Recap: 6th Annual Jacksonville Craft & Import Beer Fest

Preben Olsen dressed in his Aardwolf best!

The 6th Annual Jacksonville Craft & Import Beer Fest took place this past Saturday. This was my third year attending the event, and my first as a BUZZ Columnist. There were a total of 2500 tickets to the event with over 40 breweries and several restaurant vendors.

With a purchase of any ticket (there were three levels to choose from: General Admission, VIP, and Ultra VIP), beer lovers were spoiled with all-you-can-drink-and-eat samples.

The beef fest was, once again, held at the Veterans Memorial Arena, which is a great location for a beer fest of this caliber. Three levels of the arena were opened and filled with various breweries and food vendors. Of the three levels, I must admit there was one place I spent the majority of my time, just as I did last year, and the year before: the arena floor.

The bottom level of the arena housed the local breweries and homebrewers. This year, the arena floor included local favorites and usual suspects, such as Intuition Ale Works, Aardwolf, and Pinglehead; and there were a few newbies, too, like Veteran's United Craft Brewery (set to open their doors in the next month or two) and Big Storm Brewing (Odessa, FL).

As if the local craft breweries weren't enough, CASK was also there pouring some of their delicious homebrews. While I don't want to take anything away from all of the wonderful breweries that were here from around the country, I found it difficult to rationalize spending much time away from the arena floor. If nothing else, this beer event confirmed one thing: Jacksonville's beer scene is reaching a boiling point. It doesn't seem far-fetched to think that in a few years, there will be a need for more than just one floor for the local breweries. Jacksonville is definitely becoming a beer-destination! We're looking at you, Tampa!

Below are just a few of the pictures from the beer fest:

Chatting with Chris from Veterans United Craft Brewery

Some of the amazingly delicious sweet treats offered in the Ultra VIP section

 

Marc Wisdom (Jax Beer Guy) and me before the event

Local homebrewers from CASK pouring their unique concoctions

Thanks for reading the Beer Apostle and for supporting craft beer! Join in on the discussion by following me on Twitter and Facebook! Cheers!

Best of April 2014

Each month, I will provide a recap of the top Beer Apostle articles, posts, and reviews, based on your readership, comments, likes, and tweets! As always, I thank you for your readership and continued support of this blog. Cheers!

Here are the top three posts from this past month:

#3: Sourcing Suds: Mind Drive Extreme Imperial Porter (Pinglehead Brewing Co.)
Handcrafted pizza and beer, there may not be a better combination. Brewer's Pizza is Orange Park's only brewpub, providing a unique combination of locally made pies and brews. Their pizza is freshly made and starts with homemade beer-dough, flavorful sauce, and a healthy dose of ingredients and spices. The pizzas at Brewer's are hearty and satisfying, just like the beer they serve...

Continue reading...

#2: Jacksonville Craft and Import Beer Fest 2014
The Beer Fest will include over 350 beers from over 45 breweries. The festival sold out last year (4500) tickets. This is important to know because this year, the event is limited to just 2500 tickets. That's 2000 fewer tickets than last year, for the same great selection of beer and breweries! But don't worry, I will be giving away free tickets every week leading up to the day of the event...

Continue reading...

#1: Senate Bill 1714: Why You Should Care
Senate Bill (SB) 1714 jeopardizes the growth and existence of current and future micro-breweries. It's an aggressive attack on the small businesses that, if successful, will help to put more money in the pockets of the mega national companies such as Anheuser-Busch...

Continue reading...

Thanks for reading the Beer Apostle and for supporting craft beer! Join in on the discussion by following me on Twitter and Facebook! Cheers!

Senate Bill 1714: Why You Should Care

 

Florida's craft beer growth is impressive. Jacksonville alone has seen several breweries, brew pubs, and craft beer bars open in the last few years, and there are dozens in planning. Nearly the same narrative can be found in Tallahassee, Tampa, Orlando, and Miami. The micro-breweries are directly contributing to hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in Florida, which strengthens local economies.

Senate Bill (SB) 1714 jeopardizes the growth and existence of current and future micro-breweries. It's an aggressive attack on the small businesses that, if successful, will help to put more money in the pockets of the mega national companies such as Anheuser-Busch.

Small breweries like Intuition Aleworks and Bold City Brewery are advocating for an outdated law to be changed, which would allow these breweries to sell beer to-go in half gallon growlers (64oz). These breweries are already permitted to sell growler fills, but they must be sold in 34oz or 128oz jugs. Because the 64oz growler is the industry's norm, this law has been a thorn in Florida's side, and will continue to be a barrier until this law is changed. In fact, Florida is currently one of just three states that has outlawed the 64oz growler.

