Boozy Art Basel: Here's Where Art and Drink Collide This Week

Drinks and art go hand in hand. Want proof? You can't walk into a gallery reception without being offered a plastic flute filled with champagne. Of course, there's more to art than a free cup of bubbly. There's beer — and cocktails. 

Many of Miami's breweries have already blurred the lines between art and libations, serving double duty as gallery space and hosting murals by Miami's artists on their walls. At Art Basel, the relationship between art and drink has never been stronger, with a host of boozy celebrations throughout the week.

Boxelder
Tonight, December 1, Boxelder will host a Funky Buddha tap takeover, featuring limited-edition growlers by Jessie Nite. Draft selections include Nib Smuggler, Nikolai Vorlauf, Raspberry Floridian, and a few more.

Wednesday, December 3, Boxelder will host a New Belgium and Ben & Jerry's pairing.

Thursday, December 4, the craft beer market will exhibit more than 20 works by Brooklyn artist Seth Scantlen and host a reception for the artist from 4 to 9 p.m. From 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., Boxelder will host a tap takeover, with MIA Brewing and Tampa's Coppertail Brewing's brewmasters on hand to pour and discuss beer. MIA and Coppertail will take over ten taps each. According to Boxelder's Adam Darnell, MIA's beers include the new White Lies — a coffee, cocoa, lactose pale breakfast stout on nitro — as well as the Flo Rita, a Berliner weisse aged in tequila barrels with lime and orange. Coppertail's beers include the Sometimes You Don't — a porter with coquito and cocoa — and Free Dive IPA, which is aged in gin barrels with cucumber and strawberry.

Saturday, December 5, the beer shop will host the release of Wynwood Brewing Company and Saltwater Brewery's new collaboration, along with four other beers on tap from each brewery.

Broken Shaker
Wednesday, December 2, from 1 to 6 p.m., the Broken Shaker will host Algae Pool Party, a pop-up tiki shop. Johnny Roble's Coral Alphabet installation will also be on display.

Friday, December 4, from noon to 6 p.m., the Shaker will host #WellCurated Art Basel, featuring a poolside gallery curated by Los Angeles hair salon the Well. From 7 p.m. to midnight, come out to the Jacked Fashion Art Camp party.

Saturday, December 5, from 4 to 8 p.m., the Broken Shaker will present Chicago Takeover With Wild Belle, featuring Indie duo Wild Belle and an exhibition by Chicago artist Dont Fret.

Concrete Beach Brewery
If you're in need of a cold one or two after a long day of contemplating art, Concrete Beach Brewery is extending its social hall hours during Art Basel. The social hall will be open from 1 to 11 p.m. December 2 through 4 and noon - 1 a.m. December 5 and 6. In addition, Concrete Beach will pour at Pulse Miami Beach December 1 through 5, at Beyond the Limelight at Museum of Fashion December 3 from 6 to 10 p.m., and at X Contemporary December 1 through 6 from 5 to 10 p.m.

Saturday, December 5, the brewery will celebrate the repeal of the 18th Amendment with the release of a special post-Prohibition lager. The brewery's staff will dress in 1930s-style attire, and you're encouraged to do the same.

Hive
This free, five-day village features five forms of art so you can ponder the beauty of life. While you're there, however, check out Behind the Bar, presented by Miami Club Rum. You can participate in mixology demos and enjoy cocktails by the Wynwood distillery's Matt Malone.

If you're hungry, Ralph Pagano's Naked Taco will serve tacos and a range of other delicious foods.

Finally, the Heineken Mobile Art Experience rolls into town, featuring a rotating canvas on the outside and a fully stocked art store and gallery on the inside.

Hive, located at Mana Wynwood, is open Wednesday, December 2, from 4 p.m. to midnight; Thursday, December 3, from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5, from noon to 2 a.m.; and Sunday, December 6, from noon to 9 p.m. 

Smashed Canvas
The only thing better than art is art in a beer garden. Brewed Events and Wynwood Map have combined to curate an entire block of murals by more than 20 artists, including Brian Butler, Caratoes, D*Face, Jeff Grass, and Tatiana Suarez. The entire block between NW Second and Third avenues at 28th Street will turn into a colorful canvas. Now for the "smashed" part: A beer garden will pop up at 244 NE 29th St. and feature a rotating roster of brews. The beer garden is open now through Wednesday, December 2, from 2 p.m. to midnight and Thursday, December 3, through Sunday, December 6, from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.  The beer schedule is as follows:

Tuesday: Magic Hat Brewery (A White Basel)
Wednesday:  Founders Brewery
Thursday and Friday: Duvel featuring Brewery Ommegang & Boulevard Brewing
Saturday: Lagunitas Baked Basel
Sunday: Closing party

Sweet Chick Cocktails at Drunken Dragon
New York's Sweet Chick restaurant will pop up at Drunken Dragon in South Beach this Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5, to serve its famous chicken 'n' waffles from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. both days. More important are the cocktails. Sweet Chick's John Seymour will shake up the restaurant's signature cocktails, such as the Sweet Chick (vodka, triple sec, watermelon, and lemon); the Tiger Woods (bourbon, cognac, lemon, honey, and Brooklyn Soda Works' Arnold Palmer soda); and the Purple Drank (gin, lemon, lime, simple syrup, egg white, and Welch's grape soda). 

Swig n' Swine at Art Basel
The Bon Vivants, Esquire, and Imbibe present the second-annual Swig n' Swine Art Basel Miami Beach this Sunday, December 6, at the Broken Shaker. From 3 to 8 p.m., the event will feature a charity barbecue and plenty of punch. The Bon Vivants, cofounded by Josh Harris and Scott Baird, is the creative group behind San Francisco bars Trick Dog and Café du Nord. Swig n’ Swine Art Basel Miami Beach is the sister event of the annual Pig & Punch fundraiser held each year in New Orleans during Tales of the Cocktail.

Participating chefs and bartenders include Scott Baird (Bon Vivants), Michael Pirolo (Macchialina and Bazi), Jimmy Lebron (27 Restaurant & Bar), and Halid Quiroz (Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Co.). Tickets cost $30 in advance or $40 at the door and include all the food and drink you want, as well as a limited-edition Swig n' Swine tank top (while supplies last). All proceeds and additional donations will benefit Miami’s Overtown Youth Center, whose mission is to engage children in educational and recreational activities that promote their physical, cognitive, motor, social, and emotional development. 

J. Wakefield Brewing
J. Wakefield has collaborated with Ahol Sniffs Glue to create a unique label for its Harbinger beer. The bottles, featuring the artist's signature characters from the film Biscayne World, are a limited run of only 555 released to the general public and will be signed by both Jonathan Wakefield and Ahol Sniffs Glue.

The bottles will be sold at a special Art Basel 2015 kickoff celebration at the brewery Wednesday, December 2, from 2 to 8 p.m. The bottles cost $25 each (tax included) and are cash only. Harbinger, by the way, is the brewery's hazelnut coffee imperial sweet stout (9.5% ABV). The evening will also feature an exclusive showing of the artist's Biscayne World throughout the evening. It's a Frita Magic Box — a food truck by El Mago de las Fritas — will serve food from 2 to 11 p.m.

Wynwood Brewing Company
Muralist Ernesto Kunde is showcasing his artwork during Miami Art Weekat Wynwood Brewing. The brewery is also hosting a release of its collaboration with Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach. The Salted Caramel Porter will be launched Wednesday, December 2, at Kush and Friday, December 5, at Boxelder.