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St. Augustine pub crawl takes to the water

Pub crawls are a fun way to visit several bars and sample the drinks at each. On any given weekend, thirsty crawlers can find haunted pub crawls, beer-centric pub crawls, historic pub crawls or food-centric pub crawls in St. Augustine. But, until now, there was no pub crawl offered for those with a nautical inclination.

The idea came to “Booze Director” Deana Paimes one day while she and her husband were relaxing at the Vilano Pier after a day out on the Matanzas River. Docked at the pier Paimes saw the Jax Water Tours boat and struck up a conversation with the owner Captain Brooks. The discussion came around to the topic of pub crawls and a light bulb went off in Paimes’ head; why not combine the beautiful sites that are only available from the water with music, laughter and a pub crawl?

After more talks and some logistical maneuvering, Paimes’ vision was brought to fruition. Guests board the Osprey at the Vilano Pier for a three and one half hour cruise that takes them to three pubs along the Matanzas. On board the Osprey guests are offered a beer and treated to music and breath-taking views.

“If you are looking for a relaxing boat ride filled with Debbie Downers,” Paimes says. “This is not the boat for you. We will be having fun, floating to each destination while listening to music and laughing along the way.”

Guests can board the Osprey at the Vilano Pier Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. and enjoy a beer before the 2:00 p.m. departure. Once the party pontoon pushes off, guests can expect to make stops at The Conch House, Beaches Restaurant and the Kingfish Grill for drinks and food. The cruise ends with the boat docking at Vilano Pier again at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets for the cruises are $25 per person and are available at the Jax Water Tours website. Or contact Jax Water Tours at 904-322-7194.

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Posted by mwisdom562 on April 12, 2014 in Pubs, Relaxing, Travel

Tags: Deana Paimes, Jax Water Tours, pub crawl, pub crawls, Vilano Pier

Sweetwater brews to flow into Tampa area Oct. 15

05 Oct

It’s always a good thing when a new beer enters a market. It provides consumers with yet another choice for a tasty, quality beer to drink and expands the craft beer scene. In just a few short weeks, Sweetwater Brewing Company will do just that and begin serving several of their flagship brews in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg/Clearwater area of Florida.

“After an arduous and comprehensive wholesaler assignment process,” Sweetwater Director of Sales, Dave Guender began. “We are glad to announce that we’ve selected Pepin Distributing Company for the Tampa market, and Great Bay Distributors for St. Petersburg and Clearwater.”

Sweetwater will bring their tent pole 420 Extra Pale Ale to bars and restaurants throughout the area beginning Oct. 15. Later in the week 12-ounce bottles of 420, Sweetwater Blue, and Sweetwater IPA will hit store shelves.

Along with the roll out of Sweetwater brews, the company is planning several days of launch parties and events. Founder and Big Kahuna Freddie Bensch will join the festivities to help his 15-year-old company hop things up in Tampa. Among the events are:

Wednesdays, Oct. 17

Pub crawl featuring SweetWater samplings, specials and meet-and-greet with Freddy in Tampa (times/locations TBD)

Thursday, Oct. 18

Pub crawl featuring SweetWater samplings, specials and meet-and-greet with Freddy in St. Petersburg (times/locations TBD)

Friday, Oct. 19

SweetWater’s presents Olde Bay Café’s Craft Beer & Crab Festival at Edgewater Park in Dunedin from 2-10 p.m.
Brews featured at Safety Harbor 3rd Friday in downtown Safety Harbor from 6-10 p.m.
SweetWater will be flowing at the JJGrey & Mofro show at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg at 8 p.m.

Follow the brewery’s Florida events on its Florida Facebook page for updates on events and appearances at: facebook.com/SWHeadyPeddlersFlorida.

SweetWater Brewery a fun and interesting way to spend a Saturday afternoon (sprbrewcrew.wordpress.com)
Former SweetWater workers to start Savannah brewery (bizjournals.com)
SweetWater releasing “Danktoberfest” in October (bizjournals.com)
SweetWater Brewing Company in Orlando This November (thedailycity.com)

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Posted by mwisdom562 on October 5, 2012 in Beer, Beer News, Craft Beer Brewery

Tags: Florida, pub crawl, St. Petersburg, Sweetwater, Sweetwater Brewing Company, Tampa, Tampa Florida

Plenty of Events to Keep Beer Lovers Busy this Week

18 Jun

Pale Ale (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The beer events keep on rolling through the month of June. Here are a few events that are coming up this week.

Monday, June 18
Engine 15

On June 18, 1812 – 200 years ago – President James Madison signed a Declaration of War naming the British Empire as the enemy. The war was fought for several reasons including trade restrictions, imprisonment of U.S. merchant sailors, the British support of native tribes against national expansion, and insults to national honor. The war saw the sacking and burning of Washington D.C., but it also saw victories in New York, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The victory in Baltimore led to Francis Scott Key writing the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

So, 200 years later, the folks at Engine 15 are setting up a rematch of sorts. In order to determine if the U.S. has superiority over the Brits, a blind beer tasting will be held today, June 18. Each person who participates will be presented with a special flight, dubbed the “The Flight of 1812,” consisting of two American brews and two British brews. Participants will be asked to taste and then rate each beer on a scale of 1-10. At the end of the night, the scores will be tallied and a winner of the Flight of 1812 will be announced.

Tuesday, June 19
Brewer’s Pizza

Last Saturday, June 16, Green Room Brewing celebrated their one-year anniversary with a very special release: Secret Spot Russian Imperial Stout aged in Maker’s Mark bourbon barrels. The brew is a rich mélange of organic cocoa nibs and locally roasted coffee that weighs in at a powerful 10% ABV.

