Shamrock Pub Owner Derek Anderson gave me a heads-up last week that he had a 2008 Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (Dogfish Head Craft Brewery; Milton, DE; Imperial India Pale Ale; ABV: 20.0) on tap, and we stopped by on Saturday afternoon to give it a try. Needless to say, the years have been very [...]
I had the privilege of drinking three outstanding beers when I stopped by the Cigar City Brewing Tasting Room in Tampa this past Wednesday evening. Besides being crafted by Florida breweries, these beers shared another commonality in that each have an ABV of 9%. What drove me, literally and figuratively, to CCB that night was [...]
It was a special day on Saturday when Mr. Beery’s in Sarasota hosted a Rare Beer Silent Auction & Mac ‘N Cheese Cookoff to benefit the HelpHOPELive Southeast Lung Transplant fund in honor of Erin Coleman, with all proceeds going toward her double lung transplant. It was a full house that turned out to honor [...]
Two of Florida’s premier breweries, Tampa’s Cigar City Brewing and Gainesville’s Swamp Head Brewery, collaborated recently on two barley wines. One of them, brewed on a limited run at the former, is available on tap and in bottles at their Tasting Room. Cigar City Church On A Hill (Cigar City Brewing; Tampa, FL; Barley Wine; [...]
Established in 1996, Dunedin Brewery is the oldest microbrewery in Florida. So it’s only fitting that the Tampa Bay area brewery had a vintage ale on tap when I dropped by recently. Dunedin Spatz 2009 Barley Wine (Dunedin Brewery; Dunedin, FL; Barley Wine; ABV: 9.0) is a flavorful and eclectic ale, and the years have [...]
Anne and I were invited by Greg Rapp, brewer extraordinaire and founder of the Pinellas Urban Brewers Guild, to his home on Saturday for Rapp on Tap. The event featured more than 20 craft beers, including 16 of Greg’s brewings on tap, in addition to offerings from other PUBGuild members. There was a great turnout [...]
Marzens tend to be traditional Fall beers, but I had the chance to try a different take on this beer style at Crum’s Bar and Grill recently. Cigar City Marzen Spring Lager (Cigar City Brewing; Tampa, FL; Marzen; ABV: 5.5) is also known as Cigar City Oktoberfest Marzen when it’s released during the autumn months. [...]
You can add Crum’s Bar and Grill to a growing list of exceptional brewpubs in the Tampa Bay area. Located in downtown St. Petersburg, and owned by Chris Crum and Lanette Miller, Crum’s Bar and Grill offers craft beer, food, and live music in a hip casual setting. Speaking of which, there’s 52 selections of [...]
The last time I was at the Cigar City Brewing Tasting Room in Tampa, I learned something new. Did you know that bats pollinate blue agave plants, which provide the ingredient found in tequila? So it’s fitting that I tried a double cream ale, named for the bat, that’s aged in tequila barrels. Cigar City [...]