Tampa Bay Beer Week in Review

Last week, the juggernaut that is the Tampa Bay beer scene continued to plow through every obstacle that’s been put in its path. From Florida Senators who hate growlers to the retailers and distributors who hate tasting rooms, they just can’t seem to slow down the momentum that has put Florida on the map – and this year’s Tampa Bay Beer Week did not disappoint. Here are just a few highlights from the dozens of last week’s events, so crack open a cold one and enjoy!

Florida Brewers Guild Craft Beer Festival – March 7th

The Florida Brewers Guild Craft Beer Festival is the largest fundraiser for the Guild and the official kick-off for Tampa Bay Beer Week. Held at the beautiful waterside Cotanchobee Fort Brooke Park in downtown Tampa, 60 Florida breweries poured over 200 beers to get the livers primed for what was already shaping up to be an epic week. 

We caught up with Greg Rapp of Rapp Brewing to see how the day was going. “Awesome turnout, great crowd, the weather cooperated and people are really loving the beers.” Rapp Brewing had a great showing with their award-winning Gose and Chocolate Hazelnut Porter and is getting ready to double their brewery space.  “We’re probably going to expand into brewing more lagers.” said Greg. “People seem to really be embracing that style.” We agree, craft lagers are going to be gaining in popularity this year, as soon as half the country thaws out.

Coppertail Brewing Co. Tasting Room Grand Opening – March 8th 

Coppertail has been serving up some amazing beers in its “temporary” tasting room since last September- and we say “temporary” because even that tasting room rivaled many new breweries permanent ones. When we were there a few weeks ago, we learned that they were planning to open this massive tasting room officially during Tampa Bay’s Beer Week, Unholy Trippel may have shot out of my nose. The parking lot was still dirt and the construction was still in full swing, but somehow they managed to pull it off and the facility was complete on time.  The beautiful two-story tasting room is nearly  5,000 square feet, with a capacity of over 500 people, 20 taps, a great view of the brewery, spacious porch and outdoor balcony seating, and a confessional for all you repentant sinners. 

Hunahpu’s Day – March 14th

Last year’s Cigar City event was a fiasco brought on by the perfect storm of assholes selling counterfeit tickets, battery draining ticket scanners, and entitled douchebags chanting their displeasure when those grey doors finally rolled down on what could have been the end of Huanapu’s Day forever. And when we arrived early at the grounds, only to be confronted by long lines that had been forming all night, we were more than a little concerned. But our worries were soon put to rest when one of the first people we ran in to was a smiling Joey Redner wearing a graffiti-splashed shirt that ironically read Cigar City Sucks! 

If anyone understands that perfect balance of brewery success and the art of self-deprecation, it’s the Cigar City crew. Any minor technical glitches (where’s the ice???) were quickly handled and the attendees were none the wiser. Things happened, like a few breweries blew through their kegs faster than they probably would have liked, but all in all, it was a momentous success. A day fit for the god himself.

Hunahpu Hangover Day – 7venth Sun Brewing – March 15th 

Now in its 3rd year, has sponsored Hunahpu Hangover Day which officially ends Tampa Beer Week. And you can usually tell which attendees that actually have hangovers by the telltale weariness and the first sunburns of the summer. Yes, it’s summer in Florida… (Sorry, but not sorry). 

In addition to an amazing arsenal of Belgian-style ales, IPAs, spirit barrel-aged beer and  oak-aged sours, 7venth Sun also featured their many collaborations with some of Florida’s most exciting players  including Trinity Brewing, Creature Comforts, Funky Buddha, Wild Oak Artisan Ales, Coppertail, Redlight Redlight Beer Parlor, and Point Ybel Brewing Company.

That’s also where we ran into Gerard Walen, author of Florida Breweries and editor of BeerInFlorida.com. He’s a natural born raconteur and scalawag, and a general nuisance who’s also attended just about every event that we covered this year.

 “I remember when people called Florida a craft beer wasteland,” said Gerard “but the continued success of Tampa Bay Beer Week makes it pretty obvious that we’ve caught up with, and in some cases surpassed, other parts of the country in being known for making great craft beer.” 

Gerard’s right about the current state of Florida’s craft beer scene and we thought his take that morning summed up this year’s Tampa Bay Beer Week perfectly.

2015’s Tampa Bay Beer Week was one for the books – a marathon of awesome events and serious drinking. And although we did our best to keep up, it was just impossible to attend everything. But there’s always next year and we promise we’ll be there. Because Tampa Beer Week truly matters – and we wouldn’t miss it for the world.