TWISTED TRUNK BREWERY - Brewery number 2
The second brewery that I visited this year is:
TWISTED TRUNK BREWERY
2000 PGA Boulevard, #5506
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33408
561/671-2337
twistedtrunkbrewing.com
January 31, 2020
For my review, and for rankings, the scale is: (1) beer quality (taste) (1-20); (2) beer quantity (number available) (1-10); (3) beer varietals (differing types) (1-10); (4) atmosphere (look, feel and vibe) (1-20); (5) service (self-explanatory - hopefully) (1-20); and (6) miscellaneous (personal preference) (1-20). This will give me a 100 point scale to reference, and I will keep a running ranking of each of the breweries throughout the year.
To be fair, this is probably the closest to what I will call a home brewery. It is one of 3 or 4 of the closest, but probably the one I frequent the best - partly because I like it; partly because it is close to a lot of beer drinkers I know, and partly because I know a lot of people that go to this brewery. In addition to frequenting this brewing on January 31, I also attended its 5th anniversary party yesterday, so I know this brewery.
The atmosphere envelops you before you even enter. Twisted Trunk is in a very new, upscale plaza next to a pharmacy, and a restaurant, but the plaza also includes law firms and other offices. It is in the front corner of a plaza, in an elongated suite with its main opening in the far right corner. So, when you exit your vehicle and make your way into Twisted Trunk the first thing you see is the people all outside at the outdoor seating section - and there will be people in the outdoor seating section. This section itself is elongated like the brewery, separated from parking lot by a small fence that does not divide those already inside from the outside, but just acts as a little buffer to the cars. Also as you approach the door in the right corner, on busy nights and celebrations you will see a food truck/or vendor, and on occasions a bartender with a portable tap of two, sometimes three beers. A sandwich board greets you just outside the front door with a witty saying, a message about an upcoming event, or sometimes a special (either a special brew or perhaps a Happy Hour price).
As you enter the front door itself, you are looking at an angle with the bar on your right, a long walkway to the far end of the bar and another section of the taproom, and a section of comfortable chairs and couches in sections (several sections turned into each other for several conversations with each other). Each of the sections has a table in the middle for the placement of beer, or, since they are made of wood, on occasion someone will sit on an edge of the table if you need another setting. There is a wall behind the third section of chairs/couches that juts out so that it is even with the back of the last chair or couch of each section, dividing the taproom but without creeping into the walkway. This wall also provides a backdrop for a television, to go along with the couple of others on the front wall of each of the divided sections.
If you continue past the dividing wall, you will see a hightop table on the left (with a television on the reverse side of the wall), and walkway to the right (leading to the bathroom, offices and actually brewery), and a number of other hightop tables that seat 6 or 8 each (and can be easily combined) just past the start of that walkway. In the front left corner as you are walking straight through the bar, there is an area for a little stage, and a few other televisions on the right wall. On the back wall is a large picture of the Twisted Trunk logo, which you can see in back of this picture.
The bar itsself is long, running the entirety of 2/3 of the inside of the taproom, and has a large number of stools. There are a couple of televisions behind the bar on each side, and a couple of television screens listing the menu, including name, type, which brewery (Twisted Trunk's owners own two other breweries in the county), ABV, and sometimes a description. These screens are slightly angled from the middle to the ouward sides of the bar so they can be seen without being right in front of them. All of the taps are located on the actual bar itself, in the middle of the bar, and thus the entire center section of the bar is often a good spot to find empty seating. The taps do not intrude on the customers themselves, as there is still plenty of space to place your beer, book, elbows, whatever, but they do sometimes obstruct your view of the bartenders, or vice versa. But, the tap holders are not solid, as you can pass through glasses, napkins, etc. under the taps, so that the taps do not intrude upon the service of the customer itself.
This place, although a full brewery in the back, with the vats easily visible upon entry - in fact with the first one often close enough to touch as you walk from the entrance to the bar, is very much a crowd-friendly bar. Only on occasion has the smell that oftentimes accompanies places that are obviously breweries first, bars/taproom second. This is not one of those places.
Twisted Trunk only offers about a dozen options, some of which are from their sister-breweries (Tequesta Brewing in Tequesta, Florida and Steamhorse Brewing in West Palm Beach, Florida). Of these, they do offer a variety of types, a lager, a stout, a porter, an IPA, a fruity saison, a red, a sour, and some variations on the above. The best thing to look for are the special brews that come out periodically, as those are also very different from the standard varieties offered.
