World of Beer Bar & Kitchen (WOB) - featuring over 500 bottled beers and 50 on draft. Sounds like a fun place, right? Well, there's a good chance that there is one near you (or at least near your vacation spot) because they have more than 60 locations in the U.S. alone.


When Gus and I were in Tampa this past February, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Westshore (HGI) near the Tampa International Airport. (BTW - if you're looking for a place to stay near the airport, we recommend this HGI. We've stayed there three times and it's always been great.) After spending one morning at ZooTampa, we decided to eat lunch close to the hotel, making it easy to hop over to our room for a rest before dinner. It just so happens that there is a WOB. Right. There. So we decided to stop in.

It was awesome! One of my favorite things about WOB is that they feature local craft beer. We were there on "Taco Tuesday" (and you know how much I love tacos), so it was perfect.


Gus had the Mahi Mahi tacos with tater tots.

I opted for the Beer-Battered Shrimp and Crispy Beer-Brined Chicken tacos. They were both delicious, but I liked the shrimp taco best. The sriracha lime aioli was to die for!


For beverages, Gus went for one of his old stand-bys - Blue Moon (which you can see in the background of the photo below). I was a little more adventurous and had a flight:

• Riot Juice (Hidden Springs Ale Works) - Berliner Weisse with blackberry, lime, vanilla, and lactose) 5.5% ABV
• Blueberry Lemon (Florida Avenue Brewing Co.) - Berliner Weisse 4% ABV
• BURST Passionfruit Lychee (Wicked Weed Brewing) - Session Sour 4.5% ABV
• Funky Buddha Floridian Hefeweizen - 5.2% ABV, 12 IBU

My favorite of the four was the Riot Juice - very tasty and went well with the tacos!

I took some photos of the interior, but I have to apologize for the quality. They were taken with my phone and the angle of the sun caused some glare.

Gus and I have been to two WOB locations - the one in Destin, Florida, and this one in Tampa. I think it was in summer 2017 that we went to the one in Destin. The beer selection was awesome, but we were less than impressed with the food. We did go back to with Buddy later in 2017, but we stuck to beer only.

During our visit to the Tampa location, we mentioned to our lovely waitress how we really enjoyed our meal and that we almost hadn't eaten here because of our experience at the Destin location. She told us that corporate eats at the Tampa location quite frequently. That may explain the difference. But to be fair, we haven't been to the one in Destin for a couple of years and it could have easily changed for the better since we were there.

We will definitely eat at the Tampa WOB again. We liked the food/vibe and it's so convenient to the HGI.

World of Beer Bar & Kitchen
5311 Avion Park Dr
Tampa, FL, 33607-1416
813-930-5499

Hours:
Monday - Tuesday 11am-12am

Welcome to Tuesday Brewsday! Today we want to tell you all about Marker 48 Brewing: an amazing brewery in Brooksville, Florida (about an hour north of Tampa) with a food truck on the premises.



We love this place and will be stopping here whenever we 're in the area! It has a great laid-back vibe.



We were there on a Thursday around noon, so there were only 2-3 other people in the place. But that meant we got to spend some time talking to the bartender and one of the owners. I had flight of four ($8.50) and later added one more taster, while Gus went for a pint of NAMI.



My favorites*:

• Mermaid's Milk Nitro (milk stout) IBU: 30, ABV: 5.9%
• 7 Mile (Key Lime Pie Berliner) ABV: 4.2%
• High Thai'd (mango coconut wheat) ABV: 7.4%
• Blackberry Weisse (kettle sour) ABV: 4.2%
• Seeing Stars (starfruit Berliner) ABV: 4.2% 
• Suncoast Trail (cream ale) ABV: 4.5%

Gus' favorites*:

• NAMI (Belgian wit) ABV: 5.7%
• Old Man Weyerman (dopplelbock) ABV: 8.2%
• Mermaid's Milk Nitro 

One of the owners walked by and the bartender told him that the Mermaid's Milk was my favorite. He said since we were his people (he's also from Kentucky), he had something for us to try. He poured us a glass of their beer for Tampa Beer Week - a really nice dark beer brewed with raisins and brown sugar. Very reminiscent of a bourbon barrel-aged stout.


While chatting with the bartender about my love of Berliners, she asked if I had tried their 7 Mile, which is a Key Lime Pie Berliner. I hadn't, so she gave me a taste. Best Key Lime Berliner I've ever had - and it could get me into soooo much trouble if I was drinking it on a sunny day on the beach. Easy, delicious drinkin' right there.

Did you notice the copper strip in the middle of the bar? Check out the photo below. It's a built-in chill strip to keep your drinks cold! Brilliant. We've been to a lot of breweries, but this is the first with a chill strip. Love it!


The taproom is pretty big - 6000 square feet - with lots of tables and chairs. We liked the layout a lot because it was so roomy. It felt like it would still have plenty of space even if it was full of people.




There's a pretty big beer garden as well. Very roomy with lots of seating.



