Regina Heffingtonby REGINA HEFFINGTON
A book by Hillary Rodham Clinton focuses on the impact individuals and groups outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child’s well-being, and advocates a society which meets all of a child’s needs. Some dispute the concept and favor stronger and more effective parenting.
However, this concept can certainly be applied to the Greater Jacksonville-area craft beer “village.” Any new microbrew making its debut in our community’s “brews and chews” scene MUST be adopted, loved and cared for if it is going to “make it” for any significant length of time.
Recently, our local craft beer family has been formally introduced to three breweries making their way into the distribution stream to several Jacksonville beer purveyors. One is New Belgium Brewing. At food/beer pairing events to present their offerings to the beer lovers in Jacksonville, distributor Champion Brands/TeamHopheads provided “ample samples” of New Belgium’s: Fat Tire 5.2% ABV * Ranger India Pale Ale 6.5% ABV * Shift Pale Lager 5.0% ABV * Trippel Belgian Style Ale 7.8% ABV.
Another brewery making a significant expansion into our area is Goose Island Brewery. In 2011, Goose Island announced they were selling to Anheuser-Busch and many die-hard microbrewery supporters raised their eyebrows and wondered if Goose Island creations would become the mass-produced, bland or tasteless concoctions they believe are hallmarks of “Corporate Beer America.”
Last week, a wonderful food/beer pairing event was put together by Goose Island distributor, North Florida Sales at the Casa Marina Hotel in Jacksonville Beach. There, Goose Island introduced some special creations which were in addition to what they consider their “usual line-up” of beer: Sofie Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale 6.5% ABV * Matilda Belgian Style Pale Ale 7.0% ABV * Pepe Nero Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale 6.4% ABV * Pere Jacques Belgian Style Abbey Ale 8.7% ABV * Lolita Belgian Style Pale Ale 9.0% ABV * Night Stalker Imperial Stout 11.7% ABV * Bourbon County Coffee Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Coffee Stout 14.3% ABV.
Founders Brewing also just made it to Florida. Brewers Pizza, Kickbacks Gastropub and World of Beer all celebrated Founders’ recent arrival with special release parties. The following is a list of Founders Brewing Company’s creations currently available in our area: Centennial IPA 7.2% ABV * Founders All Day IPA 4.7% ABV * Dry Hopped Pale Ale 5.4% ABV * Dirty Bastard 8.5% ABV * Red Rye PA 6.6% ABV * Porter 6.5% ABV * Mango Magnifico 10% ABV.
All of the Founders Brewing Company beers mentioned above can be found at Beer:30, Grassroots Natural Market, Broudy’s Liquors, Total Wine & More and ABC Liquors.
The reactions I noted from the crowds at all these breweries’ events indicate the Jacksonville “village” of craft beer lovers stands ready to help nurture the development into maturity of these three breweries into our local brews culture.
For descriptions of these new beers, check out the breweries’ websites:
www.newbelgium.com, www.gooseisland.com and
foundersbrewing.com.
LOCAL BREWING NEWS
Aardwolf Brewing (1461 Hendricks Ave. – San Marco) Look for a mid-September “re-Grand Opening” where at least four of their own microbrews will be featured. This is the long-awaited and much anticipated debut of Aardwolf’s creations being available on a regular basis!
Bold City Brewery has canned their Killer Whale Cream Ale and Mad Manatee IPA and it will be hitting the shelves in September. Visit their website at boldcitybrewery.com for updates and access their Beer Finder feature.
Engine 15 Brewing Co. Every Thursday, Engine 15 Brewing Co. taps a new and unique pilot batch for Tap 42. This batch is limited and will run out very quickly. Engine 15 Brewing Co. will also partake in a benefit for the Child Cancer Fund on September 21 at Burrito Gallery. Right around the corner, Engine 15 will be rolling out the Oompahs and kicking off their Oktoberfest celebration on October 5.
Green Room Brewing Every Thursday, Green Room Brewing taps a new brew.
Intuition Ale Works will be celebrate Oktoberfest this year at Memorial Park on October 6. For tickets visit intuitionaleworks.com
Pinglehead Brewing / Brewers Pizza Tuesday, September 3, 5 pm is Tuesday Infuse Day. Every first Tuesday of the month, Brewer’s Pizza will infuse Pinglehead Beer with some new flavors through a Dogfish Head Randall 3.0. With this device Brewer’s can infuse any beer straight from the tap through cookies, candy, hops, wood chips… Almost anything you can dream up!
Hop Art Craft Beer Through the Eyes of Local Artists- Sunday, September 8, 5-9 pm at Aardwolf Brewing Co. This pop-up show will benefit Friends of Clay County Animals, Inc. Come to enjoy great food, music, art and of course craft beer. This is a free event, but please make a donation at hopart.eventbrite.com.
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