Looks like they are in Tampa. That’s a ways away, on the other side of the state. However, the store where I get my beers, may have some of their product. The color on this Divinity looks great. Cloudy, but a nice color.
Odd Breed is about 4 hours away, another cruise. Again, if I can find them in the store I shop at, I’ll get some.
I appreciate the suggestions.
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Black Haddock, no problem, I got off on the wrong foot.
When you’re reading words instead of hearing a voice, things can get misinterpreted.
We have a GREAT time at our tastings. The members have a fantastic, if not sarcastic sense of humor, so it gets pretty raucus.
But we all agree on one thing. When it comes to the tasting of beer, we take it seriously.
The members contribute money for me to go buy the beers, and then I wrap them up, so they don’t know what they’re drinking. They love it this way. There’s no preconceived notions about what it might taste like. It’s a lot of work wrapping all the bottles, but I don’t mind.
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If you get to Orlando, look up First Magnitude Brew. Co. We’ve tried over 50 of their beers, and they just keep making more. I think their goal is to produce as many different styles, with as many different flavors, with as many different ABV’s as humanly possible.
I have had 13 beers from Florida, almost all being from Cigar City. My top rated beer however is this: https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/wild-rover-shadow-on-the-sun/640529/97853/
<*))))))><
BlackHaddock, we’ve had a couple Cigar City brews, Maduro Brown and Frost Proof Belgian Style White.
The Frost Proof seemed like an average beer, with nothing special about it.
The Maduro Brown, I found delicious. Notes of chocolate and coffee, but not overdone. I especially liked it, because it had no flavorings or adjuncts added to it, like vanilla, etc. A full bodied solid brown ale.
@beerman1957 I had that back in July 2017, this is what I wrote back then: 12oz can from Chez Sophie. Beer number five in a tasting session I had with myself on 1st Jul 2017. What a lovely smooth Brown Ale this is. Really enjoyed it. Nutty, chocolatey and yummy.
<*))))))><
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Hi @beerman1957, welcome to Ratebeer!
Sorry if you felt people were a bit snooty at first - as one of the largest and oldest worldwide beer rating sites our forums do tend to get targeted by spam/ads a bit, so sometimes people might be a bit angsty if your very first post appears just to be promoting another site. Hopefully subsequent replies have shown you a place full of knowledgeable beer people who are keen to help and have fun at the same time.
From looking at the list of beers on your website it looks like you and your group are at a really exciting point on your beer tasting journey - where you’re starting to discover loads of new beer styles from all around the world (some of them brilliant, others which, um, at least make everything else taste better in comparison!).
If your group is interested in tracking down the best beers in the world, here’s a link to the Ratebeer top 50 beers:
https://www.ratebeer.com/top-beers
The number after the star rating is the average rate beer score out of 5. You can click on each beer’s name to find out more details of that beer (including distribution) along with everyone’s reviews of it. It goes without saying that some of these beers may be hard to track down due to limited releases, or limited distribution outside the brewer’s state/ country. The number in brackets on the top 50 list shows the number of Ratebeerians who’ve rated the beer - obviously a higher number of raters means that it’s a beer that may be easier for you to track down for your group.
Alternatively you may be interested in trying different styles of beer (for me, it was trying the different styles of beer listed in this site that really opened my mind to how great beer truly is!). If so here’s a page where you can see the Ratebeer top beers in each beer style (I’ve set it up to match the style of your group’s top beer, but use the drop-down at the top to explore other styles too):
There’s similar lists on Ratebeer for the best beers available by country/state/etc, here’s the top beers brewed in Florida for example:
On a separate note, I’m quite surprised that your group have yet to discover the joys of the Belgian Trappist monastery beers, which are widely considered (by most beer sites, not just Ratebeer) to be amongst the best brews in the world - and which I understand are generally quite easy to get hold of in the US. Here’s a list of them (also includes the Trappist beers from countries other than Belgium):
You may also be interested in the best beer places in Florida (broken down by town) to help you track down the next samples for your group (or for the idd day trip for your group?):
One other thing - obviously each to their own on how you keep your beer records (if at all). However, just to let you know that if you keep records on Ratebeer it’ll gives you free access to voluminous amounts of stats about what you’ve drunk, which may be useful for helping you decide what to buy your group in future - for instance, stats on his many brews from each country/ state/ style type, average scores for each style type and so on. Might be worth you rating a few beers on here just so you can see if the stats help your group - you could try to get at least one of each style, or one from each state etc as a bit of fun. (I’d note that to stop spammers, you’ll need to rate at least 10 beers before your scores count towards site stats
Sorry for the long message, but hope it helps in some way. The main thing is that you continue enjoying it - all the best to your group and hope you continue to track down great beers and have fun doing it!
