07/19/2013                                                                                                    
Hot weather, cold beer. 

Beer festival season is upon us. September, October, and November are usually the busiest times for fests in Florida because it's really the only time Florida isn't hotter than hot--it's just not. But the beer is cold and the brewery representatives are ready to talk to you about craft beer.

The purpose of a beer fest is to expose everyone to different types of styles, breweries, and craft beer knowledge. The best approach to thus plan in advance. Sure, you could show up blindly, drink, and try to remember everything, but there will certainly be tables you missed that you didn't even know were there. Not to mention, you will forget about that beer you loved at table number 2.

First, make a plan of action. Find the information from the festival website of what brewery tables will be featured. Make sure you have a list of your "must-haves" so you make sure you hit all of them. These could be new to you or it could also be an old favorite. Perhaps start out with the lighter styles and moving to darker, or maybe save all the IPA's for last. Try things you normally wouldn't, or go around to each table sampling your favorite style and telling people why you love it.

Second, stay hyrdated. Drink lots of water the day before. Make sure to bring a water bottle or two to fest. This will not only keep you hydrated, but will also help the alcohol mild out. It may be small samples, but they do add up!

Third, ask questions! Try to talk to the other beer folks around you who are also there to learn, drink, and appreciate the craft beer in front of you. You will take away more knowledge, try more brands, and get you more excited for the next beer fest.

Cheers, 

  

Brown Specialty Team

UPCOMING EVENTS

07/19/13, 4:00 PM, ORLANDO 

Luk Dore (original) and Luk Rose Hard Cider will be sampled in store at Total Wine Millenia and available for purchase. Luk premium apple ciders are grown in Quebec, Canada, and are and made from fresh pressed apples made in their own orchards. ...>

 

07/19/13, 5:00 PM, ST. PETERSBURG 

Belgian Beer Tasting at Shep's Food Mart Emporium featuring Brewery Ommegang, Duvel, and La Chouffe. Taste the difference in Belgian yeasts and spices and take home your favorites in store! ...>

 

07/19/13, 5:00 PM , JACKSONVILLE 

At Aroma's Cigar and Wine Bar you can drink like a local. Sample a variety of Florida breweries like beer from: Swamp Head, Engine 15, and others. Free of charge! ...>

 

07/20/13,  12:00 PM, LARGO 

Barley Mow Brewing is celebrating their 1 full year anniversary of brewing! Over 40 taps of beer will be featured all day. Live Music by Ramblegrass. BBQ by Smokin' Rib Shack. Bars will be indoor and outdoor. ...>

 

07/20/13, 1:00 PM, OVIEDO 

From 1-4pm join Cavallari Gourment in Oviedo for a Beer and Taco Pairing! Narragansett Lager and Twisted Pine Billy's Chillies paired with house-made tacos! ...>

 

07/20/13, 3:00 PM, DAYTONA BEACH

The Arc of Volusia's Splendor In the Glass is a summer evening of fine wine, craft beer, and food tastings from area businesses. This festive evening will be held at the Riverfront Center at St. Demetrios. Musical entertainment will be provided as you taste culinary experiences with craft beer as well as learning how to make your own craft beer from Sanford Home Brew's demonstration. Tir Na Nog will be featuring local Cigar City Brewery beers as well. ...> 

 

07/20/13, 5:00 PM, PORT ORANGE 

Meet the co-owner of Engine 15, Luch, at World of Beer Port Orange while enjoying a tasty beer from the seven Engine 15 beers on draught. ...>

 

07/20.13, 5:00 PM, CARROLLWOOD
La Chouffe, McChouffe, and Houblon Chouffe of Brasserie D'achouffe will be featured on draught for Spot the Gnome Night! Gnomes will be hidden throughout the bar. Spot the gnome and win a 25 oz bottle of McChouffe! ...>

07/21/13, 2:00 PM, ST. PETERSBURG 

World of Beer St. Pete is celebrating Belgian Independence all day with Duvel Single, La Chouffe, McChouffe, and Ommegang Gnomegang on draught. Raffling off glassware, t-shirts, and a Chouffe Gnome. ...>

 

