Daytona Beer Festival and a Firkin

We were able to do a fundraiser for the Animal Rescue Konsortium coupled with a beer festival in Daytona, and got a firkin to boot.  I was really looking forward to this one!

Woefully, I met up with Josher at Davinci the night before for ONE since I wanted to meet up with Mr. Dan Reed to talk about an event we had coming up.  Given that Josher won't let you walk away from a bar without offering to buy you enough drinks to put an Irish dockworker under the table, I had a terrible headache that morning and really did not feel like drinking.  This sucked because I knew there would be a ton of great beer at this one and a lot of other reps to drink with.  Add to this, we had a second firkin from Lazy Magnolia and given how I felt about the first one, I really didn't want to miss out on this one.

So Renegade Rip came to pick me up at the house to carry out to Beach street for set-up around noon.  The event didn't start till 2:00, so I figured maybe I could heal a bit before the event started and get on some brew once we started pouring.

We got set up at the booth being accompanied by the staff at Davinci, whcih made me really happy.  Good folks and fun, and I figured I could sneak away and be part of the firkin getting tapped in the pumpkin patch that was being set up for the pumpkin beers.  By the way, that is an awesome idea setting up a pumpkin patch like that this time of year, an idea that should be stolen......

Once we got all set up, Mr. Rob Nelson came over because I told him we'd split off a Westvleteren since he wasn't feeling 100% the previous night for the Trappist Dinner and missed out on the Westies we were pouring.  May as well get some hair of the dog.  What a spoiled life we live to have some Westvleteren as hair of the dog - in plastic cups no less.


Either way, it cured my pounding head and I was now ready to slurp and burp.  It worked out well also because I was sharing a booth with Terrapin and Bell's and really wanted some Moo-Hoo and Hopslam.  So the first thing I did was pop open a bottle of Moo-Hoo.  Maybe not the best beer for the hot weather, but I haven't had one in a bit and I love this beer.  Of course, the Hopslam was to follow.  Aaaand then of coourse I split a Sweaty Betty and an Indian Summer with Rip afterward.  Feelin' pretty good at this point.

We get rolling and Vinnie calls me over to pop the firkin.  This firkin as described by the brewery, by the way was:

Southern Gold with pumpkin, brown sugar, nutmeg, and aged rum-infused vanilla bean.

CUMINAYAY-HAAAAAAH!

I get over to the pumpkin patch and we get the firkin all set up.  Without a rubber mallet, we had to use a hammer and wrap some towels around it.  Not too sure about it, but oh well.  I grabbed the hammer and hit the bung a few times, which was not budging.  After gathering some balls after getting heckled by the guys, I finally got a good whack on it and the faucet was in.  Of course, there was beer spraying everywhere, but collateral damage as far as I'm concerned.  Once the cask got aerated a little bit, we were finally ready to pour some out.  I look up and there appears to be an endless sea of cups stretched out at me for a taste.  

Holy Cow was this beer good. Everything that was in it shone through in perfect balance.  I really thought I had hit the mother lode with the fresh peach firkin we got from Lazy Magnolia last week, but man was this one close if not better.  Add to that, I had a ride home.

I was able to get a pitcher poured and walk it over to the booths to let the volunteers have some.  Twice I had to go back for refills before I even got to the booths because people stopped me for some.  Quite a compliment.  Once I did get to the booths, it didn't last long.  Back and forth, back and forth - and lovin' it.  This brew was definitely the hit of the event.  I myself found I couldn't get enough and was drinking it like water.  In fact, at one point I lost my pitcher and filled up a Diet Coke can with some of that goodness.  Unreal.

Top off all this good beer with an appearance from Daneaux of Mermaid Juice fame tapping some Dave-O IPA that he had made.  Long story on this brew and I will post about it later.

All-in-all a great day and a massive THANK YOU to Renegade Rip for being the driver.  Safety first and my day would have been a lot different if I had to rely on my own wheels to get me home.  Cheers!

The Lazy Magnolia Firkin, The Ale and the Witch

I posted on Facebook that there are "probably five beers per year that really impress me, and I had one on this night."  On this night, we were tapping a cask of Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan blended with brandy, fresh peaches, acacia bark, and corn sugar.

