Best Damn Brew Review at Gulfstream Park

It is getting into beer fest season and it is time for the annual 93 Rock Best Damn Brew Review at Gulfstream Park. This Friday head to Hallandale Beach and enjoy over 200 different beers and food for only $25. The festivities start at 8:00pm and runs till 12:00am. You can purchase tickets in advance by going to your local Total Wine location and save yourself $5. You can check out the list of beers here and food here.


Friday, February 26th
8:00pm-12:00am
$25/$20 in advance
Gulfstream Park
901 S. Federal Highway
Hallandale Beach, FL

Beer Tastings in South Miami

It's a Wednesday night and you've already had enough of this week? Here are a few options for those of you looking for some good beers in South Miami this Wednesday, February 17th.

You can start the night off at Sunset Corners from 6:00pm-8:00pm. They will be hosting a free beer tasting with some pretty amazing beers.

Terrapin-India Style Brown Ale (Athens, GA)
Dogfish Head Raison D'Extra Belgian Strong Ale (Milton, Delaware)
Avery Mephistopheles Stout,
Avery Samuel's Oak Aged Ale (Boulder, CO)
Avery The Beast Grand Cru Ale (Boulder, CO)
Rogue Dad's Little Helper Malt Liquor (Newport, Oregon)
Victory Hop Devil (Downingtown, PA)
Weyerbacher Fourteen Wheat Wine Ale (Easton, PA)
Anderson Valley Oatmeal Stout (Boonville, CA)
Ommegang Hennepin Belgian Saison Ale (Cooperstown, NY)
Allagash Belgian White (Portland, Maine)
Val-Dieu Abbey Brown Ale (Aubel, Belgium)
Val-Dieu Abbey Triple (Aubel, Belgium)
Great Divide Old Ruffian Barlywine Ale (Denver, CO)
Smuttynose Robust Porter (Portsmouth, NH)
Schmaltz Coney Island Human Blockhead Lager (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Lindeman's Framboise Lambic Beer (Vlezenbeek, Belgium)
Brooklyn Local 1 Belgian Strong Ale (Brooklyn, NY)
Brooklyn Local 2 Belgian Strong Ale (Brooklyn, NY)

6:00pm-8:00pm
Sunset Corners
8701 SW 72nd St
Miami, FL 33173
(305) 271-8492


Once you have finished up there you can head just down the road to Sunset Tavern from 7:00pm-10:00pm for another beer tasting that is always a good time. This one will be extra special because I'll be presenting some of the beers for the night. This one will run you $20 and will come with 15 different beers as well as food to go with it. If you RSVP now by clicking here you will also get a free Yuengling mug.

7:00pm-10:00pm
Sunset Tavern
7232 SW 59th Ave
South Miami, FL 33143
(305) 665-9996

Pre-Valentine's Day Events

It's that time of the year to snuggle up with that special someone and enjoy sometime together. What better way to snuggle up then with a few friends and beers. Here are some events going on this week leading up the V Day.

WEDNESDAY
Abraxas, South Beach- The bimonthly beer tasting is happening once again. Diego over at Abraxas is really throwing in a few rare ones on this tasting. Checkout the list and head on over for one of the best continuous beer tastings in South Florida. $15 for 12 three oz. pours and all the beers being sampled will be on sale for the rest of the night.

Beer lineup:
Hacker-Pschorr Gold (Germany) - Helles Lager
Sierra Nevada Glissade (CA) - Helles Bock
Xingu (Brazil) - Black Lager
Ayinger Celebrator (Germany) - Doppelbock
Belhaven (Scotland) - Scottish Bitter
Flying Dog Garde Dog (MD) - Biere de Garde
Caracole (Belgium) - Belgian Amber Ale
Dogfish Head India Brown Ale (DE) - American Brown Ale
St. Bernardus Tripel (Belgium) - Belgian Tripel Ale
Stone Double Bastard (CA) - American Strong Ale
Flying Dog Gonzo (MD) - Imperial Porter
Terrapin Side Project Dark Side (GA) - Belgian Imperial Stout (only place to get it on tap in Miami)

8:00pm-11:00pm
Abraxas
407 Meridian Avenue
Miami Beach, FL
(305) 534-9005‎


Lola's On Harrison, Hollywood- Lola's On Harrison will be another one of only a few great establishments that carry Magic Hat #9. They will be having a kick off party to celebrate the launch of #9 tonight. Stop by to try the great beer and good food. Magic Hat's Alebassador will be on hand as well with some free stuff.

6:00pm-8:00pm
Lola's On Harrison
2032 Harrison Street
Hollywood, FL
(954) 927-9851‎

THURSDAY
Barracuda, Coconut Grove- If you can't make it out to the beer tasting at Abraxas then you should checkout the tasting going on at Barracudas. Chris from Fresh Beer will be serving up about 40 different craft beers for only $20. Barracudas will also have some chicken wings for you to snack on while enjoying some tasty suds. Chris will have some of the newest beers available as well as some special stuff. Here is a sampling of what he will have:

Shiner Bock
Shiner Hefe
Shiner Black Lager
Flying Dog Doggie Style
Flying Dog Garde Dog
Summit Extra Pale Ale
Summit Red Horizon
The Bruery Saison Rue
Rogue Imperial Russian Stout
Dogfish Head Immort Ale
Dogfish Head 60 Minute
Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale
Oskar Blues Ten Fidy
Rogue Yellow Snow
Ayinger Jahrundert
Clipper City Heavy Seas
Clipper City Holy Sheet

7:00pm-9:00pm
Barracuda
3035 Fuller Street
Miami, FL‎ (305) 448-1144‎

FRIDAY
The Lodge, Boca Raton- The Lodge will be having a Sierra Nevada night this Friday. Head on out and meet the rep from the brewery as well as win some great stuff. They'll be pouring $5 pints of Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale and Glissade Bock. They will also have live music by Mike Mineo.

