Mike Loves Beer

After two successful weekends in a row of beer festivals the Funky Buddha is back in South Florida with a ton of momentum and a bunch of news.

Firstly a full batch of Maple Bacon Coffee Porter was brewed yesterday and is expected to hit the taps in a couple weeks.

The imperial version of the MBC is still in it’s secondary but it now has a name, Wide Awake It’s Morning.  A special release of the beer is being planned.  Once all the details are available they will be here.

The Buddha has a couple collaboration brews in the works as well.  This weekend they will be teaming with local brewers Good Karma Brewing to brew a Belgian Strong Dark.  Then it appears that the Buddha boys will be doing a collaboration brew with St. Somewhere a little further down the lines.  What can they come up with along with Florida’s master of wild yeast?

As reported initially by Dave at South Florida Beer Blog, Abraxas Lounge in Miami Beach is reopening to 7 days a week.  A brief hiatus was taken that left the bar only open on the weekends.  But they are now back to being open every day.  And not only that but they have a new opening time of 5 pm with rotating happy hour specials.

A new brewery is in the plans to open later this year in Delray Beach called Blind Tiki.  I had the pleasure of speaking with the man behind the plan Mike on Monday about the brewery.

They have the location already and are just in the process of building it out to their specifications.  They are tentatively planning for a November 2011 opening but it is Florida so you never know what might happen on the paper work side of things.

But yet another new brewery in Florida to look forward to.  Be sure to check out their Facebook for updates!

Stone is a brewery that is taking the craft beer world by storm.  Whether it be their collaborations with breweries like BrewDog, Nogne O or Jolly Pumpkin.  Or it be their great videos that they post about different events or goings ons at the brewery.  Or maybe it’s just the funny tongue in cheek humor you can find on the back of all their bottles.  But needless to say people seem to like Stone a lot.

Well lucky for us here in South Florida we will get to celebrate Stone for the next few days with numerous events.

Bethany Sherwin, the Southeastern US rep for Stone, will be making the trek down here and it I don’t see her having much time to enjoy the beaches.  One because we are going through an awesome cold spell that sees temperatures in the 50s and because she is going to be mad busy.

So how about less jibber jabber and we get to the events?

Friday December 10th
Pint Night at Abraxas (407 Meridian Avenue Miami Beach, FL 33139). Stop by for a pint of Stone’s Vertical Epic 10.10.10. on draft… plus specials on all other Stone bottled beer. Not to mention that you get to keep the glass when you buy your first pint, from 8pm until close.

Saturday December 11th
Everyone Must Get Stone(ed) at BX Beer Depot (2964 2nd ave N. Lake worth, FL 33461) from 4:30 – 6:00 pm. Join Bethany from Stone Brewing as she leads us in a class on the great Beers of Stone. Brewing process, ingredient selection, and many more interesting facts about the beers of Stone will be shared by this great brewery that caters to home brewers and beer lovers alike. Included in this event is a Commemorative Stone Brewing Snifter, and a tasting of the following beers:
* Vertical Epic 10-10-10
* Ruination IPA
* Smoked Porter
* Lucky Bastard Ale
*Imperial Russian Stout
* Depending on turnout, the Bx may break out a surprise beer!
After the class, a 20% discount on all Stone Brewing Draft Pours will be available to guest as well. Guest will be welcome to stick around at our Beerhaven Tiki for music and great beer afterward! Cost is $25.00 in advance and $30.00 on the day of the event. Please call (561)965-9494 to make your reservation today!

CANCELED
Sunday December 12th
Stone Brunch at Tryst (4 East Atlantic Avenue Delray Beach, FL 33444) from 9am – 12pm. Yes you read that right BEER BRUNCH. They will be featuring a Stone Ruination Bloody Mary plus some other goodies.  Not all the details are known right now but check out www.freshbeerinc.com for more details when they come in.

Monday December 13th
Bastard Night at World of Beer (4401 Lyons Road Coconut Creek, FL 33073) from 7-9pm. Stop by where Bethany will be handing out arrogance as they will have a keg of Lucky Bastard, Double Bastard, Oaked Bastard and Arrogant Bastard all on draft…plus some other stone beers available on draft and a bunch in the bottles.

