2008

Jupiter Brewfest - Jupiter, Florida

On Saturday January 26, 2008 I attended the second annual Jupiter Brewfest with two of my good beer drinking friends. As is now "tradition"we stopped at the Yard House for lunch. Yard House is a small chain of restaurants that each have over 100 beers on tap. Most of their locations are on the west coast; this is the only one in Florida. There is a Yardhouse planned for Coral Gables; we look forward to visiting in October when they open. The fest was only a couple of exits up I-95 and we arrived there about 2:00. It is set up around the town center at Abacoa, a development that has retail and public areas with residential above or nearby. There was a long line to get in but the advance sale one moved right along. This years theme was "The Best Day of The Year So far.." I agree and it was. When I walked in I went to the first vendor, Shipyard Brewery of Portland Maine for my first beer taste. I met some guys from California with Stone Brewing shirts on. We spoke of how much we liked that brewery and when I turned around my two friends had melted into the crowd. This was probably for the best as it let everyone go at their own pace. I met many more people and had a great afternoon tasting beers and talking up the craft brewing industry in general. I handed out some cards with this website mentioned and had many positive responses. There were beers that we hadn't had as well as some familiar names. Dogfish Head had 60 and 90 minute IPA on. There was some 120 min there but unmarked. Someone told me about it and said to go early as it would probably run out. I did and also had one at the end; it was one of the only beers left about 7:00. Bells Beer of Michigan is new to Florida; they had a popular booth and some great beers. The owner, Larry Bell, was serving beer himself. Brooklyn Brewing's Brewmaster, Garrett Oliver was also there and opened a "Local One", a special Belgian style beer, and served me one. It was an excellent beer and I was able to find it locally the next day. One booth had a "home made" IPA which really tasted good. There was music in the background all afternoon. At 4:00 there was a "Best Dressed Monk" contest held by Monk in the Trunk the local Jupiter brewery. The silent disco by Oskar Blues was cool. When you walked by the dance floor there were people dancing with no music! (It was on their headphones!) I finished my day at Avery Brewing one of Colorado's best. I had made a friend behind the booth so it was a good ending point. I also met up with my two lost friends. I think I made most of the booths; if not there is always next year! It was dark and the fest was closing so we headed back to our hotel and dinner.
Beer Finders Tip: Emporium Wine Beer Spirits store is a local store for good beer. Located at 11865 US 1 N Palm Beach just south of Jupiter it had several beers we didn't have at home. Know your beer though as I saw some dusty bottles. Sierra Nevada Anniversary ale was in the cooler still good; I wish I had bought both six packs. Some interesting Belgians too. Traveling north there is a Publix Store 1049 "Countyline Plaza Publix" that gets mention because it has the largest selection of good beer I have ever seen in a Publix. There was an entire aisle, in this large store, of both warm and cold good beer. I found the above mentioned Brooklyn beer as well as Bells. This was a random find as we tried a liquor store first and just decided to check the grocery store on a chance. Good beer found once again! Website: www.jupiterbrewfest.com Yard House Website: www.yardhouse.com

