Beer Review - Wizard's Brew

Looking Up Towards the Gringotts Wizarding Bank

It’s a dark evening and a green light illuminates the streets.

Death Eaters are scurrying around the bystanders inspecting arms for dark marks. I wander over and show the tallest my mark, pointing my wand at a Jungle Cruise boat where the dark mark should be. He looks at me, looks at my wife, and glances into the camera saying with no words, “This Guy!”

With this proud Hufflepuff staring down a dark wizard, it was time to slide over to The Hopping Pot in Diagon Alley. I grabbed some “Frozen Butterbeers” for my loved ones and a “Wizard’s Brew” to reward myself for facing off against evil. A Death Eater did run through the line, but I had my wand at the ready. 

A Pint of "Wizard's Brew"

“Wizard’s Brew” is a beer, I’ve tried to make appear a few times. I keep trying to accio it in the Hog’s Head in Hogsmeade, but it’s exclusive to Universal Studio’s Florida and Diagon Alley in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I’ve been wanting to grab this pint because it’s the stout offering among the Wizarding beers. And if anything howls English beer to me it’s porters and stouts. This is a 5.7 ABV milk stout with 0 IBUs. The zero IBU stands out, as the malty finish gives it a taste of sweet bread. The mouthfeel is very silky and pleasant. To me, this is very much a beautiful marriage of an English brew and a Wizarding ale at the same time. It is what I have been looking for in the Wizarding World and so sets the mood.

Now others in my party did not agree. They took a big sip and made a face, as this is a dark brown to black colored beer. And I think the color sets an expectation of what one should be tasting bitterness. No additional sips were taken or offered. I think if they were blindfolded, they may have had a different opinion of the potion. Me…I want a sweet cookie to pair with this, and I’ll admit I traded sips between “Wizard’s Brew” and “Butterbeer”. I found this to be a really mellow and relaxing sipping treat.
 

This is another Wizard beer from Carib Brewing USA. As a stout a sweet or milk stout relies on the flavor from the dark malts making it bready. But there is typically an additional flavor punch from the addition of milk sugar or lactose. And as you can imagine that does add silkiness, the creamy element, and the sweetness, the sugar. It can transfigure a more normal or dry style stout into that sweet bready pint that I enjoyed as dueling wizards attacked the Death Eaters around me.

Who Drinks This? Me! If you like dark beers or English-style craft beers, this is for you and are in Diagon Alley so only Wizarding pints for you. I’d like to see a barrel-aged beer in a Central Florida theme park, but know due to tastes and profit margins that won’t happen. However, if dark beers are not your style or taste…you may need to look for a “Dark Forest Ale” or a “Hog’s Head Brew” instead. Sadly for the Beertenders of the Hog’s Head, I will probably still try to order it in Islands of Adventure.

Beer Review - Dragon Scale

The goal of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort is that you are in a world of magic…so no regular, muggle-made, junk can creep into this world. Everything you see is unique to the theme and setting because you’re a Wizard (insert name here), meaning no Big Named Beers for you! Evanesco Budweiser!


 

A Pint of Dragon Scale

Accio Dragon Scale!

Dragon Scale, a wizarding beer, can be found throughout the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Recently, I had one at The Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida. I was instantly hit with the red color, which reminded me of the red eyes of the Ukrainian Ironbelly, the largest and most ferocious of dragons. But sadly, this breed’s scales are not red but gray. The color is nice, with you being able to see through the glass to reveal your favorite witch or wizard sitting across the table. The potion, described as a red lager, in the magical plastic pint, tasted miraculously like beer.

When I say beer that tastes like beer, that’s my general description of a common lager. It is what one has come to expect from those days of mindless drinking before our alcohol intake became a cool new annoying hobby. And here, it does taste like a beer but slightly elevated. The malts to create the red color, give off some grainy flavor that is quite pleasant. But it is a lager that tastes like a solid, drinkable, crushable lager that still has enough flavor wizards who turn their noses up to beer that cannot be named are not allowed to mock you. With an ABV of 5.3%, it is also possible you might have a few. It is super approachable, as long as you like the taste of, well, beer. It has no hop bite at all. So it should be approachable for many.

All kidding aside. It is hard to make a good lager, especially for a craft brewery, which really needs to get the liquid out of tanks and into the hands of wizards. But the potion masters seem to have put it all together. A wizard brewery hidden in the muggle world named Carib Brewery USA, makes this concoction over at Cape Canaveral. Hmmm, that’s an odd name. Oh, because it’s not a small craft wizard or witch. No, Carib Brewery is a Trinidad-based brewery that used to have contracts with InBev, the makers of Budweiser. They purchased the Florida Beer Company in 2016, and it is clear they have brought the lessons of making large-scale lagers outside of the US at their production site in Florida!

Honestly, I’m not a lager-loving wizard. But drinking a Dragon Scale while sitting in a themed restaurant, and carrying your first wand at your side, Maple and Unicorn, just seems magical. Just remember to drink and apparate responsibly!

Who Drinks This? So you’ve been in Universal’s theme parks all day. You got yourself a refillable cup, congratulations on earning house cup points for showing that wisdom. You’ve been filling it with Bud Light or Coors Light of the Muggle World. Now that you’re in a magical place these brands are no longer an option! This is a beer for you! You just need to understand that the color does not mean the beer is going to be too dragony and adventurous!