Brewery pitches in for Hurricane Ian with filtered water | Around the Brew Bend

Danny Aller
·7 min read
Proof is offering free water available from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. each day this week. You can bring in any bulk container jug, growler, container, or bottle of any size to and Proof will fill it.
Proof is offering free water available from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. each day this week. You can bring in any bulk container jug, growler, container, or bottle of any size to and Proof will fill it.

"Round and round Hurricane Ian goes ... where he'll stop, nobody knows!"

OK, so the forecasters definitely do know where the first major hurricane to affect the U.S. this year landed, but North Florida escaped what originally looked like a pretty gloomy prediction.

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And with a better looking projection heading to the weekend, our local breweries appear to be business as usual — and with lots happening on our local scene.

Proof offers water

Over at Proof Brewing, they're gearing up for another busy weekend in the taproom — while also helping out in the local community for anyone who may be evacuating to North Florida.

On Tuesday, with bottled water running out at local stores throughout Tallahassee, they announced they were opening for special hours this week to fill water jugs.

Here's what Proof had to say in its news release:

"With Hurricane Ian approaching the state of Florida, we would like to offer our community free, clean, filtered drinking water. Water will be available from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. each day this week. You can bring in any bulk container jug, growler, container, or bottle of any size, and we'll fill it. We have 500mL, personal-sized water bottles with caps on-site that you can also fill yourself. To our friends, brewery partners, and family down South and throughout the state, please stay safe and prepare now!"

This is something Proof has actually done for every major storm as far back as we can remember. Sure, you can get tap water from your kitchen faucet or hose outside, but Proof's filtered water — through a process known as "reverse osmosis" — is about as clean and pure as it gets around these parts.

So bravo for this, Proof. Way to give back and help out!

Proof sends "Congrats to local artist @powellina_designs (Instagram) on winning our LeMoyne Arts Life is BREWtiful competition!"
Proof sends "Congrats to local artist @powellina_designs (Instagram) on winning our LeMoyne Arts Life is BREWtiful competition!"

Winning label designs

Speaking of helping out, Proof also recently partnered with Tallahassee's famed art gallery, LeMoyne Arts to commission a series of label designs created by local artists for upcoming beer graphic arts. And the first one released last week!

Here's what Proof said in its post about one of the winners, who submitted their design two months ago during an event at LeMoyne. Proof ultimately chose four winners out of dozens and dozens of entries, and the first one has officially debuted:

Proof chose four winners out of dozens and dozens of label entries, and the first one has officially debuted.
Proof chose four winners out of dozens and dozens of label entries, and the first one has officially debuted.

"Congrats to local artist @powellina_designs (Instagram) on winning our LeMoyne Arts Life is BREWtiful competition! She was one of four winners selected to have their art printed on a can. Stop by the Brewpub and grab a 6-pack of this limited-release Pilsner! About the artist: Tallahassee native, Powell K. Kreis attended SAIL high school and then the University of North Florida for a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking. Powell pursued her passion for fashion design as a jewelry and accessory designer for 6 years at Chico’s FAS headquarters. Powell now works as the LeMoyne Arts Programming Director and Chain of Parks Art Festival Manager. She continues to create her own artwork and does occasional commissions for fun."

Congrats from us as well, Powell! We can't wait to get by and grab some cans to try and also hold onto as a #TLHBeerHistory keepsake!

Deep can release for 6th anniversary on Oct. 7, 2022.
Deep can release for 6th anniversary on Oct. 7, 2022.

Deep Brewing gears up for celebration, offers beer at FSU football games

This next item is arguably some of our bigger news of the week, and here it is:

Deep Brewing, which is gearing up for its 6th Anniversary party next month, confirmed to us this week that starting Saturday with the Florida State vs. Wake Forest game at 3:30 p.m. you can find their beer IN Doak Campbell Stadium.

This is significant news because earlier this year, Florida State athletics announced an exclusive partnership with Oyster City Brewing Company to become "the official craft beer of Florida State" and we were worried that there wouldn't be any room left for other locals at the stadium as a result of that partnership.

