Crazy Dingo Brewing Co.: "Farm to Glass" Farm-brew Competition

Crazy Dingo Brewing Co.: “Farm to Glass” Farm-brew Competition

The Crazy Dingo homebrewers face off in this “farm-brewed” competition to benefit Southern Fresh Farms. Small family farms were once a mainstay of Florida’s economy, now they are a dying breed. Come out and support the growth of the farm with their plans to grow their own hops, expand operations/animals and eventually open a small brewery. A $20 donation earns you admission into the agriculture park where you’ll enjoy music from 2 local bands, fresh dishes and homebrew sampling and voting. With each donation you’ll receive a Crazy Dingo and Southern Fresh Farms commemorative up, sticker, and ticket to participation in merchandise giveaways throughout the event.

Crazy Dingo Brewing Co. isn’t really open yet, but they host a lot of events at Southern Fresh Farms in Fort Myers, Florida. We attended one of those events yesterday, and I was very impressed with the set up, their beers and their future space. It’s not far from home, and the guys that own it are dialed in… The event we attended was called “Farm to Glass” Farm-brew Competition.

They had 3 stations setup around the farm, live music, food trucks… It was like a beer festival, but just with Crazy Dingo beers. Each location featured seven different beers.

Station 1: Truck/Jockey Box

Wahoo Blue ABV: 5.1% American Wheat Ale brewed with fresh blueberries
Crazy Gringo: ABV 6.8% Double Dry Hopped Unfiltered IPA with Mosaic, Citra, and Galaxy Hops
239 ABV: 5.4% Orange Blossom Kolsch-Style Ale
Crazy Dingose: ABV: 3.8% Gose with coriander and Himalayan pink salt brewed with Florida mulberries
Mason’s Mango Magic ABV: 5.5% Pale Ale brewed with fresh Florida mangos (Mosaic and Citra)
Wheat’s Your Passion? ABV: 4% Sweet-Tart Passion Fruit Ale; combo of 1.5 gallon of passion fruit juice/puree per five gallons
Whiskey Creek ABV: 12.8% Imperial Vanilla Porter aged on Buffalo Trace bourbon oak and cocoa nibs

Station 2: Farmer’s Market Area

Cattle King ABV: 6.0% “Spanish Gold” Ale
The Forager ABV: “Gluten Free” Wheat Ale with locally foraged wild ingredients (cypress sprigs, prickly pear, hibiscus, honey)
Turnt and Burnt ABV: 3.9% Sunburn Red Ale is rapid fermented and “cooled” with notes of coconut and aloe
Rubio Pequeno ABV: 6.2% Belgian Blonde Ale with Florida turbinado sugar and tangerine zest
Oxymoron ABV: 5.5% Dark-Pale… Ale 😉
Dingo Lite Lime ABV: 4.9% Classic American Ale with a key lime twist
Matanza 1513 ABV: 6.2% Historic-Style Ale utilizing a gruit of elderflower, lavender and coriander with blood orange

Station 3: Live Music Area

Crazy-O ABV: 5.5% Brown Ale brewed in collaboration with Orange Tree Coffee’s Guatemalan blend
Hazy, Hot and Humid ABV: 6.0% Hoppy Hefeweizen with blend of Citra and Mandarina Bavaria hops
Azulito ABV: 5.8% Crisp Hard Cider with blueberries
Yerba Buena ABV: 5.8% Pale Ale brewed with Polaris and Motueka hops, limes and of course fresh mint
Pina Punch ABV: Pale Ale brewed with fresh pineapple (El Dorado and Mosaic hopped)
Life on the Water-melon ABV: 4% Florida Weisse Style tart beer with fresh watermelon juice
Always Summer ABV: 5.9% Belgian Inspired Amber Ale brewed with Belgian Abbey yeast

There are a lot of great beer there, and I got the chance to try them all. I had the Whiskey Creek twice, so it’s safe to say that is the best beer I had… But the cider was fantastic. Wheat’s Your Passion? was good, too. I can’t wait to try more beers from these guys.

As you can see, they had a lot of different beers on tap and they were all really good. They call it “farm to glass” because all of the ingredients, except some of the hops they use, are from the farm or within a few miles of the farm. How neat is that?

Before the event I reached out to them on Facebook. None of the beers they were tapping were on Untappd. They responded and provided a complete list with descriptions, ABV and IBU. All of the beers were added before they were even tapped! Doing what I can to make a difference when a brewery taps a beer, and ended up talking with all of the guys involved with the brewery to reassure them to use me as a resource for future tappings. They were so nice… I look forward to helping them and trying more of their beers over time.

As I said, they had several food trucks there. Southern Fresh Farms was serving food – Sheryl had some gator bites – but they had a wide range of food available for purchase. The Nosh Truck, Doner Kebab King Karl, Rollin’ Raw Bar and Orange Tree Coffee were all there and people were loving the experience. It seems like everyone was eating as much as they were drinking.

At the end of the day, it was an awesome event and I am glad we went. During the day we talked to all of the brewers and became quick friends with everyone. Can’t wait to get back out there. Cheers!