The tourists have gone home, the weather’s about as hot as it’s going to get and we decree that the Fort Lauderdale summer starts in May. So, what are we going to do about it? We’re going to have a drink.
Funky Buddha’ Pineapple Beach Blonde Ale
A new Funky Buddha beer for 2017, Pineapple Beach is fun. It’s not for the beer snobs who want a dark ale that tastes of turnips, rustic barns and ennui; it’s for people who say “Hey, beer tastes good. And you know what else tastes good? Pineapple.” Pour a glass of pineapple beer, put on some Jimmy Buffett and go sit by the pool. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
funkybuddhabrewery.com
LauderAle Sizzler Saison
There are no more Sizzler restaurants in South Florida. Seriously, we looked it up; the nearest one’s in Kissimmee. But what our region lacks in reasonably priced chain-restaurant steak, it makes up for with a different sort of Sizzler. Saison’s a pale style of summer beer originally from Belgium. The LauderAle boys describe theirs as benefiting from notes of black peppercorn, bubblegum, wildflower honey and clove. All we know is, it refreshes. lauderale.co
A Summer Cocktail
The dudes at South Florida Distillers (see page 36) know how to make some rum, and they also know what to do with their Fwaygo rum once it’s made. They’ve got some excellent rum cocktail recipes at southfloridadistillers.com, including one for the Old Fashioned, a drink normally associated with whiskey. Take two ounces of white rum (FWAYGO, natch), one ounce of falernum, two dashes of orange bitters, orange peel and maraschino cherries, and have yourself a party. southfloridadistillers.com
Broski Cider
Up at Pompano Beach’s Broski Ciderworks, they make traditional hard apple cider. But this isn’t New England or, for that matter, old England – they take a Floridian approach to cider. So also try cider made from ingredients such as passionfruit, pineapple and, it goes without saying, mango. broskiciderworks.com
Khoffner Helles Belles German Helles Lager
Brewing lager’s like playing the drums – just about any chucklehead can do it proficiently, but to have it done in a genuinely amazing manner is a rare art. Helles lager’s a Munich style – light, crisp and slightly sweet, not like that bitter stuff they have up in Hamburg or what have you. This is a beer that says “It’s 90 with 90 percent humidity, you’ve just finished mowing
the lawn, treat yourself.” khoffner.us
