Cigar City Sea Bass

Sea Bass
Cigar City Brewing Company
Tampa, FL
ABV ?
Style: Saison / Farmhouse Ale

C: Slightly Cloudy
H: Dark Brown/Amber
N: Tart Cherry, Dark Fruits (Figs/Plums)

The Ferm: Can't miss a collaboration ale with two of my favorite Florida Breweries. Sea Bass is a crazy collaboration with St. Somewhere and Cigar City. Ohh Yeah...a sour/funky combo.
This beer was labeled as a "dark-bodied farmhouse", I would say that is spot on when it comes to the appearance of the beer as well as the flavor profile. I personally got a ton of sour from this beer, hints of dark malt, and acetic cherry. The Sourness of the beer really comes out once it warms up.
After first trying this beer I decided I would age one for at least a year to see what it does. I plan to "reboot" this review later and update anything that changed.
Damn Good Beer that is just plan different from anything on the shelf right now. Great job by two very good breweries!

Score: 4.48

Happy Thanksgiving Craft Beer Style

Happy Thanksgiving My Loyal Readers!

I hope that you and your family/friends are having a wonderful day!


While you getting ready to sit down and eat your yummy Turkey Dinner, I figured I would give you all something to think about.

What are you Thankful for this year?

Yep, looking back on the year a lot has happened. Infact, a year ago to this date myself and Dos sat down with the idea to keep a simple journal of beers which we have tried and write about them. Crazy how an image can turn into something like this.

I personally am thankful for family and health, but also for little things such as:
The Friends I have made in the past year: who would have thought beer people (aka people that call their drinking problem a "hobby" would be so nice!)
The Cigar City Brewing Company: Great Beer just 3 hours away! Please remember to sign their petition to save the tasting room! Click Here ---> SAVE CCB!
The Funky Buddha: Great Beer just 5 minutes away! Boca's first real microbrewery!
The experiences I have had because of Beer: GABF, Social Media Meetups, United We Drink's Bi-Weekly Podcast.....just amazing memories!
You, My loyal readers!: Why you read? I honestly don't know...but THANK YOU!

So What Are YOU Thankful For In The Past Year That Is Beer???? Comment Below!

Surly Furious

Furious
Surly Brewing Company
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
6.20% ABV
Style: American IPA

C: Clear
H: Light Amber in Color
N: Great Aroma! Fruity Notes of Citrus, Piney Hops

The Ferm: Ahh my love for Craft Beer in a can continues. Honestly is there anything better than a solid IPA or Stout out of a 12oz can? YES THERE IS! A TALLBOY CAN! OHH YEAH!
Surly knows how to lay the smack down on the other 12oz can companies by putting their beers out in tallboy cans...thats right a Craft Beer Tallboy! Seriously whats next...a 40oz of Stone Ruination? (that would be heavenly).

::Note to self; if I ever make it big in the brewing scene I must wax top a 40oz bottle of something!::

OK, so Furious....honestly the only thing that made me "Furious" was the fact that I ran out of this beer. The aroma on this IPA is heaven in a can. Tons of Citrus Sweetness and Piney Hops dominate the nose! For an IPA lover this is it! The body of the beer is quite light, but the malt does shine a bit on the taste of the beer.

This beer brings me back to March 2010 at the Hunahpu Release in Tampa when this beer first touched my lips....man I will long for the day that this beer is in my stomach again!

Score: 4.25

Brew Masters Premier Events In South Florida

As I hope you have heard by now, a new show dedicated to craft beer will be premiering on Discovery Channel “Brew Masters” debuts on Sunday, November 21 at 10 PM ET/PT, and you're invited to join Sam Calagione, founder and brewer at Dogfish Head Brewing as he seeks out new ingredients, recipes and inspirations for his brewery.

About Discovery Channel's Brew Masters: http://www.discovery.com/brewmasters
Brew Masters on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/brewmasters

In honor of the the show Fresh Beer Inc. will be hosting viewing events in multiple spots in South Florida where you can join fellow craft beer lovers, grab a pint of Dogfish Head and watch.  I will be at one of the below.....and am really looking forward to it!

Funky Buddha Lounge and Brewery (2621 North Federal Highway
Boca Raton, FL) – Will be featuring Bitches Brew on tap, and will be making some bitches brew brownies as well.- They will also have Dogfish 90-Minute and Olde School on tap and 60-Minute IPA, Raison D’etre, Indian Brown Ale, Sah’tea, Theobroma and Midas Touch available in bottles. Come on by early to grab a beer and a good spot to watch the show!