07/21/13, 4:00 PM, TALLAHASSEE 

Fermentation Lounge will be featuring Belgian Inspired food and glassware giveaways to celebrate Belgian Independence day with the following delicious Belgian Beers on draught: Duvel Single, Ommegang Witte, Ommegang Rare Vos, Ommegang BPA, Ommegang Abbey, McChouffe, and Houblon Chouffe. ...>

 

07/21/13, 5:00 PM, TAMPA  

Come Celebrate Belgian Independence Day at Tampa's favorite biergarten, New World Brewery. It's a festive party sponsored by Ommegang Brewery. New World will be serving a heaping portion of mussels cooked with Ommegang Witte, and pommes frites for $15. There will be raffles, door prizes, and thirst-quenching goodness from Duvel, Chouffe, and Ommegang breweries. If you come dressed as Jean Claude Van Damme, I'll buy you a beer. Come celebrate with us! ...>

 

07/21/13, 5:00 PM, WESTCHASE
Celebrating Belgian Independence Day in style, with Belgian beers! Featuring the following on draught: Duvel Single, Ommegang Iron Throne, Gnomegang, Ommegang Three Philosophers, La Chouffe, and Houblon Chouffe. ...>

 

07/22/13, 7:00 PM, JACKSONVILLE 

Every Monday during Trivia, buy a discounted Sea Dog Blue Paw pint and keep the glass. ...>

 

07/22/13, 6:00 PM, TAMPA 

Coronado Brewing Company is in town working on a collaboration beer with Cigar City Brewing. They are going to stop by from 6-8pm to visit the brewpub. We have decided to honor their visit by putting four of their beers on tap for the night: Orange Avenue Wit, Mermaid's Red, Islander IPA, and Idiot IPA. ...>

 

07/23/13, 8:00 PM, TAMPA 

Multiple Coronado Brewing draughts on tap, and the Brewery representatives will be stopping by to say hello around 8:00pm. ...>

 

07/24/13, 5:00 PM, WINTER PARK 

Saint Somewhere's Brewing's Anne, Caitlin, and Caroline are now available on draught! Special releases at Red Light for these tasty saisons. Come out and try all three! Anne: Anne is brewed with elder flowers, whole cone hops and belgian malts. Caitlin: Saison brewed with whole dried orange slices and late hopped with citra. Caroline: A light colored saison aged on whole coffee beans, keg conditioned with the usual farmhouse funk. ...>

 

07/24/13, 7:00 PM, DUNEDIN

Coronado Brewing tap invasion at Dunedin House of Beer. Have a brew and meet the Coronado brewery representative, Brandon. Beers featured for the night: Idiot Imperial IPA, Islander, Orange Wit, Stingray IPA, Sock Knocker Imperial IPA, and a special Idiot Cask. ...> 

 

Craft Beer Tasting @ Broudy's 

07/25/13, 5:00 PM, JACKSONVILLE BEACH 

Broudy's Craft beer tasting featuring the following: Narragansett, Sea Dog Blue Paw, Cigar City Jai Alai and Florida Cracker. Limited amount of special Cigar City Beers will also be available for purchase.  ...> 

 

07/26/13, 6:00 PM, ST. PETERSBURG  

Swamp Head will be tapped at the Tavern at Bayboro for the first time and will be giving away a glass to anyone who orders their first pint of beer (while supplies last). ...>

 

07/27/13, 5:00 PM, PORT ORANGE 

House 4 beer is hosting a Green Room Spotlight night! Meet Eric, the brewer of Green Room, as you share a beer with him from the following draught brews: Jetsam, Flopsam, Pablo Beach Pale Ale, Head High IPA, and Double Overhead IPA. ...>

 

07/29/13, 5:00 PM, WINTER PARK 

Redlight will be featuring Cigar City Stiftung Berliner Weisse through a randall with watermelon. Sounds delicious, right? Get it while it lasts. ...>

 

08/01/13, ALL MONTH, CARROLLWOOD 

Rare Vos on tap all month. One or two new beers will be tapped at the end of each week. Last Thursday of the month will be a spotlight night featuring all beers tapped throughout the month and some extra....> 

 

08/02/13, 5:00 PM, DELAND 

Join the Abbey as we celebrate one of Florida's up and coming breweries, Green Room, sampling some of the best offerings Jacksonville Beach has to offer. Featured beer for the evening: Pablo Beach Pale Ale, Head High IPA, Count Shakula Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, and one of their yet to be named seasonals. Also featuring a very special "limited firkin" release of Thin Mint Shakula and some special pulled pork sliders. Eric, the brewer of Green Room Brewing, will be there to cheers you! ...>

 

 

For all events, please see our event calendar. 

