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 [...]
There’s a brewpub chain in the Tampa Bay area called The Brass Ring, and we decided to check out the pub at their Brandon location recently. With the style of a classic English pub, 60 beers on tap and over 300 more in bottles, not to mention live music Thursday-Saturday, it more than lived up [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
This Saturday marks the second anniversary of Billy’s Beer Blog. To mark the occasion, I’ve decided to do an updated version of my Ultimate Case. While I’m keeping two of my three rules from a year ago – no retired beers and a limit of one beer per brewery – I’m dropping the ban on [...]
Thanksgiving is always a festive time of year for us. Whether it’s enjoying turkey with all the trimmings, spending time with family and friends, or watching a little football, this holiday is one that we definitely look forward to. I was also looking forward to trying a new anniversary ale brewed in a limited release. [...]
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 [...]