Tag Archives: craft beer

Veteran Tampa brewer Tim Ogden strikes out on his own with Deviant Libation

Photo by Chris Fasick

For craft beer lovers, the Tampa Bay scene is a paradise. We’ve lost count of the number of breweries that are now open within a five- or six-county radius, and several districts feature multiple tasting rooms within a short walk of one another — you can spend whole days in Dunedin or St. Pete’s Grand Central District or Tampa’s Heights neighborhoods drinking homegrown beer, and never drink the same beer twice. There are breweries that specialize in IPAs or sours, breweries that feature traditional European styles, breweries that are, heaven forbid, branching out into hard seltzers.

It’s an insanely good time to be a craft beer fan around these parts.

Being a craft beer producer, on the other hand, is a more complex proposition.

Yes, the local brewing community is an amazingly intermingled and cooperative one. Yes, the phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats” is one that exists. But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. More breweries inevitably mean more competition and, like it or not, craft brewing is big business in Tampa Bay these days, not only because of deep local pockets but also because of outside investment. As with restaurants, we’ve already seen some smaller, less well-funded concerns close or scale back further, adopting or reverting to a model that doesn’t compete with other breweries with the capital to try to take things to another level.

Exciting? Sure. Daunting for brewers who’d like to make their own mark by striking while the iron is hot? Undoubtedly.

It’s gotta take some serious nerve to step out on one’s own — but more importantly, it’s gotta take confidence, determination and, above all, passion.

“I did cross country and track and field in high school,” says 42-year-old Tim Ogden. “And I want to do better than I’ve done before every time I go out there.”

Sitting on the floor in the gutted building on North Nebraska Avenue in Tampa that once housed a church and will be the home of his own brewery, Deviant Libation, Odgen is more than aware of the area’s big fish — after all, he’s worked for more than one of them over the years. But it was a love of beer that got him this far, and he’s sure that love, along with the skills he’s learned over nearly a decade and a half in the business, will show his decision to strike out on his own to be the right one.

Read the rest at Creative Loafing Tampa Bay…

Creative Loafing‘s Beer Issue 2017: My contributions

Back on February 23, CL published our annual Beer Issue, which always comes out a week or two before Tampa Bay Beer Week (even though it seems like these days, every week is Tampa Bay Beer Week). I usually take point on the special issue content, with a whole lot of help from staffers and contributors, and this year was no exception. Somehow, as a result of a visit to Ybor City’s excellent Coppertail Brewing to accompany our Artistic Director Julio Ramos on a photo shoot, I ended up on the cover this year, as well.

Here’s what I wrote in addition to the special section’s intro, which is linked above:

Heat and brewmidity (about upcoming seasonal trends for summer)

Road soda (about out-of-the-way area breweries/tasting rooms)

Coppertail releases beer that yes, seriously, has stone crab in it

Offering further evidence that there’s nothing craft brewers won’t incorporate into a beer, Tampa’s own Coppertail Brewing marked Friday the 13th with the release of its Captain Jack’s Stone Crab Stout, an “unconventionally flavored” brew that pays tribute to both Florida’s annual stone crab harvesting season and the anglers that brave the slightly colder winter waves in search of those delicious crustacean claws.

And yeah, Captain Jack’s is literally made with stone crabs. For the past couple of years, Coppertail has hosted a mid-season stone crab dinner at its insanely cool Ybor City tasting room/event space. The crab claws come directly from that morning’s catch in Key West; some are eaten, some go home with staffers, friends and family, and 300 pounds go into the beer during the boil, adding “a savory salinity to this rich and roasty stout, kind of like adding salt to chocolate,” according to the label (and press release). This is the third year the stout has made a mid-winter appearance among Coppertail’s consistently tasty lineup.

Coppertail’s not the first brewery to act so shellfishly (sorry). Brewers have been adding flavors of the sea to their beers since time out of mind. But since Coppertail brewmaster Casey Hughes got his start brewing down in the Keys, this one’s a bit of a passion project for him, as well as a nod to his beermaking roots. What’s more, a portion of sales proceeds will be donated to the Florida Keys Commercial Fisherman’s Association “to promote sustainable fishing, and to help preserve the way of life of Florida fishermen.”

Admit it: You’re curious. Better hurry, then, because Captain Jack’s is only available in limited qualities — some will be distributed, but stopping by the tasting room is probably your best bet.

Meet the brewers: Eric Richardson of R Bar/Cage Brewing

Photo by Meaghan Habuda for Creative Loafing.

Photo by Meaghan Habuda for Creative Loafing.

Eric Richardson fell into his job brewing beer for Treasure Island’s R Bar by being in the right place at the right time — and technically doing the wrong thing. While working as a cook at the eatery and bar, a broken burner ring at home facilitated the homebrewer bringing his batches into the restaurant’s kitchen while he was on the clock.

“Really, I was slacking off brewing when I was supposed to be working,” he says.

R Bar owner Robert Hughes became intrigued by what Richardson was doing. He asked for a taste, and in 2013 put three of Richardson’s beers on tap for his patrons. R Bar now features six in-house varieties from the brewer’s 20-gallon system (upgraded from 10 gallons), ranging from the ubiquitous IPA and pale ale to a red IPA, cream ale, porter and brown ale.

Read the rest at Creative Loafing…

Meet the Brewers: Chris Johnson of Six Ten Brewing, Tampa

Photo by Meaghan Habuda for Creative Loafing Tampa.

Photo by Meaghan Habuda for Creative Loafing Tampa.

Yup, I continue to meet the people behind Tampa Bay craft beer, and tell other people about it. I’m a couple behind, this one’s several weeks old, but I really enjoyed speaking to Chris Johnson and his wife Leslie—they’re both extremely nice, and passionate and knowledgeable about beer.

Read the feature here. All of the “Meet the Brewers” profiles are here.