What makes you want to almost immediately want to leave a brewery? 

Let’s start with all the controversial/political talk:

• Sexist/racist side chatter from bar guests or especially staff 
• Fox News playing
• A blue lives matter flag 
• MAGA merch 
• Indoor smoking 
• Non inclusive/not a safe space for everyone 
• Confederate flags/camo 
• Drag shows

Moving onto the staff:

• Bad/lack of service 
• Rude bartenders 
• Condescending beertenders 
• The front staff aren’t open and welcoming 
• Obvious sexism/racism/homophobia displayed by staff

The beer situation:

• Bad beer
• Beer served in wine glasses 
• Just IPAs
• They ran out of beer 
• No IPA’s over 7%
• No west coast IPAs

Cleanliness (or lack of):

• It’s dirty 
• Dirty glasses and tables everywhere 
• Lack of sanitation/hygiene 
• Bad smell 
• Seeing gross cleanliness behind the bar or in the kitchen 
• Rats
• A fly in the glass 
• Unkept restrooms 

The vibe is off:

• Super load live music 
• Bad music 
• Country music 
• Obnoxious drunks 
• Loud, screaming kids 
• Too crowded 
• Seeing an ex 
• Lack of parking 
• Karaoke 

Now let’s move onto the good. What would make you stay at a brewery longer than you anticipated staying?

It’s all about the staff:

• Bar staff enjoying working with each other/chatting with regulars 
• Attention and engagement from the staff 
• A nice and welcoming beertender 
• Friendly staff 
• Good service 
• Willingness of staff to talk about the beers 
• Knowledgeable bartenders 

The main reason you come to a brewery:

• Amazing beer
• Multiple IPAs available 
• Glasses larger than a pint 
• Variety of beers so you can keep trying something new 
• Price of beverages 
• Free beer 
• Bottomless fruited sours 
• A good beer sale 
• Variety of beer styles 
• Draft and cans available 

Vibing:

• A friendly and social bar 
• Fabulous outdoor space 
• Good music 
• Good atmosphere 
• Decor and theme 
• Table top activities/games 
• Dogs are allowed 
• Live music 
• Good company 
• Great sports game on TV 
• A fun crowd 
• Comfy seating 
• It’s kid friendly 
• Making new friends 

Making sure our stomach is full:

• Good food available 
• Food trucks
• Free popcorn 

So there you have it! Thank you to those of you who sent in answers. I hope everyone has more good brewery experiences than bad. 

Update: I received two more responses so I’ve updates this post to share them.

Lost Friend Brewing

Most popular beer name and style your brewery brews:

Homeward Bound, Hazy NEIPA

Description of the beer:

Bright citrus flavors, hazy, and juicy with a silky mouthfeel. Citra hops in the whirlpool and dry-hopped with Azacca, Citra, and Huell Melon hops. 7.1% ABV | 40 IBUs

Why you believe it’s the most popular beer you brew:

We believe this beer’s popularity is due to its deliciousness. It’s hoppy without being unpleasantly bitter or burning, it’s got a full mouthfeel without feeling heavy, and the hop profile gives it a tropical aroma and flavor without cloying sweetness. 

Anything else you would like to share:

Fun fact for those who recognize the name of this beer: three of our fermenters are named Chance, Sassy, and Shadow.

Goat Patch Brewing Company

Most popular beer name and style your brewery brews: 

Our most popular beer is our Hazy IPA which doesn’t have a name. We just call most of our beers what they are because, every time we think we have the perfect name, we discover that there are already 3-4 others when we Google it.

A brief description of the beer: 

Our Hazy IPA is opaque, yet vibrant yellow in color with a big citrus hop aroma and flavor.

Why you believe it’s the most popular beer: 

I think people like it because it has a lot of flavor and character without going overboard in any way. It remains balanced and refreshing.

Anything else you’d like to add: 

We are blessed to be in such a great community here in Colorado Springs and we appreciate all the love and support we’ve gotten.

Cerberus Brewing Co

Most popular beer name and style your brewery brews: 

Elysium Hazy IPA

A brief description of the beer:

 Our Flagship New England-style IPA, Elysium is hazy and tropical brewed with Apollo, Mosaic, Azacca, and Citra hops. Our staff has nicknamed this beer Big Kid Orange Juice, and it’s full of grapefruit, orange, and mango notes.

