Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan on Randall

This is awesome.  Of all of the things that I have had on the Randall, this has to be one of the top-enders.  While definitely perhaps a little too heavy for sitting outside in the heat, I would love to have this beer outside in the cold of a Colorado Winter.

What we have today is the Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Randalled on butterscotch and cinnamon.  This awesome blend is basically a fresh dessert in a glass.  The only thing I can imagine while drinking this beer is that I would love to have it drizzled over poundcake.  The additional flavors from the Randall blend perfectly with the Southern Pecan.

Blair, the bartender, says his inspiration is from Pecan Pralines.  Mission accomplished.  Of course the sweet flavors from the butterscotch make perfect sense, the cinnamon adds not only flavor but a little bit of tannin to the mix which takes away the cloying nature and gives a nice finish on the palate.  

For anyone looking to set up a Randall, I would definitely recommend trying this mix out.  Cheers!

ARK Fundraiser at Davinci

For those of you who don't know, the Renegades work closely with an animal rescue group, Animal Rescue Konsortium, which is a no-kill shelter for animals.  These kind folks are all heart and no funding, so we try to include some fundraising whenever possible.  In this case, Mr. Dan Reed at Davinci allowed us to do an entire day of fundraising; giving us some live music, space to bring animals for adoption, and allowed us to do a hot dog eating contest.  Very cool of him and we raised some decent funds to help keep the animals alive.

To start, I received a call from Mr. Terry Jorgensen who let me know that he had an emergency and couldn't make it, but left a check for the cause under the door at Davinci.  As it turns out, he left a VERY generous donation and it became a great start to a beautiful day.

Additionally, Mr. Jim Campbell offered up his musical services and played the event gratis.  He also brought some musical guests with him and they all through out some great tunes.

Add to all this, Casey's On The Corner donated the hot dogs for the eating contest AND donated $1.00 to the cause for every dog sold.  We are very lucky to have folks like this who are willing to help out a cause, especially during an uncertain economy.  

We auctioned off some of the limited prints and some rare brews, including a Westvleteren 8 that drew in a $25 donation from West Costa who also picked up a print for $50.  Very generous of him.  

All in all, we were able to generate $1002 for the animal rescue and made some great connections for volunteers to work at the center.

If you'd like to help ARK in any way, please contact them and offer whatever you can.  I have included the link here to their website and you can follow from there.

http://arkfl.rescuegroups.org/

Cheers!

Jacksonville Craft and Import Beer Festival

On Friday, May 18th, the Renegades were in full force at a massive beer festival in Jacksonville.  To be exact, I believe the final numbers were in the realm of 4,500 people who attended this event at Veteran's Memorial Stadium.  Of all of the festivals that I worked last year, this was the second largest so I knew I'd have to rustle up some fellow Renegades, organize our volunteers, and prepare ourselves for the onslaught of beer lovers, home brewers, and journalists who have waited since last year to enjoy this festival once again.

Very exciting also, was that we were going to get to pour draft at this event and, although there are drawbacks to pouring draft at festivals, it is great to be able to show off a few brews that either are not available on draft or that simply shine when poured out of a keg.

Two of these are especially near and dear to my heart.  

The first is Lazy Magnolia Jefferson Stout.  This beer is not available in the bottle as the brewery does not have a pasteurizer and the lactose that is added to this brew apparently sours when in the bottle.  For this reason, we are not able to get the Jefferson Stout out as much as I would like and I was very excited to have it out for this large audience.  A little about the beer.  The brewery description is:

Jefferson Stout, Lazy Magnolia\'s original Sweet Potato Cream Stout, is Lazy Magnolia\'s version of the ideal Southern-Style Stout. Jefferson Stout is brewed with sweet potatoes and lactose (milk sugar). The sweet potatoes provide the background to an impressive taste with added notes of roasted chocolate, coffee and caramel flavors.


Every time I get a chance to sample this beer out, it goes over well.  This day was no different.  I'm hoping more distributors will be picking this great beer up soon and we can get it out in the market more.  

The second beer that I was monumentally excited to have on draft was the Sweaty Betty.  This Heffeweizen from Boulder Brewing is great out of the bottle.  On draft it takes on a whole new life.  The most beautiful beer I've ever seen in a glass, it appears in the sun what you would think white stained glass would look like.  Add to that, the massive banana and clove flavors that present themselves even larger out of a keg, and this beer is a no-lose.   


