Open house at Lagniappe Brewing Co.

A new brewery has opened up in Minneola, FL, and last weekend I spent some time sampling their brews. The brewery is named Lagniappe Brewing and I enjoyed my afternoon there. Lagniappe is pronounced lan-yap and the general meaning is to "giva a little something extra". Since the open house offered free beer, they are certainly living up to their name already. My wife and I had an opportunity to speak with Brad, the owner and brewmeister - a very personable fellow who deserves a lot of credit for jumping into a new business at a time like this. I wish him all the success in the world.

We were able to sample 3 different beers - Minnehaha Golden Ale, Afterglow IPA, and Locomotive Breath Porter. Minnehaha Golden Ale (named for a local lake) is a very mild, very smooth and easy to drink ale. It would be a great thirst-quencher during the warmer months, which lasts most of the year here in Florida. Afterglow IPA uses a Polish hop variety similar to the Czech Saaz. It's not an over-the-top IPA, and was very enjoyable. The Locomotive Breath Porter was my favorite - chocolaty and roasty.

The brewery is in a good location, not far off the main drag in Minneola, and the owners have done a great job making it attractive and welcoming. The fact that it's only about 3 miles from my home doesn't hurt either. I took some pictures with a cell-phone while inside, but my blue-tooth adaptor doesn't like me, so...

Check out their web-site at www.lagniappebrewing.com. Good luck to Lagniappe Brewing! I'm looking forward to trying out some of their future beers!

Orlando Brewing Partners brewery visit

After our lunch at the Irish pub, my wife, my sister, my brother-in-law, and I decided to check out the only microbrewery in the Orlando area - Orlando Brewing Partners. This microbrewery was started by some homebrewers, and is an all organic brewery that follows the German Purity law of 1516, also known as the Reinheitsgebot. The brewery is located in a scary industrial section of town and we were a little hesitant about going inside. We walked into the taproom, and soon learned that brewery tours were scheduled to run at 6 pm, and it was only 2:15. Since we made the trip, we sat down and ordered their beer sampler - 12 four ounce beers - 1 of each variety they currently had on tap. We all chuckled when we tried the first one, which was infused with vitamins - a "healthy" beer. Maybe I need to get a six-pack to take to the gym while I work out. It was ok, but the remaining 11 were much better. I realy enjoyed their "Miami Weisse" a Bavarian style wheat beer. Their Blackwater Dry Porter, which I have reviewed in an earlier post, was also excellent, as was their double IPA. This was a worthwhile trip. I even added a new pint glass to my collection. I'm just glad I wasn't driving!

A Visit to Dunedin Brewery

Dunedin is a small town on the West coast of Florida, with a beautiful state park and beach, a Scottish heritage, and a great little brewery. My wife wanted to go to the beach, so we decided to include a brewery tour as part of the day. I guess I can't really call it a tour, because when we walked in the front door, I think we were able to see the entire brewery from the entrance. I had heard of the Dunedin Brewery because I had seen some of their beers at the local Whole Foods Market, packaged in 16 oz bottles, in 4 packs. I tried a couple of their beers, and decided I should pay them a visit. The brewery was really quiet, and we got there at lunch time, so we sat down at the bar and started a conversation with the bartender. The brewery is owned by a couple of guys who started it as a hobby, and it's not their full time job. We had some lunch, and tried their world-famous fish tacos. We tried a couple of their beers, which were excellent. One in particular stands out - their Apricot Wheat, which became the inspiration for my wife and I to brew our own Apricot brews. I also tried their Beach Tale Brown Ale, which was a lightly sweet malty beer, that was also very enjoyable. I was a little disappointed, because the brewery is not currently bottling beer for distribution, they only sell it at the brewery bar. So any hopes of bringing back some beer were dashed. Oh well, it was a great place to stop for lunch, and the beach was relaxing too.