The Magnolia Hosts New Belgium Supper Club

Monday, April 14th, The Magnolia is holding a New Belgium Brewery Supper Club: a five course dinner with beer pairings. The menu for the event looks incredible:

• Amuse - Paired with Fat Tire Amber Ale
• Gulf Shrimp, Fennel & Orange Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette - Paired with Snapshot Wheat
• Pastrami & Stone Ground Mustard Tartine on Rye Toast, Poached Egg - Paired with Shift Lager
• Sous Vide & Grilled Rosemary Pork Loin over Sweet Potato & Apple Puress, Salt & Pepper Bruised Arugula - Paired with Ranger IPA
• Caramelized Banana Creme Brûlée - Paired with Trippel Belgian Style Ale

The Magnolia is a recent addition to the Pensacola restaurant scene opened by locals Bill Manning & Kiley Bolster. Offering a cozy setting, delicious 'comfort food with an International twist', as well as a variety of craft beer and wine, we're big fans of The Magnolia.

Tickets are $65 per person and includes meal, beer pairings, and New Belgium pint glass. The Magnolia can accommodate any dietary restrictions for their supper clubs if contacted before the event.

Event Summary
Event: New Belgium Supper Club
Location: The Magnolia
When: Monday, April 14th 5:30 pm
Tickets: $65 - Call 850.912.6196 / Email themagnoliaeph[at]gmail.com

Local Breweries Bring Home 6 medals at Best Florida Beer Championship

Three local breweries returned from the recent Best Florida Beer Championship in Tampa with medals.

Pensacola Bay Brewery's Blackbeard Stout, a beer we've long been a fan of, took Gold in the Stout category, while also taking Gold in the Fruit Beer category with the Desoto Berliner Weisse Ale Brewed with Rasberries.

Photo Credit: Florida Best Beer

Long time Pensacola favorite Mcguires Irish Pub brought home three medals. McGuires Millennium took gold in the Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale category, while McGuires Coffee Porter and Devils Soul took bronze medals in the Coffee Beer and American-Style Imperial Stout categories respectively.

Photo Credit: Florida Best Beer

Lastly, Grayton Beer took Silver in the Belgian-Style Witbier category with White Dunes.

Congrats to all three breweries on their success.

Review: Forgotten Coast Belgian Tripel-style Ale by GrassLands Brewery

Pensacola Beer first covered GrassLands Brewing Company way back in 2012 when we reviewed their Le Roi Rouge Imperial Red. Since then we've gotten the opportunity to try Le Roi Rouge Imperial Red (take 2), Black Rose Immortal Imperial Stout, King Oliver’s Hard Cider, and Big Cypress IPA.

Today we have the chance to review the 2nd test batch of one of GrassLands' eventual seasonals:

Forgotten Coast Belgian Tripel-style Ale

Here's what Owner Gabe Grass is going for:

"A higher gravity, flavorful and medium-bodied traditional Belgian Tripel. Lots of Spice/phenolic aromas & flavors while still maintaining a level of residual sweetness."

This batch was brewed in June 2013 and bottled in July 2013. And here's where we apologize for taking so long to to review Forgotten Coast. Beer can have a short shelf life, and we need to take that into consideration. That's completely on us.

With that said, on to the review!

Forgotten Coast Belgian Tripel-style Ale by GrassLands Brewery

Appearance: Pours a beautiful, golden honey. Light carbonation and slightly cloudy, the head is small and dissipates quickly.
4.0

Smell: Plentiful spice up front with fruit on the back end. Almost as if smelling an apple pie. Makes you want to drink it.
4.0

Taste: Similar to the smell, spicy and balanced, but the fruit takes front stage. Once again we're reminded of apple pie, which isn't a bad thing.
4.0

Mouth Feel: Creamy, nice lingering finish.
4.0

Overall: A wonderfully balanced beer with a nice mixture of fruit and spices. Wish we had another one.
4.0

Final Score: 4.0

Comments: Imagine what the score might have been if we had reviewed it in a timely manner? Sorry again, Gabe.

Owner Gabe Grass has been open and honest every step of the way in following his dream of opening his own brewery. And you can follow along by visiting GrassLand's website, Twitter account, or Facebook page. But make it quick, because GrassLands Brewing Company will be opening in 2014! They've even got an address:

This has been a long, long, lonnnnnnnng time coming – and we couldn’t be more excited! As of Friday evening last week, President Gabe, Vice President Scott and General Manager Saralyn all sat down with building owner Dean Minardi and put pen to paper to make GrassLands the first official tenant at 603 West Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304!

Fantastic news. We look forward to the day we can sit down with Gabe at GrassLands Brewing Company and enjoy his brews.

Grand Opening of Grayton Beer

For those familiar with local craft beer scene in Northwest Florida, you know Grayton Beer Company out of Santa Rosa Beach is by no means new to the area. You have been able to find Grayton beers in Pensacola area stores since 2011, and I actually had my first Grayton beer at the 2012 Emerald Coast Beer Festival.

What you may not know though, is that Grayton started implementing major upgrades early last year, the largest being the construction of a new brewery, which took almost 11 months to complete. Shortly after construction was completed, Grayton started receiving delivery of their new state-of-the-art brewing equipment including nine stainless steel fermentation tanks. Each tank holds as much as 22,000 pints of beer each and, together, give Grayton enough capacity to brew the equivalent of 150,000 bottles of beer at a time.

Grayton Beer Company crews worked around the clock to take delivery of nine fermenting tanks at South Walton's first brewery.

Grayton Beer Company new brewery includes nine stainless steel fermentation tanks.

Founder and President of Grayton Beer Company, Jamey Price, in front of new tanks.

Grayton has wasted no time putting this new brewery to work as it has been brewing and packaging non-stop to launch its new five beer lineup: A mix of Grayton originals along with entirely new offerings, all of which received new, locally inspired, packaging designs.

• Original (Grayton's Flagship beer) - American-style Kölsch

• 1890's Founder's Ale - Amber Ale

• White Dunes - Belgian Witbier

• Pale Ale

• 30A Beach Blonde Ale

All of these local craft brews from Grayton will be available in bottle and draft in restaurants and bars from Pensacola to Apalachicola.

Anyone interested in helping celebrate Grayton's new brewery and beers, you're invited to attend the Grayton Beer Grand Opening this Saturday, March 8th from 1 to 5 pm. Admission is free.

Grand Opening Official Flyer

Event Summary
Event: Grayton Beer Grand Opening
Location: Grayton Beer Brewery: 217 Serenoa Rd, Santa Rosa Beach
When: Saturday, March 8th 1-5 pm
Cost: Free