Event – 2022 North Miami Brewfest

Well, we did it.

Survived another North Miami Brewfest, one of the best beer festivals in the state of Florida.

We released two episodes of the Florida Beer Podcast from this event, and I strongly recommend you listen to those to get a good background of exactly how much fun the event is and what you can look forward to going to future events as well.

Since 2022 was such a good event and I was able to go with a small crew to help me out doing fun blogging and podcasting things, I was able to get a lot of samples in during our short time there.

Jewban from Kush – I hate to say this, since it was the first food I ate that day, but this was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. This, if you can imagine it, is the holiest of holy unions between a Cuban sandwich and a Reuben sandwich. These are my two favorite kinds of sandwiches, and seeing them combined was absolutely amazing. I may have had to come back for more than one.

Poisoned Apple – Stout, Banks 7 Rum, apple juice, and green apple simple syrup. This came from FIU’s Mixology club, a student-led organization that was making cocktail samplers using beer brewed by the Brewing Arts program at the Chaplin School. Trust me, beer aficionados would love the nice tart apple flavors, and cocktail aficionados would love the depth of this amazing mixture. This is something I would hope gets a professional release in a bar somewhere, and I will easily go for it if I see it on the menu.

Mushroom Bhan Mi from the FIU Bistro – Not going to like, I’m not a big mushroom fan, but I would eat this all day. Bread was night and light with just a bit of chewiness on the crust, and the mushrooms were marinated to where it had a nice lightly sweet quality with the rest of the umami flavors the mushroom brought. For a sandwich it was quite refreshing and a great palate cleanser for the many beers ahead.

Three Sisters (Hoppy Pale Lager, 4.7% ABV) from Bay 13 Brewing – I was excited to try Bay 13, since they are one of the few breweries in Miami-Dade I have yet to visit. They did not bring any of their food, however, so I had to make do with a few of their beers. Three Sisters, one of their draft options at the event, had a bit of a hoppy bitterness to it, but it felt more like a New England IPA than it did a face melting West Coast IPA. They kept it controlled very smartly so it would not overpower some of the gentleness from the lagering.

Mango and Pineapple Drop Bear (Double IPA, 9% ABV), also from Bay 13 – Once again, even though it’s a Double IPA, Bay 13 knows how to control their hops. This is flavor, not aggressiveness, and the fruit, especially the pineapple, does a great job of bringing a fun sweetness that plays with the hops nicely.

Radio Silence (Imperial NEIPA, 7.8% ABV) from soon to open Uncommon Path Brewing – Lots of juiciness here from a very new Miami-Dade brewery. Big tropical flavors are bursting forth with this, but this is easily a beer that’s going to sneak up on you, so I would be very careful with this beer once they open.

Sushi Plate from Sushi Maki – I had not seen Sushi Maki at previous events I have been to, but I am glad that they were there. Basically it was a nice spread of a few different rolls, just enough to show you how good they are and tantalizing enough to know that the rest of their sushi menu has to be fantastic. Once again, flavorful and very umami forward, and just fresh enough and light enough to give your tongue a little something different before heading back in.

Mordskater (Weizenbock, 8.7% ABV) from Rocketeer Beer – Oh, the weisenbock. A little bit heavier in terms of ABV from my beloved dunkelweizen, and Rocketeer Beer has done a great job of making sure this is stylistically perfect and amazingly refreshing. Waiting to see when they open, especially since I’m loving the theme and was a big fan of the original comic and resulting vastly underappreciated film.

Chocolate Chip Cookie from Night Owl Cookies man, they were warm, they were gooey, and they were quite tasty. Not going to lie, I brought a few home for later. It’s just something about a fresh giant chocolate chip cookie that warms the soul. Even if it’s still incredibly hot.

Stargazer (Hazy IPA, 7.6% ABV) from Rocketeer Beer. Yes, I went back to Rocketeer for some more. I had to, and theIr hazy IPA did not disappoint. Lots of fruit flavors and with a noticeable and present, but not overpowering, hop character. It was very juicy and very citrus forward.

Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie from Soulful Biscuit by Mr. Fantastic – This, I think, was Producer Steve’s favorite food of the event. The tiniest, cutest little biscuit you would ever see with a very warm, meaty and flavorful chicken pot pie filling poured to the side. While I understand the tiny biscuit and plating, and I am all for tiny foods, I am excited to try this as a full size chicken pot pie as I am sure it will be even better. The little tasting was fantastic but just not enough chicken pot pie. I want more.

Holy Scribe (Belgian Tripel, 8% ABV) from Lost City – Lost City has a canning line! Or rents one, don’t know the details. I was excited to see that, and I still have not been to their facility which is entirely my fault. But after a long day of IPAs and Pilsners, it was nice to see something a little different. And I am all for a Belgian triple, so that is what I went for. Fantastically sweet with wonderful bubble gum and circus peanut notes, along with a big chewy, almost caramely, malt bill. Absolutely wonderful.

Oak & Ember (Bohemian Pilsner, 4.9% ABV) from Savage Lyfe – Savage Lyfe has been gypsy brewing in South Florida for months now, possibly looking to open a facility in northern Broward sometime in the near future. But with some of the big heavy beers that they are known to make, seeing a Bohemian Pilsner on tap instantly hurt my interest. Basically, it’s very much a rough hewn pilsner, with a nice spiky mouth feel and a light bready malt playing wonderfully with some good earthy hops. Very refreshing and rustic, something I would definitely search out again.

Fried Gyoza from Temple Street Eatery – If you listened to our episode on the Florida Beer Podcast with Alex Kuk from Temple Street eatery, you will have been as excited as I was to finally try this. Not only was it an amazing fried gyoza, but it was served with a side of crunchy chili paste (which is starting to become all the rage). And there’s a reason for that, it’s utterly fantastic and it was literally the best thing that I could have finished that day.

Trust me, there is a lot more that I could have tasted, many breweries that I wanted to stop off at, but after a little while there’s just no more room at the end.

Unfortunately I will just have to go back to the event in 2023 to try some more.

Drink Florida Craft,

Dave
@floridabeerblog
floridabeerblog@gmail.com

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