www.simonpure.org Simon Pure Newsletter President s Report: by Jeff Murbach Issue #5 www.bcca.com Oct/Nov. 2016 Earlier this year I went with the boys to the Frozen Four in Tampa, Florida. We went down for a little sun, hockey and to drink some craft beer. The event is always the first of April, and until recently has never conflicted with the Spring Thaw Show in Harrisburg, PA. I had to make the tough choice to go to Florida. My three buddies and I arrived on Wednesday night around the same time and met up at Cigar City, which is a short Uber ride from the Tampa Airport. Cigar City is probably one of my top 5 brew pubs in the country that I've been to. They have great beers and a nice bar area. They are located in an industrial area of Tampa and there are not many restaurants or pubs near them. It is a real destination for beer lovers. Another good feature is they always have food trucks parked outside of their brewery. We were staying in Ybor City which is a mile and a half Northeast of the downtown hockey arena. Ybor City is probably one of the craziest places I've ever stayed. The nightlife is quite unique and we thoroughly enjoyed the three nights we stayed there. As we left Cigar City and headed to our hotel, we noticed a fire in the distance. When we got to our hotel, the power was out in the area and there was a major fire three blocks from our hotel. We could not check in until the power came on. It was a good time to see the fire and get a beer at whatever establishment was open. We finally got into our hotel after 1 a.m. Friday there are no games so we had the entire day to do whatever we wanted. Friday morning we got up and decided to hit three or four of the brew pubs in the area. The first one we looked at was Ulele (pronounced You lay lee) which was about a mile walk from our hotel. We arrived five minutes before they opened. It was a beautiful morning so Ulele had all the doors and windows open. We sat at the bar as we knew we were a little early. The manager was just about to start his team meeting so he came over to us and asked us if we were going to eat. We told him we heard good things about his brew pub that we were just having a beer. He asked us if we d like to take a tour, he introduced us to the head brewmaster, Tim Shackton and said Tim would take care of us for the tour. He explained his philosophy on brewing and his desire to have a great lager house. There are not many lager micro pubs in the country. With Florida s warm weather, lagers are very much appreciated. He gave us five samples of their beers, and they were very refreshing and delicious. He talked about his great grandfather who was a brewer in Milwaukee in the late 1890s, one of the top lager cities in the U.S. Tim was a brewer for a chain restaurant, Hops which is now out of business. Three of his lager beers we enjoyed were his Wedding Lager, Ulele Light and Magbee s Honey Lager. We also tried their Pale Ale, which was also outstanding. Tim gave us a nice history of the brewery and his philosophy on selling beer. His quote is I love the double down, which is having a second of the same beer. After an hour with Tim, we went to the bar to have a double down. I highly recommend trying this brew pub when you are in the Tampa area. To left: Jeff Murbach with Tim Shackton. To the right: The Ulele brewing operation.
Frankenmuth show review by Jeff Murbach Since Dave Van Hine passed away five years ago, I have not gone to the Frankenmuth Mid Michigan Summer swap. I decided to go to the show with Tom Leo. This was the first time they held a two day Friday and Saturday show. I prefer two day shows when traveling out of town. Another change was a new venue. The Lions Park, where they had the show for decades, was no longer available because they had issues with the health department for serving food without permits. The new VFW Hall had enough room for 60 plus tables, and there was ample amount of space outside to set up. We chose to set up inside and it was a great move because the weather outside was hot and sticky with temperatures in the mid 90s. We got to our hotel in Frankenmuth Thursday night. We met up with Tom Hoffman who was also staying at the Old Heidelberg Hotel with us. Frankenmuth is a hard place to get a good hotel in the summer. It is a busy tourist area and hotels are very expensive. Our hotel was about 8 miles away from the show and was a clean but old. We checked out the new venue and then went to dinner at new BBQ joint which had fantastic food and a few good beers on draft. Friday we got to the VFW hall at 8 a.m. and set up our tables. The hall was on one level and was easy to set up. I was able to sell a large amount of cheap stuff. There was a good amount of breweriana at this show, especially Michigan and Ohio items. After the show, we met up with a number of collectors who were staying at another show. We had brats and beers at their outdoor cookout. Saturday the show started at 8 a.m. There were a few new collectors who showed up, and most set up outside. I was lucky enough to win one of the raffles on Saturday. I am now the proud owner of a Geyer s tab top. I rarely win a can raffle. This year they had five very nice cans. I have attended many shows in Michigan, including the Stroh s Brew House Show, which was my first show ever leaving New York State. I have been going since the early eighties. Over the years, I have gotten to know many of the Michigan folks. I saw a number of the friends that I dealt with over the years; the only difference now is they are a little bit grayer and older. At the show were Joe Olson, Terry Warwick, Bob Patrick, Mike the Greek, John McGuire, Joe Tomczak, Eric Menendez and Dave Launt. This was a well organized show. Thanks to Clayton Emory, John Futura and their wives for putting on such a great show. There are also a lot of supporting characters who helped with the raffle and cooking. The food was outstanding, for $10 a day you got a great lunch, beer, soft drinks and water. Some show pics are seen below. Tom Leo Jeff Murbach Tom Hoffman At the Main Street Tavern
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