The festival itself lasts from 6pm-10pm and I'm usually afraid of evening festivals, simply because people will either want to use this as their night out and want to get tanked, or they figure that if they're gonna be out all night, this is going to be their alcohol consumption for the night and thereby want to hyper-consume.  Either way, I'm often leery of these events and do not look forward to driving home after.  As it turns out; the crowd, even at their massive size was extremely polite and enjoyable.  


As for myself, I wanted to take this opportunity to visit some friends of mine who work for other breweries and we get to run into each other on these journeys.  With Vinnie present and plenty of volunteers, it is nice to get out from behind the booth and mingle a bit.  It's also nice to get upstairs and enjoy some all-you-can-drink Orval from Mr. Rob Nelson of Merchant du Vin.  It ain't often that you can enjoy Orval with pricetag impunity so you have to take the opportunity when you can.    


This event is a very inexpensive $30 per head with an opportunity to get a VIP ticket for $45 which allows you to get in an hour early.  This is also a charity event to benefit The Southside Men's Business Club and the Jacksonville Chamber West Council.  


Definitely an event that I am looking forward to attending again next year, this event is one of my favorite of the year.  Cheers!

Dunedin Smoke House Beer Dinner

We had a great time in the Tampa area during American Craft Beer Week.  From wonderful, amazing, delicious Fish Tacos to Fundraising for the Animal Rescue to discovering a new brewery (7eventh Sun), this trip to this area was definitely well worth the cost of admission.  We capped it off in a great restaurant and got to hang with some fun folks.

As it turns out, Dunedin is becoming my favorite city in Florida.  The people are great, it's close to Tampa and St. Pete, it's on or near the water, and the beer culture is growing at a phenomenal rate.  The hospitality business in this area really support each other and at this particular dinner, it looked like a who's-who of Dunedin bar and restaurant owners.  I love to see business owners in a cooperative atmosphere and it was awesome to see how they are enjoying each others' success.

I was asked to do this beer dinner a few months ago and was excited to see that they had decided to put the Mojo Risin' Double IPA on the menu.  Being that the season for Mojo Risin' has ended, it is a great complement to see that they wanted to have it enough to keep the brew around for the event.  Additionally, I was told they wanted to have Sweaty Betty, Mojo IPA, Kinda Blue, and the legendary Hazed & Infused.

The restaurant is located at 471 Main Street in Dunedin.  This little area is very cool and has a small downtown situated around a circle within a few blocks of the Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training facility.  This is a very nice little area and I can definitely see the allure to people wanting to visit this area to watch some baseball (especially since Mike Wallace from Terrapin and I took a walk to see a game a few months ago).

As for Dunedin Smoke House, don;t let the name, or the seemingly casual look of the restaurant fool ya'.  This restaurant takes their food seriously, as you can see in this review from Urbanspoon written for this very event!!

 http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/30/1546808/restaurant/Tampa-Bay/The-Dunedin-Smokehouse-Dunedin

While you may expect a place with Smoke House in the name to offer 5 different types of ribs for a beer dinner and call it a day, Chef Tony apparently doesn't see the world that way.  When they sent me the menu, I was thrilled at the thought that went into creating the menu and figured if the food was HALF as good as it looks, this is going to be great.  I don't even eat meat and I was excited.  The menu for the event was:

Tempura Battered Stone Crab Roll with Avocado and Red Bell Pepper Served with Spicy Togarashi Aioli - Paired with Sweaty Betty


Lavender Smoked Wild Boar Boudin Sausage with Gouda Grit Cake & Shaved Onion Rings - Paired with Hazed & Infused


Tandoori Quail With Cucumber Raita, Saffron Basmati Rice and Pomegranate Ginger Chutney with Warm Nan Bread - Paired with Mojo IPA


Grilled Venison Chop with Green Peppercorn Demi, Oyster Mushroom Faro, Roasted Baby Gold Beets, and Sunburst Squash - Paired with Mojo Risin' Double IPA


Macadami Crusted St. Andre Triple Cream Brie with Blueberry Gastrique, Organic Greens, and Brioche Toast Points - Paired with Kinda Blue


Given that I don;t eat meat, of course I had to work around some of the food listed above.  That being said, I did my best to collect the wonderful aromas coming off said meat and in mind re-lived the days when I would have been chowing on this stuff.  Needless to say, everyone around me enjoyed their plates immensely.

