The Beer of Epcot International Food and Wine Festival 2013!

July 31st, 2013 by Scott in Walt Disney World Beer Reviews

The booth menus are out (here’s the full list), so let’s take a look at the beers that will grace our presence (or not) at the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival 2013.

Let’s start from the north (World Showcase Plaza) and go clockwise, as far as we know based on last year’s map.

Terra has decided to give us a beer this year; unfortunately it’s a beer that can be found in nearly every Walt Disney World table service restaurant. Fortunately it’s a decent beer; it’s Napa Smith Organic IPA!

Mexico has Dos Equis. No surprise there. However, La Cava del Tequila gave us a bit of a surprise last night.

Craft beers from the Dia de los Muertos line should be arriving next week at La Cava!

Another shocker at the China booth. Tsing Tao.

Brewer’s Collection has some interesting choices this year. After being taken out of the Germany pavilion several years ago, Warsteiner returns with two selections. BraufactuM also has three beers this year. Additionally, Schöfferhofer Grapefruit, the half-beer, half-grapefruit cocktail is back! Here’s the full list:

• Altenmünster Oktoberfest
• BraufactuM Darkon
• BraufactuM Palor
• BraufactuM Roog Smoked Wheat Beer
• Radeberger Pilsner
• Schöfferhofer Grapefruit
• Warsteiner Premium Verum
• Warsteiner Premium Dunkel

Brewer’s Collection will have two flights available so you don’t have to shell out full price for a taste of each of these.

As usual, Germany serves a couple of the beers Brewers Collection does. This year it will be Altenmünster Oktoberfest and BraufactuM Darkon.

Poland is serving beer this year; the Okocim Brewery is sending over Okocim O.K. Beer. I can only assume that it’s okay (rimshot).

Italy will have Birra Moretti and Birra Moretti La Rossa. I’ve been told it’s difficult to get the Italian craft beers at the price point needed for Food and Wine Festival, hence the fairly mundane selection.

Hops and Barley’s beer selection has been cut in half this year. Instead of eight beers, we only get four. Also, there is no Sam Adams “Anniversary Beer” this year. Instead, we get three standard Sam Adams beers and Rogue Chocolate Stout from Oregon. Full list:

• Samuel Adams Boston Lager
• Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat
• Samuel Adams Octoberfest
• Rogue Chocolate Stout

A flight will be available at Hops and Barley where you can get a tasting portion of each of the four above.

Some rejoicing should occur for the Florida Local booth as the wildly popular Cigar City makes an appearance with Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale! Also appearing here is Orlando Brewing’s Sun Shade Organic Pale Ale.

Japan has ditched the Frozen Kirin Ichiban (probably because it’s served all over the Japan pavilion now) and is just serving Sapporo.

Singapore is serving Tiger Beer for the second year in a row. Not really surprising but it’s a choice not usually seen at Walt Disney World.

Morocco has Casa. Another non-surprise.

Belgium. What a disappointment. I feel like I get on this horse every year, but nothing of substance changes. The other day I ran across 3/4 of the Belgium booth’s selection being sold in a variety pack at the supermarket. Seriously, here’s the picture.

These are NOT the “Best of Belgium”. Are they bad? Not really, but they’re uninspired and the Epcot Food and Wine Festival coordinators continue to take the easiest path here and just order the AB-InBev-approved Belgian beers. The other question is whether Leffe Brune will show up this year as it was on last year’s menu and didn’t show. Full list:

• Hoegaarden
• Leffe Blonde
• Leffe Brune
• Stella Artois

Can we get some Duvel in the Belgium booth at least? It’s easy to get ahold of and not very expensive. I could get more exotic but I think Duvel’s a good starting point. Chimay is another easy option; it’s already served at various spots around the resort.

If you so desire, you can get the “Mediocrity of Belgium” beer flight.

France has a slightly different selection this year. Instead of the usual Kronenbourg 1664, the France booth is serving Kronenbourg Blanc, a witbier. Hey, it’s a step up from the Mexico and China selections.

Ireland has Guinness. No surprise, but how about a red ale?

The only beer listed at Canada is Moosehead Lager, but always be on the lookout for unannounced Unibroue beers as they have shown up the past two years.

Desserts and Champagne has come down from its snooty perch to grace us with a beer. Pyramid Weiss Cream Beer will be served there. Sounds interesting at least.

Kona’s back at the Hawai’i booth with Big Wave Golden Ale and Pipeline Porter. Not bad.

Craft Beer Collection is back with some different selections. Dogfish Head makes an appearance here with Namaste. Abita breaks away from its three big beers to serve up its fall seasonal Fall Fest, an Oktoberfest-style beer. Leinenkugel will have a seasonal shandy on tap, either Summer Shandy or Orange Shandy. New Belgium brings Fat Tire, an amber ale. Widmer Brothers brings us something different with Alchemy Ale, and Red Hook will serve their Audible Ale. Returning are Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA and Florida Beer Company Devil’s Triangle. Full list:

• Abita Fall Fest
• Dogfish Head Namaste
• Florida Beer Company Devil’s Triangle
• Leinenkugel Seasonal Shandy
• New Belgium Brewing Co. Fat Tire
• Red Hook Audible Ale
• Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
• Widmer Brothers Alchemy Ale

Two flights will be available at Craft Beer Collection for tasting portions of the eight beers.

We don’t know exactly where Scotland will be located yet, but they’ll have Innis & Gunn Original. Part of the brewing process for Original involves putting the beer into American white oak bourbon barrels for 30 days; it could be an interesting brew. Also, someone at Disney might be listening to us a little because I asked for Glenfiddich 18-year single malt scotch and they’ll be serving a flight of Glenfiddich 12, 15, and 18-year scotch. Now if only they would listen to us regarding the Belgium booth.

Unless we run into some surprises along the way, these are the 42 beers that will be available at the 2013 Epcot Food and Wine Festival! That’s two more than what was announced when the menus came out last year even though Sam Adams has four less beers (including the disappearance of Cream Stout). We’re seeing beer spread out a bit more around the booths, but in many of the countries’ booths we’re also seeing the same beers stick around (Mexico, China, Japan).

At this point, we’ve made our first pass at updating the Epcot Food and Wine Festival Beer List. We’re assuming the booths are mostly in the same places and guessing on Scotland’s location. As we get closer to the festival we should know more. The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival Beer List iOS app and mobile site should reflect these changes.

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You may be interested in:

The 2012 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival Beer Survival Guide

The 2013 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival Beer Survival Guide

The Beer of Epcot International Food and Wine Festival 2012

The Beer of Epcot International Food and Wine Festival 2011

The Lack of Beer Seminars at the 2011 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival