brew stop PTY

So you are in Panama City, in need of a beer.... but you have developed a taste for American craft beer.... where do you find it?

 

 

It was about time Panama had a place like this! Brew Stop, as the name implies is your one stop bar/shop where you can find a great selection of American craft beer and also domestic craft beer! Which is excellent! I am so happy that finally my little city of origin is getting on the craft beer movement bandwagon, catering to tourist as well as a newly developed niche of Panamanian beer lovers who are tired of the bland tasting, mass produced beer that is popular in the country.

 

 

check out the beer selection...

 

 

 

This place has been open for almost a year now and they draw-in quite an amazing crowd of faithful locals, tourist, and newbies to the craft beer world. It is a small space but very cozy with indoor and outdoor seating area, they also offer small bites for after hour munching. The staff is great, super friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and they had great recommendations and suggestions.

 



 

I'm super happy Panama has a place like this and that I was able to visit, it will definitely be my hangout spot every time I come to Panama.

You can find out more about Brew Stop here. 

 

xo

 



too cold for fermentation

Living in Miami most of the issues we face with fermentation is trying to keep things cool enough. Most beer yeast require low temperatures for optimal fermentation depending on the beer style. So of course we have those cold-ish days in the "winter" time; and that is exactly the time Laz picked to make a Saison.
Saison is a Belgian style beer that requires yeast to ferment at a higher temperature, this is because at this temperature, above 80F or so, the yeast gives off characteristic Saison flavors.

So what do we do to warm the fermentor? ..... put it in a Jacuzzi, of course!
Well, not exactly, but that is the general idea. We made sort of a pool for the fermentor by placing it into a bucket with water and heating the water with an aquarium heater.

 

 

So far it seems to be working.... lets see how it turns out!

xo

when thinking of beer

I don't like to admit that I think about beer...a lot! Sometimes I feel like Homer Simpson... sweet Beer!

When I get these "beer cravings" and for any reason I can't have any I tend to go online and browse around for interesting beer-stuffs.

Such as beer pairings...

 

and ideas of deliciously and beautifully presented charcuterie

 

beer glass info...

 

Important facts about hops

 

this looks interesting.... oak bottle!

 

and have you seen these? A growler that keeps your beer carbonated!

xo

 

 

 

 

new york beercation

Laz decided that for his birthday he wanted to go on a 'beercation" to New York. We tend to go pretty often on these so called "beercations" and New York is quite convenient since we know our way around and we stay at my favorite aunts house! Yay!

So for this post I will let the pictures do the talking.... (warning..... beer porn .....)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Laz! Cheers!

 

xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

laser wolf

We finally made it to Laser Wolf and I am super happy we did. The experience was even better than I expected. Super chill vibe, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and great beer selection. The place is small but cozy with cool kitsch décor.

 

 

 

 

and you can enjoy some nice classic films... Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris?... seriously awesome!

 

I had a delicious Brew Bus Double Decker English-Style Porter that was passed through the randall which contained chocolate and fresh mint. AMAZING!!

(you can see the randall in the background)

 

                      Note:

This awesome contraption was invented by Dogfish Head Brewery, you can read more on that here.

 

Laz had Brew Bus Cherry Bomb IPA, which is basically a version of their Last Stop IPA treated with cherries.... yum!

...and we also tried this Emelisse Black IPA from the Netherlands, nice strong malty flavor.

 

 

We really loved this place, can't wait to go back! Check out their site to see what's on tap!

 

xo 

 

P.S. they have the funniest video...

 

tap takeover

A tap takeover, in summary, is when a single brewery temporarily seizes a portion (or all) of an establishment’s tap lines with a variety of their beers.
It is a great opportunity to drink beers that are normally not available because they are limited release beers or just not distributed in the area.

Last night the Lokal and Kush had a tap takeover by Sixpoint Brewery. This brewery has awesome beers, Laz's favorite beers are made by them, and they also have this crazy series called Mad Scientist, which of course I love..... The Mad Scientist beers are quite special because the brewers create a small batch with unique ingredients to make a new style of beer, and they release a new one every two months.

 



I will say that events like this do have a down side! How on earth is one supposed to decide which beers to try? Sooo many good choices....sooo little time... and even if you do start early in the day, how much could you drink before reaching the dreaded palate fatigue leading to just getting horribly wasted.

Just take a look at the beer menus

 

 

 

I must say that I was really happy to try new stuff, and they were all very, very good....I'm a  happy girl!



 

 

xo

P.S..... they do exist!