Beer Review - Duff

"Duff" Beer

I think Universal Studios Florida’s Fast Food Boulevard in Springfield USA has been designed to steal the joy of all guests and team members in the building. As the home of Krusty Burger and Flaming Moe’s it should be fun. But the addition of Lisa’s Teahouse of Horror, The Frying Dutchman, Cletus’ Chicken Shack, and Luigi’s Pizza steals all whimsy as you navigate a food course best abandoned in the 1980s.

Sure you think you know where the line starts. You don’t. A very unhappy team member will redirect you. Then you can enter the switchbacked second line. Once you clear that, you can get in line at each restaurant you want to order and pick up at. If you are lucky, there’s no line to pay as everyone is in line trying to juggle trays in their next lines. Well, you won’t wait, unless your kind team member is in the middle of a story with the team members standing behind them, I mean we’ve all told those stories to colleagues that must be finished. They need to pass these stories as the majority of guests are bouncing between and standing in all the other lines.

I’ve literally seen team members get into screaming fights here (it was over five years ago and I assume those team members are gone)! It’s not a place I ever want to go, and when my out-of-town guests stated they really wanted a “Duff” and a Krusty Burger, I yelled, “Doh!”

Spoiler, he grabbed a pizza not a burger and I grumbled about preferring Minion food!

I needed a beer after the multiple lines to grab food. And since we all got our food at different times and I was eating alone as my party stared at me, I needed an adult beverage to calm my nerves. “Duff” is a no IBU, 4.8% ABV beer from Carib Brewery USA. It is a beer with the flavor of…beer. It has no hop at all. And while I view this as “Duff Heavy” the lack of strong flavor made me wonder if the light version had any flavor. It is completely and utterly fine, but has no outstanding qualities to it other than name to make me ever want to sample another one other than the two I’ve had over the years.

Sorry Homer, your taste in beer and mine don’t match.

Who Drinks This? To me this beer has two audiences. First, you may be a big fan of macrobrewery pilsners and lagers. Since you are in Springfield, this is your offering in this category. Though to be 100, I prefer a “Yuengling Traditional Lager.” Second, you’re a big fan of The Simpsons so you need for the immersive experience a Krusty Burger and a “Duff!” Live your dream! Me, if I need to order a beer in Springfield, maybe I will be lucky and it’s “Dufftobfest” season. Or maybe more likely, I’ll plan to have a beer over in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter instead!

Also, I would 100 percent urge you to not pick it up within Fast Food Boulevard which is neither fast nor a boulevard. Order your’s at the Duff Brewery beer garden and reclaim your time!

Beer Review - Dufftoberfest

Prost to Dufftoberfest!

I’m old! I’m still on Facebook!

As an old dude, I’m in Facebook groups focused on theme parks. Suddenly in one of these groups, there was an explosion of posts, “it’s back, I can’t believe it, go now.” But it was in Springfield at Universal Studios Florida…the portion of the park that I enter the least, usually when just passing through. But everyone was raving about the winterish return of “Dufftoberfest”!

“Dufftoberfest” is another specialty beer at Universal brewed by Carib Brewery USA. It’s a Marzen, or as you might think of it Octoberfest. It’s a nice copper-colored brew with 30 IBUs and a 5.5% ABV. Honestly, it’s nice. It is a very typical Marzen flavor, slightly less malty and bready than Yuengling’s “Octoberfest” my current Marzen of choice. But it is truly brewed to style, refreshing, and has more of a flavor backbone than one would expect from a lager like “Duff which I’ve not had for several years. I think I like it a little better than Samual Adams’ current recipe. 

Dufftoberfest!

I just don’t find myself pulled into Springfield even though there are themed beers. This is likely the first time in a year that I intentionally pointed to the land of Bart Simpson, despite the “Duff” that drinkers can find everywhere. I feel like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter has both themed beers and theming that I just enjoy more.
 

Who Drinks This? If you find yourself in Springfield for a meal, you are going to need to sample a “Duff” beer. “Dufftoberest” is by my style preferences, the one I would personally select off a menu. I just don’t often find myself here but instead, head to other areas of the park. But in this case, it was enough to pull me into the land and I will admit I like it better than some of the Wizarding lighter beers. I will say it again, let’s make drinking Marzen normal all year long. And I can find myself wandering back if it’s still on tap during other times of the year.