Cigar City/other good beers in Florida?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Yooper

Ale's What Cures You!
Staff member
Admin
Mod
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jun 4, 2006
Messages
75,109
Reaction score
13,255
Location
UP/Snowbird in Florida
In Orlando, can I buy bottles of Cigar City beers at supermarkets? I've never had their beers, but have heard great things and I'd love to try them.

I'd also love to try other craft beers I can't get around here. I'm open to all suggestions to where to buy locally in Orlando and what to buy.

I need to stop at a grocery store when I arrive at MCO anyway, so I was hoping for some ideas where to find beers I have to try.
 
Yes, should be in places like Publix, Total Wine. Worth the drive to Tampa, actually. Other good Florida beers include Swamp Head from Gainesville and Wynwood from Miami.
 
Yes, should be in places like Publix, Total Wine. Worth the drive to Tampa, actually. Other good Florida beers include Swamp Head from Gainesville and Wynwood from Miami.

I can't drive to Tampa- we're arriving at MCO at 1:20 PM and have dinner reservations at the Contemporary resort that evening. I'm spending a week in Disney World, hence the need for beer for my fridge! It's just me and my 5-year-old little guy companion.

We may go to Tampa or Cocoa Beach for an afternoon before coming back home, but that may be the end of the week.
 
I'm in Orlando tomorrow for a company-sponsored party - should I bring some home brew for us to drink?
 
Have been to Orlando 3 times this year for work. Cigar City is readily available...so is Funky Buddha and Intuition...all good stuff especially Funky Buddha
 
If you have time to go to Tampa / St. Pete check out Cycle Brewing very solid beers!

I wasn't impressed with the atmosphere at Cycle, very hipster vibe. St Pete Brewing is cool, as is Green Bench.
 
The only brewery that I know of in Orlando is a very tiny place next to the Boardwalk Inn, on the Disney properties. They make some fine beers, not distributed, but it's a fun place on a little lake tucked behind France in Epcot. I forget the name, but somebody else will remember. It would be an approriate place to take children; they serve food, and the boardwalk just outside is full of fun and mischief.

BTW, the Boardwalk is a great place to stay. My family stays there a lot when we go to Orlando (we love Epcot).

[edit] this is the place: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/boardwalk/big-river-grille-and-brewing-works/

big-river-grille-and-brewing-works-gallery00.jpg


Again, we stay on the boardwalk there, it's very convenient, I like convenient.
 
I'm in Orlando tomorrow for a company-sponsored party - should I bring some home brew for us to drink?

Well, I'm not going until after thanksgiving. I'm just trying to think ahead, and my mind always goes to beer. We'll get there on a Saturday. I'll need a beer, bad, shortly thereafter. 😀
 
The only brewery that I know of in Orlando is a very tiny place next to the Boardwalk Inn, on the Disney properties. They make some fine beers, not distributed, but it's a fun place on a little lake tucked behind France in Epcot. I forget the name, but somebody else will remember. It would be an approriate place to take children; they serve food, and the boardwalk just outside is full of fun and mischief.

BTW, the Boardwalk is a great place to stay. My family stays there a lot when we go to Orlando (we love Epcot).

[edit] this is the place: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/boardwalk/big-river-grille-and-brewing-works/

big-river-grille-and-brewing-works-gallery00.jpg


Again, we stay on the boardwalk there, it's very convenient, I like convenient.

That is a good little place to go. We go all the time to Epcot and have stayed on the Boardwalk also and at the Dolphin Hotel a few times as well. Very convenient to walk from there to Epcot. That little brewery has a good sampler to try their brews before buying larger quantities! I like their amber winter beer and their stout to name a few.

Yooper in a pinch if you go to Epcot you can get some good English beers on draught at the England pavilion and good German beers in Germany. If you go during the "Food & Wine Festival" (now until the middle of November) you can also get good beers from Belgium and the other special pavilions that they have set up. We are going on Oct 10th by the way to get our beer fix and also see "38 Special" in concert, who is performing at the stage at the American pavilion. Hope you have a great time on your trip!

John
 
Should have Cigar City in the supermarkets there. My other fav of the area is Coppertail. Red-light Red-light is worth going to. @AllenH knows all the spots.
 
