New Tampa Brew Fest Makes Strides In Second Year

The official numbers hadn’t been tallied at our press time, but according to event co-chair Chris Stennett, there is no mistaking that, once again, the Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon’s second annual New Tampa Brew Fest was a hit.

Hundreds of revelers strolled from table to table in the Venetian Center at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd., sampling nearly 100 offerings from more than 30 breweries, both big and small, sometimes to wash down the food being served by three outstanding food trucks outside. 

The breweries represented included everything from large companies like Cigar City, Florida Avenue, Coppertail and Goose Island to smaller craftsmen who brew out of their garages, like Krazy Eddie’s Garage (KEG) Brewing, Ignorant Ales and Wiregrass Brewing Co.

“We were really, really happy with the event,” said Stennett afterward. “I feel good about what we did, and we are thankful for the community for coming out to support us.”

The event is the primary fundraiser for the New Tampa Noon Rotary (which meets Wednesdays at noon at Bayscape Bistro inside Heritage Isles Golf Club) and helped the club contribute thousands of dollars to causes like the Fisher House at the James Haley VA Hospital last year.

Few came further for this year’s event than Wisconsin’s Dennis Zweber (above, left), who took his brother Greg (right), who lives in Lutz, up on an offer to fly down for the Brew Fest and enjoy some better weather.

Dennis, who lives in Soldier’s Grove, WI, just east of Madison, found a plane ticket for $67 out of Minneapolis — about four hours away — and said that going to beer festivals was one of his family’s favorite pastimes.

“I figured, ‘What the heck,’” said Dennis. “We always have a great time when we go to these things.”

Dennis said he was impressed by the New Tampa Brew Fest, considering it was only the second year the event has been held. 

“I was really impressed with the quality of the beers,” he said. “They had a lot of breweries, a lot of variety. I drank a lot of really good beer.”

Dennis, who tends to enjoy darker beers, said his favorite was the organic Peppermint Porter served by Randy Gailit, who brews his Wiregrass Brewing Co. (page 40) out of his garage in the Meadow Pointe community. “That was a really beautiful beer,” Dennis said.

Wiregrass Brewing Co. wasn’t the only local to draw rave reviews. Double Branch Artisanal Ales (DBAA), which is opening a place in The Grove in Wesley Chapel in January, drew a lot of attention for its offerings, particularly the Orange Suede, a passion fruit, orange peel, pineapple and marshmallow sour.

For DBAA co-owner Ryan Clarke, his first New Tampa Brew Fest was a success. He said the Orange Suede was so popular he had to crack open a second keg of it.“I thought it was a great event, and a great chance to introduce ourselves to the beer-loving community,” Clarke said.


Councilman Viera To AMC Theater: Clean It Up, People!

These photos were taken by Dist. 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera. They show the wear on the AMC 20 movie theater’s facade, as well as overgrown trees in the parking lot.

Tampa City Council member Luis Viera has said from the very beginning of his current term that cracking down on blight in New Tampa would be one of his priorities, and he has not been shy about sic’ing code enforcement on those he feels aren’t keeping the District 7 area he represents up to a certain standard.

His latest target is the AMC Highwoods 20 movie theater on Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

Viera sent a letter to AMC Corporate headquarters in Leawood, KS, on Nov. 12 requesting to speak with someone about the condition of its movie theater in the heart of New Tampa.

According to Viera’s letter, he has received a number of calls and emails from residents that the building’s facade looks run down and dirty and the surrounding vegetation is not being maintained.

Luis Viera

Viera wrote that the condition of the property was “not properly reflecting the exterior standards of New Tampa” and that it was in “desperate need of attention.”

At our press time, Viera said he had not received a response.

“I don’t think we’re asking for a lot,” Viera says. “This isn’t an onerous regulation. Just take care of the exterior of your building and the landscaping. These are basic steps. We aren’t asking them to put in new seating and start serving Dom Perignon.”

Alicia Kanhai, who lives in Richmond Place, says she is glad Viera wrote the letter. She lives right down the street from the AMC 20, and says it is apparent that the theater management has let the building and the surrounding area deteriorate unabated in recent years.

The theater started out as a Muvico theater until being purchased by Carmike Cinema in 2013 for roughly $32 million.

In 2017, AMC bought Carmike for $1.1 billion.

“Every time we go for a walk, we pass it, and it’s gotten pretty bad,” says Kanhai, who is married with 12- and 13-year-old boys. “We used to love going there, but we can’t handle it.” 

It appears Kanhai isn’t alone. Viera posted his letter, as well as two pictures of the area, on the community message board NextDoor.com, and it received more than 100 responses.

Many online posters complained about the exterior, but they were also unhappy about the conditions inside.

While the theater might be showing its age in an era of large reclining seats and in-theater food service, some wrote that things like outdated seating, sticky floors and dirty bathrooms keep them away. Others used stronger wording, calling the conditions “vile” and “disgusting.”

Many posters said they would rather drive 20 minutes to see a movie at The Cobb Grove 16 in Wesley Chapel, which features many of the amenities now more common in theaters across the country.

But some, while stopping short of defending the movie theater, said other buildings in New Tampa were just as bad, if not worse. Namely, the abandoned old Sweetbay grocery store next to Home Depot, which is in far greater disrepair than the AMC 20, was cited by some as a greater concern.

Mostly, however, the prevailing response on NextDoor.com and people Viera says have emailed him is that the movie theater has seen better days, and he hopes his letter nudges management to give the theater a little TLC.

“How much can a couple cans of paint cost?,” Viera asks.

A recent Forbes.com story said that AMC Theaters reported that second quarter revenues in 2019 were up 4.4-percent, and 97 million tickets were sold during the quarter, an all-time record for the company.

The article also said that the company has added premium recliner seating to some of its 639 U.S. movie theaters.

“We can go to other places, but I don’t want to go to the Cobb, I want to go here,” Kanhai says. “This is my neighborhood. I want to go to the theater here. But, if they want people to keep coming, they are going to have to do some upkeep to keep it an attractive place.”