On my initial visit this year (January 31), I had the Cafe Con Finn, Finn McCool, Porter Please, Palm Beach Pilz, and the Watermelon Saison. I chose these primarily because I love the Finn McCool and the Watermelon Saison, and I wanted to try other types/styles of beer than those (although Cafe Con Finn is a Cuban coffee infused version of the Finn McCool). The Porter Please is from the sister brewery Steamhorse in West Palm Beach. Out of all of these beers, the Palm Beach Pilz is my least favorite, and I really love the others. You can see my slightly more detailed thoughts on these beers in this previous post.
From yesterday's anniversary parties I had the Key Lime Chancellor (a version of one of Tequesta Brewing Company's flagship beers), the Hi-5 IPA, the Pucker Factory Berliner, Steamhorse Lager (from Steamhorse Brewing), and the Nuttin' Fancy (Chocolate, Peanut Butter Porter Please). I also had the Coco Vin Rouge Imperial Stout - which you can read about here. You will see my specific ratings/rankings of these beers in my next beer post, but the Hi-5 was delicious, the Pucker Factory was a ton better than I expected, the Lager was light, and the Nuttin' Fancy was amazing. I probably wouldn't have a second Key Lime Chancellor, but for some reason I find that it is really hard to make a good Key Lime beer.
Because I went to Twisted on two of the busier occasions - Friday Happy Hour and the 5-Year Anniversary party - there were too many bartenders to name. But, needless to say, they are always on top of everything. Everyone in the place is a bartender, and if you have a tab, it is a tab for the establishment, and each and every bartender/server can serve you. Of course this is true at the bar, but it works if you are empty and you see one of the bartenders walking by to a table near you, or by you. Stop them, order a beer, and they will bring it to you. They are all bartenders and not servers assigned to tables. This adds to the ease in which you can order a beer. Plus, if you are at the bar and it is crazy, and you think it is going to be a long time to order a beer where you are located, another bartender pops up to serve you. It is uncanny. It is almost impossible to wait too long to have a beer (or another beer).
Happy Hour is from 3-6 Tuesday through Friday, and 1-8 on Sunday. Happy Hour offers $1 off each beer. But, Twisted Trunk also offers "Wine Down Wednesdays" and Bar Trivia on Thursday, and bands on weekend nights. But, my favorite "special event" is British Open Sunday, when they open early for the final round of the British Open with beer specials. Some bars open early for English Premier League games, but very few open early for The Open Championship!
RATINGS
BEER QUALITY - TASTE (1-20)
So, in total, I had 10 beers; although (stop me if you have read this before) some are from Twisted Trunk's sister breweries. Out of the 10 I only really disliked 1 (the Key Lime Chancellor) and the Steamhorse Lager was OK, for a lager (which is not my favorite style). The Cafe Con Finn I absolutely loved, and the Watermelon Saison is one of the best fruity saisons I have had. the Coco vin Rouge - a cabernet sauvignon barrel aged imperial stout was amazing. Overall, I give the beer quality an EIGHTEEN (18/20).
BEER QUANTITY - NUMBER AVAILABLE (1-10)
Twisted Trunk purposefully limits its number of beers, primarily becaUse they like to focus on the taste and also because the owner/brewers/managers operate three distinct breweries. That being said, they do have a dozen or so distinct beers from which to choose, as they often offer taps from their sister breweries. I give the beer quantity regarding number of beers available a SIX (6/10).
BEER VARIETALS - NUMBER OF TYPES AVAILABLE (1-10)
The good news is that although they offer a limited number of choices within each type, Twisted Trunk does offer a number of different types from which to choose. For that, I do give them props for having choices. I give the beer varietals regarding the number of types available a SIX (6/10).
ATMOSPHERE (1-20)
This place was very much a bar, and operates best when it was crowded. Segmenting the seating areas make for an easy flow of traffic even when crowded, and using the primary door and secondary door to exit/enter - both of which have easy access to the outdoor seating area is also key. Table service is offered as the bartenders constantly roam the seated areas to take empties, take orders, clean and just otherwise be friendly. Food trucks/vendors on busy occasions is also great. I give the atmosphere a NINETEEN (19/20).
SERVICE (1-20)
Service is amazing. I give the service an TWENTY (20/20).
MISCELLANEOUS (1-20)
This place is a bar that you would want to be, but is always welcoming and homey even when extremely busy. Their Happy Hours are amazing, and with trivia night and excellent local bands they have a lot to offer a variety of customers. The bands can be very loud when playing inside, as the taproom was not designed accoustically for the bands, but if not too crowded you can then go outside to avoid the loudest part of the songs. The beers are reasonably priced, as I am always surprised at how low the bill is when I receive it. The only markdowns are that bands can be too loud, and that they are closed on Mondays. I'll give this miscellaneous rating a NINETEEN (19/20).