The day itself started out someone a pisser.  Due to some severe lack of effort by a certain beer distributor, I had to get a 7:00 am start to pick up the firkin at our local distributor, who was holding the cask.  Putting the 12 gallon beast in my car was the first adventure and driving it the distance from Ormond Beach to St. Pete was going to be the next bit of fun.  Doing it alone - even more fun.

So we load the firkin in the car, I get started down the road and drive and drive and drive.  When you're alone, it's an especially long trip; but being 45 minutes further away really really sucked.........  Funny thing about being on the road.  The distance that becomes rudimentary casts an ever-widening net.  The excitement of the travel has a inverse relationship with the distance of the travel.  This being the case, the 2 1/2 hour drive to Tampa or the 4 hour drive to Miami provide nothing new to see and noone new to talk to about beer.    

That time does however, allow me to catch up on phone calls (Bluetooth of course) and get down with some of my favorite music that may or may not be acceptable to a guest if I were travelling tandem.  On this day I had my favorite new release, Imaginareum from Nightwish in the CD player - a great one to drift away to.

The trip to St. Pete also allows some absolutely breathtaking views of the Gulf and some lengthy trips over beautiful bridges.  Add to this, St. Pete itself rocks and I love getting to visit the downtown area.  Insofar, taking a keg of beer to the gulf coast while listening to my favorite music could be worse.

Getting the keg delivered to Brett at The Ale and the Witch, I decided I needed to hit up Dunedin Brewery for some fish tacos.  CUMINAYAY-HAAAAAH!!!

I met up with some Renegade helpers who were staying in the area with a friend of theirs for some delicious Dunedin Brewery beers and skipped over to 7eventh Sun Brewery.  I don't need to continue saying how much I love the Dunedin area, so we'll leave that to the other 100 stories I've told about how great it is.  Once finished, we parted ways and agreed to meet back at The Witch at about 6:00.

Heading back to The Witch.

So there was an "opening" band starting at 4:00 with the tapping of the firkin occurring at 6:00 pm.  As it turns out, the opening band was an awesome bluegrass band called The Florida Mountain Boys.  If these guys are the opening band, you know they take their music seriously here.  I have attached a (not great quality) video of the band that I made whilst there.  Check them out, you'll dig 'em.



A little bit about The Ale and the Witch.  This is a spot that is truly a "no crap on tap place."  They have 32 taps of all American Craft Beer and some great bottles including Abita Root Beer (awesomeness).  A recent Best of the West Winner, I like to say that this place is where I go to get an Avery Kaiser on draft - diggit.

Brett and staff are awesome and can always talk intelligently about all of the brews they have.  They know what's up.

We tapped the firkin of the special pecan and Brett told me there was a ton of sediment (presumably pieces of fresh peaches) still floating around and was cloggin up the filter, so it would be a bit til we got it going.  No worries, they had Pensacola Bay Imperial Porter aged in Jack Daniels barrels.  You say Jack Daniels to me and the answer "no" will rarely escape my lips.  As it turns out, this beer was insanely awesome.  Unfortunately, it blew right after I had my pint.  Dammit.

I was meeting up with Miss Christiana, who is in charge of the Georgia / Florida Market for Lazy Magnolia.  She helped me put together getting this firkin to The Witch and was coming down for a few days to help promote the brand in the market.  I grabbed my delicious pint and met up with her outside to discuss some things about business and to enjoy this rokkin band.

As we were talking, I saw a post on Facebook from Road Trip for Beer that Mr. Gerard Walen was heading to The Witch so I asked him to meet up when he arrived so that I could introduce him to Christiana.  I've always liked Gerard and Road Trips for Beer keeps me posted on what is going on in areas that I am not in.  I get a lot of good info from them and I am glad that I found them.  The three of us sat together and had some great discussion on the local beer situation and where we can fit with it.  Damn Good Times.    

So finally the special  firkin was ready and I got my first pint of the Southern Pecan cask.  All I can say is "holy shit!"  I have honestly not had a beer like this since my last bottle of Avery 12 was killed (after several years of stretching out my last case).  This beer was so full of flavor and yet was "soft" in nature.  I don't know how to describe what that word means to me, but there are every now and then, beers that I get that sense from.  This is one.  Others include the St. Amand French Country Ale and 3 Monts.  Anyway, I'm not a beer critic.

