Dogfish Dinners!

Two big dinner coming up in the local area....check them out, as always you can email me for more information!

May 31st - Sweetwater Bar and Grill

For those Dogfish Head Fans, we are excited for a Dogfish Head Beer Dinner at Sweetwater Bar and Grill (1507 S. Federal Highway Boynton Beach, FL 33435). They'll be pairing up 4 courses with some delicious and limited Dogfish Head Beers... plus you'll be the first to try this year's Festina Peche. We'll have Nick, straight from the brewery, to walk you through the lineup and talk about these off-centered brews. On the menu we have the following delicious lineup:

Reception Beer: 60-Minute IPA
Course 1: Spicy grouper fish tacos with cilantro, peach coulis
Paired with Festina Peche
Course 2: Smokey lobster mac and cheese
Paired with Burton Baton
Course 3: Braised short ribs celeriac puree asparagus tips
Paired with Palo Santo
Course 4: Chocolate goat cheese slider on a basil raspberry brioche
Paired with a special beer from Dogfish Head's Vintage Secret Stash

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity... It's gonna be ridiculous. $50 not including tax and gratuity. For reservations contact Kevin at 561 628-3896 or info@sweetwater33.com, seats are limited. Food prepared by Head Chef Josh (Former Sous Chef of Todd English)

June 1st - THE LOCAL

Have checked out Coral Gables newest Craft Beer Spot, The Local (150 Giralda Ave Coral Gables, FL 33134), yet? Well... if not, its about time. They'll be hosting an extravagant Dogfish Head Food and Beer Pairing event featuring ONLY DOGFISH HEAD LIMITED RELEASE BEERS. Nick, straight from the brewery, will be down to walk you through the lineup. Starting at 7:30 and for $40+ tax & tip you'll get a chance to try this delicious menu:

1st Course:
Smoked marlin, Citrus salad, avocado, coriander leaves, corn chips
Paired with Hellhound on my Ale
2nd Course
Rabbit bratwurst, Potato salad, green pea, sauerkraut
Paired with Sah'tea
3rd Course
Boneless lamb rib, BBQ baked nuts, Thai chilies, mint leaves
Paired with Burton Baton
4th Course
House made fudge, Blackberry pop rocks
Paired with Black and blue

Plus we'll have some SPECIAL VINTAGE DOGFISH BEERS available afterwards for your enjoyment... straight from the Dogfish Head’s Stash. Call (305) 648-5687 to RSVP, Seats are limited.

Both events will sell out fast so contact the places today to reserve a seat!!!

G'Knight Imperial Red Ale - AKA Gordon

G'Knight Imperial Red Ale "Gordon"
Oskar Blues Grill & Brewery
Lyons, Colorado
8.70% ABV
Style: Red Ale/Imperial IPA

C: Little Hazy
H: Amber Red
N: Strong Hoppines (Pine, Hint of Citrus), Sweet Malt (Light Caramel, Hint of Candy)

The Ferm: Have you seen all the places with G'Knight on draft in the local area?!? NO THIS IS NOT A NEW BEER FROM OSKAR BLUES....yeah well I am sure I am going to catch some slack for this, but I thought it was. I even talked about this name change on United We Drink with my buddy Mike from MikeLovesBeer.com, and I was tricked by the name change.

Why was the name changed? Well Gordon Biersch felt that the name Gordon was too similar to the name of their brewery. Well I personally would not mistake a can of Gordon with a plastic bottle of Gordon Biersch Lager. Sorry, you failed at this one G.B.

The good that came from this? Well I have fallen back in love with this beer, and I am sure several other people have looked at the name and said "WOW A NEW BEER, I HAVE TO TRY IT!". Well thanks G.B. for bringing back my love of a damn hoppy red ale that comes in over 8% ABV! The beer is sweet and sticky but the malt is balanced by a nice initial punch of hops on the palate.

Overall, if you see G'Knight on draft at a local bar....GRAB IT, DRINK IT, and give the finger to the establishment....not the bar you are at, but the idiot that made someone change the name of their beer. COME ON PEOPLE, IT'S JUST BEER!