By end-count, there were 40 people at this event and, according to management they have been gaining in popularity.  I would definitely recommend hitting up Dunedin Smoke House for a beer dinner.  Better yet, spend a few days in the area and enjoy all it has to offer.  Cheers!










    

World of Beer - Westchase ARK Event

We had an opportunity to raise some money for the animal rescue at this event, and a huge thanks to Nicole and the other folks at WOB for helping us make this happen.  This is the happiest of situations for me in this business.  I love selling beer and I love making people happy.  But what I really love is to round all of this out with helping animals.  It's warming to have large and diverse groups of people come together, make the plans to help a good cause, and lots of people show up to support it.

Also, the folks at WOB agreed to donate $1 to ARK for every pint of Boulder Beer sold!  Again, a HUGE thanks to the folks at World of Beer.

Of course, this is a beer event and I was excited as all get-out to try the Nitro Flashback for the first time.  Boulder makes Flashback year-round, but this is a special occasion that they charge it with Nitro and I have yet to have had it.


Flashback is a dry hopped brown ale at just under 7% alcohol that has 5 additions of Cascade hops.  Massive citrus on this one and the balance created with the chocolate malt make for a very complex brew.  The nitrogen adds such a creamy characteristic to this beer and it also moderates some of the hops a tad.  The nitro is a beer that could do well as a year-round offering.

It began pouring rain, of course, at about 5:00 and the forecast showed no sign of reprieve.  This really sucked because the folks from ARK traveled all the way from DeLand for this event and I wanted it to be as successful as possible for the doggies.  They set up at the front of the building and created a nice showing as we were also auctioning off our limited release Sweaty Betty and Hazed & Infused posters.  This meant we were going to be taking donations at the door, WOB was making a very generous donation, and we were auctioning posters so this event was bound to be a success.

I met up with Beth from JJ Taylor and Nicole from World of Beer and we started getting some drink on.  I was also able to meet some of the doggies in the bunch including a beautiful and well-behave Pit Bull puppy that belonged to one of the bartenders.  It's always great to see the love that people have with their dogs, and especially to see them bring a Pit Bull out and show the world that they are not vicious killers.  


For Boulder drafts, they had Kinda Blue, Mojo Risin', and the aforementioned Flashback Nitro.   We began the night drinking on some Kinda Blue and needless to say I moved pretty quickly to the Risin' and to the Flashback, and back to the Risin', and back to the Flashback, and so on and so dizzy.  As I always say -  I love my job.  But I love it more when we get to make people happy AND support a great cause.  Cheers to everyone!  


NOTE:  When I was packing for my trip, I threw in a bottle of Port Brewing's Older Viscosity; a 12% bourbon barrel aged strong dark ale that pours like a river of 30 weight.  This brew is pretty rare and I have been waiting to share it for 2 years.  This seemed like the perfect time given the generosity of World of Beer and the hard work that everyone put into this event.  Needless to say it didn't disappoint.  This brew rates 100 out of 100 on ratebeer and it definitely was apparent why.  To make things even better, there was a loyal WOB customer who had just reached his 1000th beer, so we were able to share it with him.  Made for a great time and everyone loved this beer.  












 

Fish Tacos - Surf Shack

I was going to hit a place that I know very well for their delicious Fish Tacos - Z Grille in St. Pete.  I had a meeting to attend with Nicole at World of Beer in Westchase and I told her that I needed to hit St. Pete for that particular stop for some swimmy-creature research.  Her reply - "you have to hit Surf Shack if you love Fish Tacos."  The good news is that it is right around the corner from WOB so you can't argue with the geography.  Add to that, it was pouring rain so for the sake of safety, I figured I would take her word for it.

Big ups to Nicole.

This place was cool.  When I walked in, it was clear that the name was taken from front to back decor-wise and the vibe made me feel like I was sitting in Santa Monica instead of Tampa.  Even the music made me feel like I was on-set at The Mellow Show on Saturday Night Live (and that ain't a bad thing) http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi809501977/
By the way - The above video is the funniest thing in the history of television**

Long story short, the vibe convinced me that these Fish Tacos have to be good.

