Four-and-a-half years after announcing plans to move in, Danielle Vergnaud-McKinnon and her husband Matthew McKinnon are celebrating a year in business.
And that’s basically seven years if you’re a sky puppy, right?
The couple’s Ybor City brewery throws a day-long love fest this weekend to say thanks to a community that’s had Sky Puppy ‘s back since day one.
Lara chef Suzanne Crouch will cook the food, and the Mercyful Project is bringing adoptable dogs for you to cuddle and connect with.
And, yes, there will be beer, thanks to a special release meant to be “savored, cellared or shared,” according to the brewery.
Matthew McKinnon, who’s been on several award-winning teams, has spent the last year working on two limited edition beers, packaged in a four-pack. Each includes two cans of the Pages of Nothing American barleywine—a warming, resinous, and aggressively-hopped bold libation with caramel and citrus notes—along with two cans of “Torches in the Storm,” Sky Puppy’s new rich, malty, and smooth English barleywine with notes of toffee, dark fruit and oak.
The space, which includes a small gallery, will also stage its first-ever collaborative art show with a dozen locals. helping tell the brewery’s story so far.
“It’s shaping up to be our biggest event yet, and it’s rooted in everything we believe in—community, creativity, connection (and great beer, obviously),” Vergnaud-McKinnon told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
Sky Puppy Brewing first anniversary party
Time Sat., Sept. 13, 12-11 p.m. 2025
Location Sky Puppy Brewing, 1313 E 8th Ave., Tampa
This article appears in Sept. 4-10, 2025.