On Tuesday, June 19, Brewer’s will tap a keg of this remarkable brew for consumption in the restaurant only, meaning no growlers will be filled.

In addition, Brewer’s will pay further homage to their friends at the beach by tapping Green Room’s Double Overhead IPA, Pablo Beach Pale Ale, and The Solid White IPA.

Wednesday, June 20
Engine 15

Never ones to sit still long, the guys at Engine 15 will feature an interesting food and beer pairing on Wednesday, June 20. Look for a special pairing of Engine 15’s own Ramming Speed Black IPA with carnitas tacos.

Thursday, June 21
Cork & Keg

In a clash of two worlds, Cork & Keg is featuring a Yin & Yang wine and beer pairing event. Experts from both the wine and beer worlds will be on hand to pour and help you compare the flavors of these two favorite beverages. Look for beers from Ballast Point, Ayinger, and Dogfish Head along side wines from Palm Ridge, Santa Ema, and Four Points among others. Tasters will be treated to appetizers, and a special gift for the $25 event fee.

Saturday, June 23
Northstar Substation

The first downtown pub crawl back in April was so much fun, the folks at Northstar Substation decided they wanted to do another. This time the crawl will begin and end at Northstar with stops at the newly-opened Underbelly, Lit, 1904, and a surprise bar inbetween. Registration will begin at 5:45 p.m. and the group will depart for the first stop at 6:45 p.m. The cost of the crawl is $15 and tickets may be purchased online at either the Northstar website or the Springfield Brew Crew site, or at the event. All proceeds will benefit the Jacksonville Miracle League.

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Posted by mwisdom562 on June 18, 2012 in Beer, Events, Local Brewery, Team Hopheads

Tags: Brewer, Brewer's Pizza, Cork & Keg, Engine 15, Francis Scott Key, Green Room Brewing, James Madison, Northstar Substation, pub crawl, Stout

Putt N’ Crawl Down the Beach Saturday

06 Jun

Two things that seem to go together very well are golf and beer. Who doesn’t love a cold brew from the beer cart girl while hitting a few balls into the rough? This weekend those two things will be melded in a slightly different way; instead of a full-blown golf course there will be an 18 hole home-made miniature golf course and instead of the golf cart girl there will be 10 beaches pubs and restaurants. The 8th Annual Putt N’ Crawl will take over Jacksonville Beach Saturday, June 9 with over 2,500 intrepid golfers putting for thousands of dollars’ worth of prizes and deserving charities.

Presented annually by Jacksonville BUZZ Magazine, this is one of the premier social events of the summer. There will be drink and food specials available to participants as well as gift cooler prize packs to the first 2,000 golfers. Teams are encouraged to dress for the event in golf attire, beach attire, or even outrageous attire. There are prizes for the best dressed, worst dressed, and more. The main goals, however, is to complete the course, win prizes, and have a lot of fun while doing it.

Holes are sponsored by Mango’s, Bo’s, Sakana Fusion Bistro, The Pier, Chicago Pizza, Rush Street, Blue Water Grille, Campeche Bay Cantina, Snappers, and Freebird. You can also find Marc Wisdom — BUZZ Magazine’s, Brew Time beer columnist, Springfield Brew Crew blogger, and I Know Jax’s The Beer Guy – at Lynch’s Irish Pub presiding over a beer-themed hole of his own creation.

Registration begins at 2:00 p.m. for the event and will close at 6:00 p.m., the event itself ends officially at 9:00 p.m. followed by an after party. Tickets are available on line at BUZZ Magazine’s website and are $20 until 5:00 p.m. Friday, June 8. After that tickets are available at the event for $25. More details, event maps, and participating establishments as well as the names of the charities that will benefit from the Putt N’ Crawl are available at the event website.

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Posted by mwisdom562 on June 6, 2012 in Beer

Tags: Beer, BUZZ Magazine, charity, Jacksonville Beach Florida, Jax Beach, Mini golf, pub crawl, Putt n' Crawl

Sweetwater Brewing Hosting Pub Crawl to Benefit St. Johns River Sunday

02 Jun

The St. Johns River Keepers are a group of concerned people who raise awareness for issues that affect the river that runs through the heart of Jacksonville. For ten years they have been responsible for many efforts to educate the public and stop the abuse of the city’s number one natural asset. To help in the cause, Sweetwater Brewing is hosting a pub crawl that begins at O’Brother’s in Riverside at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 3.

Sponsored by the young professionals group associated with the Riverkeepers, the Rising Tide, the pub crawl is meant to show support for the establishments that are supporting the organization’s cause. Beginning on Memorial Day weekend, restaurants and bars throughout the Jacksonville area began selling paper fish in $1.00, $5.00, or $10.00 denominations. Proceeds from the sale of the fish will go directly to help fund programs of the Riverkeepers. The contest will end on Independence Day.

The pub crawl will take crawlers to several of the establishments selling the fish in the Riverside/Avondale area. The crawl begins at O’Brother’s and visits Grassroots for a sampling table, Birdie’s on Park in 5 Points, then up to Kickbacks, European Street, The Rogue, and ends at The Garage.

A suggested donation to participate is $5.00 (free for dues paying members of Rising Tides). For your donation you will receive a wrist band and pick up a raffle ticket for every Sweetwater brew and paper fish you purchase during the crawl. A raffle for great prizes will be held at The Garage.

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Posted by mwisdom562 on June 2, 2012 in Craft Beer Brewery, Events

Tags: Birdie's, European Street, Grassroots, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Florida, kickbacks, O'Brother's, pub crawl, Riverkeeper, Sweetwater Brewing, The Garage, The Rogue