of Deconstructed Subtropical, a “stripped-down version” of the Subtropical collaboration of Dunedin Brewery, 7venth Sun and Cigar City, with orange peel and pink peppercorns only. There will also be four years of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot on draft and a raffle. 1 p.m. (Note: An earlier version of this story did not include the “Deconstructed Subtropical” information because it had not been announced).
Thursday, March 7: 7venth Sun’s Barrel-aged Belge D’or W/brettanomyces. First come, first served, limited quantities per person. 8 a.m.

Dunedin Brewery (937 Douglas Ave., Dunedin)

Thursday, March 7: Release of Rye Heart, Dunedin Brewery’s collaboration beer with Terrapin Beer Co., a Scotch ale brewed with rye. Terrapin head brewer Spike and other brewery folk will be on site. Rye Heart on tap at 11 a.m., Rye Heart bottles on sale at 5 p.m. Includes a commemorative Terrapin/Dunedin glassware with first 50 bottle sales.
Sunday, March 10: Dunedin Brewery, Cigar City, & 7venth Sun joined up to brew a Florida saison to celebrate the Tampa Bay Beer Week. The Subtropical Farmhouse Ale was brewed with Orange Peel, Pink Peppercorn, Lemongrass, & Coconut. Drafts and limited 22 oz. bottles will go on sale at noon. Also on sale: Oak-Aged Mundofolbick, Espresso Rye Heart, and more. (This is in conjunction with 7venth Sun Brewing’s Hunahpu Hangover Day event.)

Cigar City Brewing (3924 W. Spruce St., Tampa.)

Saturday, March 9: Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout. Gates open at 7:50 a.m.; bottles go on sale at noon, or when the last wristband is handed out, whichever comes first.

There will be many other rare and special release beers poured out of the taps of dozens of Tampa Bay area venues during the week as well, so be sure to keep track on the 2013 Tampa Bay Beer Week events calendar.

If any more bottle releases are announced, they will be posted here.

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Top 6 Must-Attend Tampa Bay Beer Week Events

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Gerard Walen

The second annual Tampa Bay Beer Week is almost upon us, and I intend to attend more events this year. But which ones? There are currently nearly 200 listed, as of this writing, and more being added every day.

Tampa Bay Beer Week 2013 runs from March 2 to 10 and will feature festivals, tap takeovers, beer-pairing dinners and bottle releases out the yazoo (not to be confused with Yazoo Brewing Company in Nashville).

In an effort to help visitors and others unfamiliar with Florida’s craft beer scene, I’ve made a list of the Top 6 Must-Attend Tampa Bay Beer Week Events. Originally, I was aiming for five, but c’mon!

Here they are in chronological order.

Saturday, March 2

Florida Brewers Guild BeerFest 2013: (2-6 p.m.) This is arguably the most important beer festival of the year for Florida. Not only will the majority of Florida-based commercial brewers be pouring their creations, but they also will find out if they won any medals in the Best Florida Beer Championships. Homebrewers as well are competing. This year, the fest has been moved to Ybor City’s Centennial Park, which should help eliminate some of the intermittent crowding at its previous Ybor Square site. Tickets are $30 in advance; $40 at the door (if any are left). VIP admission is $75 and includes entry into two VIP areas serving limited-edition and rare beers, as well as food from the Tampa Bay Brewing Company and the soon-to-open Cigar City Brewpub. Click here to buy tickets.

Sunday, March 3

Second annual Eggs and Kegs at Cigar City featuring Bell’s Brewery: (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) Unfortunately, this event has sold out but I’m including it for those who might “know someone who knows someone,” and there’s always a chance that ticketholders who can’t make it might sell them on Craigslist or elsewhere. Regardless, this offers an excellent chance to recharge your physical and mental batteries after Saturday’s BeerFest. Chef John LoScalzo of local food event company LOKO Cuisine and his crew will present a four-course brunch with a Latin flair, prepared with both breweries’ offerings – and of course beer. There will be live music from Acho Brother, and special offerings from both Cigar City and Bell’s. If you don’t make it to this one, I’ve heard another is being planned for Cigar City during American Craft Beer Week (May 13-19).

