Brew Review – Passion of the Heights by Florida Ave. Brewing @floridaavebrew

The first time I saw beers from Florida Avenue Brewing, I was on vacation in the Sarasota area with my wife. This was a long time ago, so it was the glass bottles with the really awesome old-timey pirate ship logo they used to have.

I really like the new iconography of a completely refreshed Florida Avenue Brewing, but I miss that nautical look from the early beers. The new imagery is definitely more urban and harkens a lot more easily to their location with in Tampa on, as you could tell, Florida Avenue.

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Brewery Visit – Beat Culture

I’m not totally sure which expressway it is, especially since there’s roughly 40,000 expressways in Miami-Dade County, but whichever one runs along the south side of Miami International Airport suddenly has an exit in what feels like the middle of nowhere that leads directly into a Days Inn.

My wife and I were actually kind of impressed with this, since what looks like the former restaurant for the hotel has now been turned into Miami-Dade’s newest brewery, Beat Culture. If you look inside, they’ve made excellent use of the space, and if you squint your eyes you can still hear echoes of what the space used to be.

Event – Craft Beers Released Across Carnival Cruise Lines Fleet @Carnival

It is amazing to see how much Carnival Cruise Lines is doubling down on their new-found love for craft beer.

But it’s an interesting story, and I will tell you the entire story as my beautiful wife and I lived it.

Brew Review – Full Gorilla by Due South Brewing and The KVJ Show @duesouthbrewing @kvjshow

I really want to be able to start off this blog post saying something erudite and mature about Jason Pennington from the KVJ Show on 97.9 WRMF. But his current hobby involves taking pictures of himself wearing nothing but a slice of pizza.

It’s on Instagram, I don’t recommend that you check get out, and that’s how we’re going to start a blog post about Full Gorilla.

Brew Review – Lucky’s 185 Ale by Saltwater Brewery @saltwaterbrewer @luckysmarket

Lucky’s, that grocery store that has a bunch of food for really cheap and lets you walk around the store drinking beer while you shop, is growing quite a bit.

And I’m not just talking about in Florida, they seem to be popping up everywhere. Only a couple months ago I found a brand new one in Springfield, Missouri, and it was a shame that I wasn’t able to bring that much packaged beer back with me.

But the one thing that those stores in Missouri and elsewhere definitely cannot get it is Florida beer. I’m rather partial to beer from my home state, especially when it’s brewed exclusively for a place like Lucky’s. Enter Saltwater Brewery, who has just released, only at Lucky’s stores, Lucky’s Red 185 Ale (Red Ale, 5.6% ABV).

Brew Review – Farmhouse as F*ck by Saint Somewhere @saintsomewhere

This is about the closest I will ever get to really cursing on the blog.

Some breweries in Florida basically exist on collaborations, and almost every beer they release was brewed in conjunction with someone else from somewhere else, whether it be in the county or from a completely different continent.

Other breweries won’t touch collaborations at all, preferring to do everything themselves. I’ve even heard some brewers flat out question to need to do collaborations at all.

Guest Post – 5 Tips for a Safe Spring Break in Florida

Article contributed by Landon Biehl. You can find Landon on twitter @lbiehl1.

Florida is the perfect place to visit when the weather gets warm! If you’re a Florida local, you won’t have to travel far to enjoy the beautiful weather. Springtime means getting outdoors more, heading to breweries with friends, and visiting one (or two) of the many amusement parks in the state! Whether you live in Florida or you’re visiting from out of town, you can’t go wrong spending spring break here! Check out these tips for staying safe while you enjoy your break.

Brew Review – Coffee Run by 7venth Sun at @MendezFuel @7venthSunBeer

Gas stations are becoming wonderous places. I remember in the old days when the best you could get from a gas station was some dirty hole in the wall off to the side of the road that you never really wanted to go in, but sometimes it was the only choice. Maybe if you were lucky you found a somewhat nicer 7-Eleven, but that wasn’t quite the destination that’s some of these new mega-stations are becoming.

Cumberland Farms seems to have upped its game, and now we have Wawa in Florida (unfortunately we don’t have Sheetz, their vastly superior Western Pennsylvania counterpart). If you’re in Miami, however, and you’re looking for something fun that has a mom-and-pop feel, Mendez Fuel is the place to go.