Score: 3.75

Wytchmaker Rye India Pale Ale

Wytchmaker Rye India Pale Ale
Jester King Craft Brewery
Austin, Texas
6.70% ABV
Style: American IPA

C: Cloudy with some nice "yeasties" in the bottom of the bottle
H: Orange/Amber
N: Citrus Notes, Caramel, Touch of Grass and Floral Aromatics

The Ferm: Well I am not gonna lie, writing has been quite hard lately. My head just isn't in the game. No I did not go on another cleanse or decide to take a week off of beer. Still drinking some fun stuff and building up the tasting notes in my head. Just hit that wall where I didn't feel like getting back on the horse. Just when I thought man, maybe it is time to hang the old hat up, I had a beer that brought me back to the beginning. No, I didn't crack a Dogfish 60 minute or a Ruination IPA from Stone. I had the Wytchmaker, for the first time.

Big thanks to EvilTwin for bringing this bad bad over to the house the other day. Since my review of Black Metal Stout, I have been looking for any and everything from Jester King Craft Brewery. This beer again lived up the my self made hype.

The beautiful thing about this orange-ish/amber liquid of the Gods, was that it made me sit back and think...not of grade school and the teacher that was a witch, or the time when I was in a haunted house and the witch jumped out at me and it scared me to...well you get the idea. This beer brought me back to about 3 years ago when I was just getting into beer. The sweet caramel flavors mixed with the bite from the hop and the all around refreshing flavor of the beer, reminded me why I love this industry so much.

Going out on a limb and saying this is one of my favorite IPA's to date, and without a doubt the BEST RYE IPA. This was a huge treat!

Score: 4.49

ISO: EVERYTHING JESTER KING!

Portsmouth Kate The Great

Kate The Great
Portsmouth Brewery
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
12.00% ABV
Style: Russian Imperial Stout

C: Too Dark to Tell
H: BLACK
N: Very complex nose including Coffee, Sweet and Dark Chocolate, Roasted Malt, and Molasses.

The Ferm: This was my "whale" that I decided to go after this year....I was very lucky to land it early on in the year. Kate the Great is released in a very limited quantity once a year from the Portsmouth Brewery. This is the beer these guys are known for. To call it a "hyped" beer may be an understatement. This beer is a hype-machine.
The beer poured pitch black with a solid tan head. The nose was insane with tons of dark and sweet chocolate in the nose. Coffee and Roast almost over powered all the other odors once the beer warmed to room temperature. The taste....extremely balanced, very good body, and the scents carried over well to the taste.
In my honest opinion, I was sort-a let down. I expected something bigger, better, and memorable from a beer with sooo much hype around it. Don't get me wrong this was a GREAT beer, but it is not one that I will actively seek out every year, like other once a year releases. This was a solid beer though. I'd say we can change Kate's name to Kate the Good.

Score : 3.99

American Craft Beer Week

My how time flies when your having fun, and by fun I mean drinking good craft beer and reading this blog!

May 16th-22nd, this week for those of you that don't know what day it is, is American Craft Beer Week ("ACBW"). This is a week that as craft beer drinking we celebrate the entire art beer for a week! That is right, who needs one day when you have a whole week. Basically Christmas and Easter have nothing on Craft Beer Week. While Black History Month is longer I still think ACBW is much more fun!

That said there is a ton of events going on in South Florida, but I have highlighted a few of them below.

Monday, May 16th

• Coffee District - Craft Beer Meetup 7-10pm


• Grease Burger Bar (213 Clematis Street West Palm Beach, FL 33401)
  2-4-1 on Highland Brewery - Gaelic ale, Oatmeal Porter, and Cold Mountain


• Blind Monk (10 Evernia Street #107West Palm Beach, FL 33401)
  Tasting including unique or limited release beers from breweries like Dogfish Head, Rogue, The Bruery, Oskar Blue's and some local favorites. As always the beers will be paired with select cheeses and meats. Space is limited so please reserve your spot. Starts at 7pm and is only $20.


