Entries from October 2006 ↓

If you are in the Orlando area and looking for something beery to do on Halloween, Orlando Brewing is having a 'Boo and Brew'. From the press release:

Orlando Brewing, the only Organic Brewery in the state of Florida, will be celebrating Halloween by offering tours of its 'haunted' boowery… uh, I mean brewery.

The First Ever Boowery Tour & Party will be held at Orlando Brewing starting at 7 p.m. on Halloween Night. The evening will feature door prizes and more! Wear costume and be ready for fun. If you survive the boowery tour, you can refresh yourself by drinking the only beer to be certified "Fresh From Florida" by the Department of Agriculture.

Let's talk about the beer. Orlando Brewing's Brewmaster, Ed Canty, has won medals at the Great American Beer Festival, considered the 'Super Bowl' of Beer. “Winning an award is more than just prestigious,” says Canty. “Our customers will know they are about to drink really, really good beer.”

Orlando Brewing is located at 1301 Atlanta Avenue in Orlando. There is never a cover.

I'll be there scaring up a beer or three.

[tags]beer,halloween,orlandobrewing,orlando[/tags] 

I've added a new poll to the sidebar of the site and would be your BFF if you'd take a minute to vote. I'm doing some research into brewery tours here in Orlando so I'd like to get an idea of how many of you either live here, or are planning on visiting, and would be interested in this.

If you are in the US, consider this practice for next month (but without that eerie feeling your vote won't count).

If you are reading this via the RSS feed, view Hail the Ale! to vote. 

[tags]beer,orlando[/tags] 

The MAKE blog points us to a couple videos on how beer is made.

[tags]beer[/tags] 

Unfortunately, I didn't get to have any last year but maybe this year we'll see some in the southeast US. From the press release:

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (Oct. 16, 2006) – Roll out the bushels. The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, the leading craft brewer in the upper Midwest,is spicing up the fall season and upcoming holidays with the return of Leinenkugel’s Apple Spice. Available now through Dec. 31, the seasonal brew is hitting shelves a few weeks earlier than its November debut last year due to consumer demand.

Lightly hopped and well-balanced, Leinie’s brewmasters blend fresh apples and a hint of cinnamon spice to deliver a beer that is refreshingly drinkable cold or heated up and served warm.

Has anyone had this? What did you think?

[tags]beer,leinenkugel[/tags] 

Let me just cut to the chase here in case you have something better to do like drink a beer: this is now my most favoritest bar in town. Bar none (get it?). I'm so happy to have a real brewery in town.

Getting There 

Web site: orlandobrewing.com

Location:
1301 Atlanta Avenue
Orlando, Florida 32806
407-872-1117
Map

The brewery & Tap Room are open daily:
Sunday - Thursday, 12:00 Noon to 9:00PM
Friday & Saturday, 12:00 Noon to Late

The brewery is in the industrial park area near the Amtrak station downtown, only a couple minutes away from downtown or Thornton Park.

Being There 

The Tap Room is basically the front half of the Orlando Brewing brewery that has been converted into a bar. Julie and I met Kirby and Bev for dinner and then met up with Adam and Tracy at the Tap Room for a few beers. When we pulled up, the most friendly police officer working security I've ever seen pointed us to the parking lot next to the brewery for parking. We also noticed quite a crowd outside which we attributed to the band–Kid Ridlyn–playing in the parking lot.

We wandered inside to the main bar area. Tracy and Adam had scored us a table so we joined them and proceeded to peruse the beer list. They have a nice mix of their own beers as well as others. Here are their beers:

• Orlando Brewing Blonde Ale
• Orlando Brewing Pale Ale
• Orlando Brewing Blackwater Porter
• Orlando Brewing Olde Pelican Ale
• Orlando Brewing Mild Ale

and here are the others:

• Sierra Nevada Celebration
• Abita Turbodog Ale
• Abita Amber Ale
• Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen
• Harpoon IPA
• Anchor Steam
• Anchor Liberty Ale
• Belhaven Scottish Ale
• Chimay Triple
• Lindemans Framboise
• Paulaner Hefeweizen
• Paulaner Lager
• Youngs Oatmeal Stout

No matter what your taste in beer, they have you covered. Since I'm a sucker for porters, I had the Blackwater Porter. It wasn't as strong as I was expecting but it was very good and very drinkable. So drinkable I managed to have a couple more without a problem. Our server was very helpful and she brought us samples to taste to help us decide. I tasted both the Blonde Ale and the Pale Ale. Both were very good but I was sold on the porter.

The bar area has a couple tables that were from a Hops that went out of business and, of course, a bar. Around the corner is another room with dart boards.

Each table has a deck of cards to help you pass time while you decide on your beer selection.

Due to the band playing which brought in a bigger crowd than normal, they weren't doing brewery tours like they normally do. I'll be going back to do this soon. On our way out we listened to the band for a few minutes. They were a classic rock/hard rock/metal cover band and sounded good.

Even though it is a bit off the beaten path, it is well worth taking the time to get directions and go there. I'll be going back soon. If you're in Orlando and want a really cool place to taste some good beers be sure to check it out. Maybe I can talk them into posting here every once in a while or doing a podcast…

[tags]beer,orlandobrewing,orlando[/tags]