Big Top Brewing Company taps new brew at Mr. Beery's

After last weekend's annual Beer Festival at Robarts Arena, one new Sarasota brewery stirred up a lot of attention among local attendees after selling out of nine kegs in just over two hours. The beersmiths on the tip of everyone's tongues were the native Sarasotans behind Big Top Brewing Company '” a craft beer company they created earlier this year with the goal of sharing their passion for, and the history of, their hometown.

Big Top brews its beers locally and is distributed by Coastal Beverage, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing, Great Bay Distributing, and Pepin Distributing Company.

Tonight, the brewmaster and fellow Big Top employees will host a meet-and-drink event, during which they'll be serving up free samples of one of their three current beers, called Circus City IPA. The free event begins at 6 p.m. at Mr. Beery's, 2645 Mall Dr. Stop in for a free beer sample, pick up some Big Top swag and chat with the men behind the malt.

'We'll be the first bar to serve their beer in Sarasota,' says Scooter Maloney, director of hop-erations at Mr. Beery's. 'We're excited to have them, because they've really done everything right, and they have a great product.'

Call 343-2854 for more information.