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wheresthepath,
Thank you for your concern. Things got off on the wrong foot when I first got on, but have since mellowed out, so to speak. I like this website, and will continue to use it to discover new and different beers to taste.
Yes I did want to promote our website, but ALSO to gain some insight and suggestions on beers to try, and perhaps to talk about beers that we’ve tried, that others have tried as well, and maybe discussions about that particular beer could be had.
We have a store here called Total Wine & More, that sells single beers and they have a multitude of different beers that we try, and they bring in the seasonal beers as well (Christmas, Pumpkin, Winter, etc)
Your suggestion of the Belgian Trappist Monestery beers was very helpful. The store has several of those, and I will pick some up on my next trip. I did not think of those, so thank you for suggesting them…and this is another reason why I joined the Rate Beer site.
As far as records, we rate the beers on color/clarity, nose, mouthfeel, and flavor. I keep records of the beers we’ve tried, the brewery, and our scores on a spread sheet on my PC and laptop. The ones on our “recommended” page on our website are just a few of the ones that scored high by all the members.
As time goes on, I will definitely use the other features of your website.
Again, thank you for your concern and happy tasting.
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Haven’t been to Florida in 5+ years I think. Attended a couple great RateBeer Winter Gatherings down there, though, in Jacksonville and Tampa. Had many great beers on those trips. Fun brewery visits, too.
As a child, I used to go visit my grandparents in Florida as well. They lived a bit south of Tampa, in a place called Englewood. Fairly close to Sarasota, as I recall.
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Very similar to here on Ratebeer then… We rate on aroma, appearance, flavour, plus an overall score. So if you do ever decide to try putting any rates on Ratebeer it should be easy to translate your system.
I personally started out with a spreadsheet which I do keep going just in case!) then moved onto a website much like yours (anyone here remember the old Oxford Bottled Beer database) before finally moving onto Ratebeer for the in depth stats along with the great people.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the Trappist brews.
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Just taking a quick look through my own Florida ratings. The top list for me seems to be dominated by 3 Sons, Cigar City and J Wakefield. Would add Angry Chair and Ology to the list of what I have as my top Florida breweries, and Garagiste if you are into mead.
But I am in Sweden and the only time I’ve been to Florida was way before I started to rate beer so my list is probably biased to what is available here and not necessarily the best that can be found.
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Another brewer in FLA is First Magnitude. They are continually brewing different styles and flavors. We have tried over 50 of their beers so far. They seem to have a core group of about 3-4 beers they brew all the time, but after that, they brew a batch or 2 of something, put it on the market, and move on to another style or flavor. Most of what we’ve had are only “okay”, with a couple of "real good"s and several "not good at all"s But it does give a beer taster many different styles and flavors to sample.
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Try this beer.
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Peppermint Porter.
The nose is a “peppermint patty” in a bottle. Chocolate and peppermint notes. Smooth mouthfeel.
Just a wee bit too much peppermint in the flavor though. But I highly recommend it.
It’s the perfect beer to “slow” drink with a cigar on the porch on a cool summer evening.
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Good to see you putting some ratings into the site !
Be sure however to check that the beer isn’t already on the database so you don’t add a duplicate.
First Magnitude Time Out Dry Irish Stout • RateBeer
Was already in existence … you then added …
Time Out Irish Stout • RateBeer
Also we never drop the brewery name before the beer name like you have on the beer you added
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