The first full week of November is the best week of the year. It's Jacksonville Beer Week! Starting Nov. 3 through Nov. 10, local breweries and beer bars will be celebrating our local brews. There will be events daily at multiple locations and events will be added during the week, so I suggest checking out of social media platforms to get last minute additions, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The official kick off of Beer Week on Saturday Nov. 3 is Springfield's Porch Fest. Centered around Klutho Park in Springfield, various bands will set up on porches of homes in Springfield. There will be a beer garden in Klutho park and a satellite beer tent at W. 4th and Silver streets. Click on the event to see details and get your map.
Sunday, Nov. 4, there are a couple of local beer celebrations of note. First off starting at 1 p.m., V Pizza Mandarin and it's affiliated bar Tap Garden are hosting a V for Victory Home Brewing Competition and fundraiser. $10 donation buys you unlimited samples from more than 20 home brewers plus Dog Rose Brewing, Tabula Rasa Brewing, Hyperion Brewing and soon to open, Legacy Ale Works and Fishweir Brewing. Veterans United Brewing beers will be on special as well.
Sunday at 2 p.m. Aardwolf Brewing is releasing this year's Barrel Aged White Russian bottles. Always a good party for a bottle release. Rum Barrel and Rye Whiskey variants will be $15 each and a special bottle called CCCP White Russian is a coffee and coconut cream pie blend of both the Rum and Rye variants. Yum!
All week long, Atlantic Beach Brewing Company is tapping a special release beer every day. The selections range from NE Hazy IPA's to Fruited Berliners to White Chocolate Stout.
On Tuesday Nov. 6, (don't forget to vote!) Alewife Craft Beer Bottle Shop and Tasting Room holds it's next Beer School. These are highly informative and tasty events. The November school is on Off Flavor Training. Have you ever wondered if you just hate that beer or if it has gone bad? This is the class for you. It starts at 6:30 p.m. and costs $35.
At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Southern Swells weekly Craft Beer Bingo will feature Southern Swells and Jax Beer Week! Swells' Brewers Corey and Jay will be pulling the numbers and giving away great Jax Beer Week swag and Southern Swells swag. Buy a SSwells beer and get a card.
Wednesday November 7, Alewife hosts another Jax Beer Week event, Cellar Beer Tasting. The Gals will be picking several of their special cellared bottles to share, discuss what criteria to use when cellaring a beer and there will be nibbles from the Bread and the Board. Tickets are limited and are $35 dollars.
On Thursday Nov. 8, our very newest brewery, Reve Brewing jumps feet first into JBW with special can releases. At 2 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, they will release 50 750ml cans, a different variant each day. Thursday its an Imperial Stout with coffee, chocolate and vanilla. Friday, they release a double vanilla pastry sour with marshmallow, guava and passion fruit and finally on Saturday an Imperial stout with chocolate, coconut and vanilla.
At 6 p.m. at Hyperion Brewing, there will be a Cupcake and Beer pairing. Chef Sarah of Hottie Dawgs has created 4 cupcakes to pair with 4 Hyperion brews. Tickets are $25. They will be serving until 8 p.m., so feel free to stop by during this time to try the pairing.
Friday Night is a big one. First starting at 6 p.m. Keg & Coin will be hosting a Jax Beer Week Duval's finest tap takeover. On tap will be Aardwolf, Intuition and a special Engine 15 collaboration beer.
The Annual Brew at the Zoo falls on Friday night as well. The event has sold out, but check with the Zoo, there are tickets that may come available at the last minute.
Saturday ends Jax Beer Week with a bang. From First Birthdays to Beer Fests, there is a lot to celebrate Jax Beer!
At 11 a.m., Wicked Barley Brewing hosts a Fall Fish Fry and the release of Big Red Monkey, Imperial Red IPA. There will be fish to eat, music to listen to hear and cans to take home. As are most of WB's events, its family friendly and rain or shine!
At Noon, we wish a very Happy Birthday to Main & Six Brewing. Main & Six hit the ground running last year, opening their doors and participating in Brew at the Zoo in the same week! The Birthday Party, will include some special releases, return of some favorites and their first ever bottle release of WMD, with 2 variants.
The fourth annual Florida Brewer's Guild Barrel-Aged, Sour & Cider Fest kicks off at 2 p.m. at Intuition Ale Works. More than 30 of Jacksonville's and Florida's finest breweries will be offering samples of some very special ales. Tickets range from $25 to $50-VIP.
There is so much more, these are just some of the highlights, make sure to watch our social media pages for daily updates.
Cheers to Jax Beer, y'all!