• Abraxas (407 Meridian Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139)
  Beer Trivia Night - A night of beer trivia starting at 9pm. (it'll fill up pretty quick so you might want to get there by 8:45pm) with a special tapping of Avery's and Russian River's Collaboration Not Litigation Ale.

Tuesday, May 17

• Grease Burger Bar
  2-4-1 Avery beers - IPA (new on draft), White Rascal, and Karma


• BX Beer Depot (2964 2nd Avenue North Lake Worth, FL 33461)
  Expect to see special beer prices, and awesome swag give-aways! Featuring G'knight Imperial Red Ale on Tap in honor of their love for Oskar Blues Brewery.

Wednesday, May 18th

• Grease Burger Bar
  2-4-1 Stone Brewing - Levitation, Pale Ale, IPA, and Arrogant Bastard


• J-Bar (8283 West Broward Boulevard Plantation, FL 33324)
  Buy your first pint of Holy Mackerel between 8-11pm and keep the glass! (while supplies last)

Thursday, May 19th

• The Funky Buddha
  Thursday is new beer night, and the buddha will be tapping a very limtied keg of; _____________.  Well you will have to show up and see for yourself.  Happy Hour (2-4-1) till 7pm on the Buddha Beers.  Drink Local!


• Ales on the Avenue - Pub Crawl!
  The crawl will begin at Tryst then continue on to The Office, Paddy McGee's, and Cut 432. The 'after-party' will be at Coffee District. Each stop will feature a different craft brewery and will be offering at least two beers at a special price.  Participants are asked to come to Tryst for registration between 5:30pm and 6:30pm where they will receive a wristband which will indicate they are part of the group.


• Coffee District
  Shipyard Raffle Night -  Buy a Shipyard or Sea Dog draft beer and get a raffle ticket to win some American Craft Beer Week Shwag... They'll have some special Shipyard Brews including XXXX IPA, Double Thumper and Imperial Porter all on draft! 7-9pm

Friday, May 20th

• Hollywood Vine (2035 Harrison Street Hollywood, FL 33020)
  Beer Tasting featuring Victory V-12, Rogue Double Mocha Porter, Avery the Reverend, and Cigar City Guava Grove. A great opportunity to sample and enjoy the great selection of craft beers Hollywood Vine has to offer! Stop in from 7-9pm for a taste... while they last.


• BX Beer Depot
  Tiki Bar's 2nd Anniversary Party; They'll be featuring two breweries on this night, as well as serving smoked BBQ.  From 7pm-Midnight stop in for some music and brews. Featured kegs are Avery Maharaja and Tequesta Brewing Co.'s Special Mystery Kegs.

Saturday, May 21st

• The Lodge
  Victory Beer Night; They'll have Helios, Braumeister Saaz Pils and Hop Devil ALL ON DRAFT. Plus if you buy your first pint, you get to keep the glass! (while supplies last). Starting at 8pm, come on out for some delicious limited draft brews.


• Coffee District
  Blue Point Brewing Night; tarting at 6pm, they'll be pouring all of the year round Blue Point Beers on draft PLUS some limited releases including their Imperial Sour Cherry Stout and No Apologies Imperial IPA both on DRAFT!

Sunday, May 22nd

• Smoke T (1450 South Dixie Highway Coral Gables, FL 33146)
  Stone Brewing BRUNCH;That's right you read that correctly. We will be pairing up some AMAZING dishes with Stone beers because nothing is better than beer early on a Sunday to help cure any pains from the night before. The menu is the following:
  1^st course: Ruination IPA Bloody Mary paired with a french toast bite; thick cut challah bread topped with berries, frosted almonds with a maple glaze
  2^nd course: Levitation Ale paired with eggs benedict; homemade biscuit, sausage patty, and poached egg topped with a chipotle hollandaise sauce
  3^rd course: Sublimely Self-Righteous paired with chicken mole and a side of scrambled eggs
  4^th course: Stone Smoked Porter poured through the Randall (filled with Bacon) creating Bacon-infused Smoked Porter paired with bacon pancake with chocolate-smoked porter-maple butter, topped with a piece of pork belly
  Starts at brunch time... 10:30am. Early reservations will be $35 and $45 at the door (plus tax and tip).