Why you believe it’s the most popular beer:

 When we opened 5 years ago, hazies were still somewhat “new” out here. Elysium is very accessible for an IPA and was able to change some people’s minds about liking IPA because it didn’t taste like you were licking a pine tree. We think it’s a great introduction to New England IPAs but is complex enough that it’s sustainable as a favorite beer. 

Anything else you’d like to add:

Elysium was the first beer we put in cans in December 2020 to continue finding revenue streams during the pandemic. It’s consistently a best seller on-site, to our bar/restaurant clients, and in liquor stores. Elysium is named after the paradise to which heroes on whom the Greek gods conferred immortality were sent.

Atrevida Beer Co.

Most popular beer name and style your brewery brews: 

Name: Hibis-Kiss Whoever you want! 

Style: American Blonde Ale

A brief description of the beer: 

An  American Blonde Ale made with real Hibiscus and subtle notes of real cinnamon, organic honey, and backend citrusy spices that marry all the flavors together. Sits at 6% ABV.

Why you believe it’s the most popular beer:

Every year we create a new beer in honor of our LGBTQIA+ community that is released for the month of Pride and stays on all year long until the following year. ‘Hibis-Kiss Whoever you want!’ was this year’s (2021) Pride beer. While it is relatively new it has very quickly become a customer favorite and we can barely keep up with it! I attribute that to its drinkability. It drinks like a sangria cocktail without all the cloying sweetness. Visually, it is gorgeous! A beautiful ruby red. The aroma is floral and sweet without it being “perfumey”. It is light-bodied, chock-full of flavor yet balanced.  The perfect beer year-round!

Anything else you’d like to add: 

I just want to say that I love what you are doing! Shedding light on the craft beer community in all facets from the brewer, to consumer, to in-house experience, and finally to the product itself is so important for folks to see. Sharing is caring! And, let us not forget it is a woman doing this! Hell yeah. Salud! 

Phantom Brewing Company 

Most popular beer name and style your brewery brews:

While we have many fan favorites along with a solid list of Flagship beers available year-round, I’d have to say the most popular beer we brew is our 719 IPA. 

A brief description of the beer:

Brewed for all the local hop heads, our take on a West Coast-style IPA checks all the boxes. At first sight, the 719 IPA is a bright, glistening golden color with a rocky, white foamy head. Aromatics immediately pop out on the nose with notes of orange blossom and pine. As with any IPA, this beer was designed to highlight the character of the hops! A slight honey sweetness from the malt balances a crisp bitterness from a variety of hops, however, Citra and Mosaic hops are the real stars here with the late hop additions and heavy-handed dry-hopping we employ in the brewing process. Each sip delivers a burst of zesty grapefruit, ripe pineapple, a touch of guava all with a crisp, dry finish. 

Why you believe it’s the most popular beer:

To pay homage to our local area code the ABV sits at 7.19%. To accomplish this, we pitch our yeast at specific rates and make sure our brewing process is consistent in mash temperature, original gravity, and fermentation from batch to batch. 

Anything else you’d like to add: 

719 IPA brew days are some of my favorites due to all the incredible smells throughout the day, and of course, there’s just nothing like pouring that first pint off a new batch!

Red Leg Brewing Co

Most popular beer name and style your brewery brews:

Howitzer Amber Ale

A brief description of the beer:

A ruby-copper-colored beer balanced between malt & hops. A distinct caramel aroma & flavor greets your palate with a pleasant malty finish. GABF Gold Winner, 2020, GABF Silver Winner 2019

Why you believe it’s the most popular beer:

 It’s a solid beer! Just give it a taste!

Anything else you’d like to add: 

If you haven’t come by our new expanded location at 2323 Garden of the Gods Rd, come on down! We’re open daily from 12-10 pm and would love to serve you!

Metric Brewing 

Most popular beer name and style your brewery brews: 

No Pulp, Hazy IPA 

Description of the beer:

This fresh-squeezed Hazy IPA is never from concentrate. Dry-hopped with three pounds per barrel. Contains 0% juice. It contains Citra, Galaxy, and Mosaic hops. 