In the midst of all this, the rest of my crew showed up (late I may add) and we got to hang for a bit.  They were meeting Christiana for the first time and they hit it off well.  In fact, I found myself hanging alone inside the bar while they were talking amongst themselves.  Certain amount of satisfaction in bringing some good folks together, so that makes me happy.  Makes me happy especially since I had to take off soon for the drive back.  Only two beers in, but I had a drive, so safety first.  Oh well.  Great day, great night, and as always, a very lucky fella who gets to do this job.

The big thanks goes to Brett and the folks at The Ale and the Witch.  They also had Indian Summer, Southern Hops'pitality IPA, and Jefferson Stout on draft.  The band was great, the atmosphere awesome, we had some friends come to join, and I really, really, wish I didn't have a 2 1/2 hour drive home or  I would have had five more pints of the special firkin.  Cheers to you guys and we hope to see you at the next Lazy Magnolia firkin tappin'.

The Waterfront - Lazy Magnolia and Boulder Event

The Waterfront in Anna Maria Island sits on one of the most beautiful little pieces of land in Florida.  A breathtaking view and a laid-back island attitude make this little island a paradise away from the bustle surrounding it.  Add a view of the tallest bridge in Florida off in the distance, and this is a place I could just sit and look at for hours (a  little inside joke for Renegade Rip).


This being said, The Waterfront is no "walk up and grab a sandwich" type restaurant.  The Waterfront takes their food seriously in a setting that says "step off the beach in your sandles, lap up a cloth napkin, watch the sunset, and have some big city food while chillin'."  Perfect atmosphere for those who want to have great food and leave the stuffy at home.  The staff is always very nice and Bill the manager is always fun to hang with.  Dig the Waterfront.

Tonight we had a great tasting with Lazy Magnolia and Boulder Brewing.  Very exciting because we were going to be premiering in the area, the Lazy Magnolia Southern Hopspitality IPA on draft as well as the Hoopla Dry Hopped Pale Ale in cans.

The Waterfront throws these shindigs every month where they pair a brewery with some appetizers and sell tickets beforehand.  nice idea as it just kinda becomes a little party where you get to know the folks who attend and get to take advantage of a "cocktail party" type of setting.  A great spot to premier a new beer since it gives an opportunity to chat with folks independently about what you've got going on in their glass.

The crowd begins to filter in and are noticeably the type of crowd we like to see.  Chill, happy, and curious about something new.  If you ask anyone who does the type of work that we do - these descriptors are the ones that keep our motors hummin'.  What makes it better is receiving some insightful and friendly dialogue about the brands you're working with.  Again, the folks at The Waterfront were awesome.


When I first blogged about The Waterfront, I mentioned how great the food was and rated their fish tacos as easiest some of the best in Florida.  Their food certainly does not let down.  This is definitely a place you'll want to check out if you're anywhere near the area.  If you're looking for a place near the beach to stay for a few days, look at Anna Maria Island and get yourself a room.  You'll love the island itself and you'll thank me endlessly for recommending The Waterfront.  Cheers!

Daytona Cubs Beer Fest

This is the 4th Annual Daytona Cubs Beer Festival to be held at Jackie Robinson Stadium and the Renegades have been luck enough to be at all of them (in one way or another).  Always a great time and one that we look forward to.
This time around, we had the good folks from World of Beer helping out and had the talents of some of my SR Perrott buddies on hand.  Rip manned this fest and served up some delicious Boulder and Lazy Magnolia Beers.  To make it all the better, this event also acted as a fundraiser to help raise money for ARK, so we were even more excited to be there.

As with the rest of the beer festivals at this locale, the setting is some of the most beautiful we get to attend.  Sitting just on the outside of the inter-coastal waterway and within a beautiful minor league baseball stadium, I am looking for this to continue to become one of the biggest in the area.

As I stated before, the Renegades and the stadium go back a long way, even before the Renegades existed as a corporate entity.  Not that we weren't who we are, we just weren't official yet.

