It's summer time and it's hot. You're more than parched with sticky white stuff forming are the corners of your lips. Yeah, you need beer. And lot's of it. Good because the Democratic Republic of Beer (DRB) is hosting the first ever Downtown Summer Beer Luau on July 10. How can this be you ask? DRB is barely big enough to hold more than a couple of kegs. Well, simple really. They're taking over an entire parking lot at 244 NE 14th St. (at the corner of 14th and Biscayne across from the Performing Arts Center) and doing it up in real/fake luau style. And now, after a small public outcry, they are only going to charge $15 for entrance to the Luau, half of what they originally announced.
Tiki torches, tents, live luau-ish music and leis (which will double as your entrance credential) will of course be featured, but the real star of the show is wine. No, really, it's beer. More than 80 beer vendors will descend upon DRB's parking lot en masse and the samples will flow freekt from 4 to 8p.m. DRB will have 250 of its selection of beers available during the event, though 50 will be available at any one time with a rotating menu.
Manager Georgio Saumat says the beer luau will continue DRB's irrepressible raison d'être: to educate the ignorant masses on the wide diversity of beer. "There are so many varieties of beer but people tend to stick with the same thing. We want to get them away from that," Saumat says. That shouldn't be a problem as 1oz. samples will be handed out like neon bracelets at a rave (ok, so that's old).
You can hardly be expected to imbibe seriously without some equally serious eats. And the 2010 Best of Miami winner of best bottled beer selection delivers. Nassie's Famous Franks will be sold, as will burgers, sausages and chicken--in other words, good beer food. There will also be a sake cocktails mixed by Ty Ku.
