Independent craft breweries in Florida are being threatened by retail and distributor groups, which could result in the end of beers like the ones you’re about to read about.

Check out the Save Florida’s Craft Breweries! Indiegogo page, read about the issues, and help save Florida’s craft breweries!

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

This week, to celebrate Tampa Bay Beer Week, we went to Mr. Dunderbak’s in New Tampa and got absolutely destroyed on the Cigar City Tampa Bay Beer Week Double IPA beer brewed by Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, the Motorworks Kolsch from Motorworks Brewing in Brandenton, and the X-Ray Shoes, a Green Bench Brewing Company and Barley Mow Brewing Company in St. Pete and Largo, respectively.

For more info on Tampa Bay Beer Week, check out their event calendar, where you’ll find some especially interesting events going on this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday all across the Tampa Bay area, including a specialty tapping at 3 Daughters Brewing, a showing of Strange Brew and other films at HiFi Homebrew and BBQ, and, of course, a beer breakfast buffet at New World Brewery.

X-Ray Shoes Belgian Pale Ale – 5.2%

Margeaux: It’s a honey color.

Rusty: Ooh yeah it does look like honey, doesn’t it? I bet it tastes like honey! LET’S STICK THAT IN OUR NOSE.

Margeaux: (Sniffy) Smells delightful. It smells sweet and flowery.

Rusty: (Smells) It does kind of smell sweet… I almost want to say it smells like honey, because it looks like honey. But honey is both sweet and flowery.

Roy: Maybe a wildflower honey? (Drinks) It’s a nice pale ale. When it’s still in your mouth, it seems like it’s going to be pretty bitter, then you swallow it-

Rusty: (Drinking) It finishes super smooth. That’s pretty good! It’s all going on when it’s in your mouth.

Roy: (Reading from beer menu) “Aged on passion fruit and m.”

Margeaux: We don’t know what “m” stands for… we’re assuming meat.

Rusty: So the finish makes it super drinkable, but while you’re drinking  it, you still have enough going on… someone who does not care for beers can drink this, and still feel like they’re doing something, because it’s got a full flavor when it’s in the mouth.

Margeaux: Yeah, I could drink this whole thing and not once throw up in my own mouth.

Roy: That’s good. You don’t want that to happen.

Rusty: It’s got a sweetness when it’s in your mouth. That’s actually pretty good. Very drinkable.

Roy: Infused with mango and passion fruit… aged on mango and passion fruit herbal tea.

Rusty and Margeaux: Oooooohhhhhhhhhhh….

Roy: What, do you toss it in a barrel full of-

Rusty: Tea bags?

Roy: I don’t know how it works.

Tampa Bay Beer Week Double IPA – 9.9%

Roy: A little cloudier… I don’t know if that’s unfiltered or not. It’s got a nice, fluffy head still on it.

Margeaux: A sunset orange.

Rusty: (Smells) Hoopy. It smells a little hoopy there.

Margeaux: (Sniffs) That smells good. That smells like fruit. Citrusy.

Rusty: It does have a hint of citrus. (Drinks) …this is a pungent little beast.

Roy: (Drinking) That is a strong…

Rusty: It has a strong flavor, but it doesn’t stick around. It doesn’t coat your mouth or anything.

Margeaux: (Sips) Ugghghhhh…

Roy: …She just threw up.

Margeaux: I liked the first two seconds of my sip, and the rest of it I hated.

Rusty: What about now though?

Margeaux: No. The afterbirth is terrible. Very bitter. That’s lingering.

Roy: That’s a double IPA.

Rusty: It’s good, it’s got a fair amount of flavor to it. I think “pungent” is the right word.

Roy: You’ve had an IPA before… double that IPA.

Rusty: I like the flavor though. It doesn’t haunt you.

Margeaux: I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty haunted right now.

Roy: It’s good. I don’t think I would do too much more than the one.

Rusty: I could see going for this. It feels good. It feels right.

Motorworks Kolsch – 4.8%

Roy: More of a yellow…

Rusty: A yeller. A pee-pee yellow.

Margeaux: You guys suck at colors. That’s like a nice goldenrod.

Roy: (Sniffs) There’s no scent.

Rusty: (Smells) …I don’t think I can identify anything in there.

Margeaux: (Snorts) I can’t smell anything.

Rusty: There’s nothing to smell here. Everybody go home.

Roy: (Drinks) Very quick, almost a little smokiness, real quick.

Rusty: (Sips) It’s almost like a soda, or a cider, except it’s not sweet.

Margeaux: (Drinks) It’s really light, and it seems more carbonated than the other ones. It’s a good summery type.

Rusty: You could probably drink a lot of this beer.

Roy: A nice, light beer. I like it.

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Roy: So which one…

Rusty: Of the three…

Margeaux: Let’s rank them.

Roy: Flavor: One is the Double IPA, two is the X-Ray, three is the Kolsch. But like all the time, every time I could pick it up: I would go Kolsch, Pale Ale, IPA.

Rusty: That’s true. I agree with that. The Kolsch is super drinkable.

Roy: You could go to your fridge, grab one…

Rusty: You could grab several, and just work your way through it. You’re gonna have a good time. The IPA is really flavorful. You’re gonna enjoy drinking it if you’re into that sort of thing, if not, you’re gonna have a baaaaaad time.

Margeaux: It’ll be at the bottom of your list.

Rusty: The IPA and the Kolsch are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Roy: That sets them apart. Whereas the pale ale has a lot of the flavor and drinkability. The Kolsch has a lot of drinkability, it doesn’t taste like shit. The double IPA has a lot of flavor…

Rusty: Tastes like a shoe, which sometimes you want. They’re all very different beers, as is often the case. They each have their own purpose.

Roy: I don’t think they disappoint.

The Cigar City Tampa Bay Beer Week Double IPA, the Motorworks Kolsch, and the Green Bench and Barley Mow collaboration X-Ray Shoes Belgian Pale Ale can all currently be found at Mr. Dunderbak’s.

Listen to the full discussion here:

 

Mr. Dunderbak’s is located at 14929 Bruce B Downs Boulevard in New Tampa.
Open Monday 4pm-11pm, Tuesday through Thursday 11:30am-11:30pm, Friday and Saturday 11:30am-12:30am, and Sunday 12pm-10pm.