OVERALL (100)
Doing simple mathematics, Twisted Trunk rates 55 (out of 100). This places it first (to date) in my rankings.
RANKINGS
1. Twisted Trunk Brewing - Palm Beach Gardens, FL - 88
2. Infinite Ale Works - Ocala, FL - 77
TWISTED TRUNK BREWERY
2000 PGA Boulevard, #5506
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33408
561/671-2337
twistedtrunkbrewing.com
January 31, 2020
For my review, and for rankings, the scale is: (1) beer quality (taste) (1-20); (2) beer quantity (number available) (1-10); (3) beer varietals (differing types) (1-10); (4) atmosphere (look, feel and vibe) (1-20); (5) service (self-explanatory - hopefully) (1-20); and (6) miscellaneous (personal preference) (1-20). This will give me a 100 point scale to reference, and I will keep a running ranking of each of the breweries throughout the year.
The atmosphere envelops you before you even enter. Twisted Trunk is in a very new, upscale plaza next to a pharmacy, and a restaurant, but the plaza also includes law firms and other offices. It is in the front corner of a plaza, in an elongated suite with its main opening in the far right corner. So, when you exit your vehicle and make your way into Twisted Trunk the first thing you see is the people all outside at the outdoor seating section - and there will be people in the outdoor seating section. This section itself is elongated like the brewery, separated from parking lot by a small fence that does not divide those already inside from the outside, but just acts as a little buffer to the cars. Also as you approach the door in the right corner, on busy nights and celebrations you will see a food truck/or vendor, and on occasions a bartender with a portable tap of two, sometimes three beers. A sandwich board greets you just outside the front door with a witty saying, a message about an upcoming event, or sometimes a special (either a special brew or perhaps a Happy Hour price).
As you enter the front door itself, you are looking at an angle with the bar on your right, a long walkway to the far end of the bar and another section of the taproom, and a section of comfortable chairs and couches in sections (several sections turned into each other for several conversations with each other). Each of the sections has a table in the middle for the placement of beer, or, since they are made of wood, on occasion someone will sit on an edge of the table if you need another setting. There is a wall behind the third section of chairs/couches that juts out so that it is even with the back of the last chair or couch of each section, dividing the taproom but without creeping into the walkway. This wall also provides a backdrop for a television, to go along with the couple of others on the front wall of each of the divided sections.
If you continue past the dividing wall, you will see a hightop table on the left (with a television on the reverse side of the wall), and walkway to the right (leading to the bathroom, offices and actually brewery), and a number of other hightop tables that seat 6 or 8 each (and can be easily combined) just past the start of that walkway. In the front left corner as you are walking straight through the bar, there is an area for a little stage, and a few other televisions on the right wall. On the back wall is a large picture of the Twisted Trunk logo, which you can see in back of this picture.
The bar itsself is long, running the entirety of 2/3 of the inside of the taproom, and has a large number of stools. There are a couple of televisions behind the bar on each side, and a couple of television screens listing the menu, including name, type, which brewery (Twisted Trunk's owners own two other breweries in the county), ABV, and sometimes a description. These screens are slightly angled from the middle to the ouward sides of the bar so they can be seen without being right in front of them. All of the taps are located on the actual bar itself, in the middle of the bar, and thus the entire center section of the bar is often a good spot to find empty seating. The taps do not intrude on the customers themselves, as there is still plenty of space to place your beer, book, elbows, whatever, but they do sometimes obstruct your view of the bartenders, or vice versa. But, the tap holders are not solid, as you can pass through glasses, napkins, etc. under the taps, so that the taps do not intrude upon the service of the customer itself.
This place, although a full brewery in the back, with the vats easily visible upon entry - in fact with the first one often close enough to touch as you walk from the entrance to the bar, is very much a crowd-friendly bar. Only on occasion has the smell that oftentimes accompanies places that are obviously breweries first, bars/taproom second. This is not one of those places.
Twisted Trunk only offers about a dozen options, some of which are from their sister-breweries (Tequesta Brewing in Tequesta, Florida and Steamhorse Brewing in West Palm Beach, Florida). Of these, they do offer a variety of types, a lager, a stout, a porter, an IPA, a fruity saison, a red, a sour, and some variations on the above. The best thing to look for are the special brews that come out periodically, as those are also very different from the standard varieties offered.
