May 12, 2012
Not a bad place. Neat concept. Wish Ron was still there.

January 13, 2012
Great clam chow da and Shipyard beers

May 7, 2011
Clean facility with appealing decor. Nice deli display case. Food is above average but not incredible. My server didn’t seem very knowledgeable of the beers on tap. Nice selection of bottled beers.

May 4, 2011 [ Updated May 6, 2011 ]
Cool sort of industrial Trader Joe’s meets Spartan college brewpub. They have a tiny brewhouse that pumps out something like a dozen gallons of brew at a time and I’m only aware of them putting on one house brew at any given time. The food menu is tasty and Spartan-ly simple too. Would love to have had a place like this when I was in school. The brewer knows what’s going on and he puts on solid offerings. I had his Mild at Hunahpu day and it is basically the best mild I’ve ever tried. It was pure YUM. Well it’s currently a 3 way tie for #1 mild for me. I think I may have under rated this gem. His India Brown Ale was frikin’ amazing too. Please make these again.

March 30, 2011
This place appears to offer a cool atmosphere in which to do your gourmet food and beer shopping. I walked around a little and couldn’t really tell what the focus was... other than Shipyard beers and a few other locally crafted beers. When I say "Shipyard," I don’t mean this facility’s own beers, I’m talking about "Shipyard" beers that are brewed and bottled in Portland, Maine. I was pretty disappointed that there was only one Shipyard Emporium beer available on the day I visited. It was a solid wheat ale, but that was pretty much my only in-house choice. The main focus of the establishment seems to be the nicely constructed "Z" shaped oak bar. There are two televisions for watching sports while at the bar or nearby tables. The food I ordered was pretty darned nice. Very tasty pizza and soup. Other than the very limited selection of quality craft beer, my only major gripe about the place is that the temperature inside was just way too damned cold. I’ll be back, but not before calling to check on whether they have more than only one of their own beers on tap.

March 29, 2011 [ Updated March 30, 2011 ]
Small but clean and well-organized. The food is better than the beer, and everything is rather pricy. Shipyard’s beers, to me, are generally decent, but rarely outstanding. I tried Ron’s happy happy joy joy, and pastrami on rye (yes, that is a beer). Both were okay, but i think i’d like some of his other brews better. He has a nice simple brewing setup behind the bar. Overall, not very impressed with service, staff-knowledge, or products. Has sort of a Panera feel to it, and caters to the pretentious neighborhood it’s in, neither of which appeals to me. I’m not in a hurry to get back, but i will give them a couple more chances, mostly to try more of Ron’s brews.

March 14, 2011
WOW. I know that Winter Park keeps a fresh coat of polish, but damn! Walking into this place is like walking into a Williams-Sonoma showroom. That place is uber clean, and although the parking lot is small, when I went they had a valet available. They have lots of Shipyard, most of Florida’s bigger breweries’ wares, and a house beer that was outstanding. Had a great grilled cheese sandwich with mozzerella, chedder, and gruyere along with chips and a black hefeweizen. The best experience I have had with Shipyard to date. I will keep coming to try Ron’s beers. He made an IBA for the FBG Fest and a mild for Hunahpu Day that were both excellent.

March 2, 2011
The Shipyard Emporium is a restaurant and market. The food is mostly sandwiches (which are very good) and they serve a variety of Shipyard brews along with a nice selection of ’guest’ brews. On my visit I had a Cigar City IPA. In addition to these beers they have a rotating ’homebrew’. They have a small (I believe 20 gallon) brew system on hand. On my visit this was a dark Hefe-Weizen which was very good. The Market sells fresh baked bread, has a deli counter and sells a variety of packaged foods (mostly condiments). They also sell bottled beer here: many Shipyard varieties and others (which are not necessarily the guest brews in the restaurant). Overall, this was a very pleasant place to have lunch although the parking lot is small and fills up quickly.

February 14, 2011
Nice little brewpub in the high end area of Winter Park. A little on space, but they do have an area for tables and a bar that you can hang out at. More like a deli with a bar. Bottles of both Shipyard and other brewers are available for purchase. Food is artsy and good, mostly soup and sandwiches, cheeses, etc.... Brews were good, definitely try the in house stuff.

January 29, 2011
Well, let me be the first to rate this welcomed addition to the Orlando/Winter Park beer scene. The setting is a beautiful building that is a former architect’s office just a block away from Rollins College and historic Park Avenue. Parking lot is small, but there are several others close by and, let’s face it, the weather is usually gorgeous so the walk will do you some good. Aside from the bar, which I’ll get to, there is a large area that carries beer to go, mostly Florida Micro Beverage Distributors products, which includes Cigar City, most prominently. Alongside the packaged beer are dozens of local and artisanal foodstuffs, sauces, spreads, etc. At the center of the space is a cold counter and kitchen, where one can purchase freshly prepared foods, charcuterie, cheeses, meats, and veggies. There is also a wall loaded with freshly baked artisanal breads, some of which I sampled and found to be out of this world good. Sandwiches, soups, and desserts are available, and all that I tried were very nice. I’m told that they will have flatbreads soon too. Now on to the beer. There is a nice, clean bar with over a dozen tap handles. Of course, there is a wide variety of fresh Shipyard product shipped down from home base in Maine, but the real attraction is the stuff that is brewed on-premises by long-time homebrewer Ron Raike. On opening night and the following day I managed to try his Winter Park Wit, Goldenish Batch 1, Smiled English Mild (cask conditioned), India Brown Ale, and a small barrel sample of his Trout Stout aged in a Palm Ridge Reserve whiskey barrel. A conversation with Ron revealed many experimental beers that are brewing in his brain, and I can’t wait to come back again and again to try them all. This area needed this brewpub. I couldn’t be more stoked to finally see it come to life.