Meggie and I recently got back from an amazing trip to Key West, FL for my best friend's wedding. The weather was perfect, the food was great, and surprisingly, the beer was great too. When you think about Key West, craft beer isn't the first thing that comes to mind. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of craft beer readily available. Whenever we go someplace new, we try to track down two things: food and beer. Well, I'm proud to say, Key West did us goood. Now, without further ado, I give you, An Austinite's Guide to Key West.
First,
Yuengling was available everywhere on both draught and in bottles. This made me excited because it's a great go-to beer, and it is not yet available anywhere outside of the East Coast. The brewery itself has a great historical background to it as well, which somehow makes the beer taste better. I got a couple of my friends to try it for the first time, and saw them drinking Yuengling for the rest of the trip.
Not a Yuengling fan? No problem. Key West has its own beer too...yep, called
Key West Sunset Ale. This beer is brewed by the
Florida Beer Company. It's a non-traditional amber ale, brewed with (I believe) grains of paradise. This gives the beer a little 'zest' to it, some lemon-pepper qualities not traditionally found in amber ales. It's not a great beer, but it was refreshing in the hot Florida sun.
Now onto the good stuff. One of the most popular bars in Key West is called
Sloppy Joe's. By 3:00 a.m. sloppy we were indeed. The main bar has all your typical beers. Then, there's a little bar connected in the back called
Joe's Tap Room. If you want to get away from the noise and craziness that is Sloppy Joe's, come here for a craft beer on tap. They had a fairly decent selection, ranging from Dogfish Head to Stone Brewing.
And for the grand finale,
The Porch. This place rocked my socks off. This is actually one of the coolest bars I've been to. It's a fairly new addition to Key West, and let me tell you, it's a hidden gem. You walk up the stairs and onto the porch of an old house. Once you open the door, there are stairs right in front of you, and if you're lucky, the door to the left will be open to the bar. If it's not, it can be a little confusing on how to get in. This happened to us, so we ducked under one of their large windows to get into the bar. Here, I got to sample some great beers that we don't see here in Texas.
First, I tried the
Dogfish Head Olde School Barleywine on tap. This is a strong, 15% ABV beer, which would typically come in a half pint glass...not here. Nope, you get a full pint. This was a great beer. Sweet, with a slight bitterness at the end. Meggie had her new go-to beer, the Dogfish 90.
Second, I tried the
Shipyard XXXX IPA. This was actually very similar in flavor to the Stone IPA. Hopheads will love this beer. Meggie, feeling pretty good after her first beer, ventured out of her comfort zone and tried
Oskar Blues Ten Fidy, a very potent and very thick Imperial Stout. Chocolate and coffee flavors dominate, but she actually enjoyed it.
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| This isn't their whole menu either! |
We also got to sample a few other beers like
Bell's Oberon,
Left Hand Milk Stout (Meggie's first time trying it), and a
Wild Blueberry Wheat ale (it was like drinking blueberry pancakes, delicious!).
This place was so great, we had to go back the next day. We stopped in for a quick beer before dinner, and we got the
Dogfish Head Pangaea. It wasn't my favorite Dogfish, but it was delicious nonetheless. The candied ginger made for a very unique experience, but not something I would drink all the time.
Overall, our Key West experience was amazing. I was very happy to see that the craft beer revolution is really starting to make an impact, even in touristy places like Key West. So if you're ever in Key West, you can rest assure that a craft beer is just an arm's reach away.
Well, the time has finally come. Uncle Billy's at The Oasis location is now open for business! According to their Facebook page, they had a soft opening last night, and it sounds like it went really well. This is great news, as The Oasis isn't exactly known for their food. Now that Uncle Billy's is there with both great food and great craft beer, I think we might have to visit the Lake Travis area more often. Drinking a pint overlooking Lake Travis during sunset...can it get any better? It's also rumored that this new location will begin a canning line for Uncle Billy's hand crafted beer...here's to wishful thinking!
