If you stopped by Swamp Head Brewery's The Wetlands tasting room on Wednesday, you were in for a treat. The brewery hosted a limited-release party in collaboration with Tampa's Cigar City Brewing for its special edition barley wine ale.
Didn't make it by? There might still be a few bottles lingering around, but the anticipated brew was quick to fly off the shelves.
Andy Bielecki, the Wetlands tasting room manager, said the two Florida breweries decided on the collaboration in November. They designated barley wine as the focus for its big flavor and high alcohol content — the perfect combination for cold-weather drinking.
For the release, Swamp Head brewed up a hoppy, American-style barley wine with a nutty hint of pecans. The result was the Roosevelt American, a dark, golden-hued, 11.75 percent alochol by volume glass of Southern goodness, with just the right amount of pecan flavoring to not overwhelm the other flavors.
Cigar City chose to represent English barley wine with its Church on a Hill creation, a true-to-style brew that was very malt-centric with a nice sweetness to help round it out. The mahogany-colored beer also delivered a wallop of alcohol at 13 percent abv, but the flavors masked it perfectly.
Tracey Chace, winner of the Facebook contest to name the beers, was also at the event. When Swamp Head sent out the call for name ideas, she immediately thought of two iconic figures that represented the two countries — Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
"Both of them did a lot for their countries, and both were known to like a good drink," Chace said. "I thought the names fit really well."
Chace won a bottle of each brewery's barley wine for her contribution to the project. "Swamp Head is my favorite," she said. "I really don't drink anything else."
Beers N Beans Chili Cook-Off
Also on the calendar for this week is the inaugural Beers N Beans Chili Cook-Off, a chili competition where competitors must use one of the brewery's beers in their recipe.
So far the list includes entries like Wild White Chicken Chili, the Jack Daniels-laced BlackJack Stumpknocker Chili and the spicy Big Nose Throwdown Chili.
The event starts Saturday at noon and won't end until 6 p.m., giving you plenty of time to swing by to taste some specially brewed beer, listen to music, play some corn hole and have a great time with friends.
Entrance is free, but fork over $5 and you can taste all 20 chili entries and submit your vote for the best one.
In addition to the brewery's five year-round beers, there will be firkins of Chipotle Stump Knocker, Mango Big Nose Dry Hopped with Calypso and possibly an oak-aged brew. Also look for Bogs of Islay scotch ale, Chipotle Smoke Signal, the imperial red Sciaenhops, Hoggetowne Irish Red and Catherine's Inspiration.
For more information, check out swamphead.com.
Will you be stopping by Swamp Head this weekend? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @Beer_4Breakfast.
Posts in Beer for Breakfast appear on Fridays.
Swamp Head Brewery, along with Tampa's Cigar City Brewing, released two barely wine ales Wednesday: Church on a Hill (left) and Roosevelt.
