This week's Around The Brew Bend column is brought to you by the number M. Yes, we said number. Allow us to elaborate.

While we try to keep you looking down the road to the next big thing in Tallahassee beer, sometimes events sneak into the gap between our bi-weekly column, news that deserves some review. Proof Brewing Company's "The Number M" release is one instance.

Beer Festival:Tickets are on sale now at Civic Center for Tallahassee Beer Festival

Recently launched:Proof co-owner launches non-alcoholic CBD seltzer line on Saturday | Brew Bend

Opening soon: Oyster City move another big investment in Tallahassee craft beer culture| Brew Bend

The Aug. 5 release — while delicious — is not the news here; rather what it represents: M is Proof's 1,000th batch of beer! That's a significant milestone for Tallahassee's bottle shop turned commercial brewery.

For those looking for a taste of history, "The Number M" — a 9.5% Double Hazy IPA featuring El Dorado, Idaho 7, Citra, & Azacca hops — is available at the 1320 South Monroe Street brewpub or through their online store at proofbrewingco.com.

And for those wondering about the name, no Proof hasn't lost their marbles, M is the roman numeral for 1,000. Cheers to 1K Proof and Carpe Cervisia.  

Let's get tropical

Proof goes from a taste of the tropics with Letter M's tasting notes highlighting "a tropical harmony of pineapple, melon, and fresh citrus" to a full-blown Polynesian-inspired party.

On Saturday, Aug. 21, Proof is throwing a Luau Celebration featuring a tiki-beer triple can release. On-site festivities at the Brewpub kick off at 2 p.m. with the beer release and a "Luau Menu" of unique dishes set to pair perfectly with brews, and we're not sure which has us more pumped.

The beers feature a fan favorite, "Kalani" — a Passionfruit, orange, lime, pineapple, and coconut Berliner that currently holds a 4.01 (out of 5) star rating on Untappd, and two new Berliners, "Florida Sunset" and "Blue Floridian." Sunset will have flavors of orange, lemon, pomegranate, prickly pear, and almond.

At the same time, Floridian will bring it with a taste no stranger to Proof fans — blue raspberry — as well as pineapple, coconut, and orange. Limited supplies will be on tap and in 4-packs, with online sales starting at 2 p.m.

Not for sale online; the specialty food menu. The chefs at Brewpub have cooked up some fantastic spins on Luau fare with a Hawaiian Whole Hog Bahn Mi, Tuna Poke Tostones, and Lomi Lomi Salmon (a traditional tomato and salmon salad of sorts standard at Hawaiian get-togethers).

A menu like this won't hang around, so get there early and plan to party — big island style.

Miss a minute miss a lot at Ology

In another instance of news dropping between our publishing cycle, In late July, Ology teamed up with a local legend of a different craft, Lofty Pursuits, to produce a beer/candy drop that was about as Tallahassee as it gets.

Lofty, a store that began as a mecca for local hobbyists like jugglers, yo-yoers, and frisbee golfers, but skillfully expanded into an incredible blend of soda hop, diner, and craft candy maker combined forces with Ology's Head Brewer Nick Walker in producing Strawberry Watermelon Limeade Slushhhhh — a 6% Berliner.

Like their joint beer drops with notable breweries like WeldWerks, Pontoon, Vitamin Sea, and Dissolvr, Ology made this a home and home of sorts with Lofty producing a specialty candy matching the flavor profile of the beer. 

The beer and a limited number of candy bags sold out in Ology's tasting rooms the weekend it dropped. But we got a hot tip that the candy and beer might be available at Lofty's 1355 Market St a11 location. 

It turns out Lofty sells an assortment of local craft beers. Who knew?

While you check Lofty's website for cans of Watermelon Slushhhhhh, be sure to check Ology for this week's cans: "Capsized Goods," an 8% Hazy IPA collaboration with Mast Landing Brewing (Westbrook, Maine), and "Peach Vanilla Sprinkle Factor" a peach and vanilla milkshake IPA, and for details on their next highly-anticipated Barrel-Aged Stout Release. Pro Tip: find and download the Oznr app on your phone. 

Oyster City Brewing's Tallahassee Home Opener Set

Let's get back to our regular style and break a little news here. While Proof was putting the finishing touches on batch 1,000, Oyster City Brewing was working on their first batches of beer brewed here, in their newest location, 603 W Gaines St Suite 7.

It should be of little surprise that the first batches were award-winning Oyster City staples Hooter Brown and Mangrove Pale Ale. Through connections at the Tallahassee Ladies That Beer, we've been fortunate to get a sneak peek at OCBC's new tasting room and brewhouse, though sampling brews has had to wait. 

So when might you get a taste from and look at their Tallahassee Location? Well, with Oyster City's official home opener right around the corner (Aug. 19), we suspect the brewery might be open to a bit of traffic this weekend as they start to gear up.

Officially though, noon on Aug. 19 is when OCBC — The TLH Edition will open. The brewery intends to open at Noon seven days a week, close at 9 p.m. most days (10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays), and host live music a few nights a week.

While we love a good beer run to Florida's "Forgotten Coast," we're certainly excited to be able to score fresh kegs of our Apalach favorites and perhaps find a few new ones — did somebody say Guava Passionfruit Gose — in the new taproom. 

Live music at Lake Tribe

With a steady stream of solo acts and bands, food trucks, and beer, Lake Tribe has become a great spot for live music on Fridays. Starting this Friday at 6:30 p.m., Lake Tribe welcomes Dylan R.P. Allen and his unique talent to make fantastic music with just about anything.

Allen's set features a bevy of instruments described as "Guitar shaped objects" built from everything from Cigar boxes, oil cans, and his grandmother's kitchen floor." Similar to turning four simple ingredients into delicious beers, it takes unique alchemy to produce alt-folk, blues, rockabilly and Americana music out of that.

As hospitality workers gear up for the grinds that are weekend shifts, Lake Tribe has offered a little relief to the servers, line cooks, and bartenders of Tallahassee with ThirstyThursdays — offering $1 off all pints all day at their 3357 Garber Drive brewery.

All hospitality workers looking for a spot to kick back with a brew, play some games, or chill outside on the decks are welcome.

Deep Brewing ready for festival season

Much of the news out of Deep Brewing Company centers around celebrations. This week Deep started packaging the annual release of their festbier, "Deeptoberfest," in anticipation of the world's largest celebration of beer, Oktoberfest — golden, malty, and ready for fall.

The next few weekends at the brewery located at 2524 Cathay Court #2 savor the few more sips of summer with this weekend's release of "Diving at Dawn" raspberry Berliner and next weekend's return of Watermelon Spear Pressure.

Now, while Owner Brewer Ryan LaPete might've had one eye toward fall with Deeptoberfest's canning, there's little doubt he's had the stretch of days from Sept. 2 through Sept. 6 circled for a while as Deep celebrates their 5th anniversary.

While the details for Deep's annual beer extravaganza aptly named "CANiversary" are limited to a teaser, for now, it should be a run of beer releases, tap takeovers, and food that beer fans will not want to miss. We'll cover it more in-depth next column. 

Matthew Crumbaker is the co-founder, along with Danny Aller, of the TLH Beer Society, a group of avid craft beer lovers. Reach the Beer Society on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or email: tlhbeersociety@gmail.com.