Surf Shack has two varieties of Fish Tacos.  I ordered the Longboard Fish Tacos - Beer battered Cod, Chipolte Sour Cream, Surf Slaw and Pico de Gallo in soft flour shell.  The other is the Pipeline Fish Tacos - Grilled Cod, Thin Sliced Cabbage, Pickled Red Onions, Cilantro and Chile-Tomatillo Salsa in two corn tortillas.  Both at a cost of 6.95, the price is certainly right.

My server brought me a Diet Coke, a great basket of chips and salsa, and I ordered a bowl of edamame.  The edamame was awesome with a massive amounts of seasoning that threw some southwestern spice and certainly complemented these little tasties.

On to the tacos.  As I stated earlier, I ordered the Longboard Fish Tacos, which have soft flour tortillas and Fried fish.  Now these are some refreshing tacos!  The surf slaw and the chipolte sour cream make for a light and clean mix of flavors and pair very well with the fried cod.   As in life, the secret to a great Fish Taco is balance.  This one has it.  Although I generally prefer grilled fish, the fried fish definitely is a better choice in this mix and it shows that you can't just take your favorite aspects of the dish and put them together.  As Herb Brooks said to Craig Patrick, "I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones."  The right player in this hockey taca is the fried cod-a, bra-da.

As with the Fish Tacos at Dunedin Brewery, I'm finding that the icing on the cake is becoming ever-important to my Fish Taco Quest.  That icing is a great appetizer.  At Dunedin Brewery, it's the Cheese Curds, at Surf Shack, the edamame.  This is going to have to be a continuing theme in my quest for the best and I hope the rest can keep up.  Cheers!

Fish Tacos - Dunedin Brewery

Full disclosure - when I plan a trip to the Tampa area, my first stop is always at Dunedin Brewery.  I dig the beers, the staff is always friendly, the ownership is great............  Notice I haven't even mentioned the fish tacos.  It is worth going to Dunedin Brewery without the tacos.  It is worth going to Dunedin Brewery if you are allergic to fish tacos, if you hate fish tacos, if you are morally opposed to off-shore fishing; it is still worth it to go to Dunedin Brewery.  Add these fish tacos, and you've moved from terra firma to Valhalla.  

This being said, I am beginning my Tampa-area leg of American Craft Beer Week at Dunedin Brewery enjoying some beers and eating the first of many trays of these particular pesce-ian delights.  

A little about the brewery.  It is located (surprisingly) in Dunedin and fills a spot on 937 Douglas Avenue and are Florida's oldest microbrewery.  They make a variety of American Styles but also lend toward a lot of European styles, which is an aspect of this brewery that continues to make me happy.  On a previous stop, they had taken one of their beers and dry-hopped each one with Nelson Sauvin hops and offered them both ways.  A great way to get to know the flavor profile of a particular hop variety and what it adds to a brew, and I appreciate them for doing these types of things.

The beers I am working on at this stop are a Nitro-Maibock and an IPA called American Classic.  The Maibock is also available on CO2 and on cask, so if you want to try a full realm of options it is open to you.  Delicious on Nitro, I can tell you that.  

Behind that was the American Classic IPA.  This thing was an enamel ripper!  GENEROUSLY hopped with Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook, this is a brew that you could give to a newbie as an example of what Americans do with hops.  Woman - WoooooooooooMAN (So I Married an Axe Murderer Reference).  The freshness of this brew is evident in the glass and I can think of a strong ten people who I'd live to have sitting beside me who would appreciate this beer.  

On to the tacos.  Deceptively simple (like golf).  The menu description of this brew is:  West Coast Fish - 3 hard shells with Mahi-Mahi, Shredded Cabbage, Diced Tomato, Creamy Lime Sauce.  

Simple, huh?  Add to this the price of $8.50 and I don't understand how I can resist being here every day.

To start, the shell on these are a hard corn shell as opposed to the soft flour shell.  The slaw is fresh cabbage so right off the muscle you've got two fairly crunchy numerators you're dealing with.  The denominator is a fresh grilled slice of mahi, a wonderful creamy lime sauce, and fresh diced tomato.  As it turns out, the sauce and the juices from the mahi help to soften the crunch and create a perfect, and I mean perfect, balance of textures.  Add to that, they offer my favorite sauce, Chalula, and you are winning Sheen style.  That's the secret to these little buggers.  The complementing of flavors is so perfect that you just cruise through them and do not realize you are.  Before you know it, you are finished and wanting more.      

