Key West Again, Good Beer Found Again

I had another opportunity to visit South Florida as well as Key West for a second time this year and was able to have another reasonably successful foray into new-to-me beer-hunting. I took a guys-trip to see the Tennessee Titans play in Miami and we turned that into a four-day trip to this great area with lots of beer, gambling and football on the agenda. Not a bad way to spend mid-November!

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday morning, taking advantage of the Veterans Day holiday. From there we drove down to Key West per my suggestion since none of the other three in our party had ever been there before. My first stop inside the Key West city limits was the great liquor store I found on our last trip here back in September (see previous blog). This place has a tremendous beer selection and reasonable prices considering that it is down here at the very southern tip of the U.S. I was in a bit of a hurry and only found a couple I had not had before, so I settled for some old favorites in a variety six-pack (Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA, Left Hand Brewing's Milk Stout and Victory Brewing's Hop Wallop). More on the newbies later. Speaking of old favorites, I also grabbed a six-pack of Dale's Pale Ale in cans. Did I mention this store had great selection?

We started our bar crawl on Friday night with dinner at the Southernmost Brewery (also known as Kelly's Caribbean Grill). My wife and I have been here several times pre-blog, but this will be my first entry regarding their limited number (three regulars and one seasonal) of brews. I settled for their signature Key West Golden Ale which is a decent light-weight concoction. I will save the others for other visits because there will always be more visits to Key West (next May is already on our radar). What I really wanted was one of their great "Save the Ales" T-shirts, but they were unfortunately sold out of XL sizes. Nerts! Maybe next time.

Our next bar in the crawl is the oldest in Florida it claims, and the original "Sloppy Joe's" where Hemingway drank his way to legendary status. It's called Capt. Tony's and it's a hoot with ancient business cards and dollars bills with signatures of visitors from all over the world stuck everywhere on the walls, many of which have browned and are brittle with age. There are also bras hanging in numerous locations which echo back to years and years of good times had here. I slapped down $5 for one of their huge (18 oz.) house beers, Capt. Tony's Amber Ale, in a souvenir plastic cup. I lost the cup deep into the night of bar crawling on famous Duval Street....don't ask. The beer itself is OK and I have learned now that it is brewed by InBev conglomerate Anheuser-Busch for the bar. Oh, well, whatcha gonna do? At least it was drinkable and there was lots of it for the price.

We headed back north on Saturday past Miami and pulled into the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, near Ft. Lauderdale, with gambling on our minds. Two of us, me included, were headed for the poker room, and two to the blackjack tables. My first session at the $1-2 tables didn't go real well and I decided to take a break and get some supper. I settled for a restaurant in the huge casino complex call Bluepoint Grill. They had a decent row of taps at the bar and I settled on the Shipyard Pumpkin Ale. Nice and seasoned with the flavors of autumn. It didn't go especially well with my dinner choice -- some of the best fish tacos I have ever had --- but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Sunday was game day and I strapped on my game-face and snapped open my first beer of the day at 8:26 AM (EST). I had brought the three-remaining newbies from my Key West six-pack and one Dale's Pale Ale can for my tailgating necessities. I wasn't kidding around with my A.M. Beer either. It was a double-IPA known as the 2XIPA from SouthTier Brewing out of Lakewood, New York. Good, good stuff.

The next was the Holy Mackerel Golden Ale from Thomas Creek Brewing in Greenville, SC, under the commission of Gordash Beer Company which originally brewed it in Ft. Lauderdale. I let my friend, Wayne, have the last one - a stout that I forgot to note the name of...slipping in my old age...I had a sip of it and it seemed like a good one, but, hey, I am a pal and don't mind sharing my beer to those in need! I just wish I could remember the name of it!

With all my real beer consumed, we made our way into Sun Life Stadium and the land of way over-priced, way-way-overrated domestic swill they also call beer. I was pleasantly surprised to fine nice tall pint cans of Red Stripe for sale (photo above)...hey, it's South Florida! Red Stripe's one of my favorite well-known lagers (not that I have many) and one of the few mainstream beers I can count on if necessary.

Another great trip to South Florida and to my beloved Key West and another good collection of beer added to the list.

Browning's, BJ's and Breeders' Cup

My wife, sister-in-law and brother-in law went to Louisville this weekend to take in some of the Breeders' Cup World Championships horse racing at historic Churchill Downs and I was able to talk them into having dinner at two different places in town that brew their own beer.


The first was Browning's Brewery which is built right into the side of the minor league baseball park in downtown Louisville. It was a smallish place and very busy for a Friday night so we ate at the bar which was fine with me since it gave me an ample view of their beer selections. I started with a pint of the She-Devil Imperial Pale Ale. It was tasty and smooth. No complaints here other than them calling it an "IPA" - yes, those are the initials of what it is but we all know what "IPA" really stands for and therefore this can be deceiving since it's got a decent hoppiness, but that's not it's greatest quality.


I moved onto their Scotch Ale next. This was by far their best beer in my opinion. A bit heavy but not overpowering with a great aftertaste. My wife ordered their Brown Ale and I had a taste, but wasn't impressed. Neither was she and brown ales are her favorite. I also got the barkeep to give me a small sample of their Helles. I am glad I didn't order a pint of this blindly. Yuck. It's a soapy malty mess of a lager that I just didn't care for. Overall a good experience here. The food was decent and while I was not a fan of all their beer, they do seem to take it seriously. I will definitely come back when and if I get the chance.

After spending the day at the races, we headed over to BJ'S Brewhouse and Restaurant in a nearby mall outside of downtown Louisville. BJ's is a chain restaurant with many locations in California and Texas and look to be just recently expanding into the Midwest and South. My expectations weren't very high on their beer since some chain "micro-brewers" are really just producing tasteless and unimaginative mass-produced swill (Sin City Brewing, Big River, Rock Bottom, Mohegan Brewhouse, etc.) just to lure you in so you will eat their nachos. Not the case for BJ's. Outstanding beer for the most part and their food was great as well! I started with the Piranha Pale Ale, a nice brew with strong taste and body. My favorite came next - their seasonal Pumpkin Ale. It was boldly flavored while remaining light and refreshing. I pushed my luck too far and ordered their Jeremiah Red Strong Ale which was average at best. I also had a taste of their Brewnette Brown Ale (great name!) and thought it was good also. Definitely better than Browning's Brown Ale the night before. I would definitely come back to BJ's in Louisville if the opportunity presents itself, and will look at it as an option while traveling in the future as well.

While killing some time before a movie Friday night, we stopped at a liquor store to get a little "anti-freeze" for the races the next day since the weather was to be unseasonably cold. Thank you Southern Comfort! The liquor store we found was actually the Liquor Barn, a huge warehouse of not only liquor and wine, but a huge assortment of high-gravity beer from all over the world. I bought several to take home and try over the next month or so. Ashlee bought some as well for me for Christmas stocking stuffers. Did I mention she's a great wife? More on those later.