We are in the thick of Christmahanakwanzika and maybe you haven't found the perfect gift for that special someone. Maybe you're looking for something one of a kind, preferably involving drinks. Creative Loafing's Holiday Auction has the perfect gift for mixology fanatics, beer nerds, coffee fiends and wine lovers. Remember, it's for the children!
Be a brewmaster for a day.
Three Palms Brewery in Tampa is giving you to chance to brew a five-gallon batch of your choice. Three Palms will bottle your special (and one of a kind) brew in 22-ounce bottles too. You can choose your own brew recipe or suggest a style for Three Palms to brew.
Join forces with Tampa Bay Brewing Company Head Brewer David Doble to become a brewing apprentice for a day. You will assist David as he concocts one of the house beers (and he might even let you pick which one). After you are done, TBBC will give you a t-shirt so you won't be covered in grain when you go home. Then you and 10 of your friends will be invited back about a month later to celebrate the tapping of the beer you helped brew. TBBC will provide the pizza and pitchers of beer for your party. And to really get the full experience of being a brewer, you will go home with a gallon jug of beer of your choice and a four-pack of TBBC's newly canned beer.
Join the craft beer-making craze with a starter kit from Booth's Brewing & Bar Supply, plus four classes. Hop to it! (We're sure you'll be the head of the class.)
Take part in Cigar City's Hunahpu brewing day.
Every year in March Cigar City releases its Mayan Chocolate-inspired beer which goes by the name of Hunahpu's Imperial Stout. This bold stout is aged on a variety of chili peppers, Madagascar vanilla, cinnamon and Peruvian Cacao. The winning bidder will be Cigar City's guest on Hunahpu's day. The winner will receive advance access (for the winner and 1 guest) to the release party, 1 case of 2013 Hunahpu's Imperial Stout, 1 mixed case of the previous three years vintages of Hunahpu (2010, 2011 and 2012), 10 beer tickets, and last but not least a framed display of four years of Hunahpu labels autographed by Cigar City Brewing Brewmaster Wayne Wambles
This article appears in Dec 13-19, 2012.