You really can't lose at Duneding Brewery and I'm thrilled that I get to do business with these folks.  Don't pass up a chance to try their wares and on that note:  THEY ARE HOSTING AN IPA FESTIVAL ON SATURDAY,  JUNE 2! TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW ON THEIR WEBSITE.  Cheers!

Fish Tacos - The Midtown Filling Station

My Fish Taco Quest of Florida, or FTQF (you have to pronounce the letters together as a word, NOT an acronym) has led me to many a locale to seek out the best of Florida.  I am going to write about the first 10 that really make an impression.  Afterward, we can look back over and rank them by amazingness.  This is not to say it is a competition, but to say that if I could be beamed to one place to eat fish tacos in Florida, number one would be my first choice.  Not to discount the greatness of the 10th place winner, though, to be sure......

My first documentation is of a wonderful little restaurant in Tallahassee, The Midtown Filling Station.  The Filling Station is located at 1122 Thomasville Road in Tallahassee and in a plaza that also accompanies a few really cool bars that you can enjoy on their own.  This being the case, you could actually spend a whole day in this plaza and never have to want for anything.  Cheers to that!!


The Fish Tacos at this place are great.  They combine two of my favorite standards for these treats - grilled fish and tasty slaw.  This is not to say that I am snobbish about frying the fish and it definitely does not mean slaw is non-negotiable, but I happen to prefer these two aspects of a good taco.

The product description of these flour-flanked beauties is:  Jumbo Fisher Tacos - Blackened Mahi, Black Beans and Roasted Corn, Cheddar and Mozzarella, Avocado Crema, Smoked Tomato Salsa, Spanish Slaw on Grilled Flour Tortilla.   


The good news is that the tacos are as delicious as they look in these photos.  The fish has no fishy flavor at all, the slaw is fresh and crisp, and the dish itself is beautifully laid out.  The one knock on these particular tacos is that the sauces provided are not so impressive.  Not that they are bad by any stretch, they are just a tad dull for my tastes.  A picky complaint, but hey, if I absolutely love everything about every taco, they would all tie for first.  Definitely a top-shelf taco and one that I can see finding its way near the top of the list.

A great addition to these tacos is the boiled peanut bowl that is available as an appetizer.  These are incredible!!!!

Check out the Filling Station if you are in the area.  I don't think you can be disappointed in the meal or the service.  Cheers!

Windy City in Daytona

I FINALLY got some Flashback Brown on draft here in Florida and the first place I was able to try it was the newly opened Windy City in Daytona Beach. Opened by the same fellas who own the legendary McK's a few addresses down, their grand opening was this night and we were able to parlay a tap takeover to help celebrate. On draft this night, we had Boulder BRewing's Hazed & Infused, Kinda Blue, Sweaty Betty, and Flashback Brown.

A little about Flashback. This is a heavily hopped brown that begins slightly sweet in much the way you would think a brown ale would, but finishes with a massive rush of citrusy hops that leaves the finish very dry. It rates a 94 on ratebeer.com and one can easily see why it gained such a rating. An extremely complex brew, I am very excited to get it further out in the market......

Windy City is located at 230 South Beach Street in Daytona. A perfect tie-in with the local minor league baseball team, the Daytona Cubs, this new restaurant offers a great menu of many indigenous Chicago foodstuffs and decor to match. The vibe is very comforting with authentic brick walls, dark wood, and televisions to watch your favorite game. With full liquor and a gorgeous bar to sit at, you really can't beat grabbing a stool and chatting with one of their friendly bartenders. In addition, there are a great number of tables and outside seating when the weather is nice.

On this particular night, they offered $3.50 pints of Boulder Beer and handed out some goodies for the crowd. Also, a local radio station, 103.3 The VYB came out and did a live remote. I managed to drag Defran away from DeLand and brought his buddy Josh with us. Rip joined later and we commenced to partying. At $3.50 for a pint of Flashback (6.8% abv) I was a happy, happy boy and we downed our share of Hazed once we decided to drop our alcohol intake a bit (4.85% abv).

As it stood, I promised myself that I would be home at the latest of 10:00pm. As it turned out, we were at Krystal at 2:30 am watching Josh eat 5 chicken sandwiches. This is not only a nod to how great the beer was, but how much we all enjoyed the environment, each others' company, and the staff. Well, that and the 3 orders of fries that Defran imbibed in..........

Definitely check out this place. I can see great things for the future of Windy City and am happy to get to know these guys. Cheers!