Sippin on the West Side..

If you can believe it, I've only been to one craft beer establishment in the past few weeks. What a slacker I am! It would've been two, but the Mack House only had one pour of Stone Enjoy By 7.4.14 left, so I didn't risk it...

The trip I did make, was to Brass Tap in Pembroke Pines. While my girlfriends and I savored a few brews, we caught up on kids, men, work, and other things we can't disclose. My experiences at Brass Tap have ranged from great, to bad, but this one demonstrated an improvement in their service. I hope the trend continues! I had a Funky Buddha Hop Gun, and my friends enjoyed a Fat Tire and a Young's Double Chocolate Stout.

When I'm not at spots with craft beer across South Florida, I visit my beer fridge. A few recent visits have included the following:

The Bruery Rugbrød, California


The Bruery anything, is a beautiful thing

This is a Julebyrg style Dark Rye Ale. Julebyrg is a Scandinavian Christmas beer, and Rugbrød means rye bread in Danish. This was roasty, earthy, and a bit not my style. It was amazing Bruery quality, I mean they are, the Louis Vuitton of beer. However, I wouldn't buy this one again, but appreciate the craftsmanship in this brew, as all of their beers I have tried. Crisp carbonation and pure tasting ingredients. 



Cigar City Cubano-Style Espresso Brown Ale, Tampa
I love espresso. I love beer. I'm going to try any espresso/coffee/beer concoction. This one weighs in at 5.5% ABV, and was a little watery / thin. The label states it's an ale with vanilla, cacao and coffee beans. I didn't get any vanilla, and it felt a little too delicate. Maybe I'm just spoiled by Maduro Brown Ale, but I'd like the boldness and thickness of Maduro, along with the flavor of espresso this one has. 

Miami Brewing Shark Bait, Miami

Summer in a can. Wheat ale with mango juice. I'm not a big fruity beer girl, but I did enjoy this. It was the perfect formula of wheat, beer and mango. Refreshing and light, but not weak on flavor. I could totally see drinking this at the beach, pool or boat. 

Love

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, Delaware

I've talked about this one before. It's one of my top ten beers. It's a high ABV brown ale (12%), aged in the largest wooden brewing vessel since prohibition. It's made from Palo Santo wood, meaning "Holy tree", and the beer is brewed in the Paraguayan wood. I paired this with mac and cheese, which I could literally eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Random favorite food fact!

 

Shiner White Wing Belgian White, Texas


This little gem was only $3.29 at Publix! The cashier even double checked and was like, "Whaaaatt! I need to go get one of these". She should, because it's sharp, with slight hints of coriander and a little bit of orange peel. I enjoyed this; maybe more so because it was a $3.29 bomber bottle! I would buy it again as an easy drinking, after work type of beer. 

Until next time, cheers!

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!

Can't Get Enough Funky Buddha, and Hey Ladies!!

Funky Buddha emailed me that my personalized snifter was in. That's all I needed to head back to Oakland Park. After a delicious, not overly sweet Blood Orange IPA, it seemed like a perfect time for a 2PM tour. So, after $5, and a free commemorative pint glass, off to the back we went! The tour guide was awesome. He was super passionate about the history, the beer, and the process. Beer nerds know beer nerds, and this dude knows what's up. I didn't realize how successful their Maple Bacon Coffee Porter was at GABF (Great American Beer Festival), and how it was instrumental in putting them on the map! I also learned that their tanks are named after kids, pets and dead Grandparents; i.e. Popper, Gram and Miles, to name a few. After touring the facility, sampling the goods along the way, and checking out the fridge with the motherload of kegs - we were released back with the common folks. I had a No Crusts, which seriously, is like a PB&J but very drinkable, and then a big ol' growler of Hop Gun IPA for the road. Hop Gun IPA was so fresh, and just delicious. I'm not sure what kind of hops they use, but it really reminded me of Cigar City Jai Alai. Two very different tasting, and yummy IPAs, but, I can see a parallel in there somewhere. Maybe it's the same kind of hops??

Time for a ladies night! Two beer dorks, and three non beer dorks, got glammed up and headed to the Royal Pig in Ft. Lauderdale. I was curious to try their own Royal Pig Red Ale, so I ordered it in a flight along with: Green Flash IPA, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, and Breckenridge Vanilla Porter (all safe choices). I wasn't overly impressed with their Red Ale. It seemed a little watery, but I did enjoy the oaky flavors. Maybe it was the tap. It wasn't good enough to get another one. My next one was an Epcot sized glass, of Rogue Dead Guy. Can't go wrong with that one!

Random shout out! Friday's in Davie has expanded their craft selection, specifically on the local side. I savored a Monk in the Trunk (Inlet Brewing), but had a choice of Tequesta Brewing. Impressive, Fridays! 

As I'm typing and sipping, I have to talk about this Dogfish Positive Contact; the collaboration of apple cider, music and beer, with Dan the Automator. You've got spices, cilantro, light mouth feel, yet 9% ABV. I can't recall a more complex, yet simple brew. Dogfish is known for their random specialty brews, and this is one of the better ones I've had!