However, State legislators have flipped the bill on its head and now propose any brewery that produces more than 2,000 kegs annually would have to sell their beer directly to distributors and then buy it back before they sold it to their own customers. The distributors would likely sell the beer back to the breweries at a 30%-40% markup, which would potentially devastate the local craft beer industry.

Ben Davis, founder of Intuition Aleworks, recently told News4Jax, "It's going to kill us...it's going to basically make you question your whole business plan and change the way you operate."

If SB 1714 passes, it could be lights out for the Sunshine State. The incredible growth and influx of small breweries that we've witnessed over the past 5 years would come to a screeching halt. Florida would be less appealing for future brewers. All of this would adversely affect our economy.

What was originally proposed as a bill to assist and support small breweries in being able to sell 64oz growlers has been turned and used against them. This is, in large part, thanks to the political clout and financial power of Anheuser-Busch.

This is a battle of David and Goliath. Anheuser-Busch might have the upper hand, but I have always been a fan of the underdog. You and I can play a role in this fight against a bill that would literally bully the small businesses out of Florida. All because breweries like Budweiser are intimidated by the tremendous growth and popularity craft beer is receiving.

Reach out to the local breweries and let them know you're in their court. Stop buying beer from Bud, Miller, and Coors. Begin to only buy beer that's brewed locally.

Call your Senator. Write, send emails, leave messages. Do what you can to protect our local businesses and the many jobs they create.



Thanks for reading the Beer Apostle and for supporting craft beer! Join in on the discussion by following me on Twitter and Facebook! Cheers!

 

Locals Only Beer Fest: Saturday, January 25 (Jacksonville, FL)

What: LOCALS ONLY BEER FEST: Beer fest featuring North Florida's local breweries
Where: 3 Independent Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32202
When: Saturday, Jan. 25 2:00pm-6:00pm

For the first time, all of the local Jacksonville craft breweries will be gathered in one location for patrons to wet their palates. The beer fest is free (beer is not), and there will be savory and delicious food available for purchase, thanks to the trucks from Jax Truckies.

This fest is being hosted by some of the area's great organizations, like the Jax Chamber, One Spark, and The Players.

Here are the breweries that will be represented at the Locals Only Beer Fest:

• Pinglehead
• Intuition
• Bold City
• Green Room
• Aardwolf
• Engine 15

Click on the event link for more information.
 Cheers to Local Beer!

7venth Sun Root Down Stout

Brewery: 7venth Sun Brewing Co.
Location: Dunedin, FL
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 8.3%

7venth Sun is a young brewery that held its grand opening less than two years ago. However, with the owners having past experience working for breweries like Anheuser-Busch, Sweetwater, and Cigar City, there's no shortage of beer knowledge and brewing credentials. Oh yeah, and to up the ante, all their servers are certified cicerones! 

I visited 7venth Sun over the Thanksgiving Holiday for their bottle release of Root Down Stout. I was fortunate enough to meet up with a good friend, Alan (@SuwanneeRefugee) who was the one who originally tipped me off about the release. I've said it before, but if there's one thing I love about the craft beer culture more than the beer, it's the people. Good beer is almost always accompanied by good people. Now back to the beer...

This particular bottle is labeled no. 289/500. Root Down Stout is an Imperial Stout brewed with sweet potato and spices aged on vanilla bean. The label is simple, but appealing. There's an "indie" vibe about the design that screams "Drink Local." I appreciate that.

The pour is black with a tan head that keeps its retention.

The aroma is strong coffee, caramel, and allspice.

The taste is full of coffee--bold and dark roasted. The coffee is followed by a creamy sweetness (possibly from the sweet potatoes) and a spicy finish. The more I sipped on this beer to find the sweet potato and vanilla, the more I got lost in the roastiness of the coffee. There's a slight acidic aftertaste (probably from the coffee) and a mild kick from the booze. But as much as I tried, I couldn't taste the sweet potatoes or vanilla.

This is a full bodied beer. No doubt about it. The mouthfeel is very creamy, almost frothy, at times. This is your thickest, darkest, boldest latte at its best.

Overall: I think this would do well to sit for a year in the cellar. The flavor profile is nice as it is, but I would like to see the various layers become more apparent on the palate. I really didn't detect the sweet potato because the coffee and spices are so overpowering at this point. Cellaring would do this beer good.

Cheers!