Abacoa is to Jupiter, FL. Much the same way that Celebration is to Kissimmee. I’ve spent my share of time in Celebration, so Abacoa was pretty familiar.
They’re both planned communities with their respective municipalities, tightly controlled by a management corporation, and home to a community that tends to skew mostly to DINKs in their late 20’s to late 30’s.
The downtown area is focused primarily on Roger Dean Stadium, where the Marlins and Cardinals hold Spring Training. But there’s a pretty well stocked Main Street area with a number of bars, restaurants, and the bulldog visage-fronted facility of Civil Society Brewing.
Civil Society is the brainchild of Karl Volstad (the bulldog on the logo is his dog Bella), his cousin and former MLB pitcher Chris, and close friend from high school Evan Miller. In a sparse but creatively decorated space along Town Center Drive, there is a strong focus on the families the founders came from.
Evan’s grandfather carved the eagle over the bar, the Volstad’s great grandfather owned the American flag encased in a smart showcase box, and the fermentation tanks are named for their family members that helped make Civil Society a reality.
Those aren’t the only names of importance here, though. Civil Society is well known for their hops, using the lupulin-laden little monsters to great effect in great amounts for their beers.
I wanted to try something particularly hop-worthy, so I went with Southern Exposure (Saison, 5.5% ABV), a saison loaded with Columbus, Citra, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops.
What’s interesting is that the beer isn’t brutally hoppy. It’s a lot of things, but difficult to drink isn’t one of them. It’s got a massive citrus character to it, incredibly delicious and bursting with a lot of the great flavors and aromas of the hops used.
There’s a great bright yellow color and an aroma that combines a lot of those hop flavors with a crisp effervescence from the beer. There’s just a lot of great things going on in this beer.
Same goes for the brewery. It’s a little out of the way, but Abacoa is a nice place to visit, Roger Dean is a great stadium, and combining everything makes for a great day.
Even for bulldogs.
Drink Florida Craft,
Dave
floridabeerblog@gmail.com
Florida Beer Blog 