Drink Tampa Bay is an ongoing series chronicling locally made beer and wine.

This week we tried the Fragmented Porter and the Black Veil IPA brewed by Southern Brewing & Winemaking.

Black Veil IPA – 8.2%

Rusty: Smells like beer… slightly.. almost like it’s fruity? I can’t tell. And it tastes like… it tastes like bitter. It tastes like dog. It tastes like a dog. I thought it smelled a little fruity… but I think it’s a floral nose.

Roy: It does, actually. Not like a sweet flower… I dunno.

Rusty: It doesn’t taste like it smells, though. That’s the real trick.

Roy: Not too bitter. Some nice hops to it. Not as bitter as most IPAs. It’s not bad.

Rusty: It plays in the back of my mouth. Like a couple school children, prancing around. Playing tag. It’s not bad. Sour. There’s something a little sweet to the scent. It’s definitely a sweet scent.

Fragmented Porter – 6.3%

Roy: Nice uh… coffee. That’s the thing about Porters – you could say the same thing about all of them. That’s smooth. Chocolate coffee.

Rusty: That’s really good. It tastes like a chocolate coffee.

Roy: Like you got yourself a Dunkaccino.

Rusty: Mmm. That’s really drinkable. That’s super smooth. That’s really good. It’s in no way offensive. I think a non-beer drinker could drink that. Just havin’ a drink. In the after taste you do get that kind of a cocoa bean…

Roy: Roasted cocoa beans.

Rusty: Roasted.

---

Rusty: You can’t compare the two. Obviously. Like one you drink and you’re like, “I’m having a pleasant day.” And the other you drink and you’re like, “WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME??”

Roy: “Jesus Christ what have I done to deserve this?” You look at the IPA – it’s got some legs. Obviously the Porter’s a lot thicker. Drinkability between the two, it’s obviously going to be the smoother Porter rather than the IPA.

Rusty: They’re both drinkable. I could drink the Fragmented Porter casually, all day every day, even though you’d probably die. They’re both very good. They’re well made beers. If I were going to choose one to drink, I would go with the Porter. I would get that again, definitely. This [the IPA], if I were in the mood for it – I’m not offended by it or anything – I’d probably try another IPA. It doesn’t do anything special for me. But the Porter is really solid, I think. Really smooth.

Roy: A nice caramel head color. I like those caramel heads.

Rusty: Very floofy. Floofy head.

Roy: Floofy – that’s a technical term.

The Black Veil IPA is available for a limited time, and the Fragmented Porter is a “core beer,” and should be in regular availability.

Listen to the full discussion here:

 

Southern Brewing & Winemaking is located at 4500 N Nebraska Avenue in Seminole Heights.
Open Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 11am-7pm, and Thursday-Saturday 11am-11pm. Closed Mondays.