8oz. Burger Bar (1080 Alton Rd, Miami Beach, Florida 33139) Will be hosting a Sunday deal on all Dogfish Beers… $5 Bottles of Indian Brown Ale, Raison D’etre, 60-Minute IPA and $5 Draft of Palo Santo, Chicory Stout and 90-Minute IPA ALL DAY. Stick around until 10pm and watch the show!

Cerveza’s (5835 Sunset Drive Miami, FL 33143) From 9-11 will be offering some serious specials on Dogfish Head including $2 off Pangaea draft, $2 off bottles of 90-Minute IPA, 60-Minute IPA, Indian Brown Ale and Theobroma! And of course they will be broadcasting the premier for your enjoyment.

Abraxas (407 Meridian Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139) Will be showing Brew Masters live and offering deals on their Dogfish products.

The Falls Ale House (13603 South Dixie Highway Miami, FL 33176) and The Joint (9559 S Dixie Hwy  Miami, FL 33156) will be dedicating two TV's for the premiere. No sound, but captions will be on. If you are in the area you can have some Dogfish Head beer and  grab a  front row seat at the bar.

If you have any questions or need any other info please do not hesitate to let me know.  If you know of any other offical watch parties then post them in the comments below and I will update this post!

Brewdog Abstrakt 04

Abstrakt 04
BrewDog Ltd
Scotland
15.00% ABV
Style: American Double / Imperial Stout

C: Too dark to tell
H: Black...
N: Chile Peppers, hints of Chocolate/Coffee/Whiskey

The Ferm: Thanks to Chris Black for sharing this rare beer with me at a local meet-up. I don't think I have met someone that loves Brewdog as much as this man, and according to him this was his favorite BrewDog Beer Yet! He called this a Hunahpu Clone?!?!

WHAT?!?! Hunahpu Clone!?!?

Hunahpu it is not....sadly. But I can see where the comparisons come into play. Unlike Hunahpu the Chile Pepper takes the forefront of the nose and taste. Tons of spice which is then followed by coffee and darrrkkk chocolate. Out of the Abstrakt Beers that I have had this is my favorite as well. As for my favorite BrewDog Beer, nope that goes to Sink the Bizmark! This is a damn good beer though.

As always BrewDog does a fantastic job of hiding the alcohol... 15%! in this bad boy and you would never guess it. Good Job Guys!

Score: 4.569

Terrapin Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout

Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout
Terrapin Beer Company
Athens, Georgia
6.00% ABV
Style: Milk / Sweet Stout

C: Very thick and hard to tell how clear it is
H: Dark Dark Brown
N: Chocolate Syrup....thats about it and fine with me!

The Ferm: Thanks to Ed Hussey 1/2 of the dynamic duo that is taking over the Boca Beer Lovers for splitting this with me. Tonight 11/16 Ed and his lovely bride Lara are welcoming in a new era of the Boca Beer Lovers at the Funky Buddha. I highly recommend showing up esp. if you have not had all the Buddha beers yet...they are FANTASTIC!
Anyways to the beer. This was a beer that I was excited about since we spoke about it on the bi-weekly Podcast United We Drink.

This is Terrapins Milk Stout, and a damn fine one at that. I will make this review very simple for you:

Yoohoo + 6% ABV = MooHoo Milk Stout

Yep that's about it folks....think the "adult" version of YooHoo. If you like YooHoo, which I did as a child and still do...YOU WILL LOVE THIS BEER! Honestly, it ranks up there with Choklat.

Can't wait to blend this bad boy with some Wake and Bake!

Score: 4.62

Terrapin Hopzilla

Side Project 12: Hopzilla
Terrapin Beer Company
Athens, Georgia
10.80% ABV
Style: Imperial IPA

C: Pale Orange in Color
H: Cloudy
N: Tons of Citrus (Grapefruit & Orange), Some Sweet Hard Candy Hints = HEAVEN IN A BOTTLE FOR AN IPA LOVER!

The Ferm: Well I was lucky enough to share a bottle of this with several of my beer buddies, and I was glad I did. Why?! Well in my experience Terrapin does a fantastic job with big malt forward beers the IPA has not been their strong point though. Hopsecutioner was a good beer, but nothing to write home about. "The Zilla" is something completely different. YEP, I KNOW IT'S AN IMPERIAL!
Well the fact of the matter is that you have to be able to make a good base IPA to make a good Imperial IPA. Sometime you can get lucky and strike Gold with an Imperial without the other.
I do not think Terrapin got lucky on this beer, I just think this is more of the lines that they were looking for out of their base IPA.
The beer is filled with Hop Aroma, and taste characters, though the beer is not hop bitter. The malt backing is strong and solid. This honestly is one of the better IIPA's that I have had. Perfectly balanced! Please make this a seasonal!
Score: 4.6032

BTW Please Don't forget to sign the petition to Save the Cigar City Tasting Room! http://dosbeerigos.com/sign-the-cigar-city-online-petition

Sign the Cigar City Online Petition

So a lot of people have been writing me on here and on facebook asking how they can help Cigar City save the tasting room besides calling, emailing, and writing the City Council of Tampa.

