Off-Topic For the Beer Lovers.....

Cascade in Portland OR for barrel-aged sours. pFriem in Hood River OR for Belgian-style and stouts.
I have been to Cascade and liked it quite a bit. Tried pFriem at some beer bars in Portland, great stuff. However, we did the hike along the coast, the Goonies rock, and then shot down to de Garde. Dios mio. Probably the best sours that I have had from a US brewer.
 
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There's another new one in Pompano Beach called Dangerous Minds that I've been meaning to check out. There's also a new place in Lauderhill that just opened called Yeasty Brews.

For as much as the Broward beer scene has expanded, I wish there were some places on the west side of the metro area. Everything beer wise seems to be 441 and east.
I think it’s mostly due to a majority of the craft beer fans being younger folk that live on the east side of town town. My buddy lives in Plantation and he goes to the Riverside Market there but he’s not sure they’re doing that well. Every time I’ve gone, it’s been pretty empty. It sucks because I really dig their concept.


Also, the zoning laws in the western suburbs make opening any business that's not a yoga studio a huge hassle. I would assume that if you're going to be brewing in fairly large quantities, you need to rent an industrial space and those are very limited west of 441.
 
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I see a few Michigan beers mentioned but no Founders or New Holland? Cmon now. Founders has so many good beers. New Holland has Dragons Milk which is awesome.
 
I have been to Cascade and liked it quite a bit. Tried pFriem at some beer bars in Portland, great stuff. However, we did the hike along the coast, the Goonies rock, and then shot down to de Garde. Dios mio. Probably the best sours that I have had from a US brewer.
I did the same trip down the coast, amazing stuff. de Garde and pFriem deserve all the praise they get. I also went over to Bend, and man, that's a great beer city as well. I love small towns with tons of good breweries I can hop to, (Asheville and Portland, ME are also in that category). Crux Fermentation Project in Bend puts out some really nice stuff
 
Some of my favorite South Florida breweries (in no order)

- 3 Sons - great dessert-y style stouts, awesome IPA's, and they brew some good sours and other stuff too. They also have a really good on-site kitchen with wood fired pizza
- Orchestrated Minds - newer and tiny brewery near downtown Fort Laud. Outstanding stouts and IPA's. They're only open Thursday to Saturday but check them out
- Invasive Species
- J Wakefield (they're the ones that brewed the turnover chain beer)
- Tripping Animals brews great sours but recently I've grown a little tired of all their super thick extra fruity sours. Still worth a try
- Odd Breed Wild Ales. Definitely not for everyone (you won't find typical styles like pilsners, IPA's, stouts etc here) but they brew wild ales about as well as you possibly can. I wasn't into this style a few years ago but they've helped me appreciate and enjoy it. They're up in Pompano Beach
That is a solid list. The only one I would add for my top Dade/Broward list is Unseen Creatures in Westchester.
 
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I did the same trip down the coast, amazing stuff. de Garde and pFriem deserve all the praise they get. I also went over to Bend, and man, that's a great beer city as well. I love small towns with tons of good breweries I can hop to, (Asheville and Portland, ME are also in that category). Crux Fermentation Project in Bend puts out some really nice stuff
Portland, OR is a great trip. Amazing hiking, incredible food, and super easy access to get down to the vineyards. We had a driver pick us up in Portland at 9 am, were drinking wine overlooking a vineyard by 10, went to 5 wineries, and were back in Portland for a killer dinner by 6.

Portland, ME is very high on my to-do list when we start traveling again, as is Burlington, VT. Apparently Treehouse is also opening a taproom right on the water on Cape Cod next year.
 
Just double checked. They're still open. It's a bit of a ride for me from Hollywood to Pompano especially since it's in an area where there's really nothing else around. I'll make the trip soon though. They do a good job.

I've lived in Broward all 41 years of my life besides four in Orlando for school. Until about 10 years ago, there was not much of a craft beer scene. There was a World of Beer in Coral Springs (I think?) but they're generally terrible. I used to go to this little dive in Hollywood called PRL that was owned by a Polish dude who always had crazy *** Euro imports and that was about as close as you could get to anything that wasn't Bud/Miller/Coors. Laser Wolf in Fort Lauderdale might have been the first real craft beer spot. Funky Buddha opening their big brewery in Oakland Park in 2013 really set the whole thing off. Now, there's so many new places, I rarely go to the same place more than a couple times a year.

****, this post has me revisiting some history and taking a long view. Haven't been there in about a year (******* covid), but Laser Wolf is definitely a Fort Lauderdale craft beer original and mainstay. That whole landscape looks totally different today than it did 8-10 years ago.

In Dade, I think the Abbey was probably first spot I can think of serving anything that could be considered craft beer. After the Abbey, the Filling Station and Democratic Republic of Beer came up a few years later and routinely had craft beers on tap, but the Filling Station moved to Broward and DRB moved then closed. Wynwood Brewing Company opening in 2013 was a game changer, and a bunch of breweries and some good craft beer spots started popping up after that. Now, there are a ton of options.

