My friend Brad and I attended the Bradenton Brewskis homebrewers meeting last Thursday at the invitation of Allen Bavry, who Anne and I had met along with his wife Cindi while having dinner at Brasserie Belge in downtown SRQ last month. We enjoyed hanging out with the group, which was founded in 1991, and talking [...]
Anne and I went up to Cajun Cafe On The Bayou in Pinellas Park on Saturday to attend their annual Fall Craft Beer Festival. Rated by RoadTripsforBeer.com as one of the country’s Top 10 Fall Beer Festivals, this event featured more than 100 homebrew, craft, and imported beers. Tampa Bay is fortunate to have a [...]
There was a impressive selection of beer on hand at Gold Coast Eagle Distributing Tuesday evening was a rare treat to see the inner workings of Gold Coast Eagle Distributing, one of the region’s largest beer distributors. Located in Lakewood Ranch, it’s housed in an incredible 140,000 square foot facility covering 22 acres. Another interesting [...]
With the cool crisp weather of Fall arriving in most of the country, including Florida, having a good pumpkin ale was on my mind. And when I hit the Cock & Bull with my friend Brad a couple of nights ago, I had the chance to try a very good one indeed. Cigar City Good [...]
Stopped by Mr. Beery’s yesterday to watch some NFL football, and asked Stew about a new wheat wine from Brooklyn Brewery that was on tap. For those of you unfamiliar with the wheat wine style of beer, it’s similar to a barley wine save for a large portion of malted wheat. Considering that I’m a [...]
I’m very excited that Long Island brewery Blue Point brought back one of my favorite DIPAs. I first tried this ale at Mahaffey’s in Baltimore several years ago, and of course was immediately hooked. The beer was retired shortly thereafter, but in the past year Blue Point started brewing it again. It began surfacing in [...]
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 [...]