Breweries in Ft Lauderdale area?

Discussion in 'South Atlantic' started by blackngold41, Mar 9, 2015.

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  1. blackngold41

    blackngold41 Initiate (0) Jun 15, 2012 Connecticut

    Hi all. First post here. Heading down to FL later this week and I was wondering if you guys knew of any breweries worth checking out in the Ft Lauderdale area? I see that Funky Buddha is in the area. Is that worth checking out? Are there any smaller breweries off the beaten path?
    Also, probably a long shot, but any breweries out on the keys?

    Thanks guys.
     
  2. MosaicDrops

    MosaicDrops Initiate (0) Jun 4, 2014 New York

    I haven't been, and am actually curious on local feedback, but LauderAle Brewery is over near Port Everglades.

    You should checkout J Wakefield in MIA if you are driving through to the Keys.
     
  3. cacostaj

    cacostaj Zealot (579) Feb 15, 2013 Florida

    Bone Island in KW. The Porch, Krawl Off Duval (craft beer bars)
     
  4. SILVER

    SILVER Zealot (668) Jan 3, 2007 Florida

    If driving down to the keys from Ft. Lauderdale, I personally would not recommend driving through Miami.
    The way from Ft. Laud. would be the turnpike to Florida City (the end) and then US 1 with a detour by Car Sound Road which is a much more scenic route to Key Largo. Maybe a stop at Alabama Jack's!
     
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  5. The_FishermanJay

    The_FishermanJay Pundit (936) May 16, 2010 Florida
    Trader

    The Waterfront Brewery is a Key West outfit I "discovered" Saturday at the Florida Brewers Guild Festival. Their Key Lime WitNess was phenomenal (and the judges apparently agreed with me since it won a gold medal the next day).
     
  6. Pete811

    Pete811 Initiate (0) May 13, 2013 Michigan

    What's the place in the keys that's known for their blackened grouper sandwich?
     
  7. joemochas

    joemochas Savant (1,183) Nov 1, 2008 Florida

    yes.
     
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  8. blackngold41

    blackngold41 Initiate (0) Jun 15, 2012 Connecticut

    Thanks to all of you for the input.
    Do you know if they have a tap room or are open to the public? Their website doesn't have any content and their facebook page doesn't say either.
     
  9. socon67

    socon67 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,895) Jun 18, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    I just flew down to Ft. Lauderdale today for work. Got the rental car and drove straight to Funky Buddha. Second time there and it did not disappoint; French Toast on tap!

    Not sure what else is around, but they are the only option I need.
     
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  10. KeyWestGator

    KeyWestGator Savant (1,159) Jan 21, 2013 Florida
    Trader

    Waterfront isn't open yet. Last I heard, it will be the end of March. Not even sure if the full brewery is up and running or if they are still perfecting recipes on the pilot system.
    Many to choose from...
     
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  11. The_FishermanJay

    The_FishermanJay Pundit (936) May 16, 2010 Florida
    Trader

    Thanks, @KeyWestGator! I'm glad someone from down that way weighed in.
     
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  12. TomCat11

    TomCat11 Pooh-Bah (2,096) Jul 21, 2012 Virginia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Was down there in January and stopped by Funky Buddha. Great place. Also, not a breweriy but I stumbled upon The World Famous Parrot and they had very nice taplist. Even noticed Coffee BCBS in their cooler and was able to grab a few to bring back home.
     
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  13. joemochas

    joemochas Savant (1,183) Nov 1, 2008 Florida

    And they're doing growler fills of that tonight.
     
  14. jcb7472

    jcb7472 Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2011 Florida

    Went to LauderAle for the first time about a week ago. The place is in a hard to find, industrial area near Port Everglades. It's an open-air warehouse with no A/C but they have big fans so it doesn't get too hot. They have a small brewing system where they make the beers. We tried a few of them. I think a flight of 4 beers was $9. Most of their beers are priced at around $6 for a pint. I thought the Hefeweizen was mediocre did not care for their saison or the Imperial Stout at all but I really enjoyed the Immigration IPA and the Thrillist Coffee Porter. Just my opinion so don't take it as gospel, but I thought the beers were hit or miss but they have nice people behind the bar and it seemed like a nice, relaxed place to hang out and have a beer with locals. I'll go back sometime but if I had to choose one brewery in the area to hit, Funky Buddha is a no-brainer.

    blackngold41, if you go to Bone Island down in Key West, please report back. I go down there a couple of times a year and am interested in trying them next trip. Enjoy your stay!
     
  15. MikeMoriendi

    MikeMoriendi Initiate (0) Jun 13, 2008 Pennsylvania

    cyrushire, SILVER and jcb7472 like this.
  16. SILVER

    SILVER Zealot (668) Jan 3, 2007 Florida

    Well that's just great! Islamorada needed something like that. I like to take a break from driving when I pass through there.
    Once I hit Car Sound Road, it's all about the scenery and "changes of attitude".
    But I still stop mid way at Islamorada.
     
