Oktoberfest in Florida 2011
Oktoberfest is an annual event to celebrate Bill Brasky’s perpetual drunkenness. If you live in Florida, here’s where you should go to partake in the festivities.
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Archive for: Beer
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Tampa Beer Lovers: Hark!
Brasky.org received this urgent message from local beer heroes Southern Brewing and Winemaking this evening:
The Tampa City Council will be voting on our zoning requests for the new store location, (4500 N. Nebraska Ave.), this Thursday, June 9 at 6:00 in the City Council Chambers, located on the 3rd floor of City Hall, 306 E. Jackson St. Aside from a parking waiver, we have requested zoning allowing us to sell beer, wine and liquor on premise and to go. Our vision behind this is to open a small brewery and winery to compliment our homebrewing and winemaking shop, which will use half of the building. Wine and beer making hobbyists can experience the whole range of the craft by observing a professional brewing and winemaking operation, tasting artisanal beers and wine, interacting with the brewer and winemaker and shopping for equipment and supplies, all under one roof.
Our hopes are also to contribute to the revitalization of Seminole Heights by giving our newly purchased building a face lift and further establishing the neighborhood as a destination point for craft beer and wine enthusiasts.
So please show your support by attending the meeting or by sending an email to the Council members below. And if you are able to support us by attending the meeting, please join us at Tampa Bay Brewing Company afterwards for some great beer and wine.
BRSKY wants to see your magnanimous emails to the elected officials below:
Mike Suarez
mike.suarez@tampagov.net
Charlie Miranda
charlie.miranda@tampagov.net
Mary Mulhern
mary.mulhern@tampagov.net
Harry Cohen
harry.cohen@tampagov.net
Yvonne Yolie Capin
yvonne.capin@tampagov.net
Frank Reddick
frank.reddick@tampagov.net
Lisa Montelione
lisa.montelione@tampagov.net
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Go Here Drink This, Volume 1: Tampa Music Venues
In light of the upcoming Craft Beer Week, we here at Brasky are looking to shine a light on how to correctly enjoy the fruits of fermentation in the Tampa Bay area. So, in volume 1 of our new series ‘Go Here, Drink This’, we decided to showcase some of Tampa’s finest music venues. As Brasky knows firsthand, drinks at major venues are typically overpriced and underwhelming. They’re usually clear, yellow, overfizzed and nine dollars a pop, sometimes citing a ‘souvenir’ cup as incentive to overpay. Every cup is a souvenir cup if you take the damn thing home with you!
Luckily for you, it turns out that some music venues in the Tampa Bay area do strive to promise tasty and affordable brews for the nuanced imbiber. Brasky knows that there are times when a show that piques one’s interest may teeter on the brink of your attendance, requiring some intangible last push to get you out to see live music you may live to regret missing. For most of us here at Brasky, beer is that glorious shove. Each venue below gives an idea of the venue’s vibe, and of course, a GO-TO BREW to enjoy during your next visit.
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Hunahpu 2011 Sneak Peek!
Brasky staff was treated to an excellent surprise on Tuesday, when at a regional beer club meeting, Joey Redner from Cigar City Brewing showed up with a brand new case of 2011′s Hunahpu Imperial Stout. In addition to being subject to a sample six weeks before the official roll out (more info below), Brasky was privileged to pop tops in the company of some of Florida’s most distinguished beer aficionados. But wait a second, what’s Hunahpu? Don’t worry, son. Brasky will tell you.
2010′s Bourbon Barrel aged Hunahpu was the number 3 beer in the WORLD, according to RateBeer.com. The regular version? Number 17. No big deal. Not for a brewery in its second year of production. In 2011, Hunahpu and its various incarnations make up three of the top 32 entrants into best beer in the world, including #10 and 12 in the US, and #2 in the world for Stouts. What is it that makes this brew so unbelievable?
Take an award winning Imperial Stout recipe, add Mayan cacao nibs and Madagascar Vanilla beans, and you’re getting into uncharted territory. But top it off with a perfect dosage of Ancho and Pasillo chilis, take the ABV up to 11.5%, and this beer clearly has something special going on.
It pours flat, big black cocoa diesel fuel, clinging to the side of the glass with viscous alcohol legs. The nose is chocolate sweetness, and the first sip is an exploration of texture, as slight carbonation seeps out of a rich, savory thickness. The vanilla is more evident after the initial cacao explosion subsides, and just as one notices the alcohol linger the chili peppers match the tone with a numbing sparkle. Each sip is novel, and the intensity is so balanced and natural in flavor that even the most experienced tasters grasp at terms wise enough to encompass this taste. What amazes us is the sheer body of this beer; Russian imperial stouts and Baltic porters are notorious for their inky black thickness, but Hunahpu is something special. The sheer cojones it takes to dream of this beer are noteworthy, but to make it work, kudos. Kudos.
Cigar City will release the 2011 Hunahpu March 12 at the Cigar City Brewery in Tampa Florida. The Brewery is on Spruce Street just west of Dale Mabry Highway.
*NOTE* Limit four bombers per attendee… there are allegedly only 3,000 bottles available for the event. Plan your trip accordingly!