Why you believe it’s the most popular beer you brew:

Hazy IPAs tend to be the most popular; that’s the trend. The allure is generally the juicy nature of that style of beer.

FH Beerworks 

Most popular beer name and style your brewery brews: 

Sticky Paws honey wheat. 

Description of the beer:

It’s an American wheat beer made with locally harvested honey. 

Why you believe it’s the most popular beer you brew:

We believe Sticky Paws gained its popularity for a couple reasons. For one, it’s brewed differently than most wheat beers. The grain profile and the yeast we use does not fit typical parameters for the style. These features, combined with local honey, give it a unique flavor. The other thing that makes it so popular is the fact that it’s 7.5% abv, but it drinks like a session beer. 

Anything else you’d like to add:

Sticky Paws has been our most popular beer since before we even opened our doors. It made about 12 appearances at weddings as a homebrew, and every time, people would ask where they could get more.

I had my husband set up my taste test for me. He poured a small amount of each beer into small glasses and then gave them to me without me knowing what they were. I decided I would taste each of them individually, describe them, and then give them a rating out of 5. After I selected my favorite, my husband revealed what each of them were. I will share my descriptions and rating and then tell you what beer it ended up being. Let’s start with beer one!

Beer One:

• Light in pumpkin flavor 
• Bit of an artificial taste 
• Thin body 
• Beautiful burnt orange color 
• Rating 2/5  

Beer Name: Chunkin Pumpkin 

Brewery: Crabtree Brewing, Greeley CO

Description from the Brewery: Our Serenity meets sweet and savory with this scrumptious seasonal beer. Real CSA locally grown pumpkins are baked, chunked and thrown directly into the mash tun with a cornucopia of spices. Perfect on a fall day when the leaves begin to change. Loving this beer is as easy as pie!

Beer Two:

• Cloudy in appearance 
• Roasty flavor 
• Light in pumpkin flavor 
• Rating 3/5 

Beer Name: Patchy Waters Pumpkin Ale Gluten Free 

Brewery: Holiday Brewing, Golden, CO

Description from the Brewery: Patchy Waters is the name of a beloved family sailboat that has carried many memories, from early summer to late autumn every year. Drift into the change of seasons with a smooth pumpkin ale brewed with organic pumpkin and a blend of fall spices.

Beer Three:

• Darker in color (didn’t realize I purchased a porter)
• Sweet in flavor- can taste marshmallows 
• Fuller mouthfeel than the previous beers
• More of sweet/spice flavor than pumpkin 
• Rating 3.5/5

Beer Name: Fluffy Pumpkin Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Porter 

Brewery: Odyssey Beerwerks, Arvada, CO

Description from the Brewery: When the cool sting of autumn hits, warm your senses with Fluffy Pumpkin, a Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Porter. Brewed with ample amounts of roasted pumpkins, select seasonal spices, vanilla, and marshmallow, Fluffy Pumpkin hits the spot for those of us longing for both the holiday table and the campfire ring.

Beer Four

• Creamier mouthfeel 
• Beautiful clear amber color
• Sweet almost like a honey flavor 
• More a yam or vegetable flavor 
• Rating 2/5  

Beer Name: Pumpkin Patch Ale 

Brewery: Eddyline Brewing, Buena Vista, CO 

Description from the Brewery: Golden quaking aspens, a dusting of powder on the peaks and the first fire in the fireplace represent harvest time. Celebrate the bountiful season with our pumpkin patch ale made with real pumpkin, spices, and honey.

So, it looks like my favorite was the Fluffy Pumpkin Toasted Marshmallow Porter from Odyssey Beerwerks. Like I stated above, I didn’t realize I was buying a porter while at the store. I thought I grabbed all ales. I didn’t want to read all the descriptions at the store, worrying that if I did, I would be biased in my ratings. I really enjoyed the sweet marshmallow flavor of this beer. The spices also paired well and made it an enjoyable fall beer. 

What are some of your favorite pumpkin and/or fall beers? Any I should look out for when I visit the store next? Let me know! 

