Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival 2012

Are you still alive after that crazy week of South Florida Beer?!?

Well you better perk up friends, because the JCBF is here Saturday, January 28th.

Join us Saturday, January 28, 2012, from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at Roger Dean Stadium (4751 Main St., Jupiter, 33458) for the Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival! There's no better way to experience the ever-growing world of craft brewing. Guests will sample and savor brews from some of South Florida's as well as the nation's finest breweries. For $35, guests will enjoy unlimited samples of the brews. All this while listening to some of the best local entertainment around!

Online ticket sales are now sold out, but there will be 1,500 tickets available to purchase the day of for $35, cash only.

Cigar City will be pouring; Ligero (if left over from Field of Beers), Hotter than Helles, Auld Alliance, Jai Alai, and Maduro!

But wait! Approximately 3 gallons of the following beers made it down;

White Oak Peach IPA (2:30pm)

Church on a Hill (Swamp Head Collaboration) (3:30pm)

Smash Kohatu (Pilot Batch) (4:30)

The beers above will be tapped at the times designated. Please keep in mind that there are only 3 gallons of each, so they will kick quick!

5th Annual Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival Recap

Well, yesterday was the 5th annual Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival. As most of you know this is my favorite festival of the year in the state of Florida. The best beers are brought out by all the local Florida breweries, and national breweries alike.

Just a few of the highlights of the festival were;

5. I tamed a Swamp Ape: Yep, finally had the opportunity to try the highly talked about Swamp Ape from Florida Brewing Company. This 10% ABV IPA was pretty tasty. Lots of Pine and Hop bitterness in it. Hands down the best beer by Florida Brewing Company!

4. Meet my friend Randall: Well actually thats my good beer bud Cezar with a Dogfish Randall. Fresh Beer hooked this bad boy up with some hops and ran 60min through it! Pretty good, but later in the show they put some dry roasted peanuts in it and ran Raison D'extra
through it! Wow it was like a PB&J Sandwich!

3. Hunahpu's 2011! What! Yep that's right I was able to try the new version of Hunahpu, the once a year release from Cigar City. Needless to say it was amazing. Very different from last years version, and the differences were very positive. Can't wait for the release on March 12th! More details and a proper review of this beer to come!

2. Deja Vu?: Nope it is actually Vu Jade'......WTF?!?....this is the collaboration beer from St. Somewhere and Cigar City. Holy CRAP! This was fantastic for a young sour. Tons of vinegar notes and a nice sweet malt build. This was my favorite beer of the entire festival. Just fantastic!

1. The Funky Buddha Craft Brewers Festival: Best of show for a booth goes to these guys. Kevin, Ryan, Jim, and the crew had a consistent line from open to close of the festival. This was the scene early on:

This was the scene as soon as people found out that Maple Bacon
Coffee Porter was being tapped:

It was crazy! While Maple Bacon was the big beer that everyone wanted to try the Chocolate Beer which I will call "Chocolate Face" until they give it an official name was fantastic! I promise I will get a review of Chocolate Face up on the blog as soon as the guys finish up with the next batch. It is, in my humble (or not so humble) opinion the best beer they do, and possibly one of the best beers from the state!  This was The Funky Buddha's Festival, we were all just lucky to attend!

There were also a lot of other great scenes at the fest. I was able to speak with a lot of brewers and friends. Great new breweries were on hand like Liberty Steakhouse and Tequesta Brewing Company. Ohh yeah and there is a video of the days events which will be released on United We Drink. Stay Tuned!

If you did not make it to the festival this year....well that sucks for you. Put it on the calendar for next year...NOW!

Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival 2011

Well if you listen to United We Drink, my side project with good buddy Mike from MikeLovesBeer.com, you should be well aware that Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival is right around the corner.

Januray 29th from 1-5:30 PM you will have the opportunity to sample some of the finest beers in the state of Florida.  Tickets are currently on sale on the website, but are expected to sell out fairly soon!  Grab them now!

You can read more about the festival and buy tickets at Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival 2011

I am really looking forward to the local breweries out there this year.  Big Bear, Tequesta Brewing Co., and The Funky Buddha!

I personally know that the guys from the Buddha are bringing some special beers down and plan on tapping them on the hour every hour.  So I think you should hang out around their table as much as possible.  Maple Bacon Porter, Sex Panther, Vanilla Pitti Porter, and others are rumored to be there!

I hope to see you out there!