Well now you can sign the Online Petition to Save the Tasting Room.

Simply Click: Save the Tasting Room

Let's show the City Council of Tampa Bay how large of a community we are!

BTW, our support for the brewery is not going un-noticed. Several of the City Council Members have removed direct links to their email from the website, as well as having people screen their phone calls. This means we are getting to them! Keep it up! You can follow the progress through #SAVECCB on Twitter as well as following daily updates from local #FlaBrew Members on Facebook and Twitter!

Also the brewery is taking notice. Below is part of a thank you letter from Joey Redner of Cigar City which was posted on the CCB Blog:

First of all, we are speechless at the amount of support we have received in the last 24 hours for our Tasting Room that now hangs in the balance of the Tampa City Council's decision to let us continue operating. Your continued support is what is going to keep our doors open; so please keep the phone calls, letters, and emails flowing!

Please help out and sign the petition.  We do not want to lose this brewery or our right to enjoy their beers in the tasting room!

Cigar City Tasting Room Vs the City Of Tampa

OK, well while most of you have read and followed this story yesterday, I unfortunately already had my post up for the day and was not able to post something while at my place of business. For those of you that are just getting wind of what I am talking about, The City of Tampa could potentially be shutting down the Cigar City Tasting Room!!!

WHAT?!? Why would the city of Tampa close something that is becoming a Beer Destination for travelers all around the US and heck even the Globe?! Why would they take precious tax dollars, that they would otherwise not receive from these tourist coming into their city and spending money, and throw them away?? Why?!? Well we all have our opinions and politics are well.....politics. Regardless, why be so ignorant to close something that should be highlighted by the city.

NEWS FLASH TO THE CITY OF TAMPA CIGAR CITY IS ONE OF THE BEST UP AND COMING BREWERIES IN THE UNITED STATES!!!

So what can we do to express our opinion? Well below I have included the names of the people that voted for (3 in total), voted against (3 in total), and the 1 swing vote which was on vacation when the original vote took place. EMAIL THEM, MAIL THEM, CALL THEM, SHOW THEM THAT WE DO NOT WANT TO LOSE THE CCB TASTING ROOM!

Without posting the blog posts from CCB from yesterday, there is some hope that things will work out. My partner in crime, Mike from MikeLovesBeer.com and UNITED WE DRINK, leaked last night that the 1 swing vote actually voted for the tasting room the vote previous. This looks good, but to make sure we need to make sure that all 3 non-voters change, and the 3 pro-tasting room voters know how happy we are with them.

These are the three members of Council who voted against the tasting room.

Gwen Miller
Thomas Scott
Curtis Stokes

These are those Council members who voted for the tasting room, let them know that you appreciate that they looked at evidence and fact and were not swayed by unsubstantiated claims.

Mary Mulhern
Yvonne Yoli Capin
Joseph Caetano

The 1 Swing Vote:

Charlie Miranda

Please email and mail all 7 members, also join the Facebook Group: Save the Cigar City Tasting Room!

Thanks...and Cheers!

The Bruery 3 French Hens

3 French Hens
The Bruery
Placentia, California
10.00% ABV
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale

C: Murky
H: Brown
N: Dark malts, a bit of ... oak maybe? Shit ton of spices and bready yeastiness. A hint of fruit to the nose. Raisins or Plums are my guess

The Ferm: Ahh it's that time of the year again; the weather is cooling down, the days seem shorter, and those horrific October Beers are coming off the shelf. GOOOODBYE Shitty Beer and HELLOOOOO WINTER BEERS! Last year I dreaded this season which is filled with stouts, porters, and heavy malt based beers. Ohh how the palate can change in a year!
I figured 3 French Hens is a great way to kick off this season. Since after all it is the 3rd day of Christmas and all. This is the seasonal release from the Bruery, which as you can tell is named after the song 12 Days of Christmas.
3 French Hens poured a cloudy brown color making me re-think that excitement of winter beers. The nose is chalk full of Belgium Yeast, Fruit, and Bread Qualities. There may be some Oak floating around in there too. The taste...well it was pretty good. I will say that I liked this beer off first try more than 2 Turtle Doves, but when I revisited 2 Turtle Doves I was in love. The body is very thick, and the French Oak comes across ever so slightly in the taste. The rest of the flavors are just a cluster of bread, dark fruit, brown sugar, and molasses (but they work well together).
WELCOME BACK WINTER BEERS!
Score: 3.40

