Hobgoblin and the World of Beer in Viera

The Goblin has officially hit the east coast of Central Florida!!!  The approach of Halloween allows us for one month to get a sighting on the elusive and clever, yet friendly English Ale - Hobgoblin.

When the Renegades began putting together these little events to highlight the delicious Goblin and offered up  some really cool mugs to go with them, we had no idea what the demand would be, or that it would be so high!  Our idea was to get some Hobgoblin mugs out to a few bars and get some Goblin into the mugs and into the hands of consumers.  Not a lofty goal, but definitely something to build on, right?


As it turns out, the demand for the Goblin and the support mugs has been more tremendous than any of us expected and we have already run short on mugs.  In fact, every event that we have done with the Goblin has resulted in the mugs lasting no longer than 90 minutes and the Goblin being poured out so fast that the bartenders have to line up to get it poured.  The bars have even had to change the rules to allow for refills at a discount.  This has worked out extraordinarily well!

Renegade Rip was at this event at the World of Beer in Viera and had a great time.  The event itself began at 4:00 and (as earlier stated) the mugs did not last until the sun was down.

Luckily, the World of Beer staff was also carrying some of the sister components of the Hobgoblin family, Scarecow Organic Ale and Wychcraft.  The Scarecrow is in limited availability on draft here in Florida (I believe only 5 kegs came to the state) and its Organic stature makes it a beer that everyone wants to try and invariably enjoys.  Wychcraft was in bottle form.  The Wychcraft is a biscuit-y blonde sporting Fuggles and Styrian Golding hops to give it that "obviously English" character.

Scarecrow, himself on draft at this time, is a citrus-y Golden made with organic barley malt and hops.  Rarely seen in the United States on draft, it is very exciting to see the Scarecrow here in the states.


Between the three of these English brews, the night seemed to belong to England and her under-appreciated malted wonders.  It's great to see these brews gaining presence and getting their names out there.  I myself, am especially hopeful that I will get to try some Scarecrow on draft before it is gone.

Looks like Renegade Rip gets all the fun and I'm left having to write about his Adventures with the Renegade Reps.  But as I sit and pour myself a pint of Monty Python's Holy Ale, I do not feel so bad after all.  Cheers!

Hobgoblin Mugs Rokkin in Florida Soon

For those who follow some of the great English beers we have available, you may see one popping up everywhere on draft - Hobgoblin.

This Dark English Ale has been haunting Bud-Miller-Coors drinkers for years with his tagline "What's the matter lager boy, afraid you may taste something."  You'll see this handsome mug all over Florida this fall season in bottle and on draft, and you'll see he has some friends coming with him.

In addition to The Goblin in draft and bottles, you'll see some Wychcraft and Scarecrow Organic in bottles as well as some limited draft seasonals of Bountiful, Dogs Bollocks, and Bah Humbug.  The good news is, all of these will be available in Florida.  In addition to the brew being tasty, their artwork is some of the best around.

Beginning in October, Hobgoblin is also going to be doing some promotions that are going to be of particular interest to our glassware collectors (and coffee drinkers).  A limited edition Hobgoblin Mug will be available at select bars and retailers throughout the state of Florida.

The mug itself is very cool.  Appearing in the form of a logo cauldron, they've added the goblin himself hanging on the top and bottom to form a handle. You just pour the draft into the cauldron and wait for the people around you to ask how to get one - and they will.  End of your trip to the bar, you take the goblin home and enjoy the 6-pack of Hobgoblin that you're going to buy at your local liquor store.

Keep your eyes peeled as only a limited amount of bars are going to carry these guys and once they're gone, they are gone.  Cheers!

Nona Tap Room - Anniversary Party

Nona Tap Room is celebrating their 2nd Anniversary and we were lucky enough to be able to take part.  The Renegades get to see a lot of different types of beer bars with all different types of staffs and clientele.  I appreciate them all for different reasons and I really like Nona Tap Room because it is a place where you can go get some great beer on draft, really good and good-looking food, and enjoy an atmosphere that does not force you to bring out your inner beer geek.  Sometimes I just wanna spend an afternoon drinking really good beer with fun people and Nona is great for that.

For their anniversary, Nona is carrying several of the brews in the Renegade Portfolio and I dig it.  Five drafts to be exact including Chimay White, Boulder Hoopla, Boulder Mojo, Hobgoblin, and Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale.  A great selection and we are going to have a good time working with a well-rounded selection.

A little about Nona Tap Room:  They carry 50 drafts and 50 bottled beers.  The food menu carries a nice selection of pub food that has been done in a very -well-presented fashion with some nice twists.  They carry the classic chicken wings, jalapeno poppers, and chicken fingers then go a little upscale with calamari, shrimp skewers, and steak kabobs.  They also make a fish and chips that looked awesome and a crab cake sandwich and veggie sandwich for pescetarians such as myself.   The menu is much larger than I have even mentioned here.  Check out the menu at:  https://nonataproom.com/menu/

Anyway, myself and Renegade Rip walk in and are greeted by some really friendly faces including 4 service staff and John, the General Manager.  We sat at the bar and ordered some brews.  The girls behind the bar were very quick, friendly, and offered some good conversation.  John came over and sat with us to chat for a bit.  There was some college football on and we started watching some Penn State.  Watching their kicker miss 4 field goals was not fun.

They have 3 televisions over the bar, a great sound system, and an electronic menu board that is beautiful.  Come to think of it, the entire place is very well done and has a very comfortable feel to it.  You can tell they put some effort into planning out the place.

The place started to fill up around 2:30.  I mean, it began to really fill up.  nice to see a place with such a great presence in the middle of the daytime serving some great beers to a nice audience.  It got so full, in fact, that John headed to the back to help cook some food.  Another nice thing - seeing a manager getting their hands dirty to make it happen.  The team just seemed to be really in syn with each other and as busy as they got, noone on the staff lost their cool.  Awesome, awesome people.

The real party was to start later at night, but Rip and I had other requirements so we had to take off around 5:00.  Tell you what - I really like this spot and although it is only their 2nd anniversary, I have feeling they will be around for a long time.  Cheers!