Now Boarding: Sit Back, Relax and Enjoy Your "FLLight"... at LauderAle Brewery

It's THIS way....

I can't tell you how to get here.  I can only tell you it's in Fort Lauderdale, it's in an industrial-warehouse park, it's close to the airport, it's not too far from US 1, and it's closeby to overhead expressway ramps. So, unless you know the area, just get your Google maps and GPS in gear, and just get here...because ... you're gonna like it. 

Where?  I'm talking about LauderAle Brewery, located at 3305 SE 14th Ave. in Ft. Lauderdale. It's the city's first (and only) nano-brewery. 

I gotta tell you, though, for a 1-barrel system, this place sure brews a lot of beer. On the night I visited, this was the tap list (of their own beers):  Heisenberg Hefe, Lordy Gourdy, Berry Nice, Monkey Red Ale, Mild Child (English Mild), Immigration IPA, Bush Brown, Sizzler Saison, Mr. White's Wit, Port Everglades Porter and SS Stout. 

It looks like a Florida micro-brewery to me.

LauderAle Brewery opened in July 2014, and I had been keeping tabs on it for a while (I do that kind of thing).  Since I was going to be in Lauderdale anyway, this was definitely on my to-visit list. After a couple of wrong turns (there were road/construction barricades), destination found! Yep, typical warehouse-brewery. 

Don't let that guy scare ya.

So, you walk up, there's a food truck on site. Walk in through the front door, and there's a room that looks like an office reception area. Either go through the next door, or go off to the side where there's a bay door, with entry to the brewery and tap room. There's a wraparound bar, along with a ping pong table and a few picnic tables. Oh, yeah, there's a big shark overlooking the tap room, too. 

Looks like a fun place, but we're here for the beer, right?

The menu board and taps

As I'm prone to do, I started talking to the bartender. Turns out, that's Kyle Jones, the co-owner, brewer, bartender, and basically all-around jack-of-all-trades hard-working type doing whatever he has to do to make the beer, work shifts, and keep the people happy. Nice guy, too.  I picked out my four beers for a flight. Now, first of all, notice, how LauderAle spells "flight":  FLLight (cool). Hey, we're right by the FLL airport, you know!

Ready for my FLLight.  There's Kyle in the background, too.
Seriously, he never stopped!

So, I'm on board.  Let's get ready to relax and enjoy this one, from right to left: Monkey Road Red (an Irish Red Ale), Bush Brown Ale, Port Everglades Porter, and SS (Smokestack) Stout.  All of the beers are unfiltered. 

These are all good, solid beers.  My favorite, surprisingly, was the Bush Brown Ale (6.2 ABV). Don't get me wrong, brown ales are good, reliable beers, but I typically don't go out of my way to try them.  But this one proved me wrong, as the roastiness and nuttiness here was quite impressive. 

Bush Brown Ale

The Port Everglades Porter (6.8 ABV) was sweet and roasty, with a very pleasant flavor. Good all-around porter, quite tasty. 

Port Everglades Porter.
Must've got caught up in this one;
drank it before the photo.

The SS Stout was roasty and heavy, coming in at 8.7 ABV, almost an Imperial. This one had some bite and bitterness, and if you're looking for a fuller dark beer, this is one you want. 

The heavyweight: SS Stout. 

I also tried the Mild Child English Mild Ale.  Kyle mentioned that it's really light and easy-drinking, and he's right (ABV 3.5). I really liked it, and if you're looking for a lighter-side beer that isn't a hefeweizen, try this one. You'll still get the hint of bitterness. 

LauderAle looks to be taking flight, because since I visited, I've seen this brewery listed on several "best of" lists. Kyle mentioned that the brewery will focus on its on-site production rather than off-premises distribution (at least for now). If they keep making beers like this, it will be no time before demand will come calling (and... Kyle, you will have to work more). I've noticed the social media posts about even more and different beers that they are brewing here, so the beer menu seems to be expanding, along with additional creativity. 

The next time I find myself in Ft. Lauderdale, you can bet I'll be back here. If you're in the area, set that GPS and get over here. In the meantime, keep up with LauderAle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

And, I leave you with this:

Bathroom humor.

So, that's it for now. See you out there in Florida, somewhere, sometime, with a beer in hand. Til next time, Cheers!