For my money in Dade, I'm a fan of J. Wakefield, Lincoln's Beard, Beat Culture, MIA Brewing, and Veza Sur. Tripping Animals is also very solid (I tend not to like sours, though), and Biscayne Bay is an underappreciated brewery, too. That whole Doral craft scene is actually pretty solid. I have heard really good things about Unbranded but haven't been yet (poor guys opening right at the start of covid-19). Same with Unseen Creatures.

Overall, if you are a beer lover and you live in South Florida, there are tons of legit options now. Even on a nationwide level, in the last 8-10 years South Florida has come a long way in the craft brewing scene.
 
****, this post has me revisiting some history and taking a long view. Haven't been there in about a year (******* covid), but Laser Wolf is definitely a Fort Lauderdale craft beer original and mainstay. That whole landscape looks totally different today than it did 8-10 years ago.

In Dade, I think the Abbey was probably first spot I can think of serving anything that could be considered craft beer. After the Abbey, the Filling Station and Democratic Republic of Beer came up a few years later and routinely had craft beers on tap, but the Filling Station moved to Broward and DRB moved then closed. Wynwood Brewing Company opening in 2013 was a game changer, and a bunch of breweries and some good craft beer spots started popping up after that. Now, there are a ton of options.

For my money in Dade, I'm a fan of J. Wakefield, Lincoln's Beard, Beat Culture, MIA Brewing, and Veza Sur. Tripping Animals is also very solid (I tend not to like sours, though), and Biscayne Bay is an underappreciated brewery, too. That whole Doral craft scene is actually pretty solid. I have heard really good things about Unbranded but haven't been yet (poor guys opening right at the start of covid-19). Same with Unseen Creatures.

Overall, if you are a beer lover and you live in South Florida, there are tons of legit options now. Even on a nationwide level, in the last 8-10 years South Florida has come a long way in the craft brewing scene.
By biggest problem with the Wynwood breweries is that J Wake is the only one that is not owned by a macro, which is disappointing for an area that developed as a hip, local-focused part of the city. Doral has oddly filled that void.

The Abbey was first, along with Titanic. Abraxas was in the South of Fifth neighborhood and used to get all of the super limited Cigar City beers, as well as stuff from around the country. The Room was also a couple of blocks away from it near Joe's and had a solid European focus. I am not sure if they are still in business. Both of those opened around 2008. But those were about it for a long time. Abraxas was my spot though. I was probably there 2-3 times a week, great date spot

At some point, the Lokal in the Grove opened, and then Kush, Union, and Filling Station opened after them. Union gets some amazing stuff from all over the country.
 
I have been to Cascade and liked it quite a bit. Tried pFriem at some beer bars in Portland, great stuff. However, we did the hike along the coast, the Goonies rock, and then shot down to de Garde. Dios mio. Probably the best sours that I have had from a US brewer.
Yep, they are good. I like their wild ales (spruce tips, anyone?) and Kriek. The owner/brewmaster traveled around the NW for a year doing fermentations to find the right native yeasts for his brewery.
 
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I do remember going to The Abbey on the beach a long *** time ago. I forgot all about that spot. J Wakefield is my favorite Dade brewery but I admittedly don’t go south too often. I had a list of places in the tri county that I was trying to get to but COVID put that list on hold.
 
By biggest problem with the Wynwood breweries is that J Wake is the only one that is not owned by a macro, which is disappointing for an area that developed as a hip, local-focused part of the city. Doral has oddly filled that void.

The Abbey was first, along with Titanic. Abraxas was in the South of Fifth neighborhood and used to get all of the super limited Cigar City beers, as well as stuff from around the country. The Room was also a couple of blocks away from it near Joe's and had a solid European focus. I am not sure if they are still in business. Both of those opened around 2008. But those were about it for a long time. Abraxas was my spot though. I was probably there 2-3 times a week, great date spot

At some point, the Lokal in the Grove opened, and then Kush, Union, and Filling Station opened after them. Union gets some amazing stuff from all over the country.

It is true the majority of the Wynwood Breweries have been sold to macro brews in an ironic twist, though some of them still seem to have a bit of autonomy. It was particularly sad to see WBC get bought by CBA (which is just a sub of InBev) a couple of years ago. But as long as the beer remains solid and evolving, I can't get too upset over it. Unfortunately, getting bought up by some of these beer giants does tend to lend itself towards a certain staleness and unwillingness to experiment.

I used to love The Room back in the day. Definitely a more European vibe of beers, as well as soon neat wines. Had my first lambic there. Was a good spot for a date. They are closed now, but they were open since at least 2003 (I know I took a couple of DGs to The Room while I was still at UM and I am a 2004 grad). Titanic as another early Miami staple with micro brews on tap is a good call and one that I am ashamed to have forgotten to include.

