While we were in Florida on vacation it was perfect opportunity to try out some brews that are not available at home. First stop was the Publix grocery store. Gotta love buying beer at every store!! I found a very promising one from Florida Brewing, Swamp Ape IPA. I really like IPAs so it sounded perfect.
Wow, glad it was only a 4 pack! While I'm sure there are people that like it, it was one of the worst beers I've ever had. Not sure exactly why I found it so bad, and it took every ounce of effort I could muster to finish the 4. That was disappointing! I can't waste a beer, even bad ones. Also picked up some Woodchuck Amber Cider with Mary in mind, but I ended up drinking them.
Another visit to the Publix and 2 more to try, Leffe Blond and Hopsecutioner IPA. The Leffe was OK, but not my style, and the Hopsecutioner was pretty good. Stretched them all the way to the end of the trip.
The Hilton Grand Vacation we were at has a really nice pool-side bar, but only a few taps, and the only one worth drinking was Blue Moon, so that was the staple at the bar. A couple bottles they had were new to me, but nothing to write home about. They did a beer tasting one night, but they were all bland pilsners from other counties. No shortage of that blandness here in the US, and they offered up more!
We visited all the key Disney parks, skipping the water parks, and while the Magic Kingdom is dry, Epcot, MGM and Animal Kingdom are not. Turns out that the annual Food & Wine Festival was in progress at Epcot. Mmmmmmm beer too! We ended up there 3 times to best appreciate what they had to offer. The first day was on the weekend, and it was mobbed beyond belief. Lines for beer (and wine) were 30, 40 and 50 people deep. We found a few that were not too bad, but in the end decided to go back to the Magic Kingdom where there were no significant crowds. We ended up back on 2 weekdays and found the lines short, and I tried quite a few brews. Seems Sam Adams is VERY popular in FL, so 1 location had nearly every one they make. I've had a bunch, and can find them at home, so I limited myself to 2 and 1 was a duplicate anyway! The best deals were 6 oz samplers, but not all booths were doing them, so I was stuck with a couple pints. Bummer!
We went to the Kennedy Space Center for the "Atlantis Rollover" hoopla event on the first Friday. This was a special ticketed event to keep the crowds in check, and we watched as they rolled the space shuttle Atlantis on it's way from the VAB to it's new $100 million home at the Visitor Center. This was the last of the shuttles to make it's way to it's final destination. Seems even Kennedy Space Center had to compete to get one. The first stop on the journey was at a special location where it stopped for 3 hours for up close viewing. This was the biggest event of the day and each of the companies working on new space vehicles were there with booths and mockup craft. It was quite a view to see the shuttle roll in in front of us. And no event is complete without BEER! They had a beer truck set up and serving at 10:00. What a country we live in! Better yet they had 1 real beer, Becks. Rather good I might add.
We spent a couple days wandering around Downtown Disney, the first of which ended with the Cirque du Soleil show La Nuba. An amazing show! I will say one thing about it, it was organized chaos. There was something going on everywhere non-stop. Wonderful show.
And of course, there was BEER! Found a few new ones to try, and one particular one on the first day we were there at the Portabello restaurant - Olde Pelican Ale. Made by the Orlando Brewing Company, one of about 20 USDA certified organic breweries in the country.
Turns out they are only a 20 minute ride up the highway, and they do tours. Yea! So, the last day before we left we planned a visit and did the tour. It's more like a nano brewery. They have 10 fermenters, but only 1 brew kettle, and all in a pretty tiny building. The front is a tasting bar, and all they serve is their beer including several that they only offer there. Here is the line up, 24 taps!
The owner/bremaster did the tour, and was quite a guy. He is also a judge for one the major beer groups, and travels around the country for their annual competition. He's got more than few awards of his own, actually a lot more than a few. I had 6 more there and only the Pumpkin was less than great. It was a real home town kind of place where the regulars gather regularly. The kind of place I'd love to see around here.
We found a really nice restaurant in downtown Orlando near Lake Eola Park (well, on the lake - sort of), and I found another local brew there from the Cigar City Brewing, Jai Alai IPA. A serious hoppy IPA, and really good. I had to have 2! We liked the place so much we went back for lunch again and had another, Long Hammer IPA from Redhook Ale Brewery. Another very good one, but not quite so hoppy.
In the end I tried 44 unique beers in the 16 days, doubles of a few, and a number of duplicates. What a vacation! Mary only found a few wines at Epcot to try as her taste is somewhat limited, but almost everyone serves Romancokes.
Johnnycakes
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