I want to start this post by thanking Natalie for actually allowing me to write this blog post and for always putting up with my shit.

For the record, this is Ashley. I have been a follower and supporter of Daze of Beer since the idea popped into Natalie’s brain. Daze of Beer is more of a blog to me, but more of a lifestyle. Being a part of this experience might be the closest thing to a cult that I will ever join. (Even though I really want to be second in command in a cult, one of my lifelong dreams, but that’s a story for another day). In this post, you will hear about the thoughts about beer from myself and Monica.

In February 2018 I traveled to Miami, FL with Monica. We just got off of a 5 day cruise that ported out of Miami, and we had all day to spend in Miami before our flight back to Milwaukee. The best idea we could come up with was to check out the local craft beer scene. Originally, the plan was to go to a few breweries, however, Frontier Airlines would not allow us to check our luggage, so we had to pick a place that we could take our suitcases with us, which is when we searched and decided to go to 42 Craft Beer Bar.

We got out of our Uber and wheeled our suitcases into 42. The staff was very accommodating to us. Monica and I stood out and clearly looked like tourists. The tables around us were people in their late 20’s/early 30’s wearing business casual outfits and were clearly on their lunch breaks. We strolled in with sunburns and thick Wisconsin accents.

We started off our experience at 42 by ordering some spinach and artichoke dip (WHICH WAS AMAZING, as it had a Mexican twist to it) and some local craft beers. I ordered the Havana Lager from Coconut Beach Brewery in Miami, FL. I definitely only ordered this beer in spirit of “Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights”. Monica got Big Rod Coconut Blonde Ale from Miami Brewing. My review of the Havana Lager was that I definitely liked it. It was what I expected from a good lager, but it doesn’t stand out as one of the best beers I’ve ever had. I attempted to interview Monica about the thoughts on her beer. She responded by saying “I don’t know, Natalie doesn’t normally ask us these questions”. However, in the end, Monica did enjoy this beer. She let me take a sip and it you can definitely taste the hint of coconut, which was weird and refreshing!

I decided we should use a rating system like they do in the Podcast, Gilmore Guys. We were to rate our beers between 1-5, but had to pick our own rating system. Here are the ratings of our beers:

Monica’s Big Rod Coconut Blonde Ale, Miami Brewing: 3.5/5 Coconuts

Ashley’s Havana Lager from Coconut Brewing: 4/5 Patrick Swayze Guest Appearances (Like in Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights) (Also, RIP Patrick Swayze) (Pour one out).

We obviously couldn’t just come to a craft beer bar and not order a second round. Monica ordered the a cherry chocolate quad from Barrel of Monks Brewing in Boca Raton, FL. This is when I learned that Monica likes dark chocolate flavored beers. I guess you can always learn something new about your best friend, right? I ordered a beer called Hop for Teacher (once again, definitely ordered this beer because of it’s name, and then proceeded to sing the song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me by The Police) from J Wakefield Brewing in Miami, FL. I also am a big fan of IPA’s so I was very excited to try an IPA with a cool name. Although it had a cool name, it was a pretty standard IPA in my opinion. It did have a good balance of hops and I did enjoy drinking it. Monica liked her cherry chocolate quad, and it definitely gave her a buzz with a 10.5% ABV.

Now for our ratings of our second round of beers:

Monica’s Chocolate Cherry Quad from Barrel of Monks: 4/5 Mr. Russia’s. (Mr. Russia was our very adorable head waiter on our cruise ship, even though we learned he’d rather be drinking Fireball and Tonic water than beers)

Ashley’s Hop for Teacher IPA from J Wakefield: 3.5/5 Ryan Martin’s (aka Ashley’s professor crush in college).

After our beers we paid, we rolled our luggage down the busy streets of Miami trying desperately to find a Starbucks to sober up, however we were only led to Starbucks that was “under construction”. I’ve never been so devastated in my life.  As we were buzzing on our beers and still slightly hungover from all the booze we drank on our cruse, we took a Lyft back to the airport and awaited out flight back to Milwaukee.

My overall plan to explore the Miami craft brewing scene didn’t go as planned, but I’m still happy I got to experience some of it while I had the chance. Until next time, Ashley out! Peace!