& bellies up to the bar week after week, the ca- cophony of their conversation as loud as the eclectic list of tunes the staff is known to blast from the speakers. While the name is a nod to our state’s non-indigenous flora and fauna, it’s also an invitation to potential patrons, be they natives or transplants. For all of this we can thank South Floridians and brewers Phil Gillis and Josh Levitt, who teamed up with nearby Laser Wolf cofounders Chris and Jordan Bel- lus to offer a craft-beer experience that speaks purely to our Sunshine State. Twenty tap lines pour a constantly rotating selection of brews, but you’d be remiss if you didn’t try repeat of- ferings like Ninja Juice, an ale brewed using almost 50 percent rice in place of traditional grains and fermented with sake yeast. BES T NEW BREWERY (BROWARD) Orchestrated Minds Brewing 803 NW FIRST STREET FORT LAUDERDALE, 33311 954-530-6655 ORCHESTRATEDMINDSBREWING.CO After Davy Martin moved to South Florida in 2011, the self-described hop head was hard- pressed to find a solid local IPA to his liking. To Drink Eat remedy the dearth of options, he began home brewing. When people told him he had a knack for turning grain into primo liquid, he took it one step further when he and his wife Jaime opened Orchestrated Minds. Today, the nanobrewery stands as a grassroots effort where the couple — alongside a small but dedi- cated staff — delivers a curated selection of small-batch beers. With hip-hop blasting from the speakers, the open-air ambiance is akin to sharing a cold one with your friends in the backyard, only here you do it with the owners and brewers themselves. It’s the ideal spot to sip some of Davy’s most well-received beers, recipes he’s been perfecting using a one-barrel system. The brewer focuses on delivering true-to-style IPAs, simple sours, and roasty stouts that don’t rely on the use of lactose or artificial extracts. That includes Touch of Grey, an easy-drinking, low-ABV blond ale accented with Earl Grey tea that presents notes of or- ange and lime, inspired from the couple’s trips to craft beer mecca Hill Farmstead. For those hot summer days, try Surfer’s Tan, a refreshing take on an unfiltered German-style pilsner. A trip to Orchestrated Minds isn’t complete without a taste of the latest stout to hit the draft lines, each new beer a riff on Baseline, Davy’s base stout recipe, which he uses to cre- ate the brewery’s popular barrel-aged or ad- junct-flavored stout series. BES T BREWERY FOOD M.I.A. Beer Company 10400 NW 33RD STREET, SUITE 150 DORAL, 33172 786-801-1721 MIA.BEER Miami-born Carlos Carreras and Nayra Ser- rano are the dish-dealing duo behind Masa Craft, the taproom restaurant operating out of M.I.A. Beer Company in Doral. The opera- tion has its roots as a pop-up serving the local craft beer since 2018. Post-pandemic, the duo stepped in to feed the masses at M.I.A.’s busy taproom and hasn’t looked back since. Carre- ras and Serrano fuse their roots for a unique mashup of their combined heritage that mixes Cuban, Spanish, and Filipino influ- ences. They roll with a small and dedicated crew that consistently pumps out some of the area’s best burgers and croquetas. Carreras, a longtime bartender and taproom manager, is behind the burgers, a specialty blend of bris- ket, chuck, and hanger that forms the base for dozens of sandwiches, from patty melts to the popular “Smackdown” smash burger topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and his own re- moulade-style “Woo” sauce. Serrano, whose family owns Los Gallegos on Bird Road, comes in hot with her award-winning croqu- eta game. The three-day process behind each handcrafted ball of goodness requires top- notch ingredients — think chorizo and cheese sourced directly from Spain — hand-rolled just the way abuela used to make. BES T BEER SELE CTION Union Beer Store 1547 SW EIGHTH STREET MIAMI, 33135 786-313-3919 UNIONBEERSTORE.COM At Union Beer Store on Calle Ocho, you’ll find coolers upon coolers filled with beers to please every taste bud. Owned by husband and wife David and Cici Rodriguez, the little brew bar and bottle shop has a well-earned reputation for its extensive collection of whales — rare suds and small releases from local and out-of-state breweries. Whether you seek a flavor reminiscent of açai sorbet or the beach-perfect lager, Union Beer not only sells bottles and cans to-go (you can mix and match to your heart’s content) but also more than a dozen brands on tap. And growler fills! If drinking isn’t enough for you, UBS is also home to munchies-quenching pop-up food vendors, including Peacock Ramen, Panolo’s, and Haochi. BES T HAPP Y HOUR Jaguar Sun 230 NE FOURTH STREET MIAMI, 33132 JAGUARSUNMIA.COM Yes, we live in an expensive city. But you don’t have to be rich to enjoy the finer things. Take for instance the daily happy hour at Jaguar Sun. From 5 to 7 p.m., this in- timate bar in downtown Miami serves classy drinks — and classy bites — at wallet- friendly prices. Co-owner and bar manager 108 108 JUNE 23-29, 2022 JUNE 23-29, 2022 NEW TIMES NEW TIMES BEST OF MIAMI® 2022 BEST OF MIAMI® 2022 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com