On Saturday May 17, 2008 the first Great Orlando Beer was held. I attended along with the "usual suspects" my two good beer loving friends. We left early that morning, driving in my new car, so we would arrive at lunchtime. The event was to start at 2:00 and we were in town at 12:00. We had read about a great pub with good beers and food; The Ravenous Pig in nearby Winter Park. The place was great; excellent beers and organic, natural foods on the menu. I will give a full review of the restaurant in the beer and food section of this website at a later date. Suffice it to say I had Bells Two Hearted Ale with a Smoked Pork Sandwich with chimichurri, corn and black eyed pea relish, cheddar on grilled sourdough. A different taste; everything on the menu is made there at the pub from local sources as much as possible. This was a great find; I highly recommend it when in Orlando. That Bells ale isn't in Dade County yet so that alone was a find; great food made it even better! The 'Pig was great but we had to get to the festival. The event was held near the downtown area of Orlando; our hotel was a mile from the event. We drove to the festival and found the nearby parking garage as advertised. There were other festival goers there; we spoke with several and headed to the event. About one block from the parking lot we looked for our tickets and they were back at the car. Our new found friends said they would see us later inside. As we headed back to get the tickets we suddenly had company; they also had forgotten their tickets! We could see that this was going to be a great time! As we entered they handed everyone a "raffle" ticket to be drawn later. The festival was set up with tents on three sides and a group in the middle. The middle area is right in front of you when yor enter so it was up first. The Central Florida Home Brewers had a tent with four beers to taste. All were good; the "Red" ale was the best they were pouring. (Not to be confused with the red ales popular several years ago.) This was a stronger ale with totally different taste. Right next door was Dogfish Head Brewing; brewing "Off centered ales for off centered people". They had their Black and Blue a Belgiany ale made with blackberries and blueberries. This is a great beer but outside in the heat I enjoyed the 60 minute IPA more. Later I met the local distributor and he told me about a beer Dogfish sent him with a note "Enjoy this at the festival" on it. It wasn't on the bill or listed; it was Palo Santo Marron an ale fermented in wooden tanks! The keg at the festival was the only one to be here in Florida until they get production up. The beer will be available here soon but this was a cool thing for the festival. I returned to the tent and was able to try the new beer. I look forward to exploring it more when it is available here in Florida. It had a complex taste reflecting the wooden tanks it was fermented in and the brown ale it began as. For more about the beer visit Dogfish's website where there is a video about it and the company. Cool guys! Next door was Orlando Brewing which I recently visited. (Scroll up this page for the full review). The Red ale was enjoyed; It is probably their best seller along with the Pale Ale. This tent was at the end of the row; the stage and some tables to sit at were there. I like this idea; so many festivals don't offer a place to sit and relax for a few miniutes before continuing on. One group played old Joe Walsh tunes with some dancing along.The day was warm but cloud cover really saved the day. The may want to move the event up a few weeks to get the last of springs cooler weather. Around the corner was PBR; I skipped that and cut across to the back row where Bells was. They had the Two Hearted ale and Oberon both were great. Their booth is also always good for beer paraphernalia; stickers, key chains etc. Next door was Brooklyn Brewing and Flying Dog. Both have many bottled beers; many here at the fest. Terrapin Beer was nearby. I was able to try Big Hoppy Monster which wasn't out when I was last in Georgia. John, the owner, had a few stashed and invited me to tour the brewery in Athens next time I'm there. Shmaltz Brewing, maker of the Hebrew line was well represented. Sackets Harbor Brewing had their original War of 1812 Amber Ale and the newer Thousand Isle ale. I had never heard of this brewery; some is contracted with Saratoga Springs Brewing in New York. They are new to the Florida market; the booth was crowded and I only got a taste. The back corner was a fun area; a local pub Underground Bluz - UCF had several beers. They had two Lost Coast Ales on tap as well as Monk in the Trunk from Jupiter (Orlando) brewing. They had many interesting bottles; we were there for the opening of Speedway Stout a most enjoyable Calif. stout. Next door was the distributor of Sam Smiths English ales among other things. We then saw a South Florida local, Adam of Fresh Beer, Inc. I didn't know that he went this far upstate but the Fresh Beer line is going statewide. This includes Native Lager and the Eleven Brown Ale. I mentioned that I first met him at the old Miami Beach Festival years ago. At that time he was brewing and distributing locally. What a difference several years makes! His company has grown beyond his wildest expectations. I missed a few booths and I'm sure this went well for a first time event. There was one really bad beer; a sour ale from Jolly Pumpkin. I still pucker up just thinking about it. The event ended strangely; about 15 minutes before closing a bunch of "cops" started blowing whistles and announcing "All vendors stop serving now". These antics continued for around 5 minutes. Most everyone did stop pouring and people started to go. It was a great day; this was just a strange way to end it. We left to go to our hotel with a return to the 'pig for a late dinner.

Update 2018: This festival was a one off affair. The organizers tried to hold it for the next few years but never were able to make it happen again. There is a new festival "The Orlando Beer Festival" that started in 2015 and still is going. Maybe the November date will bring cooler weather. Website.

Beer finders tip: Knightly Spirits is a good local source for many hard to find beers. It is a small place but I saw beers I didn't know existed. Barleywines from Norway, IPA from Denmark, Swedish beers too. Many European examples of popular micro brew styles. Also a good selection of "regular" micros. Some stuff is a bit pricey; $9 for a bottle of IPA or Barleywine is a bit much but lets see how the beers are. Bring small he can't carry everything they were out of the Bells I wanted too. Still a worthwhile visit; Chris was very helpful and came out to describe and help find beers while running the counter also.

Update 2018: The location above has closed but Knightly Spirits lives on. The small chain now has 5 stores with the Orange Blossom Trail location the best for craft beer. Website.

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