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Community Corner

Central Tampa Beer Lovers Unite!

Local craft beers will be celebrated next week.

If your idea of a good beer is Busch Light, you'll have an opportunity to expand your horizons this week. If you're already a connoisseur of hoppy ales and smooth porters, it's time to order a cold one and enjoy. Monday begins American Craft Beer Week, and Tampa taprooms and breweries will be in full swing.

American Craft Beer Week is a nation-wide event promoting small breweries. For these human-scale operations, brewing beer is less of a business and more of an art.

“America's craft brewers are artisans,” according to Tim Myers, of Strange Brewing. Rather than working in other media, “they're working in beer.” American Craft Beer Week has been held each spring for six years, and this year there will be celebrations in all fifty states.

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is your local craft beer headquarters.

“We are having an event every night of the week,” said Veronica Vellines, owner of the popular Seminole Heights pub.

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In celebration of American Craft Beer Week, The Independent will host nightly events starting Sunday. Details are available on the pub's website, but be sure to stop in on Tuesday. The pub will feature local brews from around the Tampa Bay Area, including Cigar City Brewing, Dunedin Brewery, St. Somewhere Brewery and Swamp Head Brewery. There will be a raffle drawing at 10 p.m.

What better way to mark your celebration of craft beers than to take a tour of Tampa's newest brewery, located in Seminole Heights? Patch contributor gave readers an at the magic that happens at . The microbrewery sold their first batch of beer in December of last year and they have taken off fast.

For those who are used to mass-produced lagers, co-owner Bruce Talcott has a plan, beginning with a brew named for a Central Tampa thoroughfare.

“We start 'em off with the Florida Avenue Ale,” he said. It's a milder brew. Next, try the Blueberry Ale. “It's not sweet, not syrupy,” said Talcott. “It tastes like beer.” When you're ready for a hoppier ale, Talcott will move you up to the India Pale Ale.

Cold Storage is hosting a beer tasting on Thursday at 7 p.m., where you can try each of their creations. The event is co-hosted by Tampa Bay Uncorked, a wine-tasting club that's branching out into beer.

On Saturday, May 21, Cold Storage Brewery is open for tours.

Maybe this week's festivities will inspire you to make your own home-brew. If so, Southern Brewing is the place for you. The store on Busch Boulevard provides home brewers and wine makers with all the supplies they'll need to get started.

Is this week still not beer-tastic enough for you? You might want to venture outside the neighborhood.

First, head over to Cigar City Brewing. The brewery on Spruce Street is sponsoring a Craft Beer Scavenger Hunt starting Monday. They'll also be hosting a Beer Movie Night on Wednesday, May 18.

On Tuesday night, you'll also find a beer-friendly crowd at Pepin Distributing on 50th Street. For a $20 ticket, you can sample 100 craft beers, enjoy live entertainment, and check out a home brewing demo. Cigar City and Cold Storage brews will be featured.

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