One of those businesses is FH Beer Works which happens to be a brewery very close to my house. My husband and I were there a few weeks ago and saw them setting up what looked to be little greenhouses outside on their patio. Come to find out they are actually individual Bungalows that you can rent out to enjoy some beer and food on their patio. 

On Monday my husband and I decided to reserve one and get out of the house to enjoy some beer. Making a reservation is super simple and is done on their website. One Bungalow holds up to six people, and you are able to reserve it for up to 90 minutes. Arrive at FH during your time slot, and you will be taken to your Bungalow. 

Once inside you have QR codes for their beer menu and the food menu for 1231 Craft Kitchen Food Truck. A server will come to you to take your orders and then bring you your beers and food. 

The Bungalows do have a tabletop heater inside, which did a pretty good job of getting it nice and toasty. I suggest you still wear a heavy winter jacket and maybe a hat. I also HIGHLY suggest you bring a blanket or two. The heater is on top of the table, so your lower half will get cold. 

After your 90 minutes are up and you leave your Bungalow, they are disinfected before the next party shows up. We had a great time, and I honestly hope FH keeps the Bungalows and uses them next year even if we  (hopefully) aren’t living in a time of a pandemic. 

Even though the brewery doesn’t really look all the impressive from the outside, I absolutely loved the decor inside. The owner/brewer is Latina, and you definitely pick up on the Latin American vibes inside the brewery. The inside was bright, cozy, and welcoming. 

Since we have never been here before we wanted to get a few flights to try several of their beers. Between the two flights, we were able to try almost all the beers on the menu. We both agreed that the beers were hit or miss for us. I personally either very much enjoyed a beer, or the beer fell a bit flat. I was really looking forward to The Drunken Churro which is a witbier brewed with cinnamon and agave. However, this was a miss for me. I sadly didn’t get any of the rich cinnamon flavor I was hoping to get. A beer that I really did enjoy though was their La Gran Senora which is a spiced American wheat ale with citrus, aged on oak staves. This beer was flavorful and the oak was a nice addition. I definitely recommend this one! 

While we were hanging out in the brewery we started to talk to the beertender. She was extremely nice, helpful, and gave us some good recommendations around town after we mentioned that we just moved here. Overall I really enjoyed my visit. I loved the atmosphere inside, I appreciated the friendly staff, and I found some new beer that I enjoyed. 

Red Leg has a medium-sized taproom with some outside seating. They are currently building a MUCH larger brewery/taproom, and I cannot wait until that opens. We were lucky enough to snag one of the last tables inside the brewery and quickly ordered our beers. 

As for our beers, I ordered their Space Force One Double Hazy IPA and really enjoyed it. I am so predictable and basically enjoy all the hazy beers. My husband went with their special release beer which was an IPA brewed with Skittles. I personally wasn’t a fan. It tasted like Skittles, but it just was too sweet for me. 

On our way out we noticed their large sticker wall. My husband asked our server if she could place my sticker on their wall. It’s up there, so let me know if you can find it if you ever visit! 

Our first stop was at Trinity Brewing. We have both been here before and had a less than great experience on our previous visit. We were a bit hesitant to visit them again but heard service has improved, so we gave them another shot. This time service was MUCH better and we were both glad we gave them another chance. 

Since this was our first stop we figured we better order some food with our beer. I ordered Wrath of God which is an IPA brewed with several different types of hops and their fried Brussel Sprouts. 

Both were very tasty and actually paired really well together. My husband ordered their Citra on Oats on Nitro and their pretzel with beer cheese. We both agreed the beer wasn’t our favorite but enjoyed the pretzel very much.  

Trinity is a large brewery with plenty of outdoor and indoor seating options. Since they have a large beer menu and they serve food, this is a great place to bring people who are new to craft beer. 

The first visit was to Rockpit Brewing. If you have read some of my previous posts you know that I enjoy visiting Rockpit for their tasty beer, awesome owners, and their kid-friendly vibe. When I looked at the menu my eyes were immediately drawn to the NEIPA. However, I made myself keep looking for something else that sounded interesting and I haven’t had before. I decided on their Apricot Dream-Ale. The menu describes it as “A clean, crisp, pale ale infused with over 50 pounds of Apricot puree to jump-start the holiday season.”

