Florida Beer Company - Key West Golden Lager

The world needs more craft-brewed lagers—thankfully, more and more brewers are bringing tasty lagers like this one to the people. On the nose, expect a citrusy yet clean aroma with notes of fresh grains and a mildly sweet malt background. Look for faint impressions of caramel, and notice that this brew is well hopped for the style. We found this beer pleasantly surprising as it goes down on the sweeter side for a golden lager, with a fuller flavor than what was expected. Expect the sweeter notes to be appropriately balanced by the floral and citrusy flavors from the German hops, with the sweetness ultimately winning out with a slight creamed corn flavor. Note the blended orange notes as it warms, somewhat reminiscent of an Orange Julius. The finish was unexpected for the style as well, with a very long arc to the bitterness initially, eventually breaking with a light-to-medium level of bitterness. Overall, plenty of classic microbrew flavor with all the drinkability of a lager. While solid enough to satisfy beer aficionados, this beer also happens to be great for transitioning your ‘yet to be converted’ friends and family off the BMC (Bud/Miller/Coors)—give it a try at your summer gatherings!

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.