Hi, I am from Ireland and going on holiday in Orlando Florida at the start of December and was wondering what i should be looking out for and could hope to realistically get at this time of year in major liquor stores. Obvisouly i only have a week and can only drink so much beer in that time, i like most styles and cant spend much time searching as it is a family holiday. So basically, the best beers that will be readily available or any seasonals i might have a chance of picking up. Thanks in advance for replys.
Cigar City Jai Alai IPA. It's practically the state beer of Florida nowadays. You going to Disney World? I'd highly recommend hitting up Knightly Spirits on Orange Blossom Trail if you can only stop 1 place for beer. Another place is Total Wine (near Mall at Millenia)
Hi, Jai Alai looks like a good one indeed. We are staying On International Drive, will prob do Disney a few days, the usual stuff. Keep firing them out there. Thanks,
Anything Cigar City is a good bet. Check out the bar Redlight Redlight if you have time because they usually have a good tap selection. Honestly though, if I were you I would just drive to Tampa, only 1.5 hours, and spend some time at Cigar City as it is a top notch place.
Florida breweries don't do much in the realm of Winter seasonals so you'll probably just find the usual year-round stuff. I definitely recommend trying or buying anything you see by Cigar City Brewery, especially Jai Alai and also try Maduro Brown which I think is overlooked a lot and is a very solid brown ale. In Orlando, I'm not sure you'll find other stuff by Florida breweries around the stores - at least nothing highly recommended. If you were to go to a craft beer bar like Redlight Redlight though you can probably sample a nice selection of local beers on draft/tap. Are you only interested in Florida beers? If not, you should be able to find a nice selection of beers from around the U.S. I would also recommend beers by Georgia breweries Terrapin and Sweetwater.
Cheers guys, doesnt have to be Florida breweries, We only get founders, anchor, odell, sierra nevada and brooklyn easily around here. So anything from the USA at all.. Redlight redlight looks great.. cigar city brewery as well, this family holiday is gonna be a drunken blurr at this rate..
Isn't that the general rule of family vacations? The more time you spend with them, the more you need to drink?
We didn't even get founders until a few months ago. Seems you get some of the best over there already.
If you'll be visiting Epcot/world Showcase consider making one of your meals (or just a beer break) at Big River Grille & Brewing Works located at Disney's Boardwalk. It's just a short walk or water taxi ride from the side entrance at the World Shocase between France and the United Kingdom. It's great to make an escape for a bit and drink freshly brewed beer, the Red Rocket is good and this time of year they have an Oktoberfest I really enjoy. Now that our kids are older my wife and I like to while away an hour or so just sitting outside there in the afternoon enjoying some brews. The brewer is a great guy and loves talking about beer with people who really know and enjoy it.
I travel to Orlando frequently and can say that it is somewhat of a wasteland. There are a few good bars, but I wouldn't recommend Knightly Spirits bottle shop. Very low inventory and would be a waste of your time. If you can stomach the short ~1 hour drive to Cigar City in Tampa, I would go there ASAP. Stock up on fresh Jai Alai, Maduro, and load up on some delicious growlers. Keep them cold and enjoy that in Orlando. If you don't want to drive, go to Total Wine in Orlando for the best bottle options.
I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with that ^^^ guy. Knightly Spirits on Orange Blossom is pretty well stocked. Can't vouch for the other locations, however.
The only distributed Winter brew CCB has done that wasn't a one off was Warmer Winter Winter Warmer (in the time i've been following them). Don't know if they are planning on brewing it again or not. Its decent. Not my favorite style, but still good. I'd still pick Jai Alai any day of the week. If you happen to be around orlando during the week, head over to Tampa on a Tuesday for their noon Growler Tuesday event. Some days they go big and you get something phenomenal. But its always some special treatment that is very good at the least. Sometimes Jai Alai variants... sometimes things like Oatmeal Raisin cookie or Blueberry Muffin Brown ale. This tuesday was Penultimate Push. About a month ago, they did Gates of Hell. You may get really lucky and be ecstatic, or you may just be really happy. But definitely get there before noon.
Thanks guys, the cigar city stuff looks awesome. looking forward to it.. Dogfish head i have also heard good things about. Cant wait to try new stuff.. Its so hard to get good fresh craft beers from the us over here. Luckily uk Brewers are just getting better and better, The Kernel Brewery, Thornbridge and Bristol Beer Factory do some great beers here.. cant wait to see how they measure up. Thankfully loads of belgian here so i cant complain.
Too bad you can't bring some of that with you to trade with us Cigar City people. As for Dogfish Head, their 60 and 90 minute IPA are truly excellent and many people's entryway in craft beer so it is something you will have to try for sure. I'd recommend hitting a Total Wine in Orlando, or the one in Tampa is a block from Cigar City, and building your own 6 pack so that you can try whatever you fancy.
Really? Maybe I'm just spoiled from stores here in Jax, but Knightly is struggling. Primarily a liquor store (small to begin with) the craft beer section is very small and lackluster. Most stuff looks like it's been on the shelf for a while.
