OK, whose leg do I have to hump to get a decent beer in Southwest Florida (Naples, to be precise)? I looked in a few stores and can’t find anything local. I picked up some beer from a place called Key West that looked reasonable. It was; Sunset Ale is an American Amber style ale, decent hops, nice caramel. They made a witbier of sorts but it uses key lime instead of orange. Nice twist. It works. Then I look at the fine print on the neck label and see that they’re contract brewed by FX Matt in Utica, NY. OK, it’s a nice beer, but it’s not from around here. I’d like something fresh and local. I’m getting ready to hop in the car and drive three hours to Jeffy’s house for some homebrew. Somebody throw me a life preserver, quick!
Haven’t been down that way for a while, but a guick google shows Total Wine has a Naples location. They should likely have Cigar City beers … think you’ll like them. If not, at least they’ll have a decent variety of choices.
Hours
Mon-Thurs 9am-10pm, Fri-Sat 9am-11pm
Sun 9am-9pm
Phone
239 649-4979
Address
Carillon Place
5048 Airport Pulling Road
Naples, FL 34105
Not beer, but have you been to the Bubbleroom out on Captiva? I love that place. Decent food and awesome Red Velvet Cake!!!
Yeah, I was just looking up their address when Mark posted. Cigar City doesn’t look like it’s available down there yet, according to their site. I’ll check with them and get back to you.
take the Alligator Alley over to Palm Beach County and you can have beer at my house, then we’ll head up to Tequesta Brewing Co. ;D
I don’t think Cigar City, Swamphead or Tequesta are in Naples yet, so you’ll have to settle for Total Wine.
They should have a great selection - Avery, Bells, Stone, etc. just nothing local unfortunately.
careful there, Paul… Gordon may try to hump your leg ;D
OK, thanks for the tips. Didn’t know there was a Total Wine here. I went to one previously in Ft. Myers. Decent place. I was just looking for beers that I couldn’t get in Ohio. This stuff masquerading as beer from Key West is fine, but I was hoping for something with less miles on it.
I’ll have to plan ahead for the road trips next time.
Joey from Cigar City says call Total Wine and check Whole Foods, too, but I didn’t see that area covered by their distributors yet.
You could prolly get to Blatz’ house quicker than Tampa, but I have a nice Sparkling Key Lime Mead on tap if you make it up here.
Some good beer bars in Sarasota - that’s a bit closer.
OK, thanks. Total Foods is close too. Cigar City is worth seeking out; I’ve heard such good things about them. That’s one I’d like to try.
Damn it, damn it, damn it. Sparking Key Lime Mead??? AYFKM? I really need to rent a car next time here…
This is the address for Whole Foods: 9101 Strada Place, Naples, FL 34108
(239) 552-5100
You should be able to find St. Somewhere there if you can’t find CCB - it’s made near here too.
+1 on St Somewhere, they make some very interesting beer.
I stand corrected on some of the Key West beer. I looked at the neck label of the wit, and it says it’s brewed by the Florida Beer Company, Melbourne, FL. OK, it’s in the same state, but it’s nowhere near Key West. It’s like Tampa, but on the East coast.
So since I dissed Florida beer, here’s what it says: Key West Southernmost Wheat. Belgian-style wheat ale brewed with spices and key lime. Malted wheat, malted barley, cascade hops, first gold hops and all natural flavors: coriander, sweet orange peel, bitter orange peel and key lime.
It’s crystal clear, not cloudy, but the flavor profile is great. You taste the wheat, it has a crisp finish, it’s not too bitter, it’s not too heavy, it’s not too sweet, and you can taste the key lime. So it doesn’t have the faults of many wits. Super hot weather beer, which is good because it was 89F/32C today.
It’s the Sunset Ale that’s contract brewed in Utica.
I’m still going to check out those places you guys recommended for those brands, and I’m still unhappy I don’t have a car. I’ll let you know what I find. Thanks.
I’ll be sure to wear my old jeans then ;D
forgot about St Somewhere. - good call, while not my cup o’ beer, I know they are well liked.
Gordon - if you wander over to Whole Foods rather than calling them, keep in mind CCB only has 2 beers in sixers: Jai Alai IPA and Maduro Brown, all the rest come in crowned 750 champagne bottles, which my WF keeps separate from the six pack shelves.
Didn’t know that, but good tip. WF is basically across the street so I’ll likely just walk over there tonight.
Vacation sure is more fun than working.
And there’s no way I would have gotten this real-time info from TechTalk. Thank you, forum.
:D…troublemaker
Tell me about it, I’ve been drooling over that one since Jeff mentioned it a while ago.
Jeff, any chance you’re bringing some to San Diego? How many pounds of limes did you use? I saw key limes in the store the other day (and it made me drool because it reminded me off your mead). I doubt they’ll be as good as the ones you can get, but it might be the only way I can satisfy my craving.
If you actually make it to Key West try Kelly’s. It’s a brewpub owned by Kelly McGillis in the original Pan Am office building from back when they started up by flying Key West to Havana.
I got a recipe from Joe in West Palm and changed it a bit. 'Not sure he’s on the forum. Originally it was a Mojito mead with mint added, but I skipped that part. I tasted his in a mead/cider best of show last year and it was delicious.
I added 16 ounces of fresh squeezed key lime juice to a gallon of orange blossom honey and 4 gallons of water, then pitched a big slurry of Thames Valley ale yeast. It was 23P at the start (mid December) and 1.012 at the finish. I force carbed it Sunday. I really like it.
You could get some Yuengling…at least that would be local 
The Key West Sunset at one time was an lager and I forget who brewed it but it was pretty tasty. That was many, many moons ago (like 12+). My one trip to Kelly’s in KW was pretty awful. Since then they have had new brewers and I believe they ditched the dry yeast (yes, they used one big old cake of dry yeast for everything at that time) so I’ve heard some good things about the beers improving. I’ve never found better than Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada in Naples, but each time I’ve been I’m there with work and not able to search the area.
Most of those beers come from Florida Beer Company in Melbourne. They make a pretty good APA (or is it an IPA?) called Swamp Ape, but most of the beers are pretty mainstream.