WaZoo Serves Brews, Raises Thousands For Lowry Park Zoo

By Matt Wiley

Craft beer is all the rage these days, with craft breweries popping up all over the Tampa Bay area. With so many beers to try, it’s a good thing that events exist like Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo’s 19th annual WaZoo Beer Festival. 

The event not only quenches attendees’ thirst for creative craft brews, but also raises money for the zoo. Director of public relations Rachel Nelson says that this year’s WaZoo raised more than $130,000 that will go towards animal care, education programs at the zoo and to help the zoo’s global conservation initiatives.

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Dark skies brought on an ominous vibe for the beer fest in the hours leading up to the event. A storm that rocked the New Tampa area on the afternoon of August 2 fizzled out as it moved south, providing dry, but humid weather at the zoo (located off W. Sligh Ave. in Tampa), at least until the sun went down and the skies opened up.

However, a little rain didn’t stop this beer drinker from partaking and documenting the scene. With no animals on display at the zoo, it was up to the nearly 4,000 attendees to be the wildlife. With 14 eateries on hand and more than 80 breweries distributed by J.J. Taylor from across the country presenting the option to try more than 300 craft beers, ales and hard ciders (many of which are not commonly seen on supermarket shelves), this challenge was not taken lightly by many. First to drink all 300 beers “wins.” (Just kidding.)

Among the noteworthy breweries included Newport, Oregon’s Rogue Ales, which brought out its infamous Yellow Snow India Pale Ale (IPA), and Voodoo Doughnut Pretzel, Raspberry & Chocolate Ale, which tastes exactly how it sounds: amazing. 

Tampa’s own Cigar City Brewing brought out a keg of its freshly brewed Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout, along with local bar regulars (and this writer’s personal favorite) Jai Alai IPA and the easy-going Hotter Than Helles lager, with the Cigar City Brewpub serving up stuffed peppers at an adjacent tent. Talk about the perfect pairing of beer with food!

Other food vendors included Ker’s Wing House, Kona Grill, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Big Momma’s Smokehouse BBQ, Brick House Tavern & Tap, Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, James Joyce Irish Pub & Eatery, Papa John’s Pizza, Sonny’s BBQ, Tijuana Flats and more.

It was difficult to walk past San Diego-based Stone Brewing Co. without trying its signature Stone IPA and Arrogant Bastard Ale, which the brewery openly admits, “You probably won’t like it.” Arrogant, indeed.  

Tampa Bay Beers, a home brewers club that meets the first Tuesday of each month at Mr. Dunderbaks (located in the Oak Ramble shopping plaza, just south of Tampa Palms on BBD), also was in attendance, pouring samples of traditional beer styles, including IPAs, lagers and porters, but also brought a chocolate-strawberry milk stout. Delicious.

Other notable vendors included Peabody’s Billiards & Games, which had a beer pong table game set up and also had its new, signature Peabody’s Brand Wing Sauce for sale.

All in all, despite getting soaked, the event was a success and I had a blast. 

The next fund raiser for the zoo is ZooBoo, a Halloween celebration that begins October 3 and runs nightly during the weekends through November 1. For more information, please visit LowryParkZoo.com.