Two Breweries, One Roof: Broken Cauldron Tap Room & Brewery, Orlando

Two breweries in one at
Broken Cauldron Brewery & Tap Room

On West Church Street in Orlando, only a few blocks away from the Camping World Stadium (formerly known as the Orlando Citrus Bowl), sits a unique brewery. Actually, there are two breweries under this roof which once housed a car storage garage and a diesel engine warehouse. 

After navigating their way through leases, investors and permitting as individual breweries, Charles Frizzell of Broken Strings Brewery and Jeanna Malines of Black Cauldron Brewing joined together and combined their upstart breweries in one location. Following preliminary building plans and working through local ordinances, the duo began construction in January of this year. Once the Certificate of Occupancy issued, they opened the tap room in June, as the federal Brewer's Notice had already been approved. And, what do you call such a place? Take part of each name, and create the Broken Cauldron!

Photo by Broken Cauldron Brewery & Tap Room

According to Jeanna, each brewer will rotate brewing on the three-barrel brewhouse system. Jeanna's brews will be on the malt-forward side, while Charles will brew more hop-forward varieties. The large, open tap room serves beer from each brewery. 

When I visited here recently, I was on my way to a concert at the stadium, and this is definitely a very cool stop for concert "pre-gaming." More than a few other concert-goers had the same idea, as the stadium is roughly a short and easy ten minute walk down Church Street. The vibe is laid-back and casual, with a "loft" feel to it from the high ceilings. Grab a seat at the bar, tables, or the plush couch inside, or at the outdoor picnic tables. And, check out the artwork on the walls: 

The tap room serves drafts from 12 taps, and on my visit, there was one beer from each side of the house, with the remainder being guest taps. 

Black Cauldron Brewing Ruckus Red Ale
(could be a precursor of the concert to follow)

I started with Black Cauldron's Ruckus Red, a malty red ale at 6% ABV. I initially tried this beer at the 2015 Hogtown Beer Fest in Gainesville (there's a blog post for that by the way), where I first met Jeanna as she was promoting the upcoming brewery. Goes to show you how long the "brewery-in-planning" thing takes. The ale features caramel and toffee characters, without being bitter or hoppy, and it's a solid red ale that I enjoyed and recommend. Be sure to get (not cause) a Ruckus when you visit here. 

Broken Strings Brewery Liquid Vinyl Black IPA
Roasty, hoppy liquid goodness

I followed that one with the Broken Strings Liquid Vinyl Black IPA (7.1% ABV). The roasty aroma was almost enough to savor, and right away it's apparent that there's some hop action going on here. The roastiness complements the citrus notes, and this is one Black IPA not to miss. Kind of a rock 'n' roll heaven of sorts. (Hey, I was going to a rock concert, but the references fit).

Look for the brewers to add more of their house brews to the tap list. From what I saw on social media yesterday, Black Cauldron has tapped an interestingly titled "Brett Broke My Heart Passion Fruit Sour."  On the Broken Strings side, I wonder if we'll see the likes of the Red Mosquito Red IPA, one of the beers the brewery offered at the DeLand Craft Beer Fest in February of this year and where I first met Charles (yeah, you guessed it: there's a story about that one, too, including a Broken Strings photo).

Lastly, thanks to both Jeanna and Charles for being good sports: 

The "professional" look....

And .... not really sure what we did there.....
thinking of drinking more beer, maybe

If you're attending a concert or sporting event at the stadium, include a stop at the Broken Cauldron Tap Room -- just walk there! After the concert, the place was packed, as the crowd waited out the steady stream of cars heading out from the parking lots. And, if there's no stadium event going on, this is a cool place to hang and enjoy a beer. The brewery and tap room is located at 1012 W. Church Street. Parking is available in a separate on-site lot or on the street. Open: Wednesday/Thursday, 3-10pm; Friday, 3pm-midnight; Saturday, noon til midnight; and Sunday, noon til 11pm. Closed Monday/Tuesday. 

And, that's another new brewery visit!  It was a lot of fun getting geared up for the concert here, and it's a stop I'll make again when over in Orlando.

Hey, see you around a brewery, bar, restaurant or beerfest in Florida somewhere! Cheers!

Til next time, 

Linda

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