Tuesday December 14th
Bethany from Stone Brewing will be stopping by Gratify Gastro Pub (125 Datura St West Palm Beach, FL 33401) to host a Stone beer dinner. Call 561 833-5300 to make reservations. A delicious lineup will include:
Course 1: Roasted Beet Salad with Candied Walnuts, Goat Cheese and Pear Paired with Stone Pale Ale
Course 2: Curry Mussels Paired with Stone IPA
Course 3: BBQ Porter Braised Short Rib with Buttermilk Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes Paired with Stone Smoked Porter
Course 4: Pine nut Salmon with Spinach and a Warm Bacon Glaze Paired with Arrogant Bastard Ale
Dessert Flourless Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Stout Whipped Cream Paired with Stone Imperial Russian Stout

Wednesday December 15th
Stone Pint Night at Coffee District (325 NE 2nd Ave. Delray Beach, FL 33444) They will have Sublimely Self-Righteous, Vertical Epic 10.10.10. and some other Stone brews on draft. Bethany will be in attendance to answer any questions you may have about this West Coast brewery. Buy your first pint of Stone and keep the pint glass as a memento. Rumor has it that United We Drink may be recording the next episode of their podcast this night as well. OOOOWWW!

So there you have six events to go out and have some awesome Stone brews with someone that works for the brewery.  Are you planning on going out to any?

This is the review I have been dreading to write.  I’ve honestly put it off all week.  The reason is because it’s not going to be a great review where I tell you to go out of your way to go to.  But after much thought I figured that bar should know it’s flaws and hear it’s criticism in order to try to become better.  So with that said, here we go.

I’m going to start with the problems I have with the place and just get those out of the way.  I’ll leave the good things for last so that I can try to redeem it some.  I’m just going to throw it out there.  The service here was atrocious.  While the owner, Diego, is a great guy and very open to the beer loving crowd because he is a beer lover.  But that is where it ends.  His bartending staff just don’t seem to know how to tend a bar.

My first time there it was very crowded, as it was the bar’s anniversary, so I marked up bad service to being just crowded.  Three friends and myself waited at the bar for close to 20 minutes without being asked what we would like.  A few of the bartenders even looked at us but just went on their merry way.  We moved to a different spot along the bar where it took probably 10 minutes before we were asked what we would like.  A couple of us ordered Flying Dog Gonzo on tap as we saw the handle.  The tender taking our order said they didn’t have it.  When pointed to it he replied that it was out.  We settled for bottles of it but were pissed to then see drafts being poured of Gonzo not to long later.  Then later on in the night when I wanted something else I played the whole waiting game again.  I probably would not have been served if it wasn’t for a friend who was a regular that called someone over.

So like I said I thought it was just a bad night for as crowded as it was.  Last Friday I headed back there for South Florida Beer Blog’s 1st Anniversary party.  Not nearly as crowded it as it was my previous time there so I expected better service.  It was seemingly no where to be found.  I stood at the bar for 10 minutes before I was even asked what I would like.  All this time new people were walking up and getting taken care of while I was still standing there.  Finally I placed an order.  Another 10 minutes went by and I had no beer.  More new people came up and received their beers before I did.  After about 15 minutes I gave up and walked away.

Now maybe to you I’m complaining and maybe I was a rare occasion but I have seen a few other reviews online that seem to have had problems with the service here.  It seems like unless you are a regular you are on the bottom rung of the priority ladder.  So I hope maybe Diego will see these problems and make the decisions needed to improve because other than that it is a nice place.

The bar itself is a converted house, the bathroom has a shower in it.  It has a nice ambiance to it that make things feel really relaxed.  The bottle lineups were very nicely laid out on a big chalk boards that were easy to read and broken down by style.  And for being in South Beach we have never had a problem finding a place to park close to the bar.

The prices are a tad high but it is South Beach so I guess that is to be expected.  They did have $5 pints of Cigar City brews on tap (Jai Alai, Patio Tools, Humidor IPA) the last time I was there and that is a good deal for any of those.

They do not serve food but allow you to bring in your own food.  Many people order pizzas from local joints and have it delivered to the bar.

And like I said, Diego is a great guy.  He allows beer geeks to bring in some outside and rare beers to share.  Not many bar owners are that cool (We know Chung is).  Guys from Fresh Beer are always seemingly there as well and I have never had a bad time talking and hanging out with those guys.

My hope is that something is done about the service.  I’m not saying bring in new people but try training your current staff a little more.  Being a business owner you have to learn to take criticism and try to improve off of it.  I’ve told Chung at the Coffee District of little things that have bugged me before and he takes them and tries to do something about it.

In the end if you are in South Beach and want craft beer you should stop by Abraxas but maybe if it is a weekday night or something.  God knows you probably have a hard enough time getting good beer in South Beach.

Abraxas Lounge
407 Meridian Ave
Miami Beach, FL 33139
305-534-9005