A Taste of Florida Breweries

A few weeks ago I went on a short weekend trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was overcast and rainy but luckily drinking beer and eating yummy food, does not need sunshine or a beach! πŸ™‚ I got to try a sampling of craft beer from some of the Florida breweries and here is my short list. IPAs seemed to be the hit even with the overcast weather and so this is more of an IPA sample.

Florida Breweries IPA Sample


1)Mega Mix and Neon by M.I.A. Beer Company (Doral/Miami)

It was on this visit to Florida that I was first exposed to M.I.A. Beer Company. Before heading to the airport on our way out of town we stopped for some beers at Riverside Market Cafe. Riverside is a great local spot where you can try plenty of options from Florida breweries and breweries from all over. There is about 20 beers on draft that are constantly rotating and then multiple beer fridges where you can pop open a can or bottle. I must also mention there fish tacos are incredible!

Florida breweries

Neon White IPA (7.5% ABV) was one of the Florida beers on draft and this beer was surprisingly delicious! I only say surprising because I don’t often reach for a White IPA but this one had everything right. It is brewed with Pilsner malt, white wheat, and then hopped with Citra hops. It was perfectly citrus-y, hoppy, and juicy. We enjoyed it so much we hopped over to the beer shop across the street from Riverside to look for some. Neon is not yet in cans but we found Mega Mix Pale Ale (6.0% ABV), which was another great choice. This pale ale is hopped with Citra, Galaxy, and Mosaic. It had a nice citrus smell and went down really easy.

Florida breweries


2)Jai Alai and Guayabera by Cigar City Brewing (Tampa)

Cigar City is one of the Florida breweries that many people know are making some great beers. Jai Alai IPA (7.5% ABV) is always a favorite and luckily it was just announced that Cigar City will be distributing to Colorado! I did not find Jai Alai on tap while in Fort Lauderdale but we brought back both the regular Jai Alai and White Oak Jai Alai (7.5% ABV). This was a fun iteration to the Jai Alai that I recommend tasting.

Florida breweries

The other beer from them that we got to try was the Guayabera Citra Pale Ale. It had a little bitterness but also some nice citrus flavor. Guayabera comes in at 5.5% ABV so a little less alcohol, making it easier to throw back a couple.

Florida breweries


3)Hop Gun by Funky Buddha (Fort Lauderdale)

Funky Buddha was the only Florida brewery we actually got to visit on this trip. We did a couple rounds of tasters to get the full range of beer. Hop Gun IPA was definitely our favorite. It’s an east-coast IPA with 7.0% ABV. Hop Gun is a solid IPA that I could see being a go-to IPA.

Florida breweries

Hoppy beers were definitely the theme here but we also tried some tasty and unique stouts like the Wide Awake, It’s Morning Maple Bacon Coffee Porter from Funky Buddha. This beer was well done! It had the perfect amount of everything. It’s not one that you could just throw back but a delicious slow sipper. I could see this being a fun beer to taste with friends around a campfire. We brought one bottle back so I know what I’m doing with it! πŸ˜‰

Cheers!

Florida breweries

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GABF 2016