On my recent trip to Orlando, I made a couple of stops on the way home. I had been dying to try to beers at Darwin as I was hearing so many great things about them. On my last trip up that way, they were not yet open (I think they opened about a week later).

I was not disappointed.  I enjoyed the atmosphere, the people, and the brews.  I will definitely try to stop back here next time I am in the area.

I started with the San Juan Helles Lager.  I really don’t have much to say about this one. I am not a huge lager fan and this beer had a great lager nose and taste.  I imagine this would be a great one for someone who is really into lagers.  However, for me, lagers in general are pretty dull.

The Summa Daze Citrus IPA was great– my favorite beer here. I find that I have become a huge fan of citra hop and that was the hop in this one. It had a great citrus finish and nose.  At only 6.6%, it was light and easy to drink.

The Pirata Pils was a German Pils.  Like many pilsners, I didn’t find this had much of a nose. However, this beer did have a sweet taste on finish. I often feel about pilsners in a similar way to lagers.  However, this pilsner was not bad and had just enough taste that I would drink this on a hot day.

The Circa 1926 was supposed to be a wheat. However, I didn’t find that it had any of the typical characteristics of a wheat beer– no wheat on nose or finish.  I also didn’t like the odd bitter/sulfur taste on the finish. This was definitely not my favorite here.

Chapo was a weizen bock.  There was not much nose here but it had good herbal flavors which I thought were a little much for a traditional bock. There was also a tad bit of sour on the finish. Overall not a bad beer.

The Rye Saison, Belgian farmhouse ale, was very similar to me to the Chapo but more amber in color.

I actually like the Cala Pumpkin. However, I would have to drink this in small doses almost like a sherry as it is so sweet. I found it tasted a bit like a mead with strong flavors of clove and cinnamon.  The herbal flavors were the most pronounced here with just a bit of pumpkin at the end.

The Llama Mama, a sweet stout, was not all that sweet but was a very solid stout. The nose and start of each sip were of coffee but it finished with a burnt malt flavor.

The Berliner Weisse was a bit tart for a weisse but had a great nose. Again another decent, solid beer.

We were given the opportunity to taste a pilot batch of beer done with sage and white oak.  This was fantastic with strong flavors and aromas of sage and hints of white oak.  I would have been sure to have a pint of this beer.

I hope Darwin keeps up the great work and I look forward to trying new brews in the future!

Although I think that the concept behind the Brew Hub is a great idea, I wish that it was not so heavily focused on Cigar City brews.  The vast majority of brews on tap here were easily available at bars and restaurants throughout Florida.  I would like to see the concept utilized to create and have a tap room featuring more unique items.

My other issue with the Brew Hub is the location.  The location is easily visible from Interstate 4 in Lakeland. However, without a good GPS, you are never going to be able to figure out how to get there. We had to make several turns (even through a neighborhood) when entering and exiting from the interstate.  Some good signage would really be helpful.

Even though I had some issues with the place, the beers here were not bad.  Many were not local brews– featured were Green Man and Highland from Asheville, NC.  However, many of the brews were good solid beers.

Interestingly, I thought the best beer on draft during my visit was one of the Brew Hub’s own– the South Frontage IPA.  This was a good solid IPA with a classic nose and good hop flavor.  The other Brew Hub beer, Royal Palm, was also a solid pale ale but there was an odd flavoring that reminded me of Earl Grey tea.

In contrast to the South Frontage, the Green Man IPA was a let down. This beer had very little nose and a sweetness on the finish. Although a bit of hop was maintained at the end, this was not my kind of IPA.

Orange Blossom’s Toasted Coconut was a pleasant surprise. Considering their pilsner is very sweet, I expected tons of coconut in this beer.  But there wasn’t– the beer just had a hint of coconut and the end of each sip with a subtle hint of sweetness.

I had to try a Cigar City since they were the majority of beers featured.  The Cigar City Altbier was a disappointment. The nose was very unappealing and the taste was slightly sweet and malty.

Highland’s Claw Hammer Marzen was another disappointing beer. It was very light in color and didn’t have much nose either.  There was a hint of sweetness and malt and the end but overall this beer lacked flavor.

Green Man ESB was a bit better having a good ESB nose with hints of caramel and hops. However, this too did not have the level of flavor I would have expected.

Highland’s Gaelic is a classic and rightfully so. This beer has lots of flavor and a great nose. I was glad to end my tasting on that note.