The St. Augustine Alligator Farm recently held a craft beer fundraiser, similar to the Jacksonville Zoo's Brew at the Zoo. It has been years since I went to the Alligator Farm and Ed had never been, so this seemed like a perfect excuse to go.
It was a muggy night, but thankfully there was a pleasant sea breeze. First the check in was a breeze, granted it wasn't drawing thousands, but still, we got our wristbands and sample glasses in about 2 minutes! There were tons of volunteers assisting throughout the venue, which truly made it pleasurable.
I think the coolest part was exploring the exhibits, everything was open. Many folks were grabbing a beer and then wandering around looking at alligators or snakes. The Monitor Lizard enclosure was right behind a couple of booths and the lizard was active and engaging!
There were not a huge amount of beer stalls, staying mostly local. But that didn't bother me, it was nice to have a chance to talk with the brewers about their beer. No waiting at any booth. There was music in a central amphitheater, a great place to grab some food and a beer and chill, but if you wanted to talk it did not overwhelm conversation. I liked that.
The people were fun too, We were constantly talking with someone, picking up conversations when we met up with them again. "Did you try XXX yet? No, heading there now!" And it was in one of those casual conversations, that we met Andrea Conover, the owner of Azalea City Brewing Company.
Azalea City Brewing is only in the early planning stages, having just started renovating the Old Coca-Cola plant in downtown Palatka. She was there checking out festival setups and talking with brewers about the process.
Our conversation was more directed towards beer styles. What we liked and what we didn't. She is not a brewer, she has teamed up with former Ancient City Brewing Brewer Eli Miranda. Needless to say we know the quality of a brewer he is!
The building is expected to have space for a restaurant downstairs, an event space with a stage upstairs and the brewery and tap room in the adjacent warehouse. Andrea hopes to be open by Summer of 2019.
If you are interested in more about Azalea City Brewing, they will be serving samples this Saturday, October 13 at the inaugural Palatka Craft Beer Festival.
The Festival is hosted by Revitalize Historic Palatka and the Palatka Young Professionals and at this writing over 40 state and national breweries are participating in the event. There will be live music and food trucks. They ask that the puppies stay at home.
Tickets for the event are only $35 for unlimited sampling from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. and are sold on Eventbrite. The event will be on the grounds of the Putnam County Courthouse, in historic Downtown Palatka.
