The Tampa Bay Ale Trail has a new operator. Another advocate of local craft beer, the nonprofit Tampa Bay Beer Week, recently acquired the popular passport-driven brewery crawl program from founder Mike Dyer.
In 2017, Dyer started the Ale Trail as a way for residents and visitors — who are affectionately known as "hikers" — to explore the Bay area's flourishing beer scene while driving awareness of (and business to) breweries around the region. TBBW will carry on this mission, as Dyer plans to relocate his family back to Boston at the end of the year.
"I considered trying to run the program from afar, but quickly realized that was neither feasible nor in the best interests of the local beer community that I care about," Dyer said in a statement. "I needed to find somebody to run the program who is equally as dedicated as I am to local craft breweries and who did not want to turn this into a coupon book. I found that rare, mission driven parter in the Tampa Bay Beer Week organization."
TBBW will run the Ale Trail as usual. The nonprofit and its volunteers now host the program's monthly hiker meetups, and passport and associated incentives are valid through July 2019. An added bonus is that TBBW festivities, which annually begin on the first Saturday in March, will incorporate the Ale Trail's pocket-size passport.
"We are excited to incorporate the Tampa Bay Ale Trail into our series of community events," according to Chris Fairchild, executive director of the TBBW board. "The Tampa Bay Ale Trail is a highly respected program amongst local brewers and craft beer enthusiasts. Having a year-round program that encourages people to explore craft beer destinations directly supports our mission of promoting Tampa's craft beer culture and establishes a revenue stream to help fuel our educational and charitable programs. It is an exciting win for everyone."
Dyer plans to provide guidance and assistance to TBBW ahead of the "Season 3" launch of the Ale Trail, ensuring a seamless transition. The third passport has a tentative release date of next year during Halfway There, the midway celebration to TBBW.
"I'm proud to have created something fun that has helped gain exposure for local breweries and I will continue to be a part of Tampa Bay's thriving craft beer scene through the amazing team at Tampa Bay Beer Week," Dyer said.
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 6, 2018.