Florida Craft will be putting on its 2014 Holiday event, "A Florida Craft Christmas", at the Hourglass Brewery in Longwood on Tuesday December 9th from 7 to 10 pm.  This special event will include six 1/2 pours of Hourglass brews, holiday small plate pairings by Luis Bistro, and some special giveaways.

     Tickets are $25 for Florida Craft members, $35 for non members, and can be purchased online at http://www.floridacraft.org/xmas2014.  If you have questions about Florida Craft or the Florida Craft Card, you can contact Ashley Brewer at  floridacraftorg@gmail.com.  You can also follow Florida Craft on Twitter, @FloridaCraftOrg, and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/floridacraftorg .

    How about a FREE local beer festival?  Tom and Dan from the popular local podcast  A Mediocre Time With Tom and Dan are putting on the Bad at Business Beerfest on Saturday November 22 at Johnny's Fillin Station.   How can it be free you ask?  We spoke with Tom this week and he said that  "The whole point when we started this was to show that you can put on a free beer fest for people.... We have a good size audience but small overhead so it allows us to do things a little different."  

    The first 500 people will receive a Tom and Dan 4oz sampling mug and wristband FOR FREE. Event will be limited to 500 for the craft beer tasting. Those 500 people can sample beer from all the craft breweries involved in the event.  Some of those breweries like Crooked Can Brewing and Mike Wallace's Ten10 aren't even open yet so its a great opportunity to try some new local beers!

Here are some additional details on the tasting.....

* The Beerfest is from 2 to 4 pm on Saturday November 22

* Only the first 500 people in line will be able to get the sampling cups and wristbands to sample beer.

*  First 200 people in line will also receive a new Tom and Dan car magnet for FREE.

*  All craft draft beers at Johnny’s Beer Shack are $3.

*  NO DRINKING ND DRIVING!   The festival has partnered with Lyft and if you use the promo code LYFTOFF1 – new users get a FREE ride up to $25!

    Orlando Beer Guide was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of  Playalinda Brewing  in Titusville this week.  Former Cask and Larder Brewmaster Ron Raike has partnered with Brian and Donna Scott of Titusville to help create the small town's first brewery and tasting room.  The brewery is  in a historic downtown Titusville building that was once an old hardware store built in 1910.  The shelving on the wall was part of that original hardware store and looks right at home behind the new bar.

    Locals from Florida's space coast know that Playalinda  is a famous nude beach.  But the owners were quick to point out that there are several "regular" beaches in Playlalinda with only the last one having a reputation for being clothing optional.   Also, despite their new Bottomless Blonde logo that their brewery was not named after that "clothing optional" beach.

    It was nice to see 14 Playalinda beers on tap in the tasting room as there's nothing worse than checking out a new brewery when half of the taps are occupied by guests.   Spearheading that diverse list of brews are Playalinda's two flagship beers which are the Bottomless Blonde and the Rocketman Red.  Both are very refreshing, quaffable beers that could very easily be consumed in mass quantities while hanging out at the nearby beach.   

     There were also two crushable session pale ales on the taplist  that included an American Pale Mild.   It's only 3.5 % ABV but tastes much bigger than it sounds and really hits you in the face with a well balanced dose of hops.  Also, a Playalinda/ Cigar City collaboration beer dubbed Whirlpool that will be pouring at a few Central Florida beer bars in the very near future.  This beer tastes like hop soda and was brewed at the Cigar City Brewery.   There is a rumor that Raike was scolded by a CCB accountant for using more hops in this batch of beer than had ever been used to brew a single batch before at the world famous Tampa brewery!

    Each beer I sampled was really good so it was hard to pick a favorite.  I must suggest the Honey Belgian though which is brewed with locally sourced Honey along with the "gourdy" Chuggin Pumpkin.  Unlike most pumpkin ales, you can really taste the pumpkin in this beer which was made from over 75 pounds of roasted pie pumpkins!
     
    You can also take some beer home with you here as Playalinda sells Crowlers to go for $9 a piece.   It's recommended that you put them in a cooler with ice as it helps the beers to hold their carbonation better.  The Crowlers are said to be "good" for three or four weeks if they are kept cold as long as you can hold off from drinking them that long!  Playalinda Brewing is set to open its doors to the public for the first time on Friday November 14th.

    On December 6th, Rosen Plaza is hosting their WinterFest Beer Garden event whereby attendees can sample craft and seasonal beers and international cuisine. Guests will get to sample beers on tap (including seasonal brews from 10 vendors), sample beer in a complimentary commemorative Rosen WinterFest mug, delight in international food concessions, and much more!