As another funny aside, the first year that we worked this event, we volunteered to pour Dogfish at this event and introduced Vinnie's boss to a bottle of 120.  Keeping in mind this was four years ago, 120 was less known and much rarer.  Needless to say, he dug it and I try to share one with him every time we work this event.  Nostalgia kinda works that way, ya know.

Well, another weekend down, 4 beer events over the weekend, and the Renegades are back to working out the details for the upcoming events.  Stay posted to see where we will be next.  Cheers!

As an addendum, we'd like to give a HUGE thanks to Clint Cure and the Daytona Cubs as they donated a very generous sum of money to the Animal Rescue Konsortium to help out the dogs that they care so much for.  THANK YOU VERY MUCH Clint, you guys are awesome.  Cheers to you!

Abbey's 6 Year Anniversary

Of course nearest and dearest to my heart is the first business that I ever owned, Abbey.  I opened Abbey in 2006 and sold it on January 1, 2011.  This bar has been the source of some of my life's greatest joys and greatest sorrows.  Abbey made me who I am today, for better or worse.  It will always be one of my greatest accomplishments and my greatest failures.  

Anniversary day is always one of my favorite of the year and although I don;t own Abbey anymore, the excitement is still the same.  This year, as a Renegade Rep, I get to affect the bar in a totally different way and this adds even more excitement to the event.

This year I get to represent some of my favorite breweries in the world, many of which I was serving the day we opened our doors.  Newest in this mix is the legendary Trappiste beer, Chimay.  We began working with Chimay just two days ago, so adding it to our repertoire right before Anniversary day sends chills down my spine.  On this day, I get to serve Chimay to some of my favorite people not as their bartender, but as a representative of the very company that moved many of them into beerlover-hood.


From the Renegade standpoint, our beers have a great showing this year.  On draft, we have Boulder Hazed & Infused and Kinda Blue, Chimay Cinq Cents, and Lazy Magnolia Jefferson Stout.   Very nice!

Among all of the other great things about this day, this is also always a day that allows me to see some people I don;t get to see very often.  It always brings out the old friends and it reminds me of how much I miss all of them.  In particular, I was over-joyed at hearing that my good buddy Harris English was gonna visit for a bit.  Harris was a salesman for our local Bud guys, Quality Brands, back in the day.  Those guys were awesome and I made great friends with most of them.  The irony that a place that is diametrically opposed to Anheuser Busch becomes best of friends with the very guys who sell it is testimony to how much our local guys rocked and what fans of craft beer they are.

What Harris didn't bother to tell me was that he was going to be bringing a world of vintage beer deliciousness with him that was going to get my day started with a bang and inevitably finish with an ouch.  Among the good stuff he brought was:  2 year old Old Horizontal Barleywine, a 2008 and 2011 120 Minute IPA, 2 year old Golden Monkey and V-12, 4 year old Midas Touch, Barrel Aged Brrrrrbon, and a 2008 Double Black Stout.  Additionally, I had been hanging onto some bottles of Cascade brewing Cherry and a batch 1 Ommegeddon.  Not a bad way to start a night of drinking.

Needless to say, once we were finished working on these bottles and passing around some samples, the buzz was working just right.  Just as we had finished the last sample Harris brought and were about to open the Cascade Cherry, Bobby and Ryan from Daytona Beverages walk in and we continued to work on the bottles we had opened.

In addition to the aforementioned brews, on draft were St. Bernardus ABT 12,  Merry Monks, and Golden Monkey which would allow you to put together a flight of Belgian and Belgian-Inspired beers.  As anyone who knows me well enough already knows, it is the Belgian Brews that really get my motor humming and to see a Belgian-Inspired beer flight brings tears to the old eyes.

Before I knew it, I had lost track of time and had to arrange the giveaways we had prepared from Chimay, Hobgoblin, and Monty Python Holy Ail.  We had supplied glassware to give for those who bought draft of Chimay and had some raffle prizes of Monty Python, Hobgoblin, and Xingu T-shirts.  T-Shirts for small breweries always go over well and the Monty Python line is great because they have girly tees as well as the standard men's t-shirts.  Not many breweries offer tees for girls and they always light up when they see that some are made for them.

All in all, it was a great night, we sold a lot of beer, and I got to visit with people that I don't get to see as much as I would like.  I wish you all the same good fortune that I have had with some great folks.  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!