Photo credit for the Featured Image goes to http://www.tampapix.com.
Yesterday I visited Cigar City Brewing for Tap Talk: Invasion Pale Ale.
The Tap Talks are part of a series about the history of different beers and the City of Tampa and feature curator Rodney-Kite Powell and Cigar City’s El Lector, Neil Callaghan. Proceeds from the event benefit the Tampa Bay History Center which is located in Downtown Tampa on the Tampa Riverwalk.
The event was sold out.
We learned quite a bit about Gasparilla Pirate Festival which has been a tradition in the City of Tampa since 1904.
Cigar City created the Invasion Pale Ale for Gasparilla and wanted to make a drink that was enjoyable, but not too alcoholic for the crowd to handle while at the parade. Cigar City describes it as a “citrusy, tropical and low-alcohol session beer “.
There were many interesting things we learned about Gasparilla, such as the busy life that once existed on Franklin Street, which was decorated for Gasparilla in historical times and also that there was once a trolley on Bayshore Boulevard.
We also learned about Ye Mystic Krewe, which is the original Krewe of Gasparilla, and maintained status as the only one for decades. One of the oldest pirate flags photographed in Tampa is pictured above. Find our more about Ye Mystic Krewe at http://ymkg.com/history/.
Joe Gaspar is actually a myth according to the Tampa Bay History Center and no proof can be found that he existed. Gasparilla was originally created as an event to create tourism for Tampa and to draw people to see how nice the weather was and how they could make a living here.
The popularity has never ended and thousands still head to Tampa every year for a pirate celebration like no other. I am still looking forward to going on a pirate ship in the water during the event one day.
We finished with a rare beer made with Invasion Pale Ale and adding Orange Peel and White Oak flavors called “Lue Gim Gong” after the famous Chinese-American horticulturalist.
He was known as the “The Citrus Wizard” and inherited an orange grove that he successfully made into the foundation of the citrus industry here in Florida. The beer is available now at Cigar City Brewing, but may not be easily accessible outside of the brewery.
You can donate to the Tampa Bay History Center at http://tampabayhistorycenter.org/donate/. Donations support “education programs and exhibitions” and allows them make a “collection of more than 1,000 artifacts and documents”.