But here we are in Week 4 of the college football season, and suddenly we have great news that in addition to OCBC beer, you can now also get Deep beer in both the main concourse of the stadium AND in the Champions Club.

Proof Brewing already had a presence in the stadium before this announcement because they share a distributor with Oyster City, but thanks to FSU's decision to offer more local options, now three of our local brands can be enjoyed on FSU Game Days!

Deep's 6th Year Anniversary, meanwhile, will be from Oct. 7-9 and will include three can releases, three bottle releases, new items from Deep's resident food truck, Smitty's Grill, and possibly even a special appearance from a local legendary food truck on the final day of the event.

The beers and order they're being released are:

  • Friday, Oct. 7 - "Delta Pils" pilsner in cans and "MOOR" Bourbon Barrel Coffee Barleywine in bottles

  • Saturday, Oct. 8 - "Flower Gardens" hazy IPA cans and "VANNIHILIST" Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial stout bottles

  • Sunday, Oct, 9 - "Fluke" hazy IPA and "THE SIXTH" Rocky Road Imperial Stout Bottles w/ Cacao, Vanilla, Salted Caramel, and Roasted Almonds bottles

We can't wait to celebrate #SixYearsOfBeer with Deep in early October!

The Leon County Humane Society brings adoptable dogs to the Barks and Brews event at AC Marriott before the FSU games.
The Leon County Humane Society brings adoptable dogs to the Barks and Brews event at AC Marriott before the FSU games.

Barks and Brews kicks off at AC Marriott on game days

Here's a little more local-craft-beer-meets-FSU-Football news: The AC Marriott Hotel in Downtown Tallahassee is holding a fundraising event for every Florida State home game for the rest of the season, and it's a mini-local beer fest that benefits one of our favorite local nonprofits, the Leon County Humane Society.

Here's how it works:

Roughly 4 hours before kickoff of that weekend's FSU home game, the AC Marriott Plaza "Green Space" — located at the corner of Gaines St. and Gadsden St. — opens with lawn games, live music, food trucks and unlimited sampling from four of our local breweries: Ology, Lake Tribe, Deep and Proof.

You can valet your car for $15 and have it sit in the garage safe and secure all day, then buy a ticket to the unlimited sampling event for an additional $20. And then whenever you are ready to go down to the stadium to either tailgate or watch the game, the hotel offers a shuttle for another $15 that picks you up from the Plaza and brings you back there at the end of the game. And at that price for round-trip, it sure beats an Uber!

But the best part? ALL proceeds benefit LCHS, which also brings adoptable dogs to the event.We went last weekend, drank up, ate well, enjoyed music from local artist Ben Flournoy and pet lots of doggos. And, yes, we already have our eye on one of their pups!

Interested? You buy tickets at eventbrite.com.

Only one week left until 24th annual Elder Care Oktoberfest

We don't even need to leave Downtown Tallahassee for our last note this week because the final beerfest of 2022 in North Florida is almost here!: the 24th Annual Elder Care Oktoberfest on Oct. 9 at Cascades Park.

It was so great to see events like the Panacea Oyster and Craft Beer Fest, Big Bend Brewfest and SGI Brewfest return triumphantly this year after 2-3 years away due to the pandemic. And while the Elder Care Oktoberfest DID happen in 2021, the promotion was muted and the crowd was MUCH smaller than normal in order to make sure it was a safe, socially distanced outdoor event.

But this year? Expect Tallahassee's longest-running Oktoberfest to return to its full glory! There are also almost double the number of breweries from 2021, more music, more games and more food.

It's a day-drinking event on a Sunday — VIP opens at 3 p.m. and General Admission at 4 p.m, — and the event lasts until 7 p.m., so if you're going, you may wanna take Monday, Oct. 10, off!

We'll have lots more on this event in next week's column, so stay tuned for a full list of breweries.

We'll be there with Drink Tallahassee Beer merch for sale too!

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: Proof Brewing offers water, Deep gets pouring at FSU