Brewpubs. Some areas of the country are covered in brewpubs. My mouth waters when I read various beer blogs go into detail about walking from one brewpub to another to another. Meanwhile, here in Florida, we are in a brewpub wasteland. Especially Central Florida. But a new one did open up a few months ago and we finally got a chance to visit it this past holiday weekend.
The Shipyard Emporium, in Winter Park FL is related to the same Shipyard Brewery in Maine that you have no doubt heard of. Calling itself a Market, Bakery and Brew Pub, the Shipyard Emporium offers most of the Shipyard Beers (Old Thumper, Export Ale, Blue Fin Stout, etc) on draught. But they are not made on premises. Instead the Shipyard Emporium has a small brewing system which they use for very small quantity ‘experimental’ beers.
So late on a hot July Sunday, The Beer Goddess and I made our way to Winter Park. Luckily we did find a parking space in the small parking lot. As we entered the front door my initial thought was ..holy crap, I love their air conditioning….but then I realized that The Beer Goddess would not like it that cold. In an effort to keep The Beer Goddess in a non hurry to leave, I suggested we sit outside on the patio. It turned out to be a good decision. They have a small seating area that wraps around two sides of the building with plenty of fans and misters mounted on the ceiling. And even though the temperature was in the 90s, I don’t think I noticed it sitting on the patio. Very pleasant. And also a bit quieter than inside. The ceiling fans drowned out the traffic noise from the street.
When it came time to order, I was disappointed to hear that they were out of their special experimental beer of the week (remember, they brew in very small quantity!). So I had to order off the menu. But luckily I did have a chance to try a couple of new beers for me. I started with a Double Old Thumper (11.2% abv), while The Beer Goddess went with a Shipyard Export Ale. I sampled the Export Ale and it tasted a bit off. But it may have been because I had just had the Double Old Thumper. An 11.2% beer can do that. Shipyard also offers some other Florida beers on draught from around the state, namely Cigar City Brewery (Tampa) and Swamp Head Brewery (Gainesville). So for my second beer I had a Catherine’s Inspiration, a 10.5% imperial stout from Swamp Head. Both the Double Old Thumper and the Catherine’s Inspiration were outstanding.
The food was also good (especially the bread!). I can recommend either the Lake Rose sandwich (smoked turkey with brie and orange-cranberry sauce hot pressed on ciabatta bread) or the Emporium Pot Roast sandwich (pulled pot roast, cheddar, sweet banana pepper and horseradish mayo on a ciabatta roll). If you go with the Pot Roast sandwhich make sure you get extra napkins. It tastes great but it is a bit messy.
As usual, I forgot to take pictures of the beer or food, but here is my rendition of what the Export Ale looked like on our table. No drawings of the other beers I drank exist……
Shipyard Emporium – 200 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park FL 32789 321-274-4045