Join the Event on Facebook!
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Cigar City Brewing Featurette
Florida is characterized by beer distributors and wholesalers as ‘a light lager crowd’, or a major-brand-preferring consumer base, much the same as the general beer-drinking populace of North America. Although a ‘light lager’ is just the sort of brew meant to be enjoyed while lazing on the beach or pounding em back at a college party, what are Floridian beer snobs expected to do? There are many reasons for this barren beer landscape: Florida has a heterogenous mixture of transplant residents with no strong preference for any particular variant of tasty brew, it has the general lack of unique local restaurant chains that could be tempted to serve craft brews (Outback steakhouse and Hooter’s both started in the Tampa Bay area), and a dearth of local craft brewers. Luckily for Floridians, that last driver for the formation of a ‘light lager crowd’ is beginning to fall apart. Craft breweries are starting up all across the sunshine state (there’s a list at the bottom!), and some are producing downright sensational products. One in particular, Cigar City Brewing, is stepping up to the Craft Brew microphone and making a lot of noise.
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5 More Publix Beer Cheers
Time for another Publix dick-riding session! The following five beers are not the craziest, tastiest, or most amazing beers, but they are definitely more cost effective than the last five. These will all set you back about seven to eight bucks a six pack. If you’re not from the south, then you’re probably confused as to what I’m talking about. Publix is a grocery store that specializes in going balls-out for its customers. Its headquarters are in Florida, and the majority of its stores are also located within the penile state. I once read a ‘Laughter is the Best Medicine’ column in Reader’s Digest (the best the doctor’s office could afford) that claimed that a little girl mispronounced the pledge of allegiance by instead saying ‘and to the Publix where we buy our stamps.’ As if the world needed more convincing that little kids are stupid. That being said, we begin our list of Publix-available beers.
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5 Excellent Beers You Can Get at Publix
“WHERE SHOPPING CAN PROBABLY GET YOU LAID”
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Hop Stoopid by Lagunitas
CRYSTAL METH FOR HOP-HEADS
On a recent trip to Northern California, on a beautiful cloudless August day, something fortuitous happened. A small pit stop from Highway 101 would turn out to be one of the most glorious moments of my beer-loving career… for what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a modest little sign acknowledging the presence of Lagunitas Brewing Company, in a non-descript industrial park. After a peek around the corner of the building, we soon found out that yes, it was THAT Lagunitas Brewing Company… the men and women responsible for single-handedly crushing any reason to ever drink shitty beer again. The laid back staff opened their arms to my family and I, and showed us around the bar that they were building on their ‘campus’, one that I sorely wished would have opened two weeks sooner. Regardless, on that August day, I got to see the birthplace of some of my favorite beers.
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Three Philosophers by Ommegang
What would you say if Brasky were to tell you that there exists a beer, made right here in America, that was nearly ten percent alcohol, came in a corked 750 ml glass, was made from 2% cherries, and sold for eight bucks or so at most respectable beer vendors? Well, if you were as epic as you think you are, you would say ‘Dude, I love Three Philosophers!’
Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, New York, continues to bring Belgian beer-geekery stateside. Three Philosophers is an intense brew, dark red in color, and almost indescribable in flavor. At 9.8 percent alcohol, it is not for the weak of heart, or rather for meek beer drinkers. Yet it contains some affable quality that could just win over even the staunchest of swill-lovers… the lingering aroma of cherries and the identifiable sparkle of alcohol make this a crisp, flavorful brew. The official designation is a quadruple-bock, although this beer almost runs over into the ‘unique’ category.
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Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock
Celebrator is a reknowned doppelbock, or if you prefer, “double bock” beer. Bocks are German beers that can be traced to farmers and Roman Catholic monks of centuries past, characterized by malty fullness. A doppelbock, as its name suggests, extends these qualities, including a higher alcohol content that ranges from 6% to 9%.
First, let me say that this beer isn’t cheap. A 4-pack of 12-oz bottles set me back $12.99. At over $3 a bottle, I can assure you my palette was in overdrive. My prevailing reaction was being genuinely impressed. Despite a rich brown color and tan head, the flavor was mild in comparison to previous doppelbocks I’ve tried. This is partly explained by emphasis on malt in favor of hops, and also by a modest 6.7% ABV – just right, in my estimation. The flavor is rich and dark, but not bitter. On my first sip I noticed a distinct roasted flavor, but this retreated as a pleasant chocolate/coffee accent seemed to lace each sip. The aroma is particularly inviting, boasting a complexity that would require a bigger bullshitter to properly honor.
Despite the full flavor, the beer finishes clean, leaving the palette ready for anything. This makes the beer a great complement for a meal – I can say this confidently, because I was eating when I poured out the Celebrator. Normally I don’t enjoy beer with meals, but this beer was truly refreshing, a total surprise from a Doppelbock (or any beer that looms so darkly in your glass).
When sampling a beer with a reputation like Celebrator, it’s easy to swoon and make an over-appraisal. But I can say honestly that, if anything, I approached this beer with skepticism and it emerged vindicated. Most everything about this beer is “just right”, a real treat for any beer geek in-the-making.
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