We aren't staying at the Boardwalk, but I can see us visiting there. I didn't realize there was a brewpub there!

We are sort of on a budget trip, if Disney could ever be a 'budget' trip. The 3 day tickets cost as much as the week's rooms- and we are adding another day or two to the tickets since the big cost is day 1 and 2. Food is expensive as well- that's why the rental car so we can buy groceries for breakfast and snacks and beer.

I thought this would be a great opportunity to try some of these beers I've never heard of, like Cigar City. It's just me and my 5-year-old grandson, so there won't be any late nights (except for one night for fireworks, maybe).
 
@Yooper go to Orlando Brewing in Downtown Orlando. They have an awesome tap room. Best little brewery out here. Also, Total Wine and Spirits has great bottle selection of all local brews.
 
Well, I'm not going until after thanksgiving. I'm just trying to think ahead, and my mind always goes to beer. We'll get there on a Saturday. I'll need a beer, bad, shortly thereafter. 😀

Since there's some time to plan, maybe one of our west coast Floridians could put together a sampler box and deliver it?

Just our way of saying thanks for coming down here and spending your cash.

With everything you contribute to the forum, it's only fair.
 
I found CCB in a gas station/market near disney a year or so ago. Also, if you go to downtown Disney, Raglan Road Irish pub has a pretty decent selection of brews.
 
My sister-in-law is in town from Colorado. So my wife and I and a bunch of our family members took her to Cigar City Brewing so she can taste some really good Florida craft beer. She took us to craft breweries in Colorado when we visited so we reciprocated. We took the tour and sampled the beers and then we had several other beers in the main bar area. I got to try their "Invasion" pale ale and their "Vanilla Maduro" and "Cubano Espresso" brown ales, and I really enjoyed these beers. I haven't tasted a beer they make that I don't like yet. I know they were voted number 1 craft brewery in Florida but the guy on the tour said that USA Today had an article that stated that they are the number 5 craft brewery in the country. I can see why! So if anyone is in the Tampa area and you are wanting to try some excellent craft beer you really should make some time to get down and visit them. They also are expanding their distribution so you may just see the beer in your local supermarkets.

John
 
Just thought I'd update for anyone traveling to the Orlando area, We spent the week before Christmas at Disney, went to Big River Brewing on the boardwalk, got there shortly after opening and got seats at the bar. I had a flight of all their current offerings, and thoroughly enjoyed them all.

The Publix supermarket we stopped at in hopes of finding local brew was a bust, not much there that I couldn't get here in Indiana, so we headed to an ABC liquors near Disney property, where I hit the mother load! Scored several offerings from CCB, Orlando brewing, Orange Blossom, big top, Tomoka, and Daytona Beach Brewing.

All in all, it was a decent beer trip, including some new stuff available at Disney, but the ABC liquor store was definatly a place I'll stop the next time, and it's very easy to get to from Disney property.
 
@Yoop do you need some FL brews? I'll hook you up.

We are getting close to leaving Texas for the north, so I can't take any now (can't believe I'm turning down a good beer offer.........................O)) but I will definitely be excited to take you up on your offer in a few weeks, when we're back home!
 
No prob! What do you like and how long til you can take beer? Lots of funky Buddha coming out every month or two
 
No prob! What do you like and how long til you can take beer? Lots of funky Buddha coming out every month or two

April 1 or after would be the timeframe. We should be home by March 25th, and will definitely be home before the 30th, because I have some work days scheduled.

I have no idea what a funky Budda is...................

I loved Jai Alai (Cigar City) when I tried it. I'm a total hophead, but I do appreciate other styles as well.
 
Had this at a dive bar on Johns Pass, I was impressed enough with the fresh hop character to take the photo.

image.jpg
 
The best beer selection under one roof will be at Total Wine and Spirits. I recommend Funky Buddha, Swamphead, Intuition, Sweetwater, Terrapin, and Coppertail. I would not waste time going to the Orlando (organic) brewery, as all of their beers are slightly off and none are actually very good. There are really no great local orlando breweries tbh.
 
That's good to know, I like the beers from Funky Buddha that I have tried so far. I didn't know Sam does that with them, pretty cool.

John
 
Back
Top