The dog days of May are back in South Florida, but that also means Ocean Brews & Blues, one of the state’s largest beer festivals, is just around the corner.
The eighth annual event in Deerfield Beach, this year also celebrating the city’s centennial, will take place on Saturday, May 17, with at least 120 brands showcasing more than 170 beers from across the Sunshine State and beyond.
Along with a wide array of craft beer — spiked with a selection of spirits, wine, ciders and seltzers — the location just steps from the sand at the Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier makes Ocean Brews & Blues one of the more distinctive places to sample new brews.
The list of participating breweries includes a growing number of local favorites from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, led by hometown Cove Brewery, which will debut a beer brewed for the city, a honey blonde ale called Deerfield Beach Centennial.
Others include 3 Sons Brewing, Funky Buddha, LauderAle, Invasive Species, Gulf Stream, Uncommon Path, Pompano Beach Brewing, Barrel of Monks, 26 Degree, Crazy Uncle Mike’s, Prosperity, NOBO, Lost City, MIA and La Tropical, among others. The newest will be Voodoo Brewing, which opened in Oakland Park on April 15.
Frank Barecich, who has helped organize and promote the festival since the year after it debuted in 2017, has the unenviable task of curating the list of breweries.
“We try to get as many of the locals as possible. There are a lot of really talented brewers in the tricounty area, and South Florida is definitely a hot spot for some really well-known breweries,” Barecich says.
New residents may be surprised at what they taste at Ocean Brews & Blues, he says. “There are ingredients in the South Florida area that aren’t used by brewers in other states. People get pretty creative, and there’s some really good stuff that comes out from a lot of the locals that you will not find in other places.”
Out-of-town breweries worth checking out at Ocean Brews & Blues will include Heretic Brewery (Fairfield, California), Prairie Artisan Ales (Oklahoma City), Melvin Brewing (Alpine, Wyoming), Soulmate Brewing Co. (Morrisville, Vermont) and Magnanimous Brewing (Tampa).
Of course, beer will not be the only thing to enjoy at this free-admission festival. The blues part of the equation will come from a quartet of top local bands: Blues Fuze with David Hadley Ray, Low Ground Trio, Shaw Davis & the Black Ties and The Shaelyn Band.
“You can enjoy the music for free, and there are food vendors, other vendors, activities, all sorts of stuff happening besides the [beer] sampling side. There’s something for everybody. It’s family friendly, pet friendly and, best of all, people love it because it’s free,” Barecich says.
Admission to Ocean Brews & Blues is free, but a sampling ticket gets you unlimited servings of beer in a souvenir glass. Tickets for general-admission sampling, beginning at 4 p.m., cost $55+ in advance, while VIP tickets are currently set at $100+. VIP includes early sampling access at 3 p.m., along with access to a VIP tent and VIP-only beers and food. Proceeds benefit the Deerfield Beach Rotary Club.
As a reward for making it this far into the story, dear Sun Sentinel reader, you get the password for a $10 discount on sampling tickets (both GA and VIP) at OceanBrewsAndBlues.com. It’s SENTINEL.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Ocean Brews & Blues
WHEN: 4-8 p.m. Saturday, May 17
WHERE: Deerfield Beach Main Beach Parking Lot, 149 SE 21st Ave.
COST: Free admission; unlimited sampling tickets cost $55+ and VIP tickets (early entry at 3 p.m.) cost $100+; enter code SENTINEL for a $10 discount
LINEUP: Blues Fuze with David Hadley Ray (3-3:45 p.m.), Low Ground Trio (4:15-5 p.m.), Shaw Davis & the Black Ties (5:30-6:30 p.m.), The Shaelyn Band (7-8 p.m.)
PARKING: Free shuttle will run from St. Ambrose Catholic Church parking lot, 380 Federal Highway, between 2:30 and 9 p.m.
INFORMATION: OceanBrewsAndBlues.com
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and X @BenCrandell.
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