American Craft Beer Week is nearly upon us, and the Tampa Bay Area is going all out. On both sides of the bay, craft beer enthusiasts will be celebrating in grand style. In fact, there is not enough space in this article to post every event for each day, but here are some highlights. Weeklong [...]
Is the release of Cigar City‘s much-ballyhooed Hunahpu’s Mayan Chocolate Imperial Stout becoming an event along the lines of Dark Lord Day or Kate the Great? While it may not be at that level yet, it certainly seems to be moving in that direction. Last week, Cigar City Brewing released the details of the Second [...]
The day of reckoning finally arrived, and the good guys emerged victorious, once again. The Tampa City Council voted by a margin of 4-3 to approve Cigar City’s wet-zoning, and effectively keep the tasting room open. I have not been to a City Council meeting since 1992 in Cotati, California to support my local watering hole, [...]
Each year, local magazine Creative Loafing holds an online auction to benefit The Children’s Home, an 118-year-old organization providing safe haven for neglected and abused children and helping nearly 12,000 adults and kids annually. Items run the full spectrum from DVD packages and spa days to even “owning” the cover of the magazine for an [...]
Politics in Florida are a tricky thing. From hanging chads to the election of questionable candidates, just when we seem to think we are gaining a little respect again in the country, something ridiculous happens. This is true even down to the local goverments. Like Tampa, home of Cigar City Brewing. Cigar City opened a [...]
Every year, Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo holds several major fund-raising events. The best of them, in this craft beer lover’s opinion, is WaZoo. Listed by USA Today as one of the “10 Great Beer Festivals” in America, it is also – in the words of Cigar City Brewing’s Wayne Wambles – the “biggest sweat fest [...]
In celebration of American Craft Beer Week, some Tampa bay area businesses are offering special incentives to come celebrate. Like you needed a reason! But here is your excuse to go out and enjoy craft beer. Remember, that by supporting local businesses, you are stimulating the local economy, and by drinking the beer you are [...]
Few things are better than going out to a good craft beer bar or craft beer-aware restaurant and enjoying the brews offered. A good atmosphere and beer fellowship is a true blessing. But for those of us with finite resources and responsibilities other than beer (I know, I know… perish the thought!), a nightly outing [...]
Beer festivals come in all shapes and sizes. From the huge like the Great American Beer Festival in Denver to the niche market like the Organic Brewers Festival in Portland, craft beer festivals are generally about the same thing: celebrating and enjoying great beer. Saturday’s Beer Fest put on by the Florida Brewers Guild was [...]
Darkness and haze descended on Dunedin, Florida, Saturday night… and it was grand. The Tenth Annual Stogie and Stout event at the Dunedin Brewery was a celebration of the darker side of beer and the sweet aroma of fine tobacco, and a good time was had by all.
