There’s a lot of pigs in the Orlando area. I know tourists go for mice and ducks and whales and giant apes, but the locals are raving over the pigs.
When I say Orlando, it’s more like Winter Park. And when I say pigs, it’s more the Ravenous Pig, a BBQ concept crated by Winter Park-raised, Culinary Institute of America-trained, James Beard nominated husband and wife team Julie and James Petrakis.
I love downtown Fort Myers. It is absolutely adorable, and they have a surprisingly wide breadth of activities for basically anyone.
Lots of good shopping, lots of good restaurants (including the original Ford’s Garage which I really enjoyed) and a lot of places that are really focused on craft beer. Those are bars, though, and if you want real deal, only a few blocks away is Millennial Brewing.
On certain episodes of the Florida Beer Podcast I have my friend and field producer Steve joining in for some of the interviews. You’ve probably heard him by now.
Every so often he will blow my phone up with a beer that he finds to be nothing short of utterly fantastic. One of these was the now seasonal Pucker Face (Sour, 6.7% ABV, 60 IBU) at 26 Degree Brewing in Pompano Beach. And I’ve had to sit through hearing him talk about this several times in my life.
Since it’s Halloween, it’s the one day of the year we can discuss beers from Beyond the Veil.
In other words, getting the last remnants of beers from breweries that have since passed on to that great lauter tun in the sky.
Ah, October. It’s the most wonderful time of the year for a beer drinker (in my humble opinion.)
Why? It’s Oktoberfest time! And there are no beers I love more than when the Martzens and Festbiers come marching in.
For being just outside the Tampa-St. Pete area, the Sarasota-Bradenton region has more than its fair share of craft beer heavy hitters. One of the biggest is JDubs, outfitted firmly in the industrial space of the city of Sarasota itself.
The founder, Jeremy “Jdub” Joerger, has a very interesting brewing background and an even more interesting interviewing style. Hopefully you have listened to the full interview with him on the Florida Beer Podcast. If you haven’t, take a few minutes and avail yourself with this particular auditory treat.
Let me go ahead and throw my hat into the ring with a review of my brand new beer fridge, the NewAir “Beers of the World” Beer Fridge.
And it’s even been decorated for Halloween!
There is an interesting revitalization coming along in downtown Fort Lauderdale. If you’re familiar with the stretch along Broward Blvd., the southern half is home to a vibrant nightlife community, the Museum of Science and Discovery, and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
The north side, however, isn’t necessarily the best of neighborhoods at this time. It’s coming along, though, and there are a lot of new businesses that understand the time it takes to build up a vibrant and thriving district that will attract more people to the area.
