Blountstown Beer Co. opening next week, Amicus plans still brewing | Around the Brew Bend

Not sure how we're going to pack ALL the huge local craft beer news into this week's column, but we're darn sure gonna try!

There are two new breweries coming to the Big Bend. Blountstown Beer Company is about to open Feb. 5 and Amicus Brewing Ventures announced this week in the Democrat that they're officially in the planning stages.

New brewery plans: Turning water into beer: Old waterworks could be Tallahassee's next craft brewery

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Southern Philosophy: Eat and drink at Southern Philosophy, located downtown Bainbridge, Georgia

Let's begin with the opening that's officially on the horizon just to the west of Tallahassee.

Blountstown Beer is the brainchild of two area entrepreneurs. Josh Parker, the founder of the 3-year-old Eastpoint Beer Company, got the ball rolling on opening his second location after meeting Calhoun County restaurateur Randal Martina. Martina owns the popular Fiddler's Steamroom & Oyster Bar in Blountstown.

He and Parker became friends during one of Martina's many trips down to the Forgotten Coast, which is just 45 minutes from Blountstown. As it turned out, Martina had just closed "Burgers & Brews" off Highway 20 in Blountstown during the beginning of the pandemic.

Blountstown seemed poised and ready for its first craft brewery.

Enter Parker with his decades of brewing knowledge and Martina, whose culinary talents will be on display in the combo brewery-restaurant. We expect these two will truly make a dynamic duo in this spot.

Fast forward to last week, and Blountstown officially announced its grand opening for Saturday, Feb. 5, at noon. But remember, Blountstown is in the central time zone, so they're an hour behind us Tallahassee folks!

The drive is an easy one too — a straight shot out Pensacola St. west. And don't stop until you reach the brewery at 19119 State Road 20 West.

We're super excited for this new addition to the craft beer scene.

We'll keep this (Amicus) brief

Closer to home, meanwhile, is a brewery in planning from a local preacher, his wife and three other families — all of whom met at church. Our sister society — the TLH Ladies That Beer — received a message last week from one of the potential owners about their plans to open a majority-women-owned brewery in "historic downtown" and were aiming for "early 2023" as its target date

We say "majority-women-owned" because it should be noted that three of Tallahassee's six current craft breweries all have women co-owners currently — Proof's Angela Burroughs, Lake Tribe's Laura Ross and Ology, which has multiple male and female co-owners. And Deep is also a family affair with Marsha LaPete, wife of Deep owner Ryan LaPete, serving as co-owner of Deep's distributor, Greater Depths Distribution.

The Ladies That Beer broke the news on Amicus in their Facebook group and have since been in contact with the group about their plans. But the Democrat story published Wednesday flushed out many of the key details, including that their desired location is the old City of Tallahassee Waterworks Building on S. Gadsden St. across from Cascades Park.

Make no mistake, though: This project is still in the VERY infant stages of planning and may hinge on a nearly $300,000 grant from the Downtown Redevelopment Committee being approved next month for it to proceed (or at least to proceed quickly). But if it does, it would give Tallahassee — AKA, the "Craft Capital," as we like to call it — a whopping seven craft breweries, including four within a one-mile radius in Downtown Tallahassee.

If/when this happens, we may have to change our saying from how Tallahassee's craft beer scene is "Small, but mighty" to "Growing and awesome."

Stay tuned for more on Amicus Brewing Ventures (their initials are ABV — clever huh?) as it unfolds!

Proof's 10-year anniversary is in February

Let's table all this "new" talk for a second and put some respect on the name of the brewery that started it all here in Tallahassee: Our OG production craft brewery — Proof Brewing Company.

Proof announced this week that they're gearing up for their 10th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, Feb. 19. The details of what all is planned remain a bit of a mystery, but we have confirmed there will be nearly a dozen new beers, a special menu from Proof BrewPub, live music and a historic can release. We can't tell you what's gonna make it "historic" but just trust us here — you are NOT going to want to miss grabbing this piece of #TLHHistory.

And let us be the first to say, "Happy birthday, Proof!:

Three major beer fests returning in 2022

It's been over two years now since any of us got to enjoy a beer at the SGI Brewfest, the Big Bend Bend Brewfest or Brews By The Bay — our three biggest area craft beer festivals outside our marquee event, the Tallahassee Beer Festival.

But in the last two weeks, we have received confirmation that ALL three are resuming again in 2022, starting with the Big Bend Brewfest in Perry on March 19 at Rosehead Park.

Not long after in early April will be Brews By The Bay at Woolley Park in Panacea — although the organizers have not yet set an exact date. One other note: The festival is going to be combined with the Panacea Oyster Festival, which had traditionally been held one week after Wakulla's first and only craft beer festival in years prior. And that means the new version is going to be huge.

Oyster farmers on one side selling freshly shucked oysters from the very waters the festival overlooks, and craft breweries and home brewers on the other side pouring some amazing locally brewed beers.

And lastly, the St. George Island Brewfest is back too. This year it'll be held Saturday, April 23, at a new location: the center of SGI, right next to the lighthouse. It's the same area where the famed SGI Chili Cook-Off is held.

All three festivals are fundraisers too. Big Bend's benefactor is the local Rotary Club, while Brews By The Bay benefits the Florida Wild Mammal Association and SGI Brewfest donates all proceeds to the Franklin County Humane Society.

We don't know about y'all, but we can't wait! Start making plans and buying tickets now!

Southern Philosophy set for Jazz & Blues Fest

Another great event centered around craft beer that's happening Feb. 5 is the 2nd Annual Bainbridge Jazz and Blues Fest.

It'll be centered in Historic Town Square in Downtown Bainbridge, Georgia, right around the city's only brewery — Southern Philosophy Brewing.

The lineup includes 12 different sets, four outdoor stages and one indoor stage — not to mention craft beer exclusively from Southern Philosophy and slow smoked barbecue from a terrific restaurant next to Southern Philosophy called The American. Featured artists include Jontavious Willis, Longineu Parsons, The Johnnie Marshall Band, Revival, Dirty Bird & The Flu and Frankie Lee's Blues Mission. General admission is free, but VIP tickets are also available.

If you're up for a drive next Saturday, put this on your calendar!

Danny Aller is the co-founder, along with Matthew Crumbaker, of the TLH Beer Society. Reach the Beer Society on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or email: tlhbeersociety@gmail.com.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Brew Bend: Blountstown Beer opens in February, Amicus plans brewing