Boca Raton’s Barrel of Monks Brewing has announced the release date for fan-favorite decadent chocolate quadruple called Be Mine and new beer Verdant Embrace New Zealand IPA, featuring hops showcasing the aromas and flavors of the island’s hop crops.
Orlando’s Zymarium Meadery announces a new bottled offering available on January 27th: Soliloquy of Nectar: Florida Black Mangrove.
From Zymarium Meadery:
If you’ve been to the Zymarium taproom, chances are you’ve had this big sweet Traditional Mead on draft! This is one we’ve gotten countless requests to release in bottles…and here it is!
This style of mead is the truest of meads as it showcases the honey and alcohol.
Full flavored, rich with dark caramel and butterscotch notes, you can taste that 16% (without it being hot).
Florida Black Mangrove is our favorite Florida honey (and we’ve tried a LOT of honeys!).
Tupelo gets all the fanfare, but this is the true hidden gem of the South. Out on the Space Coast is all uninhabited government land, and it’s thick with dense Black Mangrove groves. Our honey source is the only person with the permits to be allowed to put hives in the middle of these groves, making it the purest, most mono-floral, honey we can source!
These unique trees grow on the edge of the saltwater, and some people swear there’s a faint hint of salt to go with all the caramel flavors.
Our previous mead releases in our ‘Soliloquy of Nectar’ series have been sweet, and we do a great job of hiding the ABV, but this one we let show through a little to help balance the sweetness even better. This mead isn’t “hot” but the 16% comes through in a wonderful way, and we’ve been aging it since June to mellow to right where we want it.
The ‘Soliloquies’ have also been oak-less in the past, but we couldn’t resist working in a little blend of oaks to help smooth the finish, temper the sweetness, and compliment the existing flavors.
About Zymarium Meadery
Zymarium Meadery is an award-winning meadery focusing on using local honey, unique flavors, and quality ingredients. We make all of our meads onsite, just 20 feet from the taproom where they’re served.
Since a mead can never be better than the quality of its ingredients, we use only the best honey we can find. We source our honey from as many local sources as we can, usually within two hours of Orlando, ensuring that our our meads are not only hyper local, but the money goes back to growing local hives and bee population (drink mead, save the bees!). We only use honey that has not been heated ensuring that the volatile aromatics and enzymes of the honey are preserved. Our local honey is unfiltered, just like our meads, to preserve the local pollen.
We take a modern approach to mead making, applying all the latest science of both wine- and beer-making to ensure our meads unlock the true potential of the honey while focusing on continually exploring new flavor profiles, taking full advantage of the fact that all honey tastes different!
St. Petersburg’s Green Bench Brewing was announced as a semifinalist for a James Beard Award (the Oscars of the food world) in the Outstanding Bar Category for their Webb’s City Cellar.
As we get closer to Tampa Bay Beer Week, area brewers are beginning to release details of their special events and special releases. Angry Chair Brewing recently released details of their much sought-after Super Rad 2024 Set.
Press Release: The Tampa Bay Brewers Alliance, a regional advocate for the Tampa Bay beer community, is proud to announce the appointment of Sean Nordquist as its new Executive Director. Nordquist brings a wealth of experience in nonprofit administration, fundraising, and community building, furthering the Alliance’s mission of raising awareness on issues important to the industry, combining and sharing resources, and improving communication between breweries, trade partners, and community residents.
For more than a decade, Sean has distinguished himself as a fierce advocate for the craft beer industry, not only in the Tampa Bay region, but across Florida, and at the national level. His prior role as the Executive Director of the Florida Brewers Guild and his extensive experience within the Tampa Bay community – demonstrate his ability to create connections, communicate ideas and values, and champion the beer industry at all levels.
Sean’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for the Tampa Bay Brewers Alliance. His proven track record in fundraising, partner relations, project management, and community engagement will be instrumental in advancing our first initiatives of 2024, the Brewers Relief Fund and the USFSP Brewing Arts Program’s Internship Assistance. These programs are designed to give directly back to the people who make the beer community strong and help usher forth the next generation of professional brewers.
“I’ve known Sean for years,” said Joey Redner, founder of Cigar City Brewing and the catalyst for the Alliance. “In that time I have watched him be a voice and torch carrier for Florida craft beer. His advocacy comes from a place of passion and earnest admiration and respect for the people that work so hard to brew the beers he himself geeks out over. The Tampa Bay Brewer’s Alliance can only benefit from Sean’s knowledge, experience and passion.”
The Tampa Bay Brewers Alliance looks forward to the new level of energy and engagement to the region that Sean’s leadership will bring. Together, we continue our journey towards growing and supporting the beer industry in the Tampa Bay area.
For more information about the Tampa Bay Brewers Alliance and our programs and opportunities, please contact Sean Nordquist at director@tbbeer.com.
About the Tampa Bay Brewers Alliance
The Tampa Bay Brewers Alliance is a 501c6 not-for-profit organization advocating for and promoting its Brewery partners, raising awareness on issues important to our industry, combining and sharing resources, and improving communication between breweries, trade partners, and community residents. The TBBA is partnered with Brewery Industry Operators, Inc., a 501c3 not-for-profit.
Florida’s craft beer and breweries seem to be on a roller coaster currently.
It seems like a week cannot go by without news of a brewery opening or brewery closing.
Welcome back to a new year and new season of the BeerWise Podcast.
It’s great to be back and bringing you new episodes of the podcast. Due to some unforeseen personal circumstances, the podcast ended 2023 somewhat abruptly. But, I’m back for 2024 and ready to roll with some new guests, new ideas, and new horizons.
This episode, I am joined by Gilly Woolfolk, the brewery manager and Ryan Freeman, head brewer of Dade City Brewhouse in Dade City, Florida.
I was tipped off to this brewery when passing through Dade City, a small town north of Tampa near Saint Leo University. Dade City has just over 7,600 residents and is mostly known for its kumquat groves. In fact, each year Dade City celebrates these little citrus fruits with a festival in their honor. Due to delays in opening time, DCBH happened to open during the 2021 kumquat festival. Thousands of people were right outside and wandered in for a beer. Gilly and Ryan discuss this and other ways that this small brewery has connected with its community as our talk goes on.
You can listen to the podcast online here or on your favorite podcast platform. Remember to subscribe or follow so you don’t miss an episode!
Thanks for joining us in the journey of the BeerWise Podcast, hosted by Mark DeNote – editor of Florida Beer News.
If you like the podcast, please tell someone. If you have constructive feedback or a guest you’d like to hear on the show, please email mark at floridabeernews dot com or follow the “Contact Us” link on the Florida Beer News website.
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About Dade City Brew House
Dade City Brew House is the vision of Geoff Layne.
Located in Dade City’s newest event destination, The Block, Dade City Brew House sits where the car dealership used to be on the corner of 7th and Robinson. The Block is also home to Crossfit HCP, an event venue, outdoor stage and bar and is conveniently located just off Hardy Trail. Dade City Brew House is a great place to stop during your bike ride or walk.