We were happy that Saturday in general was not nearly as cold as the day before but once that sun went down waiting in line again brought on the challenge of staying warm.  Oddly enough we were pretty much in the same exact spot in line as the night before.  We planned our course of attack once again in line and when the doors opened we tried to get to it.

This time instead of all the breweries along the walls they had some there and some in the middle.  This cut down the amount of space to just hang out and relax.  This along with there being more people for the Saturday sessions led to some big time clutter in spots.

Right away Funky Buddha and Short’s had big lines and they pretty much stayed that way the majority of the night.  We continued our plan of each person in our group getting a different beer from whatever brewery we went to in order to let us try as many as we could.  And in about 2 hours again we hit almost everything we wanted to have with maybe less than a handful of exceptions.

My top beers of the evening were as such.

• Stone – Punishment
• Funky Buddha – Passionfruit Berliner Weisse
• Cigar City – Hungarian Oaked Peach IPA
• Founders – Canadian Breakfast Stout
• Captain Lawrence – Cuvee de Castleton

A few breweries like Heavy Seas, Evil Twin and Dark Horse didn’t receive a beer that they were each hoping for.  They seemed to have gotten lost in distribution or accidentally sent to an account.

I must say that I was also a bit disappointed in some of the Dogfish Head offerings.  While I initially had no intention on trying Dirty Fermentini, I don’t like olives and the idea of them pureed and put in beer sounds disgusting to me, I ended up having it after a friend told me it didn’t taste like anything.  After sipping it I had to agree.  It was rather watery and didn’t really taste much other than some sweetness.  Then Positive Contact, which was a beer that I really did want to try sort of came up flat as well.  Just didn’t really get any of the ingredients that it was said to have.

But again it was a great night of great beers.  We were happy to see our friends at Funky Buddha be so well received and numerous posts on sites all over and Twitter seemed to say they stole the show for the whole weekend.  They even got some major props from Tomme Arthur of Lost Abbey and Sam from Dogfish (all be it completely spelled their name wrong).  We are proud to say we have a great brewery in South Florida.

As I said yesterday this is absolutely a fest that every beer geek must do at least once.  Take friends with you as it is even more enjoyable than it already is when you can take in the great times with those that you love being around.

The brewers came out in full force again for this one so here are my top 5 beers of the festival.

BrewBar – Ziko’s Revenge – The upcoming brew on premise spot in Jupiter came out with a number of solid beers but their Ziko’s Revenge stout offered complex flavors with a nice full body.

Cigar City Brewing – White Oak Peach IPA – White Oak IPA from CCB is one of my favorites and their Peach IPA is a really tasty one.  Put them together and you get an awesome IPA with mixes of the peach and a nice white oak finish mixed in with those hops.

Due South Brewing – Saison du South – While many were talking about the Caramel Creame Ale (and rightfully so) it was the saison from Boynton Beach’s newest addition that got me happy quick.  Light, dry, citrus, cloves, horse blanket and enough funk in this would make anyone think it was made in Belgium or France.

Funky Buddha Brewery – Maple Bacon Coffee Porter – Yes I’ve had this plenty of times before but it’s been awhile.  The line for this was ridiculous with people once again chanting “bacon” just like last year.  There was even a fight in the lines during this.  I don’t condone this sort of stupid behavior at all but I think Funky Buddha has a new t-shirt they can make. Beer You Would Fight For.  I want credit.

Due South Brewing – Caramel Creame Ale – I couldn’t go the top 5 without having this one on there.  Yes I liked the Saison du South more but damn is this a fine beer.  Just think of those little candies that have the caramel with the creame in the middle of them.  Now imagine that taste in a beer.  It’s all there.

Honorable Mentions
Funky Buddha Bonita Applebum
Cigar City Church on a Hill
BrewBar Mystery Beer
Brewzzi Double IPA
Treasure Coast Brewers Club Key Lime Wheat

Those were my tops.  What about yours?  Leave a comment if you agree or disagree.

Bad news is that online tickets sold out weeks ago but the good news is there will be 1500 tickets given the day of at the gate.  They are $35 and cash only.  Now here’s some more bad news if you don’t have a ticket but are wanting to go.  You are going to need to get there early.  The pay at the gate line is usually ridiculously long very early.  To put into perspective I arrive (with tickets) last year around 11 am and the waiting line was already a few hundred deep.  So keep that in mind.

But this year is gearing up to be the best year yet with some old faces that have been missing and some new kids on the block.  I’m very much looking forward to the offerings from the Florida breweries that we don’t get distributed down here like Swamp Head, Bold City and Seven Bridges.  Plus new brewery Due South will be there pouring.  I must say I got a chance to try a couple of the offerings last night and boy are you all in for a treat.  Then of course you will have the awesomeness that is Cigar City and Funky Buddha.  Plus a ton more craft breweries from all over the country.

The festival starts at 1 pm at Roger Dean Stadium in the Abacoa area of Jupiter.  They will usually start letting people in around 12 or 12:30.  So have a good time and be safe.  Say hi if you see me.

For more information please visit the Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival site.