2014 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Beer Survival Guide

September 19th, 2014 by in Walt Disney World Beer Reviews

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The 2014 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival is here, and with that comes the Beers and Ears beer survival guide with all you need to know about beer at Food and Wine in one place!

First, have you downloaded the Food and Wine Festival Beer List app for iOS? Or for non-iOS devices, have you bookmarked the web app? We’re finalizing some of the location data, but all the beer information is up to date.

Confirmation from multiple sources is coming in regarding the beer pour size rumor. Individual beers will be six ounces. This removes any discount for a larger beer and the 22oz steins are not an option at least as a souvenir to purchase with your drink. They might still be on sale at a souvenir stand. Also, flights are four ounce pours for a total of 16 ounces of beer per flight. Flight prices are slightly less than purchasing 3 individual beers.

Let’s talk about beer seminars. Disney has increased the number of beer seminars this year; some of them are better than others, but at least there’s a number of them. They’re spread out between September 30 and October 18, so if you’re visiting during those days be sure to see if you can catch one! Below is the full list of dates for these beer seminars.

  • Boston Beer Co. – Sept. 30, Oct. 20
  • Einstok Olgerd – Oct. 8, Oct. 9
  • Full Sail – Oct. 8
  • Silver Oak & Twomey Cellars – Oct. 9
  • Florida Beer Co. – Oct. 13, Oct. 15
  • Negra Modelo – Oct. 13, Oct. 16, Oct. 18
  • AB-InBev – Oct. 17

We’ve discussed all the beer of the festival previously, but here are my thoughts on where you should focus your efforts.

Brewer’s Collection: BraufactuM is the brewer of the year at the Brewer’s Collection booth. The five BraufactuM beers are only available in Disney World at Food and Wine; the other three are regular Germany pavilion beers. Get the two flights so that you can taste all the BraufactuM beers or perhaps the flight with three BraufactuM beers and the other two individually. You’ll still be getting the others if you buy both flights, but let’s be honest you can get an Altenmünster Oktoberfest, Radeberger Pilsner, or Schöfferhofer Grapefruit anytime.

Craft Beers: Let’s talk. First of all, Craft Beers are in the Odyssey. Good move; you can get out of the heat and have some beer at the same time. However, a six ounce pour here is $4.50. Sure seems like you’re paying for the Odyssey’s air conditioner bill. Dogfish Head Punkin, Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, and Terrapin Rye Pale Ale are good choices here, but this really feels like a ripoff. If you’re not feeling the selection and prices here, seek out some craft beer elsewhere on property. Port Orleans will serve you a pint of Abita Purple Haze for the same or less than the price of two 6 ounce pours of it here.

Farm Fresh: The flight here is your best option as well. Even with the Baba Black Lager that I thought was okay at best, the other options including Cigar City Florida Cracker are worth a shot.

Hawai’i: Kona is usually a good choice for beer, even though this year’s selection isn’t anything new. Big Wave Golden Ale and Castaway IPA are this year’s selection.

Hops and Barley: New Belgium Snapshot is my favorite of the beers I’ve tried in advance of the festival (I have one more tasting coming up once I get to the store). Samuel Adams Octoberfest is a perennial Food and Wine Festival favorite. The flight here would be worth it if you like Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat and Leinenkugel’s Seasonal Shandy. If not, you might want to stick to individual pours.

Something I forgot to mention in the initial Food and Wine Festival beer article is Intermissions Café. Located in the Festival Center (the former Wonders of Life building), it will be serving Medalla LightEinstök Icelandic White Ale, and Angry Orchard Hard Cider – Crisp Apple. None of these are new to Disney property but it’s another option, especially if you’ll be doing some of the seminars.

Finally, we’ve discussed the Via Napoli Food and Beer Lunches already, but if you’re looking for something special to do involving beer during the festival, this is your best option. No matter which date you go it should be delicious.

Those are my tips for beer at Food and Wine this year. Unfortunately, the prices at Craft Beers especially have left a bad taste in my mouth. The Odyssey isn’t worth an extra dollar per beer. My final piece of advice would be to grab the better beers from the Food and Wine selection and for anything else grab something from a normal WDW location, especially if you’re going to drink something that’s normally served at Disney World such as the Germany beers not brewed by BraufactuM. Cheers!


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