Ithaca Brute

Brute
Ithaca Beer Company
Ithaca, New York
6.50% ABV
Style: American Wild Ale

C: Clear
H: Golden Yellow
N: Hints of White Grape Juice and Green Apple and who could forget the FUNK

The Ferm: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TOO MANY SOURS IN ONE WEEK! NOOOOOOOOOO. Shit, who am I kidding?!? Sours are the JAM!
While this was not the first beer I reviewed from Ithaca for the blog, it was defiantly the best so far. The beer started out a nice deep yellow color, and was almost too clear. Regardless, the nose was damn sexy and unlike anything else I have ever smelled from a sour. There were strong sweet fruit odors that were then masked by the funky acidicness. The taste was similar. Like many of the last beers in the past week the body was smooth and light. Very dry finish to this one though.
Honestly, this reminded me of Halloween, which I should have posted this the day after instead of today, because the beer tasted just like LEMON SWEET-TARTS. I would sneak them into class the day after Halloween and eat the tart candies, lemon was my favorite flavor too! If your looking for a liquid solution to your Sweet-tart then look no further!
Score: 4.0000015 (I wanted more tartness!)

Wadesda #1

Wadesda #1
Brasserie De La Senne / De Zenne Brouwerij
Belgium
8.50% ABV
Style: American Wild Ale

C: Cloudy
H: Dark Yellow
N: Sweet and Sour, with a little funk

The Ferm: Hats off to The Cerveza Chica for picking this treat up for me while on her "girls" trip to Chicago. The gentleman at Binny's more than likely did not expect to run into a young lady that knew so much about beer and what her husband has had/not had.
Little information was found about this when she brought it back from the trip. I was able to find out that Shelton Brothers only imported a limited amount of bottles into the United States, and that it was a collaboration beer using a Cantillon yeast strain.
On to the beer: Wont lie but the nose of the beer made the mouth water! Hints of lemon and sweet tarts danced in my head. The attack of the first taste was interesting....straight sour, which followed with a smooth sweet finish. Similar to a lemonade if I must compare. Wadesda #1 had a wonderful body that was smooth for being sour upfront. Unlike most other sours that the acidic flavor lingers, this beer transitioned well into a sweeter flavor which hung around longer than the tartness.
Good pick up Cerveza Chica!

Score: 4.42

Cantillon Bruocsella (1900) Grand Cru 2003

Bruocsella (1900) Grand Cru 2003
Brasserie Cantillon
Brussels, Belgium
5.00% ABV
Style: Lambic

C: Cloudy
H: Bloody Orange
N: Super Acidic and Sour

The Ferm: Well I was lucky enough to get a pour of this beer at a recent tasting curtsy of "Jah Love" from the Funky Buddha. A 2003!!!!!! Yep it held up amazing as well. The beer did not seem over the hill even at 5% ABV.
The attack was filled with all kinds of funky sour flavors. The body was more mellow and smooth though, and then on the back of your throat it just burned like HELL. Simply amazing!
The dryness of the beer is still around and it is almost mouth puckering.



I'd bathe in this beer! (How about that for a mental image!)
Score: 4.4325

Jackie O's Imperial Oatmeal Chocolate Pecan Porter

Imperial Oatmeal Chocolate Pecan Porter
Jackie O's Pub and Brewery
Athens, Ohio
ABV: ?
Style: American Porter

C: Dark, but appears to be very clear on the edges
H: BLACK-ish, Dark Red on the edge of the glass
N: Pecans, Coffee, Hint of Instant Oatmeal

The Ferm: The advertisement for this beer should be "We put our nuts in your mouth". If you don't like Pecan's then do yourself a favor and leave this beer in Ohio for someone that does.
The flavor is straight up pecan, not like the pecan's you get in the mall that have cinnamon and sugar on them, but like a raw pecan. That earthly, semi-dry, dust flavor of the raw pecan comes across 100% in this beer.
I like pecans but not that much. Spending a lot of time in South Alabama as a child I had my fair share of pecans, and I am sort-a over them at this age.
This is a truly unique beer that Jackie O's put out, and should be sought after if you like pecans. Score on this one is higher than I would have given it simply because they got the flavor spot on, regardless of me liking it or not.
Score: 3.47