Blog Introduction / A look at the Past

Welcome to our new Blog. We will use this space to tell our story as we move forward & grow as a creative microbrewery in Florida. If you ever wanted to know the story behind a beer, event, or anything else we do... We hope to provide it here in our Blog.

For now, we will re-cap our past blog posts for history's sake. From there, we move onward!

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I.P.A. Chronicle 3: ABC

9/10/2011
The I.P.A. Chronicle is our exploration of hop-forward beer. Whenever we can fit it, we brew a new batch of progressively hoppy beer. The first batch was a Black Rye IPA. Our second volume was called Southwest Pacific, brewed using New Zealand-grown hops.

I.P.A. Chronicle 3 was the result of a homebrew competition that was held in conjunction with our annual I.P.A. Festival in June. The Best of Show winner would brew their beer with us as our Great American Beer Fest PRO-AM entry, as well as be released as the next I.P.A. in our series. The winning homebrewer was Bob Bridges, member of the PUB Guild.

I.P.A. Chronicle 3: ABC is named for the 6 varietals of American hops used in the recipe: Apollo, Amarillo, Bravo, Columbus, Citra, Chinook. The combination of hops results in a citrusy, piney, grassy spectrum like a rollercoaster in Hop Valley.

Bob's recipe introduced a new malt to Dunedin Brewery, melanoidan, which is what gives I.P.A. Chronicle 3: ABC it's ruby red hue as well as sugar-cookie malt body. We have already added melanoidan malt to this year's Oktoberfest Lager & have plans to use it in this year's pumpkin beer, the Big Bam Boo.

I.P.A. Chronicle was released in August 2011.

I.P.A. Chronicle 3: ABC has been explored in the following variations:
• Standard Draft
• Cask-Conditioned
• Cask-Conditioned, Summit Dry-Hopped
• Cherry Sauvin ABC IPA
• ABC IPA Simcoe Dry-Hopped
 
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Auld Alliance: Collaboration & Agreement

9/12/2011

Across the Bay from Dunedin Brewery is Cigar City Brewing, started by Joey Redner with brewer Wayne Wambles. In just the past 3 years, Cigar City Brewing has done great work by gaining national attention for beer made in Florida. A couple months ago, we started talking with Wayne & Joey about a collaboration between the two breweries that would both reflect our history & honor our future. The result was Auld Alliance, a Biere de Scotch Ale symbolizing our commitment to the Florida beer community as a whole.

Text from the Bottle Label:

“Dunedin Brewery is Florida’s oldest Craft Brewery. Cigar City Brewing is one of the youngest. In fact CCB’s founder got his start in the craft beer business as a sales rep for Dunedin brewery.

Started in 1996, in the Scottish Heritage town of Dunedin, FL, Founder Michael Bryant & his staff at Dunedin Brewery displayed a tenacity that resulted in a staying power many breweries opened in the 90’s were unable to match. It also resulted in a lot of really good local beer! 15 years of it in fact. Over the years, Dunedin has had a major impact on the Florida beer scene and served as an inspiration for those that followed it. In its role as Elder Statesman, Dunedin has both inspired and provided a model & it is in that spirit of cooperation & guidance that we present Auld Alliance. 

Auld Alliance (Vielle Alliance) was the alliance of kingdoms between Scotland and France from 1295 and 1560 which profoundly shaped the legal, military, cultural & even culinary makeup of both countries. It also provides a good historical analogy for the spirit of cooperation possessed by so many who work to create hand-crafted beer.


Auld Alliance is a Scotch Ale reflecting the Scottish contribution to the Alliance fermented with a Saison yeast strain that's origin is traced back to France.”

Auld Alliance was brewed at Cigar City Brewing on August 11th, 2011.

Initial tasting notes:

"Pours a dark brown from the bottle, but held to the light you find ruby red. Aroma is earthy, French yeast dominating. The first sips raise a Scotch flag of dried dark fruit, including currants, blueberries, & red figs. Dry & sweet, the ale pulls back-and-forth between bitter & cloying. The finish is short, sweet, & carries a small dried citrus finish. As the beer warms, the dried dark fruits become more mature & pleasant."

Cracking open the first bottle of Auld Alliance at Dunedin Brewery

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Seasonal Brew: The Big Bam Boo

9/13/2011
Robust Pale Ale brewed with Pumpkin & Raw Florida Honey.

Ingredients:
Malts: Pale, Biscuit, Melanoidin, Victory
Hops: Centennial, Delta, Nelson Sauvin
Other Ingredients: Pumpkin & Raw Florida Honey

With so many other brewers releasing their pumpkin ales early this year (august?), we decided to take our Fall pumpkin ale a different direction. Our love for hops made it an easy choice--we would brew a pumpkin pale ale. While we pre-released the Big Bam Boo at OktoBEERfest 11, the official release is Thursday, October 20th.


The Big Bam Boo will be explored in the following ways:
• Standard Draft
• Cask-Conditioned on Delta hops (October 20th @7pm)
• Cask-Conditioned on Calypso hops (October 29th @ Funk-o-ween)
• Big Bam Boo with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds (October 29th @ Funk-o-ween)
• Nitro Pumpkin


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I.P.A. Chronicle 4: Nelson Sauvin

10/18/2011
Nelson Sauvin, a Single-Hop India Pale Ale. (7.5% abv)

Ingredients:
Malts: Pale, Bohemian Pilsner, Carapils, Munich, & Crystal
Hops: 100% Nelson Sauvin

All hail Nelson Sauvin. One sniff & taste of this New Zealand-grown hop and you'll agree. The official release of I.P.A. Chronicle 4: Nelson Sauvin is on Thursday, November 3rd 2011.

Checking the gravity before our initial taste.

A Cask of Nelson Sauvin will be cracked open on the same day.

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I.P.A. Chronicle 4: Nelson Sauvin will be explored in the following ways:
• Standard Draft
• Cask-Conditioned on Nelson Sauvin dry-hops

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Seasonal Brew: 200 Bottles of Blitzen

11/13/2011

The day after Thanksgiving, November 25th, otherwise known as Black Friday--We will be tapping the first keg of our holiday ale: Blitzen.

• Blitzen is a beer brewed with cinnamon, orange peel, & raw Florida honey. (7.5% abv)

On December 2nd, we will release 200 bottles of Blitzen.

The bottles are painted 32oz pop-top amber glass, with the top dipped in wax. Perfect for any holiday gathering with friends & family.

Price will be $15/bottle.


At 11am, we will tap the first keg of Blitzen, as well as a cask of Blitzen that has conditioned on Pacifica dry-hops.


Starting at 5pm, our brewers Norman & Trace will be bartending in the Nook, selling pints of Blitzen. They will be donating their tips to the Dunedin Doggie Rescue.


Live music starting at 9pm with Four Star Riot.

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Ingredients:
Malts: Pale, Carapils, Carahell, Munich, Melanoidin, Victory
Hops: Chinook & Pacifica
Other Ingredients: Cinnamon, Orange Peel, & Raw Florida Honey
ABV: 7.5%

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Here's to the future. *clink*