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Beer Advent Calendar – Day 27: Moose Killer presented by Gerard Walen

@RoadTrips4Beer, @BeerInFlorida, @TBBCo,

Beer Advent Calendar – Day 27: Moose Killer presented by Gerard Walen

To celebrate the Holiday Season, 2Beerguys.com and Seacoastbeveragelab.com have teamed up with beer bloggers around the country to host the second annual beer bloggers advent calendar. This is the season of sharing and we intend to share our love of beer with you. 31 Bloggers Blogging – click here for the running list of beers/bloggers.

Let’s see who is spreading holiday cheer today!

Blogger: Gerard Walen
Blog Name: Road Trips for Beer, Beer in Florida
Twitter/Facebook/Untappd: @RoadTrips4Beer, @BeerInFlorida. Facebook.com/roadtripsforbeer, facebook.com/beerinflorida
Beer: Moosekiller
Brewery: Tampa Bay Brewing Company – Tampa, Florida
Beer Details:

• Style: Barley Wine
• ABV: 10.0%
• IBUs: 100

Commercial Description:

Moosekiller is a malty BIG BEER with 100 IBUs of bitterness to balance out the alcohol content.Produced with the finest American Pale Malt and three additions of Glacier Hops from

Why I selected the Moosekiller:

Moosekiller is produced year round, but the generally high ABV barley wine style provides the welcome warming effect that feels so good in the cooler months – even in Florida. It’s a style that I really began exploring this year, and Tampa Bay Brewing Company does an excellent job with it.  But the main reason I chose this beer is personal.

In February, I unexpectedly lost one of my oldest and best friends. His nickname – well, one of them – was “Moose.” I was at Tampa Bay Brewing with some other beer-blogger friends when I received the call that Moose’s brain scan showed no activity and his family had chosen to remove him from life support the next day. Those three friends – Rick Andrews of AlesFromTheCrypt.com, Mike Besser from BrewDad.com and Amie M., who is on hiatus from beer blogging – were there for me, to help distract me from the tragic news and provide comfort. Of course, while I waited for my brother to pick me up to go to the hospital to say our final goodbyes, I toasted my friend with a snifter of Moosekiller (trust me, he would have approved).

So this beer not only will have me think of my good friend each time I tip one, but also it will remind me that the beer-blogging community is populated with a lot of really great people.

About the Road Trips for Beer:

Road Trips for Beer offers tips, previews, reviews and news for the beer tourist. Beer in Florida focuses on the rapidly expanding craft beer culture in the Sunshine State.  Visit www.roadtripsforbeer.com and http://beerinflorida.com to learn more about our adventure.

About Tampa Bay Brewing Company:

Our on-site brewery is equipped to produce up to twelve tap beers (we generally have nine on tap, more than twice as many as most microbreweries) and several cask-conditioned ales on a 10bbl step-infusion brewing system. Fact is, 12 of our 16 serving tanks used to hold the beer at the famous Bass Ale Brewery in England. Our beer boards inside next to the bar and outside on the patio will fill you in on what’s available to fill you up.

Beer makes an excellent cooking ingredient – just like wine, its snooty cousin. That being said, it’s only natural that some of our beer would end up in our entrees, like the Iron Rat Stout Crab Cakes, Stout N Honey Glazed Atlantic Salmon, and Jalapeno Beer Cheese Soup. Tampa Bay Brewing recently installed a canning line and began distributing outside the brewery. Moosekiller is available in growlers, but not in cans – yet. http://www.tampabaybrewingcompany.com