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We want to see your beer pictures! Feel free to share and post pictures of the beer you are drinking at our events or on your own on our facebook pages with us,
or hashtag #BeerExpertsFL.

NEW AND RETURNING PRODUCTSBeerfinder
VISIT OUR BEERFINDER TO FIND THESE PRODUCTS  
Cigar City Cider and Mead Hard Cider 
Pours a straw to light gold color. The aroma offers forward Cripps Pink apple notes with hints of Granny Smith and slight caramel notes. Crisp, fresh bright apple flavors with hints of green apple along the edges of the palate that begin to welcome the emergence of aciditiy, and balance the overall sweetness of the cider, leaving a lingering finish of intermingling apple acidity and sweetness. 5.5% ABV

 

Coronado Stingray Point IPA 
Named after a San Diego bayside point, sweet honey malt followed by a hoppy citrus bitterness. 6.8% ABV

 

Coronado Sock Knocker Imperial IPA 
Coronado's limited summer release: An Imperial IPA that will knock your sock off!  Sock Knocer is made with 5 pounds of hops per barrel of Centennial, Chinook, Columbus, Simcoe and Amarillo hops. Lots of piney and citrusy aromas. 90 IBUS, 8.4% ABV.

 

Saint Somewhere Anne  
Saision Anne is brewed with elder flowers, whole cone hops and Belgian malts. 6.0% ABV

 

Tampa Bay Brew Bus Hint of Blue 
Our summer seasonal, "Hint of Blue" is a crisp honey wheat ale brewed with a hint of natural blueberry flavor, giving this perfect summertime beer a blush color. The kiss of blueberry blended with Nelson Sauvin and Kohatu hops makes this already delicious ale another part of the summer that you'll never forget. So hop on the Brew Bus this summer for the Ultimate Craft Beer Experience! 5.5% ABV

 

He'Brew Rejewvenator 2013 
Belgian Style Dubble Ale and Dopplebock European Lager brewed with all natural dates and figs. 8.0% ABV

 

He'Brew Messiah Nut Brown Ale

A deep, bold nut brown ale beautifully balanced with rich dark malts and a complex hop character converging to reveal a simply enchanting elixir. 5.5% ABV

He'Brew Genesis Session Ale

Crisp, smooth and perfectly balanced between a west coast style pale and an amber ale, with a supple malt sweetness and a pronounced hop flourish. 6.0% ABV

He'Brew Hop Manna

Hop Manna is the answer to hop heads' prayers for a delicious IPA bearing floral and citrus goodness. At 65 IBUs and 6.8% ABV, Hop Manna is crafted to provide session after session of hop nourishment, from the He'Brew Tribe to yours. 6.8% ABV

Look out for new and returning favorites like Saint Somewhere Caitlin, Saint Somewhere Caroline, and beers from Mile Marker and Green Room.
*Check with your Brown sales representative for availability or products not available in certain areas 
BEER NEWS
What's the Best Craft Brewery in America? You Tell Us 
By: Marcy Franklin

We want to know which breweries you love: show some love for America's best craft breweries and vote.

 

What was once just a trend is now a full-blown, happening movement that's swept the country: craft beer. Ask just about anyone with an of-age license and taste buds, and people will have an opinion about who makes the best beer around. And despite the fact that craft beer still makes up just less than 7 percent of the total beer market in the U.S., the number of craft breweries has imploded in just the past decade: now at 2,360 operating breweries in 2012, according to the Brewer's Association.

