Cycle Brewing, St. Petersburg’s first craft brewery, went live on Tuesday, September 10th, with owner Doug Dozark to make announcements and discuss some of the brewery’s history and future.
On September 10th, during the video, the major announcement came that Cycle Brewing will no longer be hosting their annual Barrel-Aged Day (BA Day) at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club.
According to Doug, the tradition of BA Day goes back twelve years to Peg’s Cantina, the Gulfport restaurant and brewpub that Cycle Brewing grew out of. The day was born from the idea that people were coming to Tampa from all over the world for Hunahpu’s Day. If they were there a day earlier, which many were, they could enjoy barrel-aged stouts and barleywines from another brewery in the Tampa Bay Area. One of the first BA Days was celebrated with flip-top bottles of Rare DOS, the brewery selling about 30 of these to patrons at BA Day. The event continued to grow, and when Cycle Brewing moved into their facility in 2014, the celebration moved to the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club and has been hosted there for the last ten years, during the Friday of Tampa Bay Beer Week.
“Will Doug change his mind?” several comments asked during the live video. “No,” Doug stated flatly. “The people at the Shuffleboard Club reached out because someone asked to book for an event in 2025, and we told them we would not be have BA Day, so the venue is booked for that weekend.” Doug went into an explanation of why the brewery cancelled BA Day which touched on the current state of craft beer and the wider beer community.
“The event became too expensive for the amount of interest,” Doug said somberly. In it’s current format it was not sustainable, so the event could not continue. Might the event be reborn? “Maybe someday,” Doug admitted, “but not in 2025.”
Cycle’s Barrel-Aged Beers Going into Distribution?
Doug has made no secret about trying to get his barrel-aged beers into distribution, and while he has not had success in the Tampa Bay market, he mentions distributors showing interest in other states. While Doug mentions several states in passing, after reaching out to him, he says the brewery will announce new states as they come aboard.
Doug also mentions that he is uncertain what format the new states will want for Cycle’s beers. 22oz and 750mL bottles are Cycle’s current format, but he states that other formats including draft are possible, they will just need to make it “the same for all.”
See the full live video on Cycle Brewing’s Instagram page.
To learn more about Cycle Brewing, owner Doug Dozark, and more, check out Doug on the BeerWise Podcast.
About Cycle Brewing
Downtown St. Pete’s craft beer brewery and tasting room. Sip on these fine brews inside the bar or on our sidewalk. Don’t forget to fill a growler or Crowler (canned growler) of Cycle beer to take home.