Also keep your eyes peeled for a live taping of UNITED WE DRINK, the only All Craft Beer Podcast based in South Florida.....something tells me it may be at the Coffee District on Thursday Night?!?!  Watch the Facebook Page for more information!

Cigar City and Tequesta Takeover Delray Beach

The time has come....the barrels have arrived.....and people are ready to celebrate the kick off to American Craft Beer Week.

While the official American Craft Beer Week doesn't kick off till May 16th (more info coming), there is nothing wrong with a little pre-gaming for the party.

[caption id="attachment_1632" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Photo thanks to @BeerSlinger37"][/caption]

And by pre-gaming I mean a tap takeover of the Coffee District in Delray Beach by two of the hottest breweries in the state of Florida! Tequesta Brewing Company and Cigar City Brewery take over all 18 taps in the Coffee District tonight starting at 6pm till close....well until the kegs kick, ohh and with the lineup bellow being on draft...they will kick!

Here are the Cigar City tap offerings;

Hillsborough River Dry Stout
Jose Marti
East India Porter
White Oak IPA
Peach IPA
Apple Brandy Barrel Aged Zhukov’s
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
White Oak Dry Stout
Jai Alai IPA
Maduro Oatmeal Brown

Thanks to Matt from Tequesta, below is their eight offerings;

Der Chancellor (Kolsch)
Gnarly Barley (American Pale)
Terminally Ale (American Brown Ale)
Julios Weizen (Belgian Wit with Passionfruit and Watermelon)
Finn McCool (Irish Red)
Hoppy American Amber
Tupelo Honey Bock
Oak Aged Black IPA

Gourmet Food Truck Expo

Yeah I know it isn't beer, but it is good food.

Tonight 25+ of the best Gourmet Food Trucks takeover the Boomer's parking lot in Boca Raton.

Yeah I will be there with many of the "beerigos" checking out the food scene and indulging in some tasty treats. While I could not confirm if there was going to be any craft beer available, I am sure if you wanted to be sneaky a plastic cup with a favorite Stout or IPA could fly bye the eyes of security.

The event starts at 6pm and goes till 10pm. Check out Gourmet Food Truck Expo for more information.

A list of just a few of the trucks are as follows;

• Sugar Yummy Mama


• Slow Food truck


• Red Koi


• Nacho Mama's Grill


• Mobile Cigars


• Dim Ssäm à gogo


• Catered Bliss


• The Blue Tree Cafe


• 4 Alarm Pizza

See you tonight!

New Podcast Up

Looking for something to do in South Florida, the Southeast, or even Nationally relating to Beer?

Jump over to United We Drink and give a listen.

Just click the link over on that side of the site ------->

Or head to Itunes and search for United We Drink.

For those of you that do not know it a brain-child of Mike from MikeLovesBeer.com, and yours truly is a co-host of the show.

Another episode was posted today, and in this episode Mike and I sort-a settle into our comfort zone.

Check it out on ITUNES and dont forget to review the show!

Last Round Cinco De Mayo Style

So what are you going to make your Last Round tonight?

While you are reaching for that Corona with a Lime....I'll reach deep into my pocket for a Last Round, for mine.

Last Round?!?

No, I have not lost it, Last Round is all natural hangover support.  Yep, unlike some of the other "remedies" on the market this little bad boy is chalk full of goodness that won't keep me up all night.

I experimented with Last Round this past weekend after a pretty crazy beer tasting, and even with craft beer (usually higher in sugar than the domestic swill), the next morning was pretty pleasant compared to my typical Sunday mornings, post tastings.

If you are interested in picking up some Last Round, "The Hangover Slayer", you can check out them online at Last Round.  They are even running a current promotion to fly some lucky winner out for the premier of "The Hangover 2", now that's pretty cool!