 

Which is why we want to know: what is America's best craft brewery? You can narrow it down by the most medals won, or the most beers sold, but a great craft brewery is more than that. It's a commitment to quality, of course - that can't be ignored. But we at The Daily Meal think a great craft brewery "taps" into its hometown roots and delivers a beer that brings people together. Whether it's your classic lager or your favorite summer seasonal, the best craft breweries will engage both the "craft beer curious" and the connoisseurs and satiate everyone's palates. 

Giving Thanks for Belgian Beer
By: Joe Sixpack, Daily News Beer Reporter

WE PAUSE now to raise a beer in commemoration of Belgium's independence from the Evil Empire of the Netherlands.

'Twas 182 years ago this Sunday that a ragtag band of Belgies dressed like Indians clambered aboard Dutch ships and dumped barrels of Hollandaise sauce in the Harbor of Brussels.

This heroic act of rebellion ignited the infamous Battle of the Bulge, where corpulent gourmands from Antwerp faced down round upon round of Edam cheese. The Dutch army, unable to march in wooden shoes, quickly surrendered and returned to Amsterdam.

For full article
Breweries Not Too Big for Their Barrels
By: Kendall Jones 
 
Every other Friday at 2 a.m., Rich Castagna walks out to the one-car garage behind his home in Maspeth, Queens, and fills a 55-gallon stainless-steel barrel with water. While his wife and three daughters are asleep inside the house, he fires up a burner and slowly brings the water to a boil, turning the 150-square-foot room into a sauna. Another day at the Bridge and Tunnel Brewery has begun.

 

Mr. Castagna, who works for a New Jersey shipping company during the day, opened his one-man beer works in September, and has attracted an ardent following among New York's craft-beer bars, with demand far exceeding the 45 or so gallons he can churn out in each batch. "All I can tell them now is, can you be a little patient," he said. "It's not easy keeping everyone happy."

 

Bridge and Tunnel is one of nearly a dozen nanobreweries, or nanos, as they are known in the trade, to open in and around New York City in the last few years. They range in size from Bridge and Tunnel, with its 1.5-barrel capacity, to Port Jeff Brewing in Port Jefferson, on the North Shore of Long Island, a relative behemoth with its seven-barrel system. (Large craft breweries can produce 100 to 200 barrels at a time.) Across the country, more than 200 nanos are in operation or about to open.   

  

 For full article 
VOLUME 24
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Central Florida
In This Issue:
Upcoming Events
What's the Best Craft Brewery in America?
Giving Thanks for Belgian Beer
Breweries Not Too Big for Their Barrels
Strawberry Belgian Waffles with Liefman's Fruitess Reduction
________________________
 
Featured Cocktail:

Absinthe Minded
Ingredients:

1 1/2oz Hendricks Gin
 1/2 oz Vermouth
1/4 oz Absinthe
About 2 oz Ommegang Hennepin
A Splash of orange bitters.

Directions:

Shake the Gin, Vermouth, and Absinthe together. Top the rest with Ommegang Hennepin and splash with Orange Bitters. Serve in champagne flute with orange peel garnish.
 
____________________
Featured Recipe
Strawberry Belgian Waffles with Leifman's Fruitesse Reduction
By: Jennifer Miller

Yield:
1 Large Waffle
Level:
Easy

Celebrate Belgian Independence Day with these decadent Belgian Waffles served with a Liefmans Fruitesse Reduction sauce. 

 

For Waffles:

 

-2 eggs
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup buttermilk
-1 cup milk
-1 Tablespoon white sugar
-4 teaspoons baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-Strawberries, sliced

 

For Liefmans Fruitesse Reducation Sauce

 

-12 ounces of Liefmans Fruitesse
-2 Tablespoons sugar

 

Directions

 

For Waffles:

 

Preheat Waffle Iron.

 

Combine eggs, milk, buttermilk, and vanilla extract in bowl. Blend until combined.

 

Combine sugar, baking powder, flour, and salt.

 

Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients until well constituted.

 

Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray.

 

Pour mix onto hot waffle iron.

 

Cook until golden brown.

 

Top with strawberries and sauce and serve hot.

 

For Liefmans Fruitesse Reduction Sauce:

 

Combine beer and brown sugar in a medium bowl.

 

Add to a skillet set on medium heat and cook until the mixture is slightly syrupy and reduced to about ¼ cup.

 

____________________  

 

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