Photo: Sean Nordquist

14^th annual Brewers Ball at The Cuban Club: (noon to 5 p.m.) This will be my first year attending the Brewers Ball, but from the reports I’ve heard from previous years, I’m really looking forward to it. Brewers from across the state will gather for the official presentation of the Best Florida Beer Championship Best of Show winners, and samples of the gold-medal beers will be poured. Expect live music, a homebrew keg competition, food vendors and a beer raffle. A very limited number of tickets are available here for $50 each.

Monday, March 4

Cigars and OMG at Rapp Brewing Co.: (6 to 10 p.m.) I love a good cigar, and the first sip of brewer Greg Rapp’s OMG, a monster of a 20+% ABV Strong Ale, had me hooked. But I’ve yet to pair it with a fine stogie, and now here’s a chance. There will be limited pours of OMG, and you must bring your own cigar. And non-smokers need not worry: The smoking will happen in the brewery area and the ventilation system will keep the tasting room smoke-free.

Friday, March 8

Photo: Peter Estaniel

Best Florida Beer Championship Leftover Party at Southern Brewing & Winemaking: (Starts at 7 p.m.) The large number of entries in the BFBC Homebrew Championships – more than 500, translating to 1,500 or so bottles – means there are a lot of leftovers because only one or two bottles are opened for judging purposes. So the organizers decided to share the bottles at his event, which will also have barbecue available from Nate Paul’s Q4U Food truck and guest taps from local breweries. There will also be a panel discussion moderated by yours truly featuring craft beer luminaries from across the state. Once the final lineup is determined, I’ll post it on this blog. Bring your questions! Tickets are only $10 and available here.

Saturday, March 9

Hunahpu’s Day at Cigar City Brewing: (7:50 a.m. to midnight) Likely the most anticipated bottle release in Florida, Hunahpu’s Day attracts beer geeks from across the state and country and even from around the world for a chance at a coveted wristband to purchase bottles of Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout. This festival-like event grows each year. In 2012, about 5,000 people came through the gate; they expected half that many. As always, the Cigar City crew tweaks the event each year to make things as smooth as possible. Here are the most important changes from previous years.

Gates will open much earlier – at 7:50 a.m. Feel free to line up beforehand.
There will be two levels of Hunahpu’s bottle purchase limits, and a separate wristband will be given for each. The first 4,000 people to come through the gate will be allowed to purchase three bottles; the next 1,000 will have a two-bottle limit. The price is the same as the past few years, $20 per bottle. Bottle sales will begin at noon or when the last wristband is handed out, whichever comes first.
At 5 p.m., the bottle limits will end, and if there are any left, they will be available first come, first served. Maximum purchase will be 12 bottles at that time.

You can read all the details about Hunahpu’s Day here, and here is a link to a story I wrote last year that offers tips on how to get the most out of it.

Those are my six don’t-miss Tampa Bay Beer Week events. Which ones are on your list?

You can find a full calendar of events here on the Tampa Bay Beer Week website.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

These are upcoming Florida beer weeks in 2013.

April 1-6: Jacksonville Beer Week
October 21-27: Treasure Coast Craft Beer Week

And of course the nationwide American Craft Beer Week from May 13 to 19, 2013.

If you know of any more being planned in Florida, please let me know.

You might also be interested in reading Tampa Bay Beer Week 2013 bottle releases.

BeerinFlorida.com is an official sponsor of Tampa Bay Beer Week.

Correction: A previous version of this post had an incorrect date for the Leftover Party.

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FIU offers homebrewing classes in March

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Gerard Walen

A toast to homebrew!

Want to learn how to homebrew or move to the next level?