  17. socon67

    socon67 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,895) Jun 18, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    I got there by 7:20 and they were done with growler fills. I did get a glass though.
     
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  18. blackngold41

    blackngold41 Initiate (0) Jun 15, 2012 Connecticut

    Hi all. Just wanted to give a short recap about our trip down south.

    Funky Buddha - Checked the brewery out on Tuesday. Very impressed. I tried their Crusher Session IPA, Hop Gun IPA, and More Moro Blood Orange IPA. The More Moro was absolutely delicious and I had 2 glasses of it. So juicy and citrusy. Unfortunately, it's a limited release and it was not available in a growler that day, so I took home a growler of the Hop Gun instead. As y'all know, on Tuesdays they make select limited releases available for growler fills. The day I was there they had the Clockwork Orange and Mojito Blonde available, however, I passed as I'm not a huge fan of either style. I HIGHLY recommend the More Moro to anybody that can get their hands on it.

    Florida Keys Brewing - We stopped here (Islamorada) on Monday night on our drive back from Key West to Davie. The taproom was completely empty except for the bartender (it was about 45 mins to their closing time). The bartender informed us that they had only been up and running for 3 weeks and had been achieving success so far, and that the taproom is usually packed with good beer-starved locals. They had 4 of their beers available: Flakeys (witbier with hints of key lime), Man-o-war (wheat), Run Aground (brown), and Porter's Stout, and I tried all 4. Unfortunately, they had run out of their allegedly-popular SunSessional IPA earlier. The Flakeys and Man-o-war were my favorites of the 4, although I am not a big fan of the other two styles so I cannot comment on how good they actually were. I then ordered a glass of the Flakeys which pours very hazy, cloudy, yet light color, and was very drinkable (both in taste and in quantity). The bartender informed me they had ordered growlers but hadn't received them yet, so growler fills (or any to-go options) were not available. They also had 4 or 5 guest beers on tap, all from Florida breweries, although their names have escaped me now. One was a Cigar City offering. We were only stopping by there briefly, with a lot of road yet ahead of us, so I didn't get a chance to try any of the guest taps. The bartender informed me that they had already been visited by the brewers from Cigar City and Funky Buddha in their short time running.
    Overall, I've had beers from startups before, and they weren't pretty. These guys, on the other hand, are off to a running start. Nothing blew me out of the water, but I didn't expect that to happen anyway. Their taproom is beautifully-decorated with local paintings, all furniture made locally, bright and tropical colors, etc. I highly recommend a short detour to anyone traveling up or down the Florida Keys.
    P.S. - How do you add a new brewery/beers to BA's website?

    Someone asked me to comment on Bone Island in Key West. I didn't end up going, as a bartender (owner perhaps?) of a local craft beer bar/cigar lounge down there stated that it's not anything special and it didn't really have a taproom or offer brewery tours. You basically order at the restaurant next door, I guess, and then go pick up your order. Or something like that. I can't comment on the quality of their beers since I didn't go or try any, but it just didn't seem like a very exciting place.

    The beer/cigar place, by the way, was Cork & Stogie. I walked in for the first time and it was a very cozy setting, with a small bar on your right, and a lounge on your left. A quaint porch out front too. I asked the guy if they had any Cigar City on tap. He stated that they usually did, but they had a delivery mishap and were shutout of any recently. I asked him to recommend me a pale ale or IPA. They didn't have either style on tap so he went over to the bottle cooler and tried to get me a Magic Hat #9 (I'm from the New England and am quite familiar with Magic Hat, so I declined). He then offered either a Lagunitas IPA or an offering from Bell's. I'm very familiar (and really enjoy) Lagunitas IPA, so I went for the Bell's beer. I had never even heard of Bell's and I wanted to try something new. The beer was very tasty and I enjoyed every sip of it while walking down Duval St (hooray for laxly-enforced open container laws!). The name escapes me at the moment but judging from the Bell's website, I'm 99% sure it was their Two Hearted Ale.

    One other place I want to make note of is a Southern-style restaurant called Firefly, about 3 blocks from Duval. The food was absolutely amazing. We were only in town for 2 days but my girlfriend and I liked it so much we went back on the 2nd day. They've got porch seating outside on the first floor, balcony seating on the second floor, and indoor seating on both floors, including a small bar on the first floor. The bar had about 7 or 8 beers on tap and all were of the craft/local variety. I finally was able to try a Cigar City brew, as they had their Jai Alai IPA on tap. I was not disappointed.

    I wanted to thank all of you again for all the wonderful recommendations and advice. It was much appreciated.
     
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  19. Beegee305

    Beegee305 Initiate (0) Mar 25, 2015 Florida

    M.E.A.T is a nice stop in Islamorada. They have great food and an actual tap list not full of garbage
     
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