Beer season has definitely arrived with the proliferation of events centric to the world’s most popular beverage. In the next few months there are two beer weeks – the Jacksonville Beer Week and Craft Beer Week – each with their own bevy of events from beer festivals to tasting dinners to pub crawls. If you can’t find something to do that centers on beer this right now, you just are not trying hard enough.
Upcoming highlights include:
Jacksonville Beer Week – April 2 through 7
Monday, April 2
Kickback’s Gastropub – Local beer night
Tuesday, April 3
Intuition Ale Works – Celebrating local beers, the Tap Room will feature guest taps of Florida-brewed beers through Saturday.
Wednesday, April 4
Sun-Ray Theater – “Beer Wars” will be screened at 5:00 PM and followed by a panel discussion and Q&A session with local brewers Ben Davis of Intuition Ale Works and Eric Lumen of Green Room Brewing. All beers on tap at the cinema will be local only!
Engine 15 – Special beer and food pairing of Oak-Aged Simcoe Imperial IPA paired with steam burger sliders and coconut rice ice.
Thursday, April 5
Engine 15 – The guys who write the Times-Union’s beer blog and column Amber Waves – Ed Stansel and Roger Bull – will be tapping their own beer named appropriately Amber Waves Amber Ale. Proceeds for this event go to the St. John’s Riverkeepers.
Brewer’s Pizza – Local IPA night featuring IPAs from Intuition Ale Works, Bold City Brewery, Green Room Brewing, and the debut of their own double IPA Landslide IPA. Plus they will have a special IPA soup and bread to pair with the hoppy brews.
Mile Marker Brewing – Double Feature Night! The St. Augustine brewery will host screenings of “Beerfest” and “Strange Brew,” two classic beer movies.
Friday, April 6
Engine 15 – Jax Beer Tap Takeover! Five Engine 15 beers on tap, one in a firkin, and Old Battle Axe through the Randall. In addition to this, ten beers from the other local brewers.
Green Room Brewing – Florida beer tasting of more than 25 Florida-brewed beers.
Downtown Jacksonville – The Downtown Pub Crawl presented by the Springfield Brew Crew and sponsored by Intuition Ale Works. Get all the details and purchase tickets at http://www.sprbrewcrew.com. All proceeds for this event benefit The Bridge of Northeast Florida an after-school education program for disadvantaged and urban core children.
Saturday, April 7
Mellow Mushroom Southside – Grand Tasting with unlimited tastings of local and Florida brews. For more information and to purchase tickets go to http://www.beerweekjax.com. All proceeds for this event go to the Daniel Foundation. Shuttle service will between Intuition and Mellow Mushroom to be furnished by the Jax Brew Bus.
Hogtown Craft Beer Festival
Gainville’s Kanapaha Botanical Gardens will be the venue for the Hogtown Craft Beer Festival April 14. Look for a slew of Florida and local brews at the festival sponsored by the Hogtown Brewers a home-brewing club located in Gainesville. There will also be food from local resaturants and entertainment. Tickets are $35 for general admission, $75 for VIP. Proceeds benefit the St. Johns Riverkeeper and the Alachua Conservation Trust. See their website (http://www.hogtownbeerfest.com) for more info and tickets.
Folio Weekly Beer and Music Festival
For the past 19 years the Folio Weekly has been throwing this beer bash and this year is no exception. Friday, April 27 the Morocco Shrine Auditorium will once again host more than 200 beers, food from local restaurants, a chicken wing eating contest sponsored by Whisky River, hookahs from The Casbah, and more fun than should be humanly possible. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $25 for VIP in advance and $5 more at the door for each.
Craft Beer Week – May 12 through 18
While events for Craft Beer Week are still being firmed up, the capstone event is already planned and in the offing. The Craft and Import Beer Festival will be held May 18 at the Veterans Memorial Arena. The unbridled success of this festival has necessitated the opening of the third level of the Arena so even more great beer can be stuffed in. There are more than 35 breweries scheduled to attend with over 200 beers to sample. Proceeds for this event benefit the Southside Business Men’s Club. Tickets are $30 for general admission and $45 for VIP. Purchase tickets and get more info at: http://www.beerfestjax.com.
The ATL Beer Guy 