So now we've gotta tell you about the food truck - BarbieCue! De-lish!! Some of the best bbq we've eaten. The pork was so tender and the mac-n-cheese was to die for! You just go out to the truck to order and they bring your food into the bar when it's ready.

Marker 48 Brewing
12147 Cortez Blvd.
Brooksville, Florida 34613
(352) 606-2509

Welcome to Tuesday Brewsday! It's been awhile since I've done a brewery post, and I'm pretty excited to be telling you all about the Little Miami Brewing Company today!


The Little Miami Brewing Company is located in Milford, Ohio, right next to the (you guessed it!) Little Miami River. Gus and I met my cousin and his youngest son there a few weeks ago to grab some lunch and beer.

They have a dedicated parking lot, which is always most welcome at breweries (and really anywhere, am I right?).

You walk into a pretty good sized taproom - spacious with lots of tables. The bar is on the left, and yesssss, there is also pizza!! If you walk straight through the taproom, you'll enter the covered outdoor area, which is where we sat. The Little Miami River is just over the bank. I'm not sure why I didn't take a photo of the outdoor area!

Gus and I ordered a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, and it was really good! I'm pretty picky about pizza, but I really liked this one. Gus is always down for pizza. I don't think he's ever met a pizza he didn't like!

Gus went for the Blackbird Fly, an unfiltered American wheat beer with blackberry puree. He liked it a lot - which is kind of surprising because he usually doesn't like anything that is fruity.

I had the Pterodactyl (a hefewiezen) and Cherry Creek (a cherry wheat beer), and I enjoyed both. I also liked the Blackbird Fly. I would've tried more, but they only do half pours (not flights) and 16 oz. is my limit for lunchtime.

We both really liked Little Miami Brewing; both the beer and the atmosphere. Fifty West Brewing (another of our favorite breweries) is only about 5 miles away. Both are a good 40-45 minute drive for us, but my orthopedic surgeon's office is only a 15-20 minute drive from the breweries, so an appointment with him is always a good excuse to stop by!

If you're in the Milford/Beechmont/Loveland area, do consider stopping by Little Miami Brewing Company for pizza and beer!

Here's where/when you can find them:
Little Miami Brewing Company
208 Mill Street
Milford, Ohio  45150

Hours:
Monday 3pm - 10pm
Tuesday - Thursday 11am - 11pm
Friday - Saturday 11am - 12am
Sunday 11am - 10pm

What's better in hot weather than an ice cold beer? Of course, it's also good in cold weather. Or any weather!

Earlier this summer, I was finally able to convince Gus to stop by Wooden Cask Brewing Company in Newport, Kentucky. I've been wanting to go for awhile now, but he argued that "it would be hard to find a place to park" (knowing that a lot of the parking in Newport is street parking). If you worry about that sort of thing, let me start off by laying that worry to rest. The brewery has it's own parking lot, and it's big.


Their building is HUGE. I was expecting something the size of Darkness Brewing in Bellevue just because most spaces in the area are on the smaller side. Not only is it a large building, but it's beautiful. Apparently, back in the 40's and 50's it was the Flamingo Club (with illegal gambling). Then in the 80's it was the Jockey Club with live punk bands. More recently, it housed the Yellow Cab company (which explains the size of the parking lot!). Quite a history!



Inside, there are lots of tables with seating, couches, and of course, seats at the bar. Interesting tidbit: The bar top is wood from six bowling lanes that were on site.



Right before we stopped here, we ate dinner at the Newport Pizza Company (NPC) - which is right around the corner. We both had a bottle of Wooden Cask's Girl Next Door blonde ale with our meal and liked it so much, I think that's what convinced Gus to stop by.

They don't serve food at Wooden Cask, but there are quite a few local restaurants that will deliver to the taproom (including NPC).


We loved the atmosphere at this brewery. It's cozy but very open and spacious. I'm not one for being crammed into a crowded space with a lot of other people, so I appreciate the roominess this taproom offers.

I (we) also really liked several of their beers. They always have 18 craft beers on tap - including a seasonal cider. Three of the brews I tried were what I would call "favorites" - meaning if I see them on tap somewhere, I'm going to order them. But their Reformation is my most favorite. I do love me a good chocolate Scottish stout!


My favorites*:

• Reformation (Scottish stout) IBU: 32, ABV: 7.5%
• Girl Next Door (blonde ale) IBU: 20, ABV: 6%
• The Scotsman (Scotch ale) IBU: 30, ABV: 8.5%

Gus' favorites*:

• Kentucky Farmhand (pale wheat ale) IBU: 20, ABV: 5.2%
• Girl Next Door
• The Scotsman

Definitely stop by Wooden Cask Brewery when you're in the Newport, KY/Cincinnati, OH area - you'll be glad you did! Pick up a t-shirt, too - it's one of my favorites - so comfy!!

Here's where/when you can find them:
Wooden Cask Brewing Company
629 York Street
Newport, Kentucky  41071

Hours:
Monday - Thursday 3pm - 10pm
Friday - Saturday 12pm - 11pm
Sunday 12pm - 8pm