Expanded "Kings of beer" story now online

My newspaper's sister site, yoursarasota.com, has posted an expanded online version of the "Kings of beer" story that ran last week in the Herald-Tribune and featured the Cock & Bull Pub and the Sarasota Brewing Co.* This version includes more of Chip Litherland's great photos.

You can read it here.

*Read my blog post on the article here.

SRQ beer scene featured in Herald-Tribune

My colleague at the Herald-Tribune, Steve Echeverria Jr., wrote an article, "Kings of beer" in Thursday's Ticket section that features the Cock & Bull Pub, Sarasota Brewing Co. and the Shamrock Pub. I confess I've never been to the Shamrock. I'll have to check it out. The soon-to-open World of Beer also gets a mention.

Here are two great excerpts from the article:

"The guys who say they love beer but only drink Budweiser, or they like a particular brand, are not true beer lovers," said Vince Pelosi, brewmaster at Sarasota Brewing Co. "The true beer lover tries them all."

This is exactly the way I think about beer. I can't wait to try new ones. Who knows? The best beer I've ever had may be the next one I find.

The second excerpt:

"My husband created the beer culture in Sarasota," said Hochberg's wife, Dawn.

Dawn, you're not exaggerating. Sarasota owes its beer scene to Howie Hochberg. And I owe my love of beer to your pub. It's where I learned about the wonders of the hop and how great a Belgian strong dark ale is.

The Herald-Tribune's online version of the story does not have all the cool photos -- taken by our incredible ace photographer Chip Litherland -- that are featured in the print edition. Here's Chip's picture of Howie from Ticket's cover:

So I'm not just shamelessly pimping our product when I say you should try and find -- dare I say buy -- a copy for yourself.