40+ Beer Tasting At El Carajo

Join me Wednesday, August 31st from 7-9pm at El Carajo/LA Food for a 40+ Craft Beer Tasting and chef selected appetizers for only $20. Not only will you get to taste a wide variety of great craft beers but you'll also be able to buy any of the beers they have in the store for 10% off as well as be entered into a raffle for a mixed six pack of some of the beers we will be tasting. Hope to see you there.

August 31st 7-9pm

El Carajo

2465 SW 17th Ave
Miami, FL 33145
(305) 856-2424

Left Hand/Victory Beer Dinner At 8oz

Join 8oz Burger Bar with Cameron from Victory Brewery and Jason from Left Hand Brewery for a feast of a beer dinner.  The five course menu is looking pretty tasty.  Check it out the menu below and hope to see you there.

MENU:
Introduction: Left Hand Sawtooth

First Course: Heirloom gazpacho
paired with Victory Prima Pils

Second Course: Free range chicken fricasee and linguini
paired with Left Hand Stranger Pale Ale

Third Course: Bacon Cheeseburger with blue cheese crumble and truffle fries
paired with Victory Hop Devil

Fourth Course: Meatloaf with heirloom ketchup and balsamic glaze, mash potatoes, and gravy
paired with Victory Baltic Porter

Dessert: Aged rum Left Hand Milk Stout float
with roasted nuts served table side

The cost is $39 plus tax and gratuity. Dinner starts at 7:30 p.m. Call 305-397-8246 for reservations.

Wednesday, August 31st 7:30pm

8 oz. Burger Bar
1080 Alton Road, 

Miami Beach, 33139

The Abbey's Before And After Party

To celebrate the coming expansion of The Abbey Brewing Company, they will be running $4.50 pint & chalice specials, on select drafts. The Abbey will be closing for a bit, so come send them off in style.  The party kicks off at 3pm on Saturday, August 27th, and goes on for 12 hours, till 3AM!.  These beers are no jokes either.  Check out the list below and make your way over there on Saturday.

1. BROTHER AARON'S QUADRUPLE
2. FATHER THEODORE'S IMPERIAL STOUT
3. BROOKLYN BLAST
4. BROOKLYN PILSNER
5. LOST COAST APRICOT WHEAT
6. SPATEN OCTOBERFEST
7. HOPTICAL ILLUSION IPA
8. DELIRIUM TREMENS
9. TUCHER HEFEWIZEN

Limited Edition Beer Tasting And Summit TONIGHT

After a very successful and fun first Limited Edition Tasting and Summit, Abraxas return this month with another great lineup of beers from their Limited Edition List and with many more surprises!

Join Certified Cicerone Chris Montelius and the Abraxas staff for this event on August 25th, 2011 and on the LAST Thursday of every month!

Time:
8 pm sharp!

Format:
They'll pop open at least 12 different bottles from their Limited Edition list and pour 3 oz samples for everyone. Chris will explain what to expect from the beer style being poured and answer questions.

Cost:
$20 per person

Why is it a "summit"? - they encourage participants to bring in bottles from their private "cellars" to share with other participants. Abraxas always keep some interesting bottles in the back that are not available for sale in FL. We will pull some out for this event. I know Chris M will bring some of his, etc. - sounds like fun and a great way to try some of limited edition beers without cleaning our your wallet!!!

Tentative Beer List:

Wayerbacher Sixteen (Braggot)
Jolly Pumpkin Calabaza Blanca (Belgian Wit)
Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA (IPA)
Steenbrugge Tripel (Belgian Tripel)
Avery The Reverend (Belgian Quad)
Dogfish Head Burton Baton (French Oak aged Imperial IPA)
Birra del Borgo Re Ale Extra (IPA)
Blue Point Old Howlin' Bastard (Barleywine)
Redhook Limited Eisbock (Eisbock)
Rodenbach Red (Flemish Red)
Southern Tier Oat (Imperial Oatmeal Stout)
Unibroue Terrible (Belgian Strong Dark Ale)

See you tonight!!!

Cigar City Takes Over South Florida

From time to time you'll see me post about a brewery taking over a bar for the night with their beers.  Cigar City will be bring it to a different level next week when it doesn't just take over one bar but SIX over three days.  The beers flowing will be the rarest of the rare and also some brand new beers that they will be debuting at these events.  All these events look so amazing that I don't know how to choose which to go to.  Check them out below and get to planing for next week.


August 23
Tap Takeover @ Laser Wolf  
(901 Progresso Dr., ste. #101, Fort Lauderdale, 33304)

From 8 p.m. on, enjoy nine Cigar City drafts, including
Jai Alai IPA
Maduro Brown
Peach IPA
Vanilla Maduro
The Hills have Coffee
Guava Grove
Florida Cracker White Ale
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
White Oak Aged Jai Alai

 
Unsual Wood Aged Beers @ BX Beer Depot
(2964 Second Ave., Lake Worth, 33461)

Get ready to get wood: Justin Clark of Cigar City Brewing will be giving a presentation on aging quality beer on different kinds of wood at BX Beer Depot. During the presentation, BX will be offering a ridiculous selection of Cigar City ales aged on wood, including:
White Oak Jai Alai IPA
White Oak-aged Florida Cracker (wheat)
Humidor IPA
Heavy Toast Oak (jai alai) IPA
Soft Maple Brown Ale (Maduro)
Hickory IPA (jai alai)
Humidor Zhukov's (zhukov)
Starts at 6 p.m., cost is $5 and includes lecture and samples. Beers will be available by the glass after 7 p.m.


