as part of intuition ale works 4th anniversary, they are pairing with moxie kitchen + cocktails for an evening of brunch for dinner! it’s actually a dual anniversary celebration, as moxie is turning one the same week. the evening will feature pairings of brunch-themed beers with brunch beers. sounds delicious!

to help promote the event, i created the above design. it’s sort of a connect 4 idea, with both companies connecting (or pairing) in the middle. check out our previous post for intuition ale works full list of anniversary activities!

– ryan

brunch for dinner at moxie kitchen + cocktails

friday, november 21st @ 10pm

menu:
– duuuvaaali pancakes + shotgun shack glazed bacon
– beer growler chicken saison
– an assortment of additional passed small plate brunch-themed items (TBD)

beers:
– duuuvaaal (1/2 bbl)
– shotgun shack (1/2 bbl)
– smoke ipa (1/2 bbl – if available)
– 3 brunch-themed beers (TBD)

moxie kitchen + cocktails

4972 big island drive
jacksonville, florida 32246
904.998.9744

intuition ale works

720 king street
jacksonville, florida 32204
904.683.7720

we designed the logo for intuition ale works 4th anniversary! to celebrate 4 years of brewing delicious beer, they are hosting various events around jacksonville, florida the week of november 17th. check out the full list of activities below.

intuition is printing koozies with the design and will also have shirts available at their anniversary block party on november 22nd. fretto prints will be on hand printing shirts per order, which is pretty cool! that means you get to pick the shirt color and they screen print the design right there on the spot. great idea!

– ryan & gub

intuition ale works

720 king street
jacksonville, florida 32204
904.683.7720

4 YEAR anniversary celebrations:
ALL WEEK: Beer passport + lots of special release brews
MON 11/17: Intuition tap takeover @ Pele’s Wood Fire
TUES 11/18: Intuition Belgian beer dinner @ Black Sheep Restaurant
WED 11/19: Cypress Grove cheese + beer pairing in brewery / Intuition Pint Night at Engine 15
THURS 11/20: Intuition tap takeover @ World of Beer
FRI 11/21: Brunch for Dinner joint anniversary bash @ Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails
SAT 11/22: Anniversary block party at the brewery!

i designed this shirt for my buddy willy’s brewery intuition ale works! it’s for their truck stop stout beer, which is quite tasty. it’s brewed with maple syrup, coffee and smoked grains!

– ryan

intuition ale works

720 king street
jacksonville, florida 32204
904.683.7720

tuesday to friday from 3:00pm to 11:00pm
saturday from 1:00pm to 11:00pm

my friend willy at intuition ale works let me know they just brewed their annual fresh hop beer! this years batch is called doobie. they do this once a year in the fall immediately after hops are harvested and usually only have one to two weeks notice when they will get their shipment. this means they have to be standing by ready to brew.

the hops are picked and overnighted from farms in washington state to their jacksonville, florida brewery. generally they get two varieties one week then another variety a week or two later. this year they received simcoe and centennial at first and then citra for dry hopping.

the freshly picked hops are brewed within a day of receiving them so they are still fresh off the vine. they brew a rather plain pale ale at 5% to let the hops show off their flavor and aroma. i hope i get a chance to try this years batch!!!

check out more information on fresh hop ales as well as intuition ale works! also check out the below photo of intuitions new 120 bbl tanks they just received. they look like NASA rockets!

– ryan

intuition ale works

720 king street
jacksonville, florida 32204
904.683.7720

tuesday to friday from 3:00pm to 11:00pm
saturday from 1:00pm to 11:00pm

on our way back from melbourne, florida, we were able to swing through jacksonville and go on a brewery tour of intuition ale works! my old buddy willy, who i used to homebrew with, is the brewmaster there.

it was a very nice brewery! it was way bigger than i expected and although it was super hot, it was really fun to check out. they had various wood casks up front with special beers fermenting and then a ton of stainless steel kettles with their rotating beers being brewed. we also saw the canning process, which was cool, and their room of empty cans, which i don’t think i had ever seen before.

next to the brewery was a tap room featuring about 15 intuition beers on draft. they had a huge variety on tap, including: ipa, double ipa, saison, stout, black ale, pale ale, black lager, belgian tripel, farmhouse ale and even a strong ale aged in a tequila barrel with blood orange puree! i was very impressed to say the least! i think my favorite was the ra saison, although they were all very tasty. the tap room had a very cozy atmosphere and a bunch of board games to play while you drink. they also offered a mug club for the locals.

if you are ever in the jacksonville area, be sure to visit intuition ale works! the tap room is open tuesday through friday from 3pm to 11pm and on saturday from 1pm until 11pm. they also have brewery tours by appointment tuesday through friday at 3pm. it is highly recommended!

intuition also released a cookbook featuring over 80 recipes made from their beer. it’s a nice hardback with some cool ideas of things to make with beer. you can order one here.

– ryan

intuition ale works

720 king street
jacksonville, florida 32204
904.683.7720

tuesday to friday from 3:00pm to 11:00pm
saturday from 1:00pm to 11:00pm

i really enjoyed the belgian-style white ale from cigar city brewing! it’s a great summer beer from ybor city, florida. so far i’ve had it in alabama and florida, but yet to find it in atlanta. i’m sure it’s around though.

florida cracker is tasty straight out of the can or poured in a glass. it’s cloudy with hints of coriander and citrus. at 5.5%, it’s not messing around either.

if you are ever in the tampa area, cigar city has a tasting room and does brewery tours as well. next time i’m down there i will have to check it out!

