I began my day by going to 903 Mills Market Cafe. Jen, who I spoke with at Hidden Springs yesterday, apparently is also apart of the Craft Girls Beer and Body Florida group, so she let me know about this place. It’s a cafe/deli that also has a small craft beer selection which is decent as well as wine too.

I ordered the Big Mills Breakfast which comes with two scrambled eggs with cheddar, two bacon strips, italian sausage, two pancakes and a potato cake all for the lovely price of $7.49. Since they had craft beers, I couldn’t help but look first to figure out which beer I wanted to have with breakfast, the winner was, Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar, 5.6%, described as on the brewery website “From the hazelnut capital of the United States, this nutty twist on a European brown ale was originally crafted by Rogue Brewmaster John Maier’s good friend and avid home-brewer, Chris Studach. Hazelnut Brown Nectar offers a hazelnut aroma with rich nutty flavor and a smooth malty finish.”

This was excellent with breakfast! I tasted some coffee within as well, the hazelnut isn’t over powering and did have a nutty taste and was very smooth! I think it’s a great all round beer.

Then I headed to Red Cypress for their bottle release of “Around Us” Dark Side of the Moon, 9.5%, which they described on Facebook as, “Maple. Imperial stout brewed with lactose and aged in maple syrup barrels.” AND “We Must Adapt Ourselves” Dark Side of the Moon: SB #1, 9.5%, “Imperial stout brewed with lactose, coconut, chilies, cinnamon, coffee, and chocolate and aged in bourbon barrels.”

Someone at The Ravenous Pig yesterday evening had told me sometimes there is a line., so I wanted to get there to make the line/be a little ahead. I got there around 11:30 a.m., since they open at 12 p.m. As I was going to the DeLand Beer Fest, which is about 45 minutes to an hour away and began at 1:00 p.m.

While in line for the bottles, I overheard the couple behind me talking about the DeLand Beer Fest, since I’m not familiar with that area what so ever, I asked if they knew where I would be able to find parking. The suggestion was to look up Persimmon Hollow, since it’s close to the downtown area where it was happening and there should be spots around nearby. I grabbed a bottle of each beer and sipped on some Around Us.

Initially drinking the beer I didn’t get the maple syrup, though after warming up a bit I did taste it a little more. It was good, looking forward to having it the bottle.

Onto DeLand, wooooo!! I was excited to try other beers from breweries in the area and meet some of the ladies who are in the area from the Craft Girls Beer and Body FL group.