Red White & Brew: Annual Cape celebration Saturday
Beer fanatics with a taste for domestics can sample over a dozen at Red, White & Brew. Hosted by the South Cape Hospitality and Entertainment Associations, the annual celebration will be held on Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. in the South Cape. Sixteen participating venues will offer attendees a two-ounce sample of a homeland brew, which will be paired with an appetizer sample to also enjoy.
“It’s American beers,” David Delli Paoli, spokesman for the associations, said. “It’s the theme.
A fleet of trolleys will shuffle the attendees among the venues for easier travel.
“We don’t want to compete with Red, White & Boom, so we have it the weekend before,” he said.
The featured domestics will range from regulars like Budweiser, Michelob Ultra, Yuengling and Miller Lite, to more atypical ones such as Shock Top, Goose Island 312, AmberBach and Summer Shandy.
“We’ve got two local breweries involved,” Delli Paoli said.
American Blonde, crafted by the Fort Myers Brewing Company, will be served up, as will the Cape Coral Brewing Company’s Burrowing Owl Brown Ale, Hungryland IPA and Gongoozler Ale.
It is also the first time Paradise Pizza and Coconuts Neighborhood Bar & Eatery have taken part.
“We are absolutely thrilled,” he said, noting that Paradise Pizza is a well-established business in the South Cape. “It’s also great to have somebody new to the area (Coconuts) come and join us.”
Check-in will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Big John’s plaza or Club Square.
Delli Paoli recommended that attendees park close to where they want their night to end.
“So you can get to your car (from the trolleys),” he said.
Tickets cost $10 in advance or $15 day of.
The event is only open to people 21 years old and older.
Advance tickets are available at any of the participating venues, while day of tickets can only be purchased from BackStreets Sports Bar up until 6 p.m. Leftovers will then be available at check in.
“If they’re still available,” Delli Paoli said. “We only make 1,000 tickets available.”
As of Thursday, he did not know how many tickets were still left.
“It’s usually pretty slow running up until the day of, that’s when everybody starts buying them,” Delli Paoli said.
He estimated that approximately 800 tickets were sold last year.
“It didn’t sell out, but it was close,” Delli Paoli said.
However, there were fewer participating venues at the 2014 event.
“I think it was only 10 or 12,” he said. “We definitely have more this year.”
The proceeds raised go back into growing, beautifying and improving the South Cape.
“Every event that we do has the greater good of the area in mind,” Delli Paoli.
The next event scheduled by the South Cape Hospitality and Entertainment Associations will be the South Cape BaconFest 2015 on Aug. 8. The groups are planning a new beer event for the future.
“We have a craft beer event in the works for November,” Delli Paoli.
For additional information about Red, White & Brew, visit the Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/SouthCapeHospitalityAndEntertainmentAssociations.