Deep Brewing earns national accolades
Wow! What a whirlwind week since the debut of the Tallahassee Beer Society's "Around The Brew Bend Column" last Thursday.
But you know who is having the best week ever? None other than Deep.
Last Friday -- the day after this column first published in the Democrat -- news broke that RateBeer.com (a national authority on craft beer ratings and rankings) had named Deep Brewing the No. 1 "New Brewer" in Florida, which is home to hundreds of breweries, many of them brand new.
So how big was this for Tallahassee, its growing beer scene and, most of all, Deep?
Massive.
"It definitely got us all excited," said LaPete, who runs the brewery, while his wife Marsha and bother Blair manage the distribution. "Florida, as a whole, has seen a huge wave of new breweries open in the last year, year-and-a-half. That just made it more of an accolade. They chose us out of all the new breweries in Florida to throw the gold medal (to)."
Deep opened its doors in 2016 and will celebrate its two-year anniversary on Aug. 28. And by then, Deep - which has pledged to release a new beer every weekend of 2018 - will have brewed nearly 200 different beers. One of our personal favorites is the Grapefruit IPA. (And the next time that one comes back, run - don't walk - to the brewery).
Going forward, LaPete said Deep has no signs of slowing down -- and he realizes the pressure is now on to meet newfound expectations.
"Especially on the heels of the nomination, it's kind of a little bit intimidating to a degree, because we're already - as small as we are - having some trouble working on capacity," LaPete said. "So there's a lot of changes we're making over the next couple of months that will help us keep up with demand rolling into the rest of 2018 and forward."
Meet Proof's Half Sister
Today, Proof Brewing Company is releasing limited edition cans of one of its more popular new concoctions: Half Sister New England Pale Ale. Originally debuting only on tap late last year, Half Sister is one of a handful of New England-style brews that Proof has released.
But this is the one they wanted everyone to taste -- and with good reason.
It's a 6% ABV brew -- and it's 100% great. Four-packs will go on sale Friday at noon.
And when it's gone, it's gone.
First Friday in Railroad Square takes place this week and always draws a huge crowd, so the chances of Half Sister being around Saturday when Proof holds its annual Mardi Gras Bar Crawl, are slim!
GrassLands has oysters, tacos and beer - oh my!
Every local brewery is doing something for the Super Bowl LII, but no one's blowing it out quite like GrassLands. First and foremost, they're holding a legit Super Bowl Sunday party -- one that benefits Second Harvest of the Big Bend.
GrassLands invites everyone out Sunday from 4-10 p.m. to donate canned goods to Second Harvest, and for every can you bring, you get a $1 off your beer and take part in one of the prize drawings.The Tallahassee Beer Society will be there, as will App Innovators, local food truck Rankin Tacos and -- making its debut -- Alligator Harbor Oysters, a local oyster farm that will be on site shucking free oyster tasters for guests.
Rumor is, there will be some new, limited edition TLH Beer Society swag up for grabs too.
Lake Tribe and Tally Mac Shack teaming up
Lake Tribe Brewing, which just celebrated its three-year anniversary of opening its doors, has two big events coming up -- both of them involving one of Tallahassee's hottest new food trucks: the Tally Mac Shack, a gourmet mac & cheese truck that's built quite the following since opening up late last year.
On Saturday, Tally Mac Shack will be at Lake Tribe, where they'll feature "Live Music Under The Stars" (and by the new fire pit) with local Tallahassee band Taller Trees. Then one week from Saturday on Feb. 10, Lake Tribe is hosting "Tapas At Tribe" with the Mac Shack, which puts out a special all-appetizer menu and recommends Lake Tribe beer pairings with each dish.
Both of these are great local supporting local events.
The Juice Lab is open at Ology
One of the things we look forward to most each week is Sundays at Ology.
Because most every Sunday, Ology is releasing a new (or returning) Berliner Weisse-style sour from their Juice Lab series. And this week's is brewed with passion fruit, apricots and elderberries. (It was hard not to salivate as we wrote that.)
Some craft beer scenes don't have a strong sour-beer following. But Tallahassee is the opposite. When Ology bottled its first barrel-aged American sour three weeks ago, it sold 165 limited edition bottles in under 45 minutes -- and the line stretched from the front door nearly to the corner of Sixth Ave. and Monroe St.
Yes, Ology is building something special in Midtown, and it's exciting to watch.
OK, so that's it for this week. We'll see you again Feb. 16th!
Until then, remember to always drink local.
And cheers to TLH Beer!