Disney World #8

Last night, I ate at ‘Ohana with my family. It’s an all-you-care-to-eat Polynesian-style Churrascaria. The heavy grill flavors lent themselves well to another Full Sail Session Black, which was a fantastic choice.

Today, we spent the bulk of the day in Epcot. Many countries had geographically accurate beer options, but I knew I wanted to drink in Germany.

Last year I had a beer there that was unique to say the least, and I wanted to try it again. The beer is only a 77 on BeerAdvocate, which isn’t great. And, as far as beer goes, it’s somewhere between beer and malt beverage in taste, though it’s officially a beer. It’s a Grapefruit Hefeweizen called Schöfferhofer. Unlike some fruit beers, the grapefruit flavor is not subtle. It’s loaded with grapefruit flavor. I really enjoy it, but wouldn’t criticize any beer snob that turned their nose at it. I understand, as long as you understand that this is a guilty pleasure and I don’t really care what you think.

The added bonus was that I rep’d Chafunkta around the parks today. I always enjoy representing our local breweries, and I especially enjoyed representing Chafunkta in the park that’s most popular with beer lovers. Today was our last full day here, so this is probably my last Disney post. It’s been fun. I may post a recap, providing more info on the specific beer I drank.

Disney World #7

Yesterday, we spent another day in Universal Studios. I know I posted about good beer being available in the Hog’s Head Tavern and a craft beer stand outside, on the city walk, but inside the rest of the park is a different story. All I found around the park was Miller Light, Yuengling, Blue Moon, and Heineken. I don’t hate Yuengling. It would be my preference given the options. What made me dislike it under the circumstances was that I found it in the “San Francisco” portion of Universal. Yuengling is East Coast, it shouldn’t be in “San Francisco.” They should have struck a deal with Anchor. Also, the guy at the kiosk next to the beer stand told us we were supporting the wrong team (SF Giants) and that he only helped Detroit fans. We promptly thanked him for the best four games of our post season. I also said something along the lines of “Check your surroundings. You’re in San Francisco. No wonder you work here and not Disney.” His response was, “Alright, I’ll give you that.” In hindsight, that was kind of harsh, but their poor job of representing SF was irritating (the pier number they used for their shops is the AT&T Park parking garage—they did minimal research, if any). End of rant.

All that left me thirsty for a good beer, which I found easily enough at the Polynesian Resort’s bar. They carried Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. I love Rye Pale Ales. I can’t find any IBU information on the beer, but it can’t be high. The hops provide citrus notes, but not a lot of bitterness. The rye flavored are light too. The prominent flavors came from the malts. It was very good. It definitely hit the spot after my earlier beer related irritation. Taking it back to my room made it even better.

Disney World #7

Yesterday, we spent another day in Universal Studios. I know I posted about good beer being available in the Hog’s Head Tavern and a craft beer stand outside, on the city walk, but inside the rest of the park is a different story. All I found around the park was Miller Light, Yuengling, Blue Moon, and Heineken. I don’t hate Yuengling. It would be my preference given the options. What made me dislike it under the circumstances was that I found it in the “San Francisco” portion of Universal. Yuengling is East Coast, it shouldn’t be in “San Francisco.” They should have struck a deal with Anchor. Also, the guy at the kiosk next to the beer stand told us we were supporting the wrong team (SF Giants) and that he only helped Detroit fans. We promptly thanked him for the best four games of our post season. I also said something along the lines of “Check your surroundings. You’re in San Francisco. No wonder you work here and not Disney.” His response was, “Alright, I’ll give you that.” In hindsight, that was kind of harsh, but their poor job of representing SF was irritating (the pier number they used for their shops is the AT&T Park parking garage—they did minimal research, if any). End of rant.

All that left me thirsty for a good beer, which I found easily enough at the Polynesian Resort’s bar. They carried Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. I love Rye Pale Ales. I can’t find any IBU information on the beer, but it can’t be high. The hops provide citrus notes, but not a lot of bitterness. The rye flavored are light too. The prominent flavors came from the malts. It was very good. It definitely hit the spot after my earlier beer related irritation. Taking it back to my room made it even better.

Disney World #6

Tonight, I drank a Trois Pistoles at Le Cellier in Epcot’s World Showcase Canada. It was great—dark, complex notes, with bitterness and sweetness checked in balance.

The restaurant features Canada’s greatest export, William Shatn—er, I mean, Unibroue (the company that produces La Fin Du Monde). The strike against Le Cellier is that they also carry Moosehead Pale Ale, a beer Disney claims is only available in Canada and Epcot. My personal opinion is it should stay that way, although it does contribute to a delicious Cheddar Beer Soup. It’s not as bad as our macro-swill that we export to other countries, but it doesn’t compare to Unibroue’s exports. It’s bland and boring. I’d like to taste something else by them, and see if they’ve got anything I may enjoy.

Overall, I say this list ties with Be Our Guest, but Le Cellier is a far better restaurant. Also, Le Cellier’s menu relays the story of each beer, so plus one for them.

Posted from the monorail.

Disney World #4

I just drank this before dinner. I found it available at the living room bar at 50’s Prime Time Cafe. It’s one I haven’t found in Baton Rouge. It was pretty good. Great coffee flavors and bitterness were paired with extreme drinkability ( if that can be an extreme).

Disney World #3

I meant to post this last night, but I fell asleep before I was able to. I’m currently in line for Rock n’ Rollercoaster, so I have time to post.

Saturday night, we went to Big River Brewing Co., which is Disney’s brewery on the Boardwalk. The style were lighter in general, but their Maibock was solid at 7~%. My dad ordered the sampler and loved everything but the Hefeweizen—I drank that.

This is not the first time I’ve been here. It’s one of my favorite places at Disney.

Disney World #2

Though Universal Studios is not Disney World, this is a more a Disney Trip than a Universal trip, so I’m keeping the title.

Today we went to Universal. I had a Scottish Ale called Hog’s Head Ale at the Hog’s Head Tavern in Hogsmeade. Some research revealed that it is made by Florida Beer Co. It’s far better than you would expect from a theme park “pub.” It’s got good malt to it, hops on the back end, and it’s highly drinkable. It’s lighter in body than most Scotch Ales I have tried, but on a hot day at the park, that’s not necessarily bad.

The City Walk also had a craft beer stand. I saw more good beer than I expected. And, I saw about as much bad beer as I expected. More Swine Swill than Hog’s Head Ale.