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.