A Beer Hall You'll Love, Out in the Countryside

Occasionally you run across a totally unexpected pleasure.  Two Henry's Brewing Company is six miles north west of Plant City, FL at the corner of Thonotosassa Road and Branch Forbes Road.  Six miles of two lane country roads lined with farms and strawberry fields, the occasional house and a few residential trailers. The drive is worth it.  The brewery beer hall is a hidden gem,  And if your drink of choice is wine you should know that the beer hall is also a wine hall for the Keel and Curley Winery.  The picture shows the outside bar where we sat and the view of the pond from the outside bar.

On a Thursday late afternoon there was plenty of parking spaces for the few customers.  However, the size of the parking lot and the seating spaces in the hall and their outside patio suggest the brewery / winery is a popular place to visit, probably at weekends.

The web site http://twohenrysbrewing.com/ says that Two Henry's produces "Great Beers inspired by two of Florida's greatest pioneers. Two Henrys" The two Henrys are Henry Flagler and Henry Plant, read about the two Henrys here and here and the competition between them and their railroads here.

I drank a 7 Mile Bridge English Style IPA, which the website describes as "A malt forward take on the IPA, biscuit and crystal malts combine with spicy English hops and some fruity Simcoe dry hop on the nose. Six different hops give a complex, robust herbal and cistric hop flavor. Medium bodied with a reddish amber color. ABV 6.5%" Translated into English I can understand, this means that the beer had a nice body and the hops and malt were nicely balanced so the hops were present but not overpowering.  

Patricia drank a Two Henry's Blueberry Cider which the web site describes as "A traditional hard apple cider blended with 100 percent blueberry juice pressed from our own blueberries.  6.0% alc by vol. Gluten free" 

I enjoyed the beer and Patricia enjoyed the slightly sweet cider a lot as we talked about our day and our new client while watching a pretty duck play on the pond.  This is a good place to visit and while away a few hours.

Excellent Florida Draft Beer at a Great Price in Pelicans Bar on Cocoa Beach Pier, FL

It is such a joy to be able to find Florida draft beer in bars and restaurants around the state. It is even nicer to find those draft beers at a great price in a very nice location. This was the situation this afternoon.  Pelicans Bar on Cocoa Beach Pier sold a large plastic glass of Florida Brewery Lager for the princely sum of $2.50.  Then just to add a sweetener to the deal, the beer acted as the entry fee to the observation and fishing section of the pier, an entry fee that without the beer in hand would have cost $2.00.

The beer was a lovely light brown color with only a slight head when poured through the tap.  The plastic cup didn't add anything to the presentation but then what else could I ask for when I was going to take the beer onto the pier over the Atlantic Ocean so we could sit and watch the surfers (some of whom were quite good) tackle the waves rolling onto the beach from the Atlantic.

The weather was perfect.  A slight breeze kept us cooler than the 80 deg F temperature and the only clouds in the sky were vapor trails from planes on approach to Orlando airport.  The pier was not very busy so we were able to find seats in a couple of the wooden rocking chairs someone in the Cocoa Beach community has thoughtfully provided for visitors to the pier. 

What a great way to spend a couple of hours before heading home. The beer added to the occasion.  It was a very pleasant drink.  The hops and malt were very well balanced, there was a slight citrus taste to a nice beer that had body and flavor.  A lager worth drinking.  It provided sustenance and quenched the thirst and I'll search it out again.