Get On The Bus

There is this great idea called The Brew Bus here in Jax.  You can reserve a spot on the bus to take a tour of local micro brews.  There was a Groupon for a Sampler Tour that I purchased for a date night idea.  The idea of the bus is great, but we thought it could have been organized much better.  

We got on the bus at Engine 15 here in Jax Beach.  They started with offering us a sample of their own beer.  Sadly, they started with an IPA which kills your taste buds for trying anything else!  We got these cute sampler glasses to use throughout the night.

After our sample, we got to try a full can of beer from their line.  I had a blueberry wheat which was pretty good.  It is their award winning beer.  Thankfully it wasn't too sweet, but starting with an IPA then to a wheat wasn't the best idea.  We got to sample their other beers as well while on the bus.  

Our first stop was in San Marco at Aardwolf.  Andy and I had been here before and we weren't impressed.  We've tried a number of their beers and neither of us found one we liked.  One of the rooms have these huge fans.  Andy said "Look at that big @$$ fan!"  Funny thing was when I looked up, the name on the fan was "Big Ass Fan!"

Our next stop was at Bold City Brewery in Riverside.  This was our favorite of the night.  Andy loves Duke's Cold Nose Brown Ale and now has fallen in love with their 1901 Red Ale.  I like their Killer Whale Cream Ale and Fritz Hefeweizen.

After we left Bold City, we headed on to Intuition Ale Works which is also in Riverside.  We both found a few beers we liked there.  Andy picked up a tank top for me that has an outline of the state of Florida with the phrase, "Drink Beer From Here" on it.  

We then headed back to Jax Beach via the Bus.  One guy on the bus ended up throwing up about 10 minutes from home.  It was nasty.  That was a negative but not sure how it could have been avoided.  We were also disappointed in that the cost, we only received a sample size of two beers at each brewery and they weren't samples of our choosing but the choosing of the Brew Bus employees.  Any other beers we drank, we paid for at each location.  The other disappointing thing was that we were under the impression that at each place, we'd get a tour and info about each brewery...that never happened.  So basically we paid for a few drinks and a bus ride to and from the other side of town.  We were glad we tried it, but neither of us want to go again.  We got our tickets for half price and that still seems expensive for what we got.  I sure am glad we didn't try it without a Groupon!  At least we didn't have to pay for a sitter!  ;)