Tripping Animals' Irie Jungle Beer Festival to Welcome More Than 50 Breweries

After more than a year without any craft beer-focused events in Miami, a Doral brewery is bringing back its annual festival with plenty to celebrate.

This month, Tripping Animals' Irie Jungle returns — and bigger than ever before. In addition to more than 50 guest breweries, the festival will be introduced with a series of pre-event releases and guest tap takeovers.

“Our third-annual craft beer festival is coming back with a trippy vengeance to make up for last year’s unforeseen and unexpected cancellation,” says Tripping Animals cofounder Ignacio Montenegro. “The idea was to make this a big festival to welcome everyone back.”

The festival will welcome dozens of participating breweries on Saturday, April 24. The list includes out-of-state names like Alvarado Street Brewery, Aslin Beer Company, Bearded Iris Brewing, Burial Beer Co., Burley Oak Brewing Co., and Evil Twin NYC. Other guests include Forager Brewery, Imprint Beer Company, Mortalis Brewing Co., Other Half Brewing Co., Resident Culture Brewing Co., the Eighth State Brewing Co., Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., and Vitamin Sea Brewing Co.

“This year, we’ve also extended the invite to our local friends as well, because this is a reunion of sorts,” Montenegro explains. “We have so many industry friends that we've worked with in the past and collaborated with. This is a celebration of those relationships.”

Over the past six months, the team at Tripping Animals has been working to ensure the 2021 Irie Jungle is curated for a post-pandemic environment. To ensure safety, the brewery will be following CDC guidelines for events. Masks are required while moving through the space, and sanitizing stations will be available in multiple locations.

Two admission tiers and two timed-entry sessions will allow for sufficient social distancing, says Montenegro. Capped at 200 people per session, each will run for three hours beginning at noon to 3 p.m., and again from 5 to 8 p.m. Food options will include Tripping Animal's on-site eatery, Gorilla City Meats & Sandwiches, as well as pop-ups by Haochi Dumplings, Frate Kitchen, Asquerosito Street Food, and LuchaDough.

Each $75 general admission ticket holder will be given a five-ounce glass that can be used for unlimited pours, with food available for purchase. VIP entry, priced at $250, will offer one-hour early access with unlimited pours, VIP-only pours, an Irie Jungle glass, one meal ticket, and a set of five Tripping Animals barrel-aged stouts in half-liter bottles.

In the days leading up to the event, Tripping Animals will host a series of can drops featuring out-of-state and local breweries.

On Saturday, April 17, the brewery's Irie Jungle pre-party begins from 8 p.m. to midnight with a special tapping of Vortex Of Darkness, a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with hazelnut, coconut, and cacao nibs and music by DJ Massta.

On Tuesday, April 20, the brewery will release three cans from 4 p.m. to midnight, including two exclusive four-packs from Indiana-based 450 North (Slushy XL Maui Waui and Slushy XXL Bahama Mama). The day's release will also include a collaboration double IPA with Cerebral Brewing dubbed Fossil Record, brewed with Citra, Pacific Sunrise, Galaxy, and Strata hops.

On Wednesday, April 21, the brewery will tap beers from 4 p.m. to midnight featuring Moksa Brewing, Kings Brewing, Bottle Logic Brewing, Mikerphone, Homes Brewery, and Cerebral Brewing.

On Thursday, April 22, tappings will tap beers from 4 p.m. to midnight featuring Vitamin C Brewing, Equilibrium Brewing, Other Half Brewing, District 96 Brewing, Mortalis Brewing, and Definitive Brewing.

On Friday, April 23, the brewery will release its Irie Jungle-themed cans from 4 p.m. to midnight, beginning with Irie Jungle 2021, a triple IPA hopped with Galaxy, Citra, Incognito, and Cashmere-cryo hops; and Irie Jungle Sour Vibes, a sour ale with blackcurrant, blueberry, raspberry, mango, peach, toasted coconut, marshmallow, Madagascar vanilla, and milk sugar).

For those that aren't able to attend the event, the Irie Jungle after-party will take place at the brewery taproom from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. with music by Juan Carlos Guardiola, also known as Johnny Dread. Entrance to the brewery after party will be free, and the bar will be open to serve guests.

“Irie Jungle is all about feeling great, getting together, and having a blast,” Montenegro says. “That is true more so than ever right now for the craft beer world, due to the pandemic. There’s been no traveling, no in-person collaborating, no festivals, no getting together to share beer. Now, we can finally celebrate Irie Jungle the right way, and introduce some new breweries to Doral and Miami.”

Tripping Animals Irie Jungle Beer Festival. Noon to 3 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 24, at Tripping Animals Brewery Co., 2685 NW 105th Ave., Doral; 305-646-1339; trippinganimals.com. Tickets cost $75 to $250.