Maple Bacon Coffee Porter Release Day

Today's Belle of the Ball.

It's always fun going to bed, knowing you'll be waking up for some day drinking. Day drinking is exactly what happened with Funky Buddha's Maple Bacon Coffee Porter Bottle Release and Festival. This beer is a hot topic. Just Google it. It has high ratings on Beer Advocate, RateBeer.com, and got famous at the Great American Beer Festival. It's what launched Funky Buddha into craft beer fame. I do enjoy this beer, drank it on draft and picked up a few bottles, but I don't pick up on any bacon. Sorry. The coffee notes are fantastic and prominent, and it's robust, sweet and a smooth porter. Bacon no, delicious - yes! 

Bottle status. I got my 2 of the 3,000.

The festival included many beers, with special times releases on the hour. 

Somehow we thought our feet would liven up the shot. You're welcome.

My notable pours included:

Bonita Applebum, an American Brown Ale which has the aroma of a freshly baked apple pie. The cinnamon is dominant, with a lot of spice going on. This beer is great. It's not too sweet, and I enjoyed the malty undertones. 

Snowed In is an Imperial Porter, which was my favorite of the day! It's pretty similar to Last Snow, except a higher ABV. It feels a bit more creamy, and less earthy than Last Snow. I tasted chocolate, coconut, high malt, and maybe caramel. 

Their Rice Crispy Cream Ale was a tatsy beer, however I wouldn't say it tasted like one. I picked up more of a lemon, toasted marshmallow flavor. It didn't taste overly artificial. 

Special Guests on Draft:

I sipped on an Engine 15 Jasmine Saison, but wasn't a fan. It was way too floral for my taste, but, I rarely enjoy saisons so this was expected. Not my thing. 

The Dogfish 2012 Chateau Jiahu was a treat, an ancient ale modeled after an era 9,000 years ago from China. It's made with brown rice syrup, orange blossom honey, grapes and berry - with the wort fermented with sake yeast for a month. It's like a fine wine hybrid beer. Dogfish always gets my respect for pushing the envelope on things no one else has done, or imagined!

I really wanted to try Cigar City Illuminating the Path Pinot Noir Barrel Aged Ale (ran out), and Cigar City's Good Gourd Almighty Rum Barrel Aged Ale (left too early). 

One of the best moves we made all day, was to avoid the food truck lines and made a field trip to the Ale House for a round of cheese steaks. The weather was great, balmy and 80, and I was impressed with the organization of the festival, and selection of beers. The only thing I didn't like was seeing kids being brought there; I felt bad - each one I saw looked miserable and was crying. Not their thing, obviously. 

Overall, this was a very fun day with friends! It's great to have so many options continuing to develop for South Florida beer nerds! We have South Florida Beer Week coming, and Miami Beer Festival!

Cheers!