Beer We Go! Orlando’s Craft Brewery Scene

There are no real pubs in Orlando. Wait a minute, we need to qualify that a little. There are no real British pubs in Orlando.

That probably comes as no great surprise to most UK visitors, seeing as how this is the land of Uncle Sam and they eschewed the idea of British rule almost 250 years ago.

True, there are a few derivative Irish bars and pub-type environments in Central Florida, including the magnificent Raglan Road at Disney Springs, but even the latter doesn’t have the intimacy or history of a typical country pub (or even a city one, come to that).

Yes, we had the redoubtable Cricketers Arms at the old Mercado Center on International Drive during its hey-day in the 1990s, but that was a genuine one-off and it has long since passed into Orlando folklore.

But, for those seeking a really good pint and at least some of the atmosphere that you’d find in the average hostelry of ale repute, Orlando has craft breweries. Lots of craft breweries.

At the last count, there were fully 27 (that’s right, twenty-seven!) in this overall area that we like to call Orlando, and they all offer something different and exciting in the realm of beer brewing

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The Brewery That Started it All

If all that sounds a bit melodramatic, it’s meant to be. This isn’t your grandad’s beer scene, where Budweiser always proclaimed itself “the King of Beers” and the equally anodyne Pabst Blue Ribbon insisted it was “an American icon.”

Just as we Brits learned to realise that Double Diamond didn’t “work wonders” for anyone (except the Ad men) and that Carlsberg wasn’t “probably” the best of anything, let alone lager, so the US has embraced full-flavoured alternatives to the big brands that have dominated TV commercials for decades.

For the city of Orlando, it all began back at the turn of the (21st) century, when a bunch of cerevisaphiles (and, yes, that really is the word for beer aficionados. You can look it up in the Urban Dictionary) got together to create their own idea of “high quality” ales and lagers in downtown Orlando.

To them, that meant sticking strictly to the Reinheitsgebot, which, as everyone knows, is the German Purity Law of 1516, and basically means beer is a strictly organic product (Budweiser, Carlsberg, et al, take note).

That first craft ale purveyor, the Orlando Brewing Company, shut down early this summer in its original downtown location but is working on a brand new venue on International Drive that will make it far more accessible for visitors later this year.

A producer of some 20 regular and seasonal beers, from their signature Blonde Ale and Right-On Red to a Pumpkin-Spiced Stout and Olde Pelican English Pale Ale, Orlando Brewing are due to re-open at 5368 International Drive, in the former home of the large Divers Direct watersports store, next door to the fab Hash House A Go-Go restaurant.

And Then Came the Flood!

If Orlando Brewing was the starting point, they have now been followed by a veritable flood of equally inspired and enthusiastic brewers, dotted around the Central Florida landscape from Persimmon Hollow in the pretty town of DeLand (seek out their 3 Wise Guys for a great coffee porter), to the brand new Suncreek Brewery in Clermont, which brings in East Kent hops for several of its beers and boasts a great New Zealand-inspired blonde ale.

In between, the likes of Ten10 Brewing Company, which introduces visitors to the happening, funky Mills 50 district of Orlando and their signature Brown Ale, as well as some tasty root beers and a surprisingly good small-plate menu, and Redlight, Redlight, which has been around since 2005, serve to highlight the great variety on offer that now includes things like mead and cider as well as an astonishing array of IPAs.

To give you an idea of how quickly the brewery scene is expanding, the fab Persimmon Hollow - marketing slogan, “Drink sensibly, but get weird” - made its debut as recently as 2014, but opened its fourth Florida outlet just this March as part of the rapidly-developing Flamingo Crossings area west of Walt Disney World.

(PS: If you haven’t discovered Flamingo Crossings yet, it is right on toll Highway 429, a handy alternative entrance for Walt Disney World when I-4 is busy, and consists of new hotels, shops and restaurants, including a big Target store and a new Hash House A Go-Go due to open later this year)

Another brewery has grown up almost literally in the shadow of Orlando City Soccer Club, and is a must for a pre-game beer or two. Broken Strings is a music-inspired producer with a lively taproom that features a Purple Mane IPA in honour of our footy team as well as its tasty Penny Layne strawberry blonde.

Another Reason to Visit Winter Garden

Of course, we couldn’t let any discussion about local breweries pass without mentioning our favourite city suburb, Winter Garden

Fast becoming an attraction in its own right, one of the highlights is the Plant Street Market, home to the Crooked Can Brewing Company, a genuine cornerstone of the Market’s eye-catching style and appeal.

Crooked Can is a great place to hang out in its own right, either in the taproom, beer garden or Barrel Room. Their beers range from the light, crisp Cloud Chaser to the heavyweight Domestic Bliss, a Belgian golden ale that is fully 9.5% ABV. Brewery tours are available every Sunday on the hour from 12-4pm at $5 per person, including samples and a souvenir glass.

Again, we should add, please drink sensibly, or have a designated driver. Those are some strong beers!

Jump On the Beer Bus

One way in which you can enjoy all the brews without any driving at all is to hop on the Orlando Ale Line, a relatively recent (2019) service that simply provides a continuous bus loop each Saturday from 2-8pm around a series of our breweries for just $10/person.

With 10 different craft beer producers on the route, you can enjoy a beer at any one in turn, and then jump back on the next bus (usually every hour) for another brewery.

It’s a fun, convivial and entertaining way to enjoy breweries like Broken Strings, Persimmon Hollow (their Lake Eola location in downtown Orlando), Ravenous Pig Breweryand Beer Garden in Winter Park and Gatlin Hall Brewery & Food Hall just south of downtown.

It all adds up to an engaging and novel way to see Orlando and its ever-growing list of attractions, and sample some truly excellent ales along the way.

For more about the local craft brewery scene, check out this link from Visit Orlando.

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