Florida Beer Company - Hurricane Reef Pale Ale

On the nose, expect the Cascade hops to give off their characteristically grapefruit notes, along with some sweet fruity tones and enough of a malt presence to keep things rooted in the realm of balanced beer. Balance is there, but the hops are king here. We found that unlike many well hopped beers, where the hops seem disembodied from the maltiness of the beer, this beer blends the two quite well—they don’t battle one another for sweet or bitter prominence, they simply work together. The hop flavors are relatively earthy and slightly mineralized, and there are faint notes of powdered aspirin and very, very faint notes of dark rum. As it warms, look for an emergence of light grain notes. Expect bitterness to sweep in pretty quickly in the finish, cleaning up most of the residual sweetness and drying out quite nicely, preparing the palate for another sip. Well hopped pale ales are not generally recognized for their thirst quenching abilities in hot weather, but this Floridian beer does serve as a nice hoppy brew that’s major selling point is its balance of big flavor and refreshing nature, even on a hot summer’s day. Overall, a well made, easy to drink, nicely hopped pale ale. Suggested pairing: spicy Jamaican jerk pork.

Always look on the bright side—hey we’re talking about Florida so that shouldn’t be too hard. Fact is, Florida, for its size and population density, is the third largest beer market in the nation, but has been way behind the curve in terms of serving up better beer. But what this means is that once the groundswell of support starts to take hold there, it’s going to be meteoric. And it looks like that’s happening right now, as the craft beer market is finally growing faster than the macro beer market there. Not only that, the craft beer market has grown by 22% statewide versus a national rate of about 11%. So, they may have been behind the times, but the bright side is that they’re ‘slingshotting’ their way up there now, making up for lost time, with some great microbreweries emerging and captivating beer drinkers with better beer. The Florida Beer Company is one such company that was founded well before craft-brewing had taken hold in the state. It’s the brainchild of company president Humberto Perez, a third-generation brewer whose grandfather founded one of the largest breweries in Venezuela—Cerveceria—in 1929. Relatively few US brewers have a family history of brewing that goes this far back, and Perez is proud of that fact. The company features a number of beer brands, with a common theme of Floridian pride evident in their beer names and label themes. Humberto's vision is to create a regional brewing presence that will bring long-sought recognition to Florida's burgeoning microbrewed beer scene. The Indian River Brewing Company, where these beers are brewed, is a small brewery, located on Florida's east coast in Melbourne. It was founded by Bruce Holt and brewmaster Jack Owen in 1977 (which makes this one of the oldest microbreweries in the country). It has since been taken over by Perez, keeping this important local brewery up and running and pumping out the good stuff. Each batch of beer is microbrewed by hand with little to no automation—reflecting the company's dedication to using traditional brewing methods to create their individualistic beers that are currently being enjoyed by an ever increasing number of Florida beer drinkers taking the plunge into better beer. For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (321) 728-4114, or visit their website at www.floridabeer.com.