A series of classes at the Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in Miami has been announced that will cater to novice and intermediate brewers.

The Art of Beer Making series starts on Friday, March 1, with “Extract Brewing: Brewing Fundamentals.” The next class will be “Mini-Mash Brewing: Basics and Beyond” on Friday, March 22. The series concludes March 30 with “All-Grain Brewing: Advancing from Malt Extract Brews.”

The courses will be taught by industry experts in a face-to-face, hands-on environment. Participants will receive a certificate of completion and be able to take home the beer they make.

For more information, click here.

I am a homebrewer, but still at the level of using the extract malt kits, so I wish these courses were offered a bit closer to my home because I’m eager to learn all-grain brewing.

However, when I started homebrewing, I did have the help of the online instruction offered by the Homebrew Academy. Longtime homebrewer and Colorado resident Billy Broas founded the Homebrew Academy. It offers step-by-step video tutorials, checklists, interactive graphics, forums, recipes and more. The beginners program, “Just Get Brewing,” is free.” You can click here to learn more

.

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Posted in Home Brewing | Tagged beer, beer in florida, brewery, brewing, craft beer, craft beer in florida, craft brewer, craft brewing, florida, florida beer, florida beer events, florida craft beer, home brewing, home brewing in florida, homebrewers, homebrewers in florida, homebrewing classes in florida, homebrewing events, south florida | Leave a comment

Beer list gets better at Busch Gardens Bands, Brew & BBQ

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Gerard Walen

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has announced the 2013 beer lineup for its annual Bands, Brew & BBQ, and there are some impressive brands on the list, including some brewed right here in Florida.

The event, scheduled for Sundays from February 10 to March 3, 2013, features a lineup of musical acts from various eras – John Kay & Steppenwolf, Barenaked Ladies, The Doobie Brothers and the Goo Goo Dolls – along with a variety of vendors dishing up tasty barbecue creations.

A far as the beer portion, Busch Gardens promises “over 100 craft brews,” but that’s not necessarily accurate, at least according the definition of a “craft brewer” by the Brewers Association. The top of the list is heavy with offerings from the Belgian-American conglomerate AB-InBev, but remember: The theme park does have “Busch” in the name. In fact, it was owned by Anheuser-Busch before it was sold to a private equity company a few years back.

Look at the list though, and you’ll see some beers from American craft breweries now carried by local Bud distributor Pepin Distributing Inc. Among them: Victory Brewing Co., Southern Tier and Blue Point Brewing, as well as some breweries that started selling their beers in the state during the past year, such as Green Flash and Sweetwater.

Florida’s beer companies are well-represented, too, for a theme park event. Expect offerings from Tampa Bay Brewing Co., Pensacola Bay Brewery, Big Storm Brewing, Cold Storage Craft Brewery, Frog Hair and even Jacksonville’s Bold City Brewing.

Wristbands are $30 per person (ages 21 and older), or two for $50 for Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Pass Members, and also include sampling privileges at the Desert Grill restaurant, Crown Colony pub and Zambia Smokehouse. The unlimited sampling will be from noon to 5:30 p.m. each Sunday. There is also a VIP option that includes prime seats for the day’s concert and other perks.

Though I have not attended the Busch Gardens wing-ding in years past, I have been to the similar event at sister park SeaWorld Orlando, and even a couple of years ago, the beer selection impressed me. The SeaWorld version is set up a bit differently than Busch Gardens’, but it will take place on Saturdays and Sundays from February 9 – March 17, 2013. The beer list for this year’s event at SeaWorld has not been released yet, but you can check back at this link to keep updated.

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Beer in Florida

Tampa Bay Beer Week 2013 bottle releases

Lueken’s Liquors (944 Patricia Ave., Dunedin, FL 34698)

Dunedin Brewery (937 Douglas Ave., Dunedin)

Cigar City Brewing (3924 W. Spruce St., Tampa.)