Key West Brewfest - Part 1

When I was told last year that I had missed the deadline to take part in the Key West Brewfest I was, in a word, devastated.  Not only is the Brewfest held in a town that every beer rep north of the Florida Keys wants to go to, the organizers sport us two days hotel accommodations to do it.

Needless to say, it is obvious that putting on a great festival is number one on their list of priorities.  When you have the gumption to put together a festival that locks breweries out and offers a weekend in paradise with nice digs to boot, you are creating for yourself the luxury to pick and choose.  Very, very smart.  So this year I was lucky enough to attend.  I was lucky enough because I begged Mr. Jeff Brown, owner of Boulder Brewing, to reserve a spot last year for this year's event.  Thank goodness I did.

A little about the event itself:

This year was the third year the event was held.  It is held by the Southernmost Hotel Collection in conjunction with the Key West Sunshine Rotary to raise money for their charitable causes.  It was held over Labor Day Weekend which makes it an awesome 3 day weekend and offers us a chance to get down there, enjoy ourselves, and make it back without sacrificing a day of work.  Held on Saturday is good.  Held on the beach in Key West makes it darn near incomparable.

I headed down there with Renegade Rip and his lady Rachel for the weekend and we all got dudded up in our Boulder brewing gear.  As much as I like working with multiple brands, it is somewhat nice to have a singular focus every now and then.  We left Friday afternoon with plans to stay overnight in Marathon Key, wake up early, and finish off the trip to Key West.

Once we get south of Miami and move our way into Homestead, we figure it would be a great idea to grab some Hornitos, limes, and maybe some premix shots.  We stop by this awesome liquor store, pick out some bottles, and I find a bottle of The Dalmore Gran Reserva.  The Dalmore was the whiskey that made me a scotch lover all those years ago and I have never seen the Gran Reserva.  The description is as follows:

"Our Master Distiller selects our most intense whiskeys, typically aged from 10 to 15 years, drawn exclusively from first fill oaken casks for this unique expression.  the assemblage combines whiskies from both Oloroso sherry butts and Bourbon barrels in an approximate two thirds to one harmonious fusion.  When married, the liquid is then returned to upstanding sherry butts for a further six months, delivering an enhanced, intense taste experience with a sweet finish."

I digress with way too much information, but this whiskey is really good and is everything it promises to be.  If you're a whiskey lover make sure to check it out.


Back to the story at hand.  We finally arrive in Marathon Key at the Sombrero Resort and Marina about 4:30 and our room is awesome!  Sitting on the river, it has a bedroom, a living room, and a nice bathroom.  Also connected to a golf course and has a boat slip.  Now if only I had my clubs with me.  Point is, room was awesome and I found it on Priceline at the cheapest possible price.  Way good price for this time of year.  Full kitchen and full sized fridge.  Enough for beer AND Diet Mountain Dews!

Given the long day and our days upcoming, we decide to drink on some Hornitos and dig into some Hoopla Pale Ale.  The beer is intended for sampling at the festival, but I can't help myself as I love this beer and we just got it in.  A double shot of tequila, a glass of whiskey, a can of Hoopla, and a bottle of Hazed & Infused down - I'm ready for some fish tacos.  We went to King Seafood there on the island (see previous review) and dug the whole experience.  Love it when a plan comes together.  Early night in and early to rise because we have a loooooong few days ahead of us.

Waking up in the morning, approximately 8:00 am, we get showered and get on the road.  A nice 42 miles to Key West from Marathon Key; down a tediously long bridge, fuel prices that increase 10 cents each subsequent island, and the constant threat of massive iguanas walking in front of your car.

We get to our hotel at about 10:00.  The Best Western Plus Hibiscus that the event organizers had set up for us.  Super nice place!  Hardwood floors, nice pool, one street from Duval, one street from The Southernmost Point.  No complaints here.  Add to this - one block from the event!

No time to check in and with it being so early, it will be a few hours.  Problem is - we have to be at the event at 2:30 and if we get started on par-tayin' now, it's gonna be a long night.....  As it turns out, it's gonna be a long night.  Figuring that Renegade Rip had not been to Key West and that we worked at Adobe Gilas together, Fat Tuesday's would be a good place to start and we could take it easy on some slow-drinking Slurpees.  If Brain Freeze is good for one thing, it's keeping you from drinking too fast.  We head down to Fat Tuesdays and each order a Rum Runner.  Rum Runners mean vacation to me and I refuse to drink them when I'm not on vacation.  Self-inflicted Pavlovian reaction.

We play a little Big Game Hunter, slurp down the drinks and grab one to go.  Figuring we had better eat beforehand, we head over to Blue Heaven for some grub.  The food there is always good and the atmosphere is awesome, so with the good weather, there is nowhere else I figured we should be.

Entering Blue Heaven, we are told they are not serving lunch until 1:00.  This is going to put us close on time, but if we don't eat, thar be rough waters ahead.  We grab a seat a the bar and an awesome bartender rolls up to help us out.  Pointing out that they have some specialty drinks that are native to them, we all decide to give them a roll and see how they are.  Naturally juicy and rum-based, they are of course delicious and hevvvvy on the alcohol.  Not so heavy, though, that we don't see the PING PONG table on property.  Time for a game.  Ping Pong goes back for me and Rip to the days when we used to go to Dolly's, drink Miller Genuine Draft, and play game after game with our buddy Trueblood.  Good times, good times.

If I recall correctly, I won.

We get our table, all order fish, and it is all delicious.  However, we are running late and still have to check in to the hotel.  No time for dilly dally and unfortunately we are in full stumble mode.  No worries, it's a beer festival and we will fit right in.  So after check-in the amble to the Key West Brewfest begins.  More about the rest of the trip upcoming.  As it stands, I am tired and this is a good place to stop.  Cheers!

A Sepia shot that we took of the water.  Not perfect, but i kinda dig it.