I was really hoping to like my first “New Beer” selection, but sadly it wasn’t for me. In no way was it a bad beer. In fact, there were two people next to me at the bar raving about how awesome it was. It was just too sweet for my palette. When something is sweet I do not find it that refreshing or easy to drink, and sadly this beer was just that for me. My husband (who was not participating in this challenge) ordered their NEIPA and we, of course, both enjoyed it.

My next stop was at a place I knew I would have no problems ordering a beer outside of my comfort zone.  Hourglass Brewing always has an extensive beer list and they often focus on sours. Sours are not my thing-mostly because they tend to upset my stomach. However, one thing I like about Hourglass is that they offer 5oz pours of everything on their menu. I took advantage of the smaller pours and ordered a few different beers.

I started with a black saison with rose petals called Tower & Rose. Saisons are another style I tend to stay away from. Some of them are just too funky for me. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. When the bartender handed me the beer I was a bit confused. I didn’t pay attention to the description and was confused as to why my saison was black. The rose petals gave it a slight floral taste and smell but were not overbearing. The beer spent some time in pinot noir barrels which might explain why I enjoyed this beer as much as I did. I am not a huge wine drinker, but when I do want a glass of wine I am usually ordering a pinot noir.

My husband and I decided we would each order two more small pours from their menu in beers that aren’t our typical style to share. We went with Classy Lady’s Whip which is a wheat beer with pineapple and vanilla and the Altamonte Vampire a sour with blood orange and cherries. I really expected to like the Classy Lady’s Whip more than the Altamonte Vampire, but in the end, the Altamonte Vampire ended up being my favorite. I read the description of Classy Lady’s Whip and got excited with the pineapple and vanilla. I was thinking of a classic Disney treat called a Dole Whip which is pineapple ice cream. Sadly this beer wasn’t like this. It just wasn’t sweet enough for me. The Altamonte Vampire though was fruity, beautiful in color, and have just enough of a “bite” to really awaken your taste buds. This is one beer I would order again.

For my last two stops, I headed over to the Ivanhoe area. First I went to Ten10 where I usually order one of their tasty and rich stouts. Not this time though. For this visit, I went with a Japanese style lager called Brian’s Car. Lagers to me are usually a bit boring. Sadly with so many different styles of beer available today lagers/pilsners often get overlooked. This definitely isn’t a beer I would normally order. Was it good? Yes. Was it a bit boring? Yes. However, is it an approachable beer for people just getting into craft beer? Absolutely.

The last brewery is just a quick walk down the road from Ten10. Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company is a newer addition to the Orlando beer scene, but they have been putting out some tasty beer! I finished my day with Berries and Cream which according to the menu is a sour-berliner “brewed with raspberry, strawberry, vanilla, lemon zest, and lactose.” I think this might have been my favorite beer of the afternoon. I could taste every single one of those ingredients and it was creamy and tart. Also, the color of the beer is amazing.

So that was my New Year, New Beer adventure. Did I miss my normal order of IPAs? Yup. But I also discovered some new beers in my journey that I know I never would have tried before. I don’t think I will do this every time I go to a brewery, but I am going to challenge myself to try new styles this year!

I was actually inspired to write this post after teaching Shakespeare to a group of students the other day. (Yes, my “real job” is to educate the future minds of America-now do you understand why I love/NEED craft beer?!) We spend so much of our time at our local breweries, but have you ever stopped and wondered where they got their names from? I reached out to several local breweries and asked them about the significance of their brewery’s name. Below are the responses I got.

Ellipsis Brewing

“Our name like many came to us after a bit of a journey. We originally were going to call ourselves “Because It’s … Brewing. ” We liked the idea of omitting a word and to be able to have fun with it, for example, because it’s (the weekend) or another fun combo you can easily think of. As we explored the use we realized it was a bit much for social media and the like. So a great friend of ours quickly suggested Ellipsis and we quickly were like “ya! That sums it up perfectly! We quickly adopted the 3 dots into characters on Ts and to be symbolic of the three people that started our brewery.”

Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company

“Ivanhoe Park was an amusement park located on Lake Ivanhoe back in 1910-1919.  It was founded by George Russell, who owned all the land where College Park and Ivanhoe Village currently sit and grew pineapples that were so popular, even the White House requested them.  The amusement park was initially called Russel’s Point and the locals called it Ivanhoe Park, but in 1915 they had a contest in the community and they renamed it Joyland. Joyland was actually one of our choices for the brewery, but it just didn’t fit the naming we were looking for, so we kept Joyland for the name of our flagship IPA.  We also named our Blonde Ale after the main attraction in Ivanhoe Park, Toboggan. The Toboggan slide was the main attraction at the time.”

For more info check out the Our Story section on their website. 

Half Barrel Beer Project 

 “The name Half Barrel Beer Project has a few important connections for us. Our business model is based around beer culture. For most, you choose which road you want to take as a beer-based business. You basically have 3 options: brewery, bottle shop, or taproom. We decided we wanted all three. We started as a bottle shop and taproom with a very small footprint. We stock no more than a half barrel (one keg) of one kind of beer at any given time, which allows us to rotate our taps constantly. The second tie in is that when we first started brewing, we used a small system and only had a half barrel sized fermentation tanks. However,  we found that the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze with that size batch and we upgraded to a 1 barrel system last year. We still, however, have several half-barrel fermentation tanks that we use to split batches and treat separately. The second half “Beer Project” just speaks to the fact that we are a small batch place and we are always experimenting. Every beer recipe we brew is a work in progress.”

Deviant Wolfe

“The Wolfe part of our name is a combination of the owners’ last names (Wolverton and Rolfe) hence the E in Wolfe. The Deviant part is in the definition “to deviate from” because the owners all have careers we “deviated from” to open our brewery. So we’re Deviant Wolfe! Our logo is a campfire because campfires are places people gather, outdoors, usually while enjoying a good beer. It encompasses our passions and is the basis of our brewery’s culture.”

Wolf Branch

“We chose the name Wolf Branch because simply it is the street name where my sister and parents live in.  When I was active duty army, I had to leave my dog with her but would visit him as often as I could. I always loved the street name and it used to be a really cool country street with horses all over the place.  Then my parents moved close to them and that is where we started brewing and where the idea of the brewery was born.”

Wops Hops

Greg J. Piecora started home brewing, and when contemplating a name, he originally was going to call it “Warship Brewing” to honor his service in the Navy. However, Wop’s Hops had already stuck with locals as “wop”. Greg’s wife, who also does the artwork on bottles for Wop’s Hops lovingly calls him “the wop” and is her pet name for him. Greg and his wife are proud Italian Americans, Wop’s Hops also serves delicious Italian food at the brewery. The origin of the word “wop” comes from Ellis island meaning “without papers” which applied to anyone passing through that got a stamp of “wop,” but since there was a massive influx of Italians coming at that time, it stuck with the Italian Americans and is used within the community. To honor his Italian Americans’ heritage and his wife, he held with Wop’s Hops, a name to stick out and easily recognize.

Toll Road Brewing

We had several different ideas when we were trying to come up with a name for the brewery in 2015. Some of them we really liked but found that the names were already being used as trademarked beer names by other breweries. That’s when we sat back and really looked at where we were going to be located, and it was crystal clear. Ocoee is right off of a few major toll roads (429, Florida Turnpike and 408), and one thing that a lot of tourists complain about is the number of toll roads in Central Florida. We then searched and found the name was clear for use, and Toll Road Brewing Company was born!

Rockpit Brewing

In mid-2017, Jeremy and I were sitting in his homebrew shop on Curry Ford Rd. Around 1 o’clock or so, Jeremy said, “Hey, I think I’m going to open a brewery. Do you want to open it with me?”

I said, “Sure, I’m dumb enough to risk everything… Let’s do it!”.

I’m kidding about that. I said, “Heck yeah man, let’s do it!”

We sat there for several hours researching historical sites and people that are local to Orlando. We came up with names like Orange Grove, Sandcastle, Sandy Beach (the original name of Lake Eola), etc. Some were just awful and aren’t mentioning.

At some point, I said, “Dude, why don’t we use our names like pitrock or pittman-rock or RockPit?”