August 24
Cigar City Beer Dinner @ Sustain
(3252 NE First Ave., ste. #107, Miami, 33137)

It's a night of outstanding pairings as Sustain Miami teams up with Cigar City Brewing for a six-course pairing dinner. Both the beer and the menu look outrageous:

First course: homemade corndogs
paired with Jai Alai IPA

Second course: Taylor Bay scallops
with preserved lemon, mustard oil, and cucumber
paired with Cucumber Saison (draft)

Third course: chille-rubbed quail
with fava bean, mint, and horseradish
paired with Tocobaga Red Ale (draft)

Fourth course: braised pork shank
with sweet-and-sour cabbage and corn bread
paired with Maduro Brown Ale

Cheese course: beer-washed cheese with guava marmalade
paired with Guava Groove Saison

Dessert: homemade truffles
paired with Cubano Espresso (draft)

Seats cost $50, plus tax and gratuity. To make a reservation, call 305-424-9079, or write to info@sustainmiami.com. Reception starts at 5:30 p.m. and dinner starts at 6.

 
Tap Takeover @ Cervezas
(5835 Sunset Dr., Miami, 33143)

Join the gang at Cervezas for another Cigar City blowout! On offer this night: Jai Alai IPA
Maduro Brown
Peach IPA
Humidor IPA
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Puppy's Breath Porter
Florida Cracker White Ale
Minarett ESB
Misseur Zhukov's Biere De Stout (zhukov)
Big Dummy
Carmel Graham Cracker Brown Ale (maduro)
Jose Marti
The kegs get tapped at 8 p.m. sharp!


August 25
Tap Takeover @ World of Beer
(4437 Lyons Rd., Coconut Creek, 33073)

Cigar City Week continues with a massive tap takeover at WoB CoCo. Here's the list (deep breath):
Jai Alai IPA
Maduro Brown
Peach IPA
Humidor IPA
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Puppy's Breath Porter
Tocobaga Red Ale
Florida Cracker White Ale
Minaret ESB
Table Saison
Vanilla Maduro
Cubano Espresso
Hot Blooded Foriegn Stout
It all starts at 5 p.m. -- bring a designated driver!

 
Tap Takeover @ Funky Buddha
(2621 N. Federal Hwy., Boca Raton, 33431)

For you Palm Beach County Cigar City fans, the Funky Buddha Lounge is hosting another Cigar City tap takeover night. Including:
Hot Blooded Foreign Stout
Cucumber Saison

Plus THREE super secret brews!
Doors at 5 p.m.

Total Wine Pinecrest Opens Thursday

The newest addition to the Total Wine family will be opening its doors this Thursday.  The new location at 8851 SW 136th St, Miami is located right across from The Falls Mall in the Pinecrest area of Miami.  This has been a long time coming and a welcomed addition to the area.  Stop by all week and check out their massive selection and sample some of their wares as they will have lots of tasting going on through out the week. Tell them South Florida Beer Blog sent you!

Grovetoberfest 2011

Miami will be getting another beerfest this October and this one looks to be doing it right.  Grovetoberfest will be taking place October 15th in Peacock Park in Coconut Grove.  The good people putting it together have been building quite the hype for it with free beer tastings around town of some of the varied styles they will be featuring at the fest.  Tony Albelo, organizer of Grovetoberfest, and I have spoken many times as he has been looking for input from local people in the beer community on how to make this the best beer fest in Miami.  He hopes to make Grovetoberfest as respected as the Jupiter Beerfest in the years to come.  The fest will be providing information sheets on all the beers as well as letting people vote on their favorite beers to win best of Grovetoberfest in three different categories.  There will be chefs there doing food and beer pairings as well as a homebrewers section showing you how to brew your own beer. Live music from The Spam Allstars and a few others will also be going on.

As a special treat for our readers Grovetoberfest has provided us with a code to get your tickets, with all fees included, for only $25.  Click here to buy your tickets and enter SFBB11 in the Discount Code section and you are good to go.

We will be keeping you up to date with what breweries will be attending as soon as more are confirmed but from what I've seen so far it won't be Corona, Bud, or Miller Light to give you a heads up.

October 15th
Grovetoberfest
Peacock Park
Coconut Grove
www.grovetoberfest.com

Happy International IPA Day!!!

IPA Day is not just another "holiday" made up by the greeting card companies but a "holiday" created by beer blogger Ashley Routson, The Beer Wench, and Karl Straus marketing manager, Ryan Ross.  This is a day to raise your glass to one of my favorite styles of beer and enjoy all the hoppy goodness that is provides.  Today there are a few events you can wet your whistle at around South Florida.  Take a look.

The Abbey Brewing Company
1115 16th St.
Miami Beach, Florida
The Abbey Brewing Company will celebrate this historic event from 1PM-5AM with an assortment of the best single IPA'S and double IPA's in the world! The taps include the Abbey Immaculate IPA, Brooklyn
Blast, and Southern Tier 2x IPA. There will also be a variety of special bottles.

The Coffee District
325 NE 2nd Avenue #104
Delray Beach, FL


The Coffee District is going to be kicking it up even more with one of the most talked about IPAs ever on tap, Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA.  Along with 120Min they'll also have a nice list of other great IPAs (and pale ale) on draft as well as many other bottles.  Here is the list that my buddy Mike over at Mikelovesbeer.com posted yesterday. The party starts at 7pm so get there early before you miss out on these great beers.


Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (rare keg!)
Stone Ruination IPA (on Randall)
Avery Maharaja
Cigar City Jai Alai IPA
Lost Coast Double Trouble IPA
Bell’s Two Hearted Ale
Great Divide Rumble
Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale