Pic(k) of the Week: Two Calusians: 'craft' beers in Sarasota, Florida

I put out the word on the interwebs: where to go for good beer in Sarasota, Florida?

And the word came back from 'craft' beer professionals on Facebook. Go to Calusa Brewing.

So, I did (on 5 October 2019).

The brewery sits in unpretentious surroundings in a light-industrial/business park. Rusting cars and totaled light-engine planes sit in a junkyard just beside it. The brewery building itself is corrugated metal.

Inside, it's, again, corrugated industrial with high ceilings. A long bar with several draught-beer taps sits against one wall, communal stammtiche tables in front of it. Windows to the rear provide a peek into the brewhouse area. Bourbon barrels filled with maturing beers sit to the side.

And those beers...!

16 rotating draft lines of traditional favorites, hazy hop bombs and mixed-fermented/fruited sour beers.

I asked for help. Bartender Ed took the time to walk me through it. Here are two (neither a hop bomb or sour):

• King's Creatures​ (left)
  • "English Export Stout​"
  • 6.9% alcohol
  • "Deeply roasty, with a hypnotic darkness and scary drinkability. Monsters covet and hoard the British malt notes of espresso, & light toffee."
  • Me: Lovely British Maris Otter malt for base; sapid but not overdone treacle from dark malts; alcoholic slap at end dries the finish.
  
  
• Calusa Ringstrasse (right)​
  • "Vienna-style Lager"​
  • 5.5% alcohol
  • "A brilliant clarity of autumnal copper reveals the toasted, full character of the finest continental malt and crisp finish of noble hops.
  • Me: Not "brilliantly" clear, but a well-executed lager nonetheless, expressing lightly toasted crackers, an elegant (not fruity) sweet middle, and, indeed, a crisp finish.

Sometimes, the interwebs do deliver on their promise.

Calusa Brewing [kuh LOOSE uh] is located at 5701 Derek Avenue, in Sarasota, Florida. I don't know who Derek is, but the Calusa were the original Native American landlords of southwestern Florida. (Seminole was the catch-all name for the later refugees fleeing white-man encroachment further north.)

A series of occasional reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
No scores; only descriptions.

-----more-----

• A few more photos from my visit: here.


• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of images posted on Saturdays, and occasionally with a good fermentable as the subject.
• Photo 42 of 52, for year 2019. See it on Flickr: here.
• Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 II.
  • Lens: Lumix G 20/F1.7 II
  • Settings: 20 mm | 1/60 | ISO 640 | f/5.6
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


• Prior reviews of other beers: here.
• Drinking, again graphic created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.


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