Jeremy said, “Yes! RockPit! That sounds awesome!”

We air-fived and solidified that as our name.

From there, we backfilled the RockPit theme with his family history of coal mining and starting to build the brand around that.

When Sean came aboard a few months later, we asked if we should update the name because it was the three of us now, he responded: “Hell no, that name is awesome.”

Eighteen months later, RockPit Brewing opened its doors.

Inner Compass Brewing

Inner Compass Brewery was formed in 2014 and opened on Feb 26, 2018. The name was derived from believing in achieving your goals. Inner meaning something you have wanted to do as a career for quite some time, your inner passion. Compass meaning this is the direction you want your life to evolve. Craft brewing has been a passion of the owners for over 15 years, where the initial idea stemmed from home brewing that then branched out to a 5-gallon testing homebrew and eventually to what it is today. Our motto: beer…it’s not just what we do; it’s who we are.

Updated: December 2019

Crooked Can Brewing

I’ll be honest, I actually have a love/hate relationship with the whole kid situation at Crooked Can. This place is definitely kid-friendly! In fact, at almost any given time of day, you will find a brewery full of kids. I guess my problem with that would be the “any given time of day.” I’ve visited Crooked Can on a weekend night (well after 9 pm) and I felt like it was a Chuck E Cheese. However, if parents are not allowing their children to run everywhere it can be quite an enjoyable place.

Anyways, Crooked Can is attached to the Plant Street Market. This means you won’t need to feel guilty (not that you ever should) if you decide to grab a quick beer because you technically went to the market, not the brewery.

The seating inside the actual brewery is a bit tight but there are a few large communal type tables and two different bars inside you can grab a seat at. What I really enjoy about visiting Crooked Can is their large outside patio area. There is also an area of artificial turf where I often see kids playing.

If you or your kiddo gets hungry you have plenty of options for food inside the actual market. Grab some food and walk over to the brewery to grab a seat and a beer.

Crooked Can is definitely a local favorite, so it is often very busy. Get there early on the weekends, or try to visit during the weekdays.

Ellipsis Brewing

My son has probably been to Ellipsis more than most Orlando locals. Nothing in particular screams “this place is kid friendly” but I always feel welcomed with my son.

Ellipsis is a very large brewery. I always think this helps when you are bringing your kids. There is just more room for everyone to spread out, and you can easily move to a quieter part of the brewery if your kids need a moment to themselves. The brewery itself has plenty of seating and there are also a few couches around a TV and a gaming system. I myself have given my son a bottle on that couch more than once.

Ellipsis also has one large wall that is covered in chalkboard paint. I often see kids happily drawing on the wall while their parents watch them and sip on a beer from a table nearby. They also have several games found inside the brewery. You have choices of board games, card games, cornhole, and various other games. They at one point had an air hockey table, but it wasn’t there at my last visit. The table was honestly too loud, so I won’t be sad if they don’t bring it back.

They don’t serve any food, but they do allow you to bring food in and they often have food trucks. Ellipsis is very close to the airport and is worth checking out before or after a flight.

Rockpit Brewing

When walking into the brewery one wouldn’t automatically think it’s kid-friendly. It’s not a huge space, there isn’t much of an outdoor area, and you’ll definitely need to bring your own kid-friendly entertainment. However, I’ve found this to be one of the most kid-friendly spots in Orlando.

What makes it so friendly is the owner. There have been several weekends where I’ve visited Rockpit with my son, husband, and friends who also have a young daughter. The owner has personally come to our table to tell us how much he enjoys seeing kids enjoying themselves at the brewery and to let him know if we need anything. This made us all feel welcomed and we definitely stayed and ordered another round.

As far as food goes, you can order Cecil’s BBQ at the bar, and it will be brought over from next door. We’ve enjoyed many great meals and snacks from them; I personally really like the fried pickles!

Insider tip, signup for their newsletter. This is one newsletter I really enjoy reading. It’s so much more than what’s going on at the brewery. You can also signup for a free birthday flight!

Honorable Mentions

While there may be many other great kid-friendly breweries in Orlando, those are my three favorites. Here are a couple more worth checking out with your child.

Hourglass Brewing
Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company