– ryan

cigar city brewing

3924 west spruce street
tampa, fl 33607
813.348.6363 x206

tasting room:
sunday – thursday: 11:00am – 11:00pm
friday – saturday: 11:00am – 1:00am

over the last year or so we’ve tried quite a few of batdorf & bronson’s locally-roasted coffees. we tend to stick with single-origin, central & south american beans for their crisp and fruity flavors. these coffees also brew really well in our chemex setup, so it’s fun sampling new varieties!

here are the beans we tried along with their batdorf & bronson descriptions:
costa rica: cerro del fuego – crisp & fruity; pineapple, honey, macadamia nut
mexico: organic el triunfo – creamy & bright; orange blossom, caramel, chocolate
nicaragua: isabelia – balanced & sweet; black cherry, cocoa, cinnamon
guatemala: antigua – elegant & intense; chocolate, rum raisin, caramel
columbia: estrella del sur – citrus blossom; vanilla, almonds, dried fruit
columbia: monserrate – gala apples, blood oranges
dancing goats blend – bold & toasty; almond, chocolate, and spice
skye’s mountain blend – velvety & lush; raspberry, herbs, sugar
nicaragua: finca san jose – tropical & jasmine; lush body, hints of fruit punch sweetness

our favorites were the monserrate, which was one of their voyager coffees, the finca san jose, and the el triunfo. none of these are available regularly though, so we tend to go with the cerro del fuego and estrella del sur when we buy batdorf & bronson beans.

you can find these delicious coffees at the dancing goats in decatur or the new dancing goats in ponce city market. the decatur location has a wider selection of beans however.

– ryan

dancing goats decatur (better selection)

419 west ponce de leon ave
decatur, ga 30030
404-687-1100

dancing goats ponce city market

675 north avenue
atlanta, ga 30308
404-874-0370

starbucks recently started selling their blonde roasts in whole bean bags at both grocery stores and starbucks outlets. they sold whole bean bags of their christmas blonde last winter, so i’m glad to see year-round options available.

i’ve also discovered if you order the blonde roast at a starbucks, you actually get a hand-brewed pour-over style cup of coffee! they don’t even charge extra for the hand-brewing, like other coffee shops do.

be sure to check out our previous posts on light roasted coffees as well as pour-over brewing!

– ryan

our friends rob & ellen recently sent us a gift box from intelligentsia with a bag of fresh roasted coffee and two mugs! we had never tried intelligentsia before, at least that we are aware of, so we were excited. it was a very tasty, smooth cup of coffee, especially brewed with our chemex. we were quite impressed!

on a related note, we’ve upgraded our coffee brewing setup over the last few months. our electric tea kettle was on the fritz, so we got the new variable temperature kettle from bonavita. it’s the perfect companion for pour-over coffee brewers and tea lovers alike. it has a gooseneck spout for easy pouring and the kettle offers complete temperature control for ideal brewing settings. there is also a hold feature to keep your water hot throughout the brewing process, or if you plan on having another cup of tea. basically, it’s pretty awesome!

for christmas we also upgraded our grinder, which was on its last legs as well. we went with a conical burr style from capresso. it actually grinds the beans instead of chopping them, preserving aroma and flavor. the grinder is also extremely quite and super easy! you just set the fineness (from coarse to turkish fine), turn the knob to the amount of cups you want and it does the rest. for our chemex setup, we stick with a coarse grind, which you can see in the below photo.

– ryan

starbucks recently introduced their new line of light roasted coffees called blonde. this is something many smaller roasters have been offering for awhile, so i was intrigued to see how starbucks would compete.

basically, there are certain coffee beans that reach their ideal flavor at a shorter and/or cooler roasting time, hence the term light roasted. the result is a lighter bodied coffee that tastes crisp and clean with a bit milder flavor. it’s easier to over-roast coffee beans though, to ensure potential bad flavors are burnt out, so most companies roast everything really dark. it’s also not as cost-effective to separate the ripe beans for a lighter roast, so you don’t see many options outside of specialty coffee shops.

light roasted coffee often gets a bad wrap for not being very strong or being too mellow, however this is definitely not the case. most people don’t realize that a light roasted coffee actually has more caffeine than a dark roast. beans lose their caffeine the more they are roasted, so a light roast packs more punch then a dark one. it makes sense, but you always hear people requesting a dark cup of coffee when they need to stay awake.

light roasted coffees are also very flavorful, especially when brewed through a chemex or a french press. they are just more subtle when compared to a dark coffee like a french roast. you will still pick up fruity, nutty or even chocolaty notes in your coffee though.

so far starbucks has a willow blend and a veranda blend in the blonde line-up. i’ve tried both and really enjoyed them! i don’t think i’ll switch from my locally-roasted batdorf & bronson when buying nice coffee, but i’ll grab some more if it goes on sale again.

did you know you get a free cup of coffee at starbucks when you bring in your empty starbucks coffee bag? sounds like a pretty good recycling program to me! i noticed the offer on the bottom of the blonde coffee i purchased.

– ryan