The long anticipated opening of the Fort Myers Brewing Company has finally happened. However, I can’t say that I am happy about the product, though. I had really hoped that now the area would have two great microbreweries. However, I was sadly disappointed.
The beer at the Fort Myers Brewing Company seems to be beer for the masses. By this, I mean it is mild and generally tasteless. There was a gold, pale ale, tan and strong blond on draft. However, you really couldn’t tell one from the other except by color. The strong blond was the only one with much taste and it was a bit bitter.
The brewery also had several Swamp Head Brewery beers on draft which made the local beers pale (literally) in comparison. I wonder if someone knew that many patrons would be looking for real craft beer when attending a brewery opening?
I am glad to see they got a huge turnout for the opening day. However, I feel that this might make them think that they have a great product here. I just think the area is crying for a microbrewery. I was sad to see that almost no one who was at this opening had visited Naples Beach Brewery which makes a much better product. Another brewery will be opening soon and hopefully it can give Fort Myers what it needs (and should be looking for).
The Beer Bloggette 
Tereza,
Sorry you didn’t enjoy our choice in beers for our opening day. I know I can’t, and don’t expect to please everyone all of the time, but I invite you to visit us again as we gain traction and experience on the new brew system (no two brew systems are alike). I’ve been brewing beer since 1992, worked as a brewer in a brewery for many years, and have won many awards for my beer. Many factors played in to my first lineup of beers, and knowing that opening day would likely be large I wanted to create beers that were fairly mellow and easy to drink. I’m rather surprised that you couldn’t taste a difference in the beers, as none of them use the same base grain, have very different malt profiles, and none use the same hops. Granted – the hop flavor and aroma weren’t as planned on a couple of the beers, but this isn’t outside of what I expected for the first run on the equipment.
Near future plans include a few beers that might be more appealing to your pallet:
– American Amber (Red) – First place California State Fair 2011, First place Sacramento County Fair
– Belgian Golden Strong (13% ABV) – First place California State Fair, 2011 – first runner up best of show (of 3000 beers), First place Sacramento County Fair
– Black Imperial IPA, insanely delicious
– Oatmeal Stout – First place San Diego County Fair
– Belgian Tripel
– Smoked Vanilla Porter
Hope to see you again in our tasting room in the future!
Rob
Glad to hear you will be adding some new beers, Rob. Keep my in the loop. I look forward to trying them.