Jupiter Craft Brewers Fest Recap

If you were unable to make it out to Jupiter Craft Brewers Festival you missed one of the best beers fests in the country.  The fest gave local brewers a chance to step out into the spotlight and show what they are made of.  While there were some great beers from the bigger craft brewers I'm going to have to say that the beers that really stood out to me came from the local breweries. Here are some of the highlights from the fest:

Shipyard Brewing's Double Old Thumper- This is the suped up version of Old Thumper.  It made me think of a slightly hoppier version of Shipyard's Prelude.  The 11.2% ABV was hidden by the nice malt bomb that this beer has.  It's a nice change for a high alcohol beer to not be super extreme in one way or another, and be very drinkable.

Inlet Brewing's Monk IPA-  The good folks that brought you Monk In The Trunk have brought their Belgian style IPA to the world.  If you are a fan of Flying Dog's Raging Bitch you will want to try this at your earliest opportunity.  They will be releasing a limited run of it on draft around South Florida so keep an eye out for it. 

Cigar City Brewing's Hunahpu 2011- I will have to admit that as much as some people love this beer I have never been that big of a fan of it in the past.  This year's batch of Hunapu has finally reached what I always hoped the beer would be -  stronger chocolate flavors, a creamier texture, and for chili flavors to not be the main focus  - in comparison to what it was in past batches.  If you were lucky enough to have this quite rare beer before and thought it was lacking something, give it another try. It is great this year.

Bold City Brewery's Rosemary IPA- I heard some mixed reviews on this beer as some aren't fans of rosemary but I thought the infusion of rosemary was very nice.  I've had some other rosemary-infused beers before that were quite overwhelming but this one had the rosemary aroma with only a slight rosemary taste. It didn't totally overpower the hops.  This would be amazing paired with a nice roast.  It was the only beer I got to try from Bold City but I can't wait to try more.

The Funky Buddha- The Funky Buddha was the most talked about brewery of the fest.  They had listed the times they were tapping their specialty kegs and had quite a line every time.  The Maple Bacon Coffee Porter was the first beer from the Buddha that I got to try.  I had been waiting a while to try this beer and wasn't disappointed.  The maple sweetness is the first thing to hit you with the roasted coffee taste right behind it.  Not overly coffee-flavored though.  I didn't pick up too much of the bacon but overall I wish I had more than just this little taste.  I headed back over again for the Coconut Rum Oaked Red Ale - the pina colada of beers.  Don't be scared though, it's not overly sweet.  It's almost like you have a nice layer of coconut at the front with a nice oak and nuttyness on the finish.


The fest, overall, was a whirlwind of great beers.  I highly recommend you make the journey to Jupiter next year for this fest.  And make sure to get your tickets early as this event sells out every year.  See you there.