Perhaps one of the greatest experiences a craft beer fan can have is
attending a beer fest. Many breweries (and even cities) host their own festivals
to honor craft beer and present patrons with a cornucopia of beer and beer
styles. Most of these festivals try to cater to the masses and will have any
color and flavor of beer you can imagine. But there is one festival that hones
in on one particular theme:
Dunedin Brewery's Stogies & Stout is
the beer
fest for those who like their cigars hand-rolled and their beers dark.
Dunedin Brewery is Florida's oldest craft brewery. They've been brewing
solid craft beer for nearly two decades and have helped to set the standard for
craft beer in the Sunshine State.
Stogies & Stout is a beer festival hosted at the brewery each year on
the last Saturday in February. Apply named, the event delivers a myriad of deliciously
robust stouts on tap and a hand rolled stogie to each person who purchases a
ticket to the event (more on
that a bit later). Stogies & Stout has become a long-running tradition for
the brewery, and it's one of the best beer fests we have attended.
Stogies & Stout 2015 is just around the corner. And because we know
craft beer drinkers like to be educated, we recently chatted with General
Operator at Dunedin Brewery, Michael Bryant, who additional context on
Dunedin, their beer, and what you can expect at this year's 14th Annual Stogies
& Stout.
Dunedin Brewery is well known in the Tampa area, but you guys seem to be
under the radar a bit when it comes to the broader craft beer landscape. What
should people know about Dunedin Brewery?
While Dunedin Brewery is Florida's oldest microbrewery, we do indeed fly
slightly under the radar with regard to the mainstream craft beer landscape.
This is mostly b/c we choose to spend our time as full-time creatives rather
than full-time capitalists. While we do have plans to expand (slowly), we have
never had a romantic vision of becoming a big factory. We do this to maintain
our artistic clout & believe that a healthy regional/local beer scene is
full of all sorts of business types--from purely creative to purely
capitalistic (and everything in between).
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| Photo via beerbusterspodcast.com |
Dunedin Brewery strives to not only craft great beer, but also enhance our
local community with top notch entertainment. We believe this is important b/c
nothing seems sadder than beer for the sake of beer itself. Beer is a social
lubricant. But that social situation will degrade if the people are not well
entertained. We do whatever we can to elevate all of this--whether it be
through live music, festivals, food, comedy and/or exploring the world through
travel. Everything we discover that's worthwhile, we find worth sharing with
our audience.
What sets Dunedin Brewery apart? What
should folks look for/expect when visiting?
The main component that sets Dunedin Brewery apart from other breweries is
our focus on guests. Every individual that visits us is unique. We approach
them this way. Our beer selection is ever-rotating but consistently provides a
full spectrum of flavors to help each guest find exactly what it is they seek
in a beer, all while encouraging them to explore new things.
Secondly, we are one of the premier live music venues in the Southeast. With
a year-round calendar filled with everything from national legends to great
locals, we provide an endless narrative of inspiring craftsmanship.
And of course, our beer sets us apart. We not only brewed the first beer
with fruit in the state (when it was still taboo), but continue to break the
barriers of trends & styles. Our goal is not to replicate ideas, but to
manifest new ones. This is what we are busy doing off-the-radar.
Tell me about Stogies & Stout. Where
did the idea for the event come from? It seems to have become a local tradition
for many people. Can you explain how that has happened? Why the pairing of
stouts and cigars?
Stogies & Stout started 14 years ago as a social gathering on our
brewery's patio among a small group of beer lovers. My father (founder of
Dunedin Brewery) & some other beer aficionados came together with their
small collection of stout bottles/kegs. Enjoying the dark beers, they discussed
them while smoking cigars (simply b/c this small group of people enjoyed
cigars). The original group was less than 20 people. As the years ticked by,
the event became big enough to close the entire property and host just stout
lovers for the evening.
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| Photo we snapped at 2014 Stogies & Stout |
What has made the event unique & traditional for many local beer lovers
is two-fold. First, we only sell a certain number of tickets in order to keep
the place from being too full. This gives the attendees room to enjoy
themselves as well as eliminates any waiting in line for a taste.
Secondly, the beer selection is hand-picked by myself. Most beer festivals
invite every brewery to participate, usually with standard offerings that can
be enjoyed almost anytime. With Stogies & Stout, I focus on quality of
craftsmanship & ingenuity. This gives us a line-up of not only strong local
beers, but also nationally distributed beers that have held up against the time
of growth.
One final note with regard to the tradition of the event. Most beer
festivals require the brewery representatives to work the event, pouring each
sample to each guest. We relieve the brewery representatives from that duty
& simply ask that they come enjoy themselves for the event. This allows
beer lovers the chance to meet people who work at the breweries represented
& even discuss the beers on tap.
What can people look forward to this
year? Any new aspects or surprise tap listings?
This year will be our 14th annual Stogies & Stout. At the current
moment, we have 35 different kegs of stout from 20 different breweries (10 FL
breweries & 10 nationals). This number will continue to grow up until the
event, as we purchase more flavors that come available before then. Cigar
choices will be provided by our long-time partner Los Blancos Cigar Company.
Live music will be provide by
Lingo from Athens, Georgia. $35 admission
gets them access to everything above, including a commemorative 2015 S&S
tasting glass. For $10 more, attendees can opt to purchase a meal voucher which
will get them a plate of Smoked Brisket (or Barbecue Seitan for vegetarians),
Jalapeno Corn Mac n Cheese, Braised Collard Greens & Milk Stout Cornbread.
Current Tap List:
Dunedin Brewery Leonard Croon’s Oatmeal Stout
Dunedin Brewery Braemar Milk Stout
Dunedin Brewery Midnight Sextant
Dunedin Brewery Bourbon Barrel Aged Midnight Sextant
Dunedin Brewery Single Origin Honduran Brownie Batter Stout
Dunedin Brewery Mundofolbick Imperial Stout
Dunedin Brewery Vanilla Mundofolbick (cask)
Dunedin Brewery Cookies & Croon (cask)
Founders Breakfast Stout
Founders Imperial Stout
Founders Nitro Oatmeal Stout
Founders Black Rye
Terrapin Liquid Bliss (chocolate peanut butter stout)
Terrapin Guano Loco
Terrapin / Shmaltz Reunion 12
Stone Master of Disguise Blonde Stout
Stone Smoked Porter w/ Chocolate & Orange Peel
Stone 2011 IRS Belgo
Cigar City Marshall Zhukov Russian Imperial Stout
Sweetwater 2013 Happy Ending
Barley Mow Maven Nitro
Green Bench Stay Dry Stout
Green Bench — (Apple Brandy Barrel Imperial Stout?)
Pair o Dice Hot Cocoa Imperial Stout
Nature Coast Manatee Milk (imperial coffee chocolate milk stout aged in a Jack
Daniels barrel)
Breckenridge 72 Imperial Chocolate Cream Stout
Swamphead Midnight Oil (coffee stout)
Funky Buddha OP Porter
St. Pete Grateful Stout
Three Palms Hot Schtuff (stout brewed with brown sugar, cinnamon, ghost
peppers)
Wynwood Pop’s Porter
Highland Thunderstruck (coffee porter)
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
Dogfish Head Chicory Stout
Rogue Double Chocolate Stout
Rogue Russian Imperial Stout
Great Divide 2013 Oak Aged Yeti
Ticket Purchasing:
http://goo.gl/4d4ttw
FB Event:
http://goo.gl/8hVTyi
