You have to give credit to Lowry Park Zoo’s fundraising gurus. The annual beer festival Wazoo is known as one of the top ten such events in the nation, and brings in plenty of money and guests that the zoo would not see otherwise. If you love beer, $50 is a small price to try an impressive variety of brews and featured food samples. There were four bands and zoo employees featured a few nocturnal animals, but this event was all about the beer. The first Wazoo fourteen years ago featured forty beers to four hundred guests. In 2009, the event netted $110,000 with 3,600 attendees and 250 brews. Wazoo is now a premiere event in the Tampa Bay area. Like any large event, it is important to strategize for the optimum experience. So here are a few tips to get the most out of Wazoo next year. The “fill to here” line is your friend. When you enter the event, you’re given a small plastic cup with a line that suggests “fill to here,” that fellow attendees first derided as a joke. But I knew better. With well over two hundred beers available for tasting, it would be downright foolish to expect (and drink) a healthy glass of every one. At many wine tastings, judges spit their libations into a trough. Not so at Wazoo, where attendees aren’t so conscientious about their sobriety. Besides, even the most omnivorous beer lover will find brews he or she doesn’t like. If you dump your sample, better to waste one or two ounces instead of four. Dress for comfort. The best part of the event, aside from all that beer, is the people watching. For once the zoo’s guests become its most interesting exhibit. At the beginning of the evening (gates open at 7:30), there is no shortage of ladies dressed to the nines. An hour or two later, the same people are cursing their high heels and struggling with their hair amid the unforgiving humidity. Although Wazoo is a nice place to see and be seen, casual dress and footwear is clearly the best policy, because you will likely be walking (and sweating) most of the time. Wazoo is not a quiet wine tasting in an art gallery. It is a full-on party for people who enjoy beer’s delights. A friend thought the event’s atmosphere was like a concert, but with beer taking center stage. Do not arrive hungry. First of all, you want to be ready to sip from the start. Eat a good dinner before the event, but leave space for brew. The list of food vendors may look impressive, but the longest lines are always for the small samples of food. Great beers can be had with a minimum of waiting. Getting food samples can eat up most the event if you’re not careful. Vendors don’t have much incentive to cook the volume necessary for an event like this, especially the ones serving seafood and meat. Only go for the food that won’t require a long wait, or you will spend your evening waiting in line with an empty cup. And always note where the ice cream and frosty treats are located. Make them your last stops of the evening. My favorite food vendor this year: Queen of Sheba’s spicy Ethiopian food. It was heavily seasoned and woke up my boozy palate. Be selective. There is certainly no shortage of beer. The well-knows titans such as Michelob, MillerCoors, and Anheuser-Busch are there, but are just three out of 72 vendors, breweries, and importers. With each vendor’s table sporting one to seven brews, that adds up to a lot of suds. Look for beer styles that you like the most (lager, wheat, pale ale, brown ale, etc.) and sample them from vendors you haven’t tasted before. Or revisit your favorites. I visited Chimay, an excellent Belgian brewer and old favorite, several times. This year, judges awarded first place to Malheur. Second went to Cigar City Brewing Barrel Aged Wee Heavy, with DeProef Zoetzuur Flemish Ale taking third. Congrats to Cigar City and the other local competitors: Dunedin Brewery, Tampa Bay Brewing Company, Florida Beer Company, Florida Micro Beverage, and the loose and creative Tampa Bay BEERs, Nature’s call. Green lights help guide you to restrooms, and you will need them. Finding relief is not an issue at this event, and the lines aren’t too bad. Don’t wait until you are desperate and you’ll be fine. Mind the clock. The event planners chose the perfect duration for the event: three hours. Being fashionably late is not a good idea. Attendees arrive full of cheer, and leave full of beer. It is easily one of the most happy crowds you are likely to encounter. By the time the event is over, some of the guests are jolly and loud, but surprisingly pleasant. I’ve attended for the last two years, and have never seen an ugly incident. Thankfully, the zoo even contracts a cab company to drive its guests home. Finding a cab promptly when the doors close can be a challenge, because everyone is leaving at once. Be patient or arrange for a cab away from the crowds. Beer is king. The VIP “Beastly Beverage Club” is the only air-conditioned part of the event, but all of the action takes place outside among the vendors. Save the additional $30 VIP charge and concentrate on beer sampling. You can cool off at home. For $10, you can have access to “Wines on the Wild Side,” but the wines were disproportionately fruity, with flavors like Key Lime, pineapple, blueberry, mango, and kiwi. Wazoo is all about the beer, and I see no need to throw wine into the mix. There is no shortage of entertainment, with four live bands and the animals on display. But your fellow attendees provide the best entertainment of all, whether they know it or not.