You are definitely right that Lokal opened before Kush and Union. I think Union is owned by the same people as Kush and maybe some of the same people as Lokal. I am pretty sure the original Filling Station was earlier though (their move near Funky Buddah was definitely later), since I vaguely remember Lokal opening around the time I was graduating from law school.

Union is a pretty cool spot, though. Only been there about twice in the last 4 years because it's a pain in the a$$ if you live in NW Dade, especially with so many solid options in Doral.
 
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**** brother, I'm a fan of AM drinking so mad respect, but are you gonna make it to kickoff?
Don't worry my cane PARTNER. I know when to change booze and eat a little bit for fuel and not too much to knock me out. I'm a veteran at this. Hydralaline when KICKOFF is near by.
 
It is true the majority of the Wynwood Breweries have been sold to macro brews in an ironic twist, though some of them still seem to have a bit of autonomy. It was particularly sad to see WBC get bought by CBA (which is just a sub of InBev) a couple of years ago. But as long as the beer remains solid and evolving, I can't get too upset over it. Unfortunately, getting bought up by some of these beer giants does tend to lend itself towards a certain staleness and unwillingness to experiment.

I used to love The Room back in the day. Definitely a more European vibe of beers, as well as soon neat wines. Had my first lambic there. Was a good spot for a date. They are closed now, but they were open since at least 2003 (I know I took a couple of DGs to The Room while I was still at UM and I am a 2004 grad). Titanic as another early Miami staple with micro brews on tap is a good call and one that I am ashamed to have forgotten to include.

You are definitely right that Lokal opened before Kush and Union. I think Union is owned by the same people as Kush and maybe some of the same people as Lokal. I am pretty sure the original Filling Station was earlier though (their move near Funky Buddah was definitely later), since I vaguely remember Lokal opening around the time I was graduating from law school.

Union is a pretty cool spot, though. Only been there about twice in the last 4 years because it's a pain in the a$$ if you live in NW Dade, especially with so many solid options in Doral.
I was on the fence when Constellation bought Funky Buddha because I know that the quality often takes a nose dive when independent brewers sell to National conglomerates. See: Wicked Weed. However the product at FB has remained consistently good and distribution is through the roof. I probably don’t visit the taproom as much as I used to but that’s mostly because there’s a ton of options now compared to 5 years ago. I try to support the local independents because Corona doesn’t need my money but if you’re brewing good beer, I’ll still buy it.
 
The holy grail of IPAs is Russian River Pliny the Elder. They are only distributed in CA so my boss gets a friend of his to ship a case once in a while to NJ. A nice special treat to have every now and then.

I'm a big fan of a lot of the Vermont breweries. Lawson's Liquids, Von Trapp, Long Trail, Switchback...they all make good brews of every variety.

Surprisingly, one of the best beer selections in Miami is at the Stop n Snop convenience store on Ponce right down the street from campus, just a little past where new Miami's Best and Titanic is. Very unassuming since it is small, but they have an insane selection of international and US beer that rivals maybe only Total Wine. I'd walk down from the UV and grab something new every time I walked in.
 
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I think it’s mostly due to a majority of the craft beer fans being younger folk that live on the east side of town town. My buddy lives in Plantation and he goes to the Riverside Market there but he’s not sure they’re doing that well. Every time I’ve gone, it’s been pretty empty. It sucks because I really dig their concept.


Also, the zoning laws in the western suburbs make opening any business that's not a yoga studio a huge hassle. I would assume that if you're going to be brewing in fairly large quantities, you need to rent an industrial space and those are very limited west of 441.
Wow what a small world, the Riverside Market in Plantation is 1 mile away from me. It's usually dead when I've gone there too. Only time I've seen a decent crowd is on Friday happy hour time.

You make some good points. I think 3 Sons was originally going to be in Davie somewhere but they moved to Dania Beach, probably for these reasons.
 
The holy grail of IPAs is Russian River Pliny the Elder. They are only distributed in CA so my boss gets a friend of his to ship a case every now and then to NJ. A nice special treat to have every now and then.

Surprisingly, one of the best beer selections in Miami is at the Stop n Snop convenience store on Ponce right down the street from campus, just a little past where new Miami's Best and Titanic is. Very unassuming since it is small, but they have an insane selection of international and US beer that rivals maybe only Total Wine. I'd walk down from the UV and grab something new every time I walked in.
A bit further east, El Carajo is another sneaky spot for a randomly solid beer (and wine) selection. It's blown up in the last 15 years or so, but it's still a somewhat undercover down on 17th and just off US-1.
 
A bit further east, El Carajo is another sneaky spot for a randomly solid beer (and wine) selection. It's blown up in the last 15 years or so, but it's still a somewhat undercover down on 17th and just off US-1.
Is that the store in the Mobil gas station by Casola's? If so, never been, but I know they like to advertise their wine selection.
 
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