by Beth Keating
Review
DisneyBizJournal.com
January 30, 2024
Over the holidays, a visiting relative, who fancies himself a bit of a craft beer fan, was lamenting the fact that “Florida doesn’t have much in the way of microbreweries and craft beers.”
We were a little puzzled by this out-of-towner’s statement because we recalled seeing a number of Florida breweries featured at various EPCOT festivals. Disney has always been very good about connecting with local businesses. Disney Springs even features many local brews in their annual “Flavors of Florida” festival. In fact, the Florida Brewery Data Base lists more than 350 breweries in Florida. Central Florida, where Disney is located, claims 60 craft breweries alone, the third most in the state.
We took the guest’s comments as a bit of a challenge this year when the 2024 EPCOT Festival of the Arts rolled around. We would make it a mission to seek out the local Florida brewers, and see how their offerings measured up.
First up was the beer flight at the Deco Delights booth, near Port of Entry. This is the booth that features that oh-so-sweet Neapolitan Dessert Trio, with a Chocolate Tart, Vanilla Bean Cheesecake and Strawberry Mousse. (It’s a “Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine” item for good reason. The colors, and flavors, really pop.)
The beer flight at this booth was also Neapolitan themed, a tribute to chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. The flight was $10.25, and included one small pour each of the 3 Daughters Brewing Strawberry Blonde Nitro (St. Petersburg, FL); 81Bay Brewing Co.’s Vanilla Porter (Tampa, FL); and for the “chocolate,” the Playalinda Brewing Co.’s “Milk Stout” (Titusville, FL).
We started our investigation with the 81Bay Brewing Co.’s take on Vanilla Porter, which was very reminiscent of a vanilla Christmas beer we’d tried. While we liked this “toasty” tasting dark beer, Disney should really bring it back for Festival of the Holidays, because it would be a great selection, conjuring up flavors of a winter ale that we’d enjoyed at Christmastime.
Next was the “chocolate” inspired beer – the Playalinda Brewing Co.’s “Milk Stout.” To our way of thinking, this was very close to a traditional Guinness on tap, a creamier, smooth dark beer. We enjoyed this very slightly sweet cup, but we’re not really sure why the Disney cast members thought this would fill the “chocolate” category of the Neapolitan flight. Earthy maybe, but we were not getting an overwhelming “chocolate” feel.
Last in this flight trio was the “strawberry” – the 3 Daughters Brewing Strawberry Blonde Nitro. Glad we tried this one last, because it was by far our favorite of the trio, and in fact our favorite of the day. Light with distinct strawberry notes, it was one of the most unique beers we’d try on our visit. A smooth, golden colored brew, it had a very crisp feel, with just a touch of hoppy-ness. If we’d known ahead of time how much we’d enjoy this one, we might have skipped the flight and ordered up a full-sized version of the Strawberry Blond Nitro.
While one of the beers in this flight reminded us of Guinness, and the other gave us strong seasonal holiday vibes, the Strawberry Blond Nitro stood on its own, and would be especially delightful in the spring and warmer weather - a very refreshing glass.
Rosé Blonde Ale
If you’re looking for a good beer, of course, you’d go to “Germany,” and we were surprised to find two Florida-based breweries on the menu at the Germany pavilion’s Pastoral Palate booth, where we’d expected to only see German brews. We chose another 81Bay selection at this booth, the Rosé Blonde Ale. While the ale was fine, with definite strawberry notes, it wasn’t one of our favorites of the day. This blond ale was a bit hoppy, and the 6-ounce pour was $5.75. (A 12-ounce pour is also available for $9.75).
A stop at the American pavilion’s booth, The Artist’s Table, later in the evening gave us a peek (or sip, as the case may be) of another local Florida brewery, this time a bit closer to home in Lakeland, Florida. While waiting for the Disney on Broadway concert, we enjoyed a 6-ounce pour of the Brew Hub Jazzberry Wheat Jam Ale for $5.75. (A 12-ounce pour would be $9.75). This pour was a light drinking beer with a very distinctive and fruity taste (hint of blueberry, maybe?), and it was one of the better beers of the day. We’d come back and enjoy this one again on another day, especially if the Florida weather was heating up.
So now that we’d tried a few of the offerings from four local breweries, it was time to find out a little more about them.
3 Daughters Brewing is from St. Petersburg, Florida, on the west coast of the state, but they also have a second location in Clearwater Beach. 3 Daughters was founded by a group of friends and family who had known each other for decades, and it’s one of Florida’s largest independent and family-owned breweries. At their locations, you can sample some of the brews they create, particularly at their tasting room in St. Petersburg, but they also have a pretty extensive menu for snacking while you are there. 3 Daughters has a host of events to keep you entertained as well, from trivia nights, yoga, bingo, Valentine’s Day Fun Runs, to live music, festivals and markets on the weekends. Last year, 3 Daughters Brewing was named “Best Brewery” for Tampa Magazine’s 2023 Best of the City. If you can’t make it to St. Petersburg, their brews are also for sale at stores, restaurants and bars throughout Florida.
81Bay Brewing Co. in Tampa, Florida, is also on the west coast, around an hour and a half from Orlando, pending traffic on I-4. It is a growing company as well, but their Taproom is currently closed for renovations. They do offer tastings, and an interesting selection of pizzas to accompany your beers. Check their events page for such fun as bingo and trivia nights, and Art After Dark.
Playalinda Brewing Co., in the downtown historic district in Titusville, Florida, was opened by Donna and Bryan Scott in 2014 as the first microbrewery in northern Brevard County, on Florida’s east coast. They now have two locations (with interesting food menus), including Sunday brunch at their Brix Project location. (You can bring your pooch to their outside garden there, too!). Their events page offers up trivia nights, bike and brews, the Playalinda Run Club, and Paddle & A Pint for those of you who like to spend some time outdoors. And if you love those Girl Scout cookies, they’ll be hosting a week-long pairing with Girl Scout cookies and craft beers.
Brew Hub in Lakeland, Florida, is a little more than halfway between Disney and the west coast of Florida, and they have expanded four times in recent years. According to Visit Central Florida, Brew Hub’s 75,000-square-foot facility is a unique business in that, “They offer brewing, packaging and distribution for small craft breweries looking to get their name and products out into in the marketplace.” Brew Hub has partnered with Disney festivals in the past, and they’ve offered guests a number of their brews over the years.
While we tried just five of the 6-ounce pours over the course of the day, we were able to check out the creations of four local Florida breweries, and we enjoyed each of them to varying degrees. Each of the brewers put very different offerings on the table. There are at least 3 more Florida breweries at the Festival of the Arts’ booths, including Gulf Stream Brewing Company from Ft. Lauderdale; Keel Farms in Plant City (with Lavender Hard Cider); and the Tank Brewing Co. from Miami. (And don’t forget that the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival is right around the corner, with a whole new set of booths to explore starting February 28!)
We don’t generally take the time to indulge in the beer flights at the festival booths (mainly because the full-sized selections at the restaurants and permanent booths offer better values), but this was a fun way of exploring a whole new aspect of the festivals that we hadn’t thought of before, and to sample some new flavors we might not otherwise have tried.
Plus, now we can go back and tell everyone that, yes, indeed, Florida does have a pretty good number of microbreweries!
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
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