Mike Loves Beer

I’ve moaned and complained about the lack of any cask culture existing in South Florida.  The craft beer community is booming but there just aren’t really any firkins going around.  Well Chung over at Coffee District is going to try to change that the best he can.

This Saturday they will be tapping a very special and super limited firkin of J.W. Lees Harvest Ale.  This is a 2010 vintage aged in Lagavulin casks.  This is the only cask of it in Florida.  The little barrel is only 5 gallons so if you want it you better get there early.  The firkin is tapped at 7 pm.  See you there!

Coffee District
325 NE 2nd Ave, Suite 104
Delray Beach, FL 33444
http://www.mycoffeedistrict.com/

Today the Funky Buddha Brewery announced a partnership with Cigar City Brewing in Tampa to use their system to brew 1-2 beers.  These beers will then be kegged at CCB and then distributed in South Florida to on premise accounts.  This will help spread the name of Funky Buddha as they strive towards their goal of being a fully functional brewery in 2012.  Here is the official press release from Funky Buddha.

We are excited to announce that 2012 will be a big year for the Funky Buddha Brewery. In just a few short months, March 2012, Funky Buddha Brewery will begin distribution of our beers. Many of you are shaking your heads and wondering how we are distributing on our modest 1.5 barrel system. Well, we’re not. One of the most amazing things that we have covet about this business is the generosity and overall feel of community in this industry. Cigar City Brewery has continued to strive to put Florida Beer on the map, and are allowing us to brew on their system. We are going to launch one, possibly two of our core brands as we plan for our full brewery expansion. Yes, that’s right…the Funky Buddha Brewery will be a full scale production brewery in South Florida in 2012! We would like to take this opportunity as 2011 comes to an end, to thank all of those who have supported and championed our growth and success. We really appreciate the support and encouragement! It’s because of our great customers, passionate bloggers, tweeters and friends that have helped spread the word and share the love. We truly thank you for your continued support. We are excited to have this opportunity to blog our experience and blog step by step of our growth with everyone. We will be updating this blog throughout this journey. We would like every one of you to share in the experience with us, because if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be here. From the Funky Buddha Family to yours, have a Happy and Healthy New Year.
CHEERS to 2012!

This is great news for the folks at the Buddha and South Florida beer geeks.  When the details on which beers will be brewed and distributed you will definitely hear it here.

Name – Stagger Lee
Country – United States
Type – Cider

I promised some reviews this week so I better make good on that.  So here I am with another cider review.  I’m actually really excited about this one.

I first saw Crispin’s Stagger Lee on my friend Casey’s Facebook as he posted a picture of it.  This cider is a blended cider of three different varieties including one of them being aged in rye whiskey barrels.  Cider in rye whiskey barrels?  I’ve never heard of such a thing.  But now I have an I must try it.

From what I’m told it is only available in Total Wines in South Florida.  Additionally my first trip to the store to try to find it turned up fruitless as it was not in the single bottles section with the other ciders.  It was actually in the package cider section.  Kind of strange when it is being sold as a single bottle.  But what do I know.

I popped the cap and poured the beer into my shaker pint.  It is a very cloudy gold color.  I can see sediment floating all over the place in there.  No head but that is common in ciders.

The scent is definite ripe apples upfront.  But you do get slight notes of wood and whiskey in the back end.

The taste gives you whiskey right up front and then turns into sweet apples.  The finish has a slight alcohol burn to it as the whiskey taste comes back for one final appearance.

I was blown away by this cider.  The complexity that the whiskey barrels adds to this is incredible.  Usually I look at ciders as a session drink but this is a sipper that deserves the respect to be savored.  Plus at the 6.9% ABV it will sneak up on you if you aren’t careful and take advantage of you the rest of your evening (or afternoon okay).

To say that Crispin is doing outstanding things with cider would come nowhere close to how true that statement is.  They are truly a craft cider maker.  From different yeast strains to spirit barrels I can’t help but enjoy and look forward to everything they do.

If you like or love cider you absolutely must try Stagger Lee.  You won’t be disappointed, I really mean that.

Grade - A