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!

Key West Brewfest - Part 2

Arriving at the Key West Brewfest, we were right on time.  And I mean right on time.  This is another way of me saying we could have been earlier and that would have been just fine.  The booth was all set up and the beer was iced down (a big THANK YOU to Brown Distributing for that), and we were ready to rack and roll.  We were pouring Hazed & Infused, Sweaty Betty, Mojo, and Kinda Blue.  We also took some Hoopla Pale Ale to cast upon the city and let them get a taste of it.  We had a few shirts and a ton of posters to give away, so we were all set.

For the first hour, we just had the VIP folks in so it was slow going.  This allowed us to leave two at the table while the other wandered around and got a few more beers in them that they may have not gotten to try yet.  An excellent situation as there are some breweries in that area that we don't get to see very often such as Tequesta and Funky Buddha.  I was very excited to have some brews from these guys as I have not made it to their individual outlets yet.  Additionally, there were some other breweries that were brand spanking new there and we got a sneak peak at them before they became widely available.  VERY cool.

I went first and made my rounds.  There was a great steel drum band playing and the weather was beautiful.  Really can't think of a more idyllic place at this time of year and I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all of the people who made it possible for us to be there  (including Honda, who makes a fine automobile).

One of the glaring characteristics we all noticed about the crowd was that everyone was just having a great time.  As much as that sounds like a "well duh" statement, it is actually not that common.  These guys we just chillin'.  Even the bathroom mines were extremely courteous which usually doesn't happen.  I'm lovin' the vibes down here!  Never once did I feel overcrowded or rushed.  Very, very good event.

I was able to make my rounds and see some of my favorite buds to search out at events:  Wallace from Terrapin, Chuck from Dogfish, Rich from Brooklyn, James from Harpoon, et al.  I always look forward to seeing these guys.  It's as if we get a little piece of home away from home by our own company.  Very strange but very real.

The folks from Brown were awesome and helped us out huge.  By the time the event ended, we were all feeling pretty well and made plans to meet up later at a really great place called The Porch.

The Porch is a really nice spot sitting inside a large plantation style home located on Caroline Street just off Duval.  They carry a very nice selection of draft beer and wine.  A flight of stairs leads up to the "porch" itself and there is always a nice crowd outside enjoying the sights and sounds of Key West.  Inside, you'll find decor reminiscent of a darker side of Key West, somewhat of a Dia de Los Muertos Light.  With the noise from the street and the activity on the porch itself, we were drawn back outside after ordering some beers and sauntered onto the deck to look out on the streets below.  Very nice to be at a distance and with the commotion at once.  A great spot.

Once finishing the beer festival and beer at The Porch, we headed back to the hotel.  Again, an early night in bed for an attempt at an early morning to get started.

Sunday morning meant a refill at Fat Tuesday and a walk down to a place that Rip wanted to go back and see, The Smallest Bar in Key West.  The attraction - a giant fresh pineapple filled with rums and exotic juices finished with cut cored pineapple.  A meal on its own and a great opportunity to catch a buzz, never mind continuing the buss that Fat Tuesday's brought on.  The proprietor was a nice lady who made the concoction herself after chopping up the fruit and filling the pineapple with the spirit.  I myself had a simple pint glass with the same mix which was quite delicious.  A good stop to be sure.

At this point we needed some grub and had heard some good things about Amigos Tortilla Bar.  Naturally, fish tacos were a requirement so first task was to ensure that they had it on the menu.  Sho 'nuff and we go in to see what is going on.  they had Abita Root Beer on draft!  I love Abita Root Beer on draft.  Ordered one - they were out.  Damn!  Changed my order to a Modelo Especial - out.  Damn!  The waitress brings me a Dos Equis instead - on the house.  YES!!!  Great food and a great hot sauce to boot - Mexican Butt Blaster.

Rip had wanted to hit the water since we arrived and outside of a brief jump in the water at the beer festival, we hadn't had salt outside of that that was on our tortilla chips at Amigos.  Therefore, we looked for a boat to rent.  Something to get us out in the ocean and something we could use to jump into the deep blue for some time.  Sold out.  Labor Day Weekend, duh.  We shoulda planned this better.

Instead, we found they had a few seats left on a giant catamaran that offered all you can drink beer and sparkling wine.  Done.

The company was a massive one in Key West called Fury Water Adventures and they have all kinds of kiosks set up around town trying to sell you different stuff.  I'm not normally into this big corporate stuff, but we had little choice and the catamaran seemed fun enough.  The tickets were $37.  Pretty cheap so I wasn't expecting much considering that it included free beer.  The image in my head was one of an over-packed trip into the water with a bunch of sweaty, smelly tourists sitting elbow to elbow.  not an appealing idea.

When we got onto the boat, we walked up to the third level and found a few people sitting around, mostly in their early 20s taking in some sun and awaiting the captain's orders.  We took a seat on the ground and started taking some pictures.  When the captain finally came on to announce our instructions, he let us know that although we were on the third level and the booze was being poured on the first level, the staff would bring around pitchers of beer and bottles of wine to keep our glasses full.  "Yeah right" I thought to myself.  "We'll be lucky to see these guys once."

Once we got out onto the water, the first round of drinks came out and filled up our cups.  About halfway through, another round.  Then another.  Another.  These guys rocked!   And they were super friendly.  Nice, polite fellas who seemed to be enjoying spending time with all we smelly people.  The captain was super friendly and we sailed straight at the sun until it started to hit the horizon at which time we started back.  Great picture opps the entire time and I wish I had had a better camera.

For $37, Rachel pointed out we would have spent more than that at a bar having drinks.  This way, we got a cruise and really cool people.  I would highly suggest this trip if you head down to Key West.

After the boat, we were whipped.  Back to the room and the end of our trip.  A great few days and I feel very, very lucky to have been able to take part.  Thanks to everyone who made it happen and as always, Cheers!

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.

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!