If there is one sector able to challenge the Tampa Bay area’s booming real estate market for overall growth the past few years, it might be the craft brewing scene.
Highlighted by openings and expansions, the industry has faced the COVID-19 pandemic head-on. Celebrating the creativity and consistency of these small businesses is Tampa Bay Beer Week, a nonprofit organization now in its 10th year promoting the region’s brewers and breweries—and beer itself on a larger scale.
“The organization is about the culture, not only about local beer,” says Chris Fairchild, TBBW’s executive director. “That being said, we are really grateful for the community we have here.”
The 2022 Tampa Bay Beer Week takes place March 5–13. It was originally envisioned as something of a return to normal, but the evolving coronavirus variants caused Tampa’s Cigar City Brewing to once again cancel its Hanahpu’s Day festival and instead release the much-sought imperial stout through an online lottery.
However, even without its anchor event, Tampa Bay Beer Week pressed forward with other planned festivals including the Florida Brewers Guild Craft Beer Festival at Perry Harvey Sr. Park in Tampa. Brewery-hosted events included Arkane in the Membrane at Largo’s Arkane Aleworks, Foeder for Thought at Green Bench Brewing in St. Petersburg, and B.A. Day—celebrating barrel-aged beers—hosted by Cycle Brewing at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club. The schedule is at tampabaybeerweek.com.
“In 2020, we kind of shut down midway through. And last year’s ‘Week’ wasn’t even a week,” says Fairchild. “Everything felt like it started moving at a faster pace this January. We usually have the details nailed down by November or December. We weren’t mentally prepared for go-time, and suddenly it was go-time.
“It’s still smaller scale than we’re used to, but it’s exciting to be back.”
