Florida Brands

So I visited the "Florida Beer Company" and found they bottle a number of different brands. Primary brands are:
Key West - a major craft brand in the Keys, with the flagship Sunset Ale an amber
La Tropical cerveza Cubana - a cuban label German style pilsner found in South Florida, comes originally from Havana and founded in 1888
Hurricane Reef - a really cool label (makes me want to be in la Caribe) with pilsners, a pale and a raz wheat,
Ybor Gold - a Tampa label,
Beachside - lager for the spacecoast and (well) beach,
Indian River - the original label of the original owners for Melbourne, and


All very drinkable beers considering the hot Florida sun makes you want to drink in quantity. I plan to pick up some La Tropical, some Key West Sunset Ale and maybe some Hurricane Reef pale as each has a solid style profile.

They've done a German dopplebock on draft that was in heavy demand locally.

The big surprise is Kelly's hard cider. A true Irish cider from an Irishman that needed a brewery partner. Finished with a Champagne yeast this one comes out amazingly dry and is a favorite with the ladies. This is a top quality cider!

When in Florida, drink local!

and hook up with Eulan, the friendly marketing guy (and avid marathoner) at local beer events or stop by and see Jeff at the (warm) tasting room at the brewery - just a mile south of the Melbourne beach causeway on Hwy 1.

Real Florida Beer

Ten or twelve years ago if you stopped most places in Florida you'd find all the usual light beers and on occaision you'd find a place like Bunky's in Indialantic with a big beer cooler. Well, Bunky's has slimed down their selection (drat) but I found real Florida beer. That's right apparently somebody (and I'll find out who) decided Florida needed their own beer. And this is not the super-light lager in clear bottles that show up in the surfer posters.

I stumbled upon 6-pack of Key West Sunset Ale at the Winn-Dixie store where I usually go when I blow into Melbourne Beach and was pleased to see a local beer. Though the Key West name might not help you guess they brew in Melbourne, FL (I guess "Melbourne Lager" might not have the same cache - and would be confused for 'down under').

The Key West Sunset ale had a nice malt characteristic and the crisp taste they claim. A great brew for sipping on a warm evening staring at the ocean (or the TV for that matter!).

More soon as I'll be visiting them!

Savannah for beer lovers

Forget about Paula Deen's place (sorry, TravelChannel) but get great food and wonderful beer at Blue Moon Brewing in Savannah, Georgia. Another place with outside seating (a must for the dog, you know, and with free dog water) and it is rare to get great, gourmet food along with really great beer. They had a limited tap selection at six (well, limited compared to their list) but they also had guest beers including Shneider-Brooklyner Hopfen Weiss. If you are a beer lover you know this beer that I gladly passed up (okay, I DID have a sample on tap just to remind me how good it is) because I want to drink local beer.

I chose the Savannah Fest beer, a German Oktoberfest style, smooth, clean rich. This one was maybe not quite as malty as a real German one, but who cared! Sipping this beer on a summer day (hot as Hades in Savannah), sitting outside, enjoy a great malty beer with equally great food. I had the stuffed shrimp: six succulent seasoned shrimp savored and satieted with smoked kielbasa - sorry I just like the sound of that.

We also tried their wacky wit, a true Belgian style wit and just perfect on a hot day.
Every beer on their sampler was so tasty including the Swamp Fox IPA, a true hop head delight.

Charleston, SC is home to wonderful beer!

Southend in Charleston has a range of beers from the rather typical blonde (always trying to satisfy and entice Bud drinkers, aren't we, fellow brewers) to Red, Brown, and green (okay, just kidding!). But the Red is a flavorful ruby amber, the brown a rich, malty brown, and their wheat was a very nicely done wit (or near-Belgian style wheat though probably without corriander as they pronounce it an American wheat). Their pale has wonderful hop notes in a great copper colored delicious beer.

This is a great locale at 161 Bay Street where I could sit outside with the dog on a warm Charleston August evening sipping a great pale under a gaslight lamp!

Great beer in Louisville

Louisville area is known for good bourbon but also good beer. I found really outstanding beer on several trips and at several locations. If we count the 'metro area' including the 'sunny' side across the Ohio river in Indiana, there are four brewpubs. The largest of these is the Bluegrass Brewing Company. The others are Cumberland, Brownings, and NewAlbanian.

Bluegrass is well known for a wide variety of beers and for always having one on tap that is aged in a bourbon barrel. I had tried their bourbon barrel aged stout - Yum. This July I tried their bourbon barrel aged scotch ale -- double yum. 8.8% ABV (or % alcohol). 27 IBU for those like me who want to gage the bite or 'bitterness' in the beer. This is an absolutely delightfully complex beer with a nice malt characteristic as well as great tones of bourbon without that being overwhelming.

I also tried their Alt beer - a nice clean somewhat bitter beer with some malt character. I've tried several of their beers (thanks to assisant brewer Sam) and intend to blog more when I return to all of my notes.

But if you want a great beer adventure in Louisville, try BBC!