Thanks to the crew from Last Round for my "care package" of goodies!

Happy Cinco de Mayo Beerigos!

Black Metal Imperial Stout

Black Metal Imperial Stout
Jester King Craft Brewery
Austin, Texas
10.40% ABV
Style: Russian Imperial Stout

C: Too dark to tell how clear it is
H: Piss Yellow....NO.....THIS IS BLACK METAL STOUT BABY!
N: Dark Chocolate, Roasted Malt, Hint of Smoke

The Ferm: The beer is named properly. Everything about this beer says METAL. The beer is black with a light mocha head. The massive nose leads to Chocolate, Roast, and what is that....a smoke machine?!? Naaa just s hint of smoke.
The flavor follows suite, but is dominated by the dark chocolate. Thankfully the smoke doesn't come across nearly as strong as it does in the nose. Hints of Toffee linger on the back end of the taste. The mouth feel is thick and creamy....smooth operator.
Overall I actually really enjoyed this beer. The mouth feel was honestly the most enjoyable that I have had in quite some time. The flavor is on point....and look at that label....EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BEER SCREAMS SEXXXYYYY!

Score: 4.12

South Florida Craft Beer Cinco De Mayo

So apparently Delray Beach and Boca Raton have tight ties to the Mexican Independence.

That's right Cinco De Mayo is Thursday and the local craft beer community is going crazy this year.


Your new favorite craft beer brewery in South Florida, The Funky Buddha, will be releasing two (THAT'S RIGHT TWO!) new beers for Cinco De Mayo.  Nib Smuggler and Mango Chili Pepper Wheat will be hitting the draft lines hard on Thursday.  Please note that while no Nib Smugglers were injured or killed in the production of this beer, it is pretty damn tasty!  Unfortunately there were several peppers lost in the production of the Mango Chili Pepper Wheat, it was a sad day in the garden!

The same night Chung and his staff of friendly beer-slingers will be serving up a Cinco De Mayo party filled with all kinds of goodies from Dogfish Head Brewery at the Coffee District in Delray Beach.  There is confirmation that a keg of the new Sony Music/Dogfish Head Brewery Collaboration  "Hellhound on my Ale" will be on flowing.  Keep in mind this is a limited release beer and the keg should kick rather quickly!  Also there will be another appearance by the "Randall the Enamel Animal".  You will have to come out to see what the beer on tap will be flowing through that night.

Two events....one night.....How Do I Do Both?!?

Easy!  Happy Hour at the Buddha starts at 6pm swing by and snag a sampler or a few pints (usually the special release beers can not be doubled up on for happy hour).  While at the Buddha you will need to eat something.  I recommend the pizzas and the hummus plate.  After some grub and some tasty beers, head on over to Coffee District for some Dogfish Head Fun!

Yep....that's how I will be celebrating Cinco De Mayo.....starting to think taking Friday Off may be needed!

Stoudts American Pale Ale

American Pale Ale
Stoudts Brewing Co.
Adamstown, PA
5.00% ABV
Style: American Pale Ale

C: Clear
H: Golden in Color
N: Caramel Malt and Citrus Hops Dominate the Nose

The Ferm: Turn on CNN today.....this beer review just seems fitting. I was going to review Jester King's Dark Metal Stout today, but had to put that puppy on hold since apparently today is a great day to be an American.
Why should you drink this beer today besides the fact that there is a large American Flag on the Bottle? Well lets see here; The beer pours a nice Golden Hue....pretty nice white head. The nose of the beer screams AMERICAn pale ale, tons of caramel notes with nice citrus almost piney hop scent. The taste of the beer is solid (just like America). It's a "shot to the head" (see what I did there?) of flavor. This beer is jam packed with flavor, but yet smooth and easy to drink.
So today while you may be celebrating some special occasion grab a beer that represents the country you are proud of living in, put down the "King of Beers" and pick up something a little more patriotic.....snag a Stoudts American Pale Ale!
Score: 3.498