8:00pm-11:00pm
The Lodge
200 S Federal Hwy
Boca Raton, FL‎
(561) 392-5003‎

SATURDAY
Lake Worth Beach, Lake Worth- You have an opportunity to show your opposition to oil drilling as close as 3 to 10 miles off your coast. This movement is supported by Monk in the Trunk and will be made of people of all walks of life and will cross political affiliations. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our shoreline, our tourism, our valuable properties and our way of life. Let us share our knowledge, energies and passion with Hands Across The Sand to protect our coastline and waterways from the devastating environmental effects of oil exploration and support industries. Come out and show your support as the Surfrider Foundation holds a beach cleanup and hosts this event. Hold hands forming lines in the sand against oil drilling in our coastal waters. This event will take place RAIN or SHINE. Leave only your footprints. Further information is available at www.surfriderpbc.org. After party will be sponsored in part by Slow Food Glades starting at 3pm at Havana Hideout in Lake Worth, with food and drink specials and raffle.

Use ticket for 1 free Monk in the Trunk beer
Wristbands entitle wearer to:
2.oo Tacos
2.00 Monk in the Trunk Draft

12:00pm-3:00pm
Lake Worth Beach
Lake Avenue and A1A

3:00pm-5:00pm
Havana Hideout
509 Lake Avenue
Lake Worth, FL‎
(561) 585-8444‎


SUNDAY
Stage 84, Davie- If you don't have plans yet for Valentines Day let me make it easy on you and head out to Stage 84 for a great beer dinner being hosted by Holy Mackerel. For only $30 per person you'll get a 4 course meal paired with 5 beers. If that wasn't enough you'll also be some of the first people in the country to try the newest beer from Holy Mackerel family of beers. The beer will go into mass production in the early summer but you can try it before everyone else. Live music will follow the dinner so you can stick around and have a couple more beers if you are so inclined. You can also go and reserve your spot now and save $5 by clicking here.

MENU:
Welcome Beer - Brewer’s Choice

Ceviche Shrimp, Crab & Tuna
Holy Mackerel Golden Ale
~
Crisp Green Salad Sweet Pecans & Creamy Citrus Dressing
Dogfish head 60min IPA
~
Beef Navarin Classic French Stew with Spring Vegetables
Monk In the Trunk Organic Amber Ale
~
Chocolate Mack In Black Float

6:00pm-9:00pm
Stage 84
9118 W State Road 84
Davie, FL‎
(954) 474-5040

Is Beer the New Milk?

Well, I don't think beer will be replacing milk anytime soon for calcium but a new study just released this week says that beer is a rich source of dietary silicon. Dietary silicon helps with the growth and development of bones and connective tissues. It could also help in fighting the bone disease osteoporosis. The study also had the following to say:

"The researchers examined a variety of raw material samples and found little change in the silicon content of barley during the malting process. The majority of the silicon in barley is in the husk, which is not affected greatly during malting. The malts with the higher silicon contents are pale colored which have less heat stress during the malting process. The darker products, such as the chocolate, roasted barley and black malt, all have substantial roasting and much lower silicon contents than the other malts for reasons that are not yet known. The hop samples analyzed showed surprisingly high levels of silicon with as much as four times more silicon than is found in malt. However, hops are invariably used in a much smaller quantity than is grain. Highly hopped beers, however, would be expected to contain higher silicon levels. No silicon was picked up from silica hydrogel used to stabilize beer, even after a period of 24 hours and neither is there pick up from diatomaceous earth filter aid."

"Beers containing high levels of malted barley and hops are richest in silicon,” concludes Dr. Bamforth. “Wheat contains less silicon than barley because it is the husk of the barley that is rich in this element. While most of the silicon remains in the husk during brewing, significant quantities of silicon nonetheless are extracted into wort and much of this survives into beer.”

Silicon content

The average silicon levels found in different types of beer (milligrams per litre):

• Indian pale ale (IPA): 41.2 mg/L.
• Ales: 32.8 mg/L. (yeah... little broad on this one)
  
• Pale ale: 36.5 mg/L.
• Sorghum: 27.3 mg/L.
• Lagers: 23.7 mg/L. (and on this one)
  
• Wheat: 18.9 mg/L.
• Light lagers: 17.2 mg/L.
• Non-alcoholic: 16.3 mg/L.

(Source: "Silicon in beer and brewing," published in the February issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.)

Meet the Head Brewer from St. Bernardus

If you have ever had any of the beers from St. Benardus brewery you know that they are some of the best in the world. They are the epitome of what a belgian style of beer is. And being actually from Belgium probably helps with that as well. This coming Monday, February 8th at 7:00pm you will get a very rare chance to meet the head brewer, Marco Passarella, at The Lodge in Boca Raton. The night will start off with a meet and greet at 7:00pm followed by a formal tasting of 4 of their beers at 7:30pm led by Marco. He will talk about the history of the brewery and the beers as well as some other story along the way. I have heard from people that have seen him do tastings before that it is one of the most informative and funny tastings they have ever been to. The tasting will run you $10 but not only do you get a chance to hear about the beers from the brewer but the 4 St. Bernardus beers will be on tap. I don't think I've ever seen a place have all 4 beers on tap at once. This for sure is a not to be missed event.