There are not many things that I would choose to do over watching a Syracuse Orange men’s basketball game, but the opportunity to go to the Florida Brewers Guild Beerfest in Tampa is apparently one of those things. It was probably a good decision, now knowing that we (yes I use we in this case) lost and I likely would have spent the afternoon miserable at home otherwise. The festival at least gave me an environment that I could not possibly be miserable in. So you might ask what do you do in preparation for such an event? The answer, of course, would be to have your comrades over to the house for a bacon cake and coffee breakfast before piling into the car for the 90-minute drive. There is nothing like a nice healthy breakfast of bacon and eggs (in cake form) to start the day off right. There were certainly no complaints from Gregg, Wayne, and Joe.
Of course there are pecans and apples in there as well to round things out!
We arrived well in advance of the start of the event via an earlier than necessary departure time and the driving skills of Chauffeur Joe. There was more than enough time to walk around the Ybor City area of Tampa a bit and also enough time that we would have considered (what I think was called) the urban race that was going on in the vicinity. Now we still don’t know what the race exactly entailed, but it seemed to be a lot to do with a costume party mixed with a scavenger hunt. It looked like a good time, so maybe next year.
The trolley was on purpose, the finger was not.
This area was less than busy.
There was also plenty of time to grab a bite for lunch before getting to the beer sampling, so we headed to Tampa Bay Brewing Company for some food and, well, a beer.
Just the type of decor I appreciate.
The event started at two and though it was only a few minutes after that when we exited our lunch location, the plazas were already packed and the line at the check-in was down the street of people yet to enter the fray. I am not going to say that we cut to the front of the line, but since we had a limited window for beer sampling lets just say we didn’t wait very long in it!
Just one half of the action early on.
What is a beer festival without this?
A few familiar faces were found among the crowds as I ran into Tom the Beer Guy multiple times during the day. I have to thank him very much for suggesting the event (as I would not have known about it otherwise) and for having some Toasted Coconut Porter on hand to sample again. Though I had no real expectations going in, it turned out to be bigger and better than I thought it would be. It will be going on the calendar for next year for sure.
At the end of the day for us I was also able to meet up with (now award winning home brewer) Mike Melton and a few of his friends at Tampa Bay Brewing Company. It was nice to get to catch up with a really nice (beer) guy. It was a fast and furious afternoon and part of an evening. We definitely all had a great day and I thank the boys for joining me for the fun. I have some interesting video to share as a way to experience the crowds without having gone to the festival so this will simply be the first of two parts of recapping the event.
A little empty outside after teardown.
As a teaser to that second post and a close to this one I will list a few of the beer highlights for me:
- Hunahpus Mayan Chocolate Imperial Stout from Cigar City – Very glad to sample this one since I will not be able to make the release party at the brewery this Friday.
- Tampa Bay Brewing Company – Since I had never tried any of their beers previously and generally enjoyed them all.
- Cream Ales in general – A style that enjoy but cont drink very often. Offhand I remember TBBC and Bold City Brewery having nice ones.
- Iniquity Imperial Black Ale from Southern Tier Brewing – A unique style for me and probably my favorite beer of the day. I immediately went back for a second sample.
Stay tuned!
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