We’re hot on the ‘ale trail’ still adding more stamps to the map.  And then some…..

Starting on a Sunday afternoon, we stopped at Redlight Redlight.  We had visited months ago when they had a special night to honor Anthony Bourdain, after he passed.  It was so crazy busy that night, I didn’t even try to get my stamp.

I was doing a little research on the local breweries and here’s what I found for Redlight Redlight.

• Started in 2005, currently in their 3rd location, having outgrown the others
• Their name is a nod to their first building, which was said that in the past, the location was a hotel of ill-repute.
• Currently in the Carrier Heating & Air-Conditioning building and they salvaged every bit they could and put it back into their building.
• They enthusiastically embrace community involvement and even have an event planner on staff.

I tried the Keller Pils.  Not my usual choice and as the description notes, it was hoppy.

We met some friends (new and old) and later on as the neighborhood started coming over, saw more friends.  It had a good vibe for a neighborhood place.

As mentioned above with their salvaging goals, everything they could they reused inside the building. I think that’s pretty cool.  🙂   Love the sign.

In 10 years my research said they have………..24 draft handles, 2 traditional hard-pumped beer engines, over 300 bottled beers and a collection of craft sodas.

Next up was the Ten 10 Brewing Co.  We’ve visited this place before but on this visit, the plan was to eat!  And drink some – of course.

To briefly recap their story, here’s a few details about the brewery:

• Opened in Summer 2015, using pure, clean ingredients for their brews.
• Their mantra is ‘Great Beer, Good Food & Good Friends’.
• Strive to be a neighborhood hangout for locals.

I also included a few shots of their menu..……It was really hard to choose.  I’ll come back just to try more of their snacks & stuff.  Okay, and another sandwich.

 

Naturally, need a shot of the beers we drank………yes, that’s mine in the front and yes, its  smaller pour.

And the food.  We started with their pretzel with our meals being a cheese, chili hot dog (Eric) and a ‘deluxe’ grilled cheese with pulled pork (me).  I won – just saying.

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Next stop was the Broken Cauldron Brewery &Tap room.

Interesting story…..………..they are two breweries: Broken Strings and Black Caldron.  Each were having some challenges with locations and various other issues so they got together and voila!  they are Broken Caldron.

While they are two breweries, they are one taproom of beer for all palates.  Broken Strings focuses on hop-forward varieties paying homage to musical legends while Black Cauldron focuses on the malt-forward side.

At any given time they have 12 drafts on tap.

One of Eric’s friends met us there and shared this ‘barrel aged Russian Imperial’  brew within our group.

So, still being a newbie, I asked Eric why, what, huh?  His answer was ‘Its a beer thing.’

 

So my first sentence at the top says ‘And then some’.  While not part of my Ale Trail map, we visited the Clermont Brewery that opened up literally days ago from this post.

Clermont is trying to revitalize their downtown area and this building/street is planned to be one of the anchors or ‘hooks’ for people to visit downtown.  There are currently two restaurants sharing the space, one of which was a pizza place.  We stopped in their first day of business and with minimal to no advertising – except word of mouth – they had a nice crowd coming and going most of the day.  We shared a pizza and some brews.

At the moment, they don’t have any of their beers to serve since they’re still waiting on the barrels and other equipment, but they served other local beers.  Some of their beer soon to be available are:

• Save the Blonde – single hopped ale
• Sun Squishy – Citra IPA
• Moonlight Milk Stout – dry nibbed with raw organic cacao nibs

(cacao = unprocessed chocolate beans)

I can’t wait for their Moonlight Milk Stout.  Who knew that I would like dark beer.

 

One of the most attractive things about this brewery is their outdoor seating area.  Can’t wait for the weather to cool off!!!!!  Even in September, their customers were sitting outside enjoying Central Florida.

Part of their porch is covered so there’s protection from the Florida rains.  Then there are a multitude of picnic tables with no cover that provides lots of extra seating.  We stopped in on the first weekend they were open – OMG!  We had to wait for someone to leave before finding a table.  Every spot outside was filled up and customers were spilling onto the sidewalk.  I hope this place makes it, along with the restaurants.  Maybe by now, Clermont is growing up.

We’re about to embark on another travel adventure with good friends.  Posts will be coming, but wi-fi may be a problem.  We’ll see.

Ciao!

Ginny