On my initial visit this year (January 31), I had the Cafe Con Finn, Finn McCool, Porter Please, Palm Beach Pilz, and the Watermelon Saison. I chose these primarily because I love the Finn McCool and the Watermelon Saison, and I wanted to try other types/styles of beer than those (although Cafe Con Finn is a Cuban coffee infused version of the Finn McCool). The Porter Please is from the sister brewery Steamhorse in West Palm Beach. Out of all of these beers, the Palm Beach Pilz is my least favorite, and I really love the others. You can see my slightly more detailed thoughts on these beers in this previous post.
From yesterday's anniversary parties I had the Key Lime Chancellor (a version of one of Tequesta Brewing Company's flagship beers), the Hi-5 IPA, the Pucker Factory Berliner, Steamhorse Lager (from Steamhorse Brewing), and the Nuttin' Fancy (Chocolate, Peanut Butter Porter Please). I also had the Coco Vin Rouge Imperial Stout - which you can read about here. You will see my specific ratings/rankings of these beers in my next beer post, but the Hi-5 was delicious, the Pucker Factory was a ton better than I expected, the Lager was light, and the Nuttin' Fancy was amazing. I probably wouldn't have a second Key Lime Chancellor, but for some reason I find that it is really hard to make a good Key Lime beer.
Because I went to Twisted on two of the busier occasions - Friday Happy Hour and the 5-Year Anniversary party - there were too many bartenders to name. But, needless to say, they are always on top of everything. Everyone in the place is a bartender, and if you have a tab, it is a tab for the establishment, and each and every bartender/server can serve you. Of course this is true at the bar, but it works if you are empty and you see one of the bartenders walking by to a table near you, or by you. Stop them, order a beer, and they will bring it to you. They are all bartenders and not servers assigned to tables. This adds to the ease in which you can order a beer. Plus, if you are at the bar and it is crazy, and you think it is going to be a long time to order a beer where you are located, another bartender pops up to serve you. It is uncanny. It is almost impossible to wait too long to have a beer (or another beer).
Happy Hour is from 3-6 Tuesday through Friday, and 1-8 on Sunday. Happy Hour offers $1 off each beer. But, Twisted Trunk also offers "Wine Down Wednesdays" and Bar Trivia on Thursday, and bands on weekend nights. But, my favorite "special event" is British Open Sunday, when they open early for the final round of the British Open with beer specials. Some bars open early for English Premier League games, but very few open early for The Open Championship!
RATINGS
BEER QUALITY - TASTE (1-20)
So, in total, I had 10 beers; although (stop me if you have read this before) some are from Twisted Trunk's sister breweries. Out of the 10 I only really disliked 1 (the Key Lime Chancellor) and the Steamhorse Lager was OK, for a lager (which is not my favorite style). The Cafe Con Finn I absolutely loved, and the Watermelon Saison is one of the best fruity saisons I have had. the Coco vin Rouge - a cabernet sauvignon barrel aged imperial stout was amazing. Overall, I give the beer quality an EIGHTEEN (18/20).
BEER QUANTITY - NUMBER AVAILABLE (1-10)
Twisted Trunk purposefully limits its number of beers, primarily becaUse they like to focus on the taste and also because the owner/brewers/managers operate three distinct breweries. That being said, they do have a dozen or so distinct beers from which to choose, as they often offer taps from their sister breweries. I give the beer quantity regarding number of beers available a SIX (6/10).
BEER VARIETALS - NUMBER OF TYPES AVAILABLE (1-10)
The good news is that although they offer a limited number of choices within each type, Twisted Trunk does offer a number of different types from which to choose. For that, I do give them props for having choices. I give the beer varietals regarding the number of types available a SIX (6/10).
ATMOSPHERE (1-20)
This place was very much a bar, and operates best when it was crowded. Segmenting the seating areas make for an easy flow of traffic even when crowded, and using the primary door and secondary door to exit/enter - both of which have easy access to the outdoor seating area is also key. Table service is offered as the bartenders constantly roam the seated areas to take empties, take orders, clean and just otherwise be friendly. Food trucks/vendors on busy occasions is also great. I give the atmosphere a NINETEEN (19/20).
SERVICE (1-20)
Service is amazing. I give the service an TWENTY (20/20).
MISCELLANEOUS (1-20)
This place is a bar that you would want to be, but is always welcoming and homey even when extremely busy. Their Happy Hours are amazing, and with trivia night and excellent local bands they have a lot to offer a variety of customers. The bands can be very loud when playing inside, as the taproom was not designed accoustically for the bands, but if not too crowded you can then go outside to avoid the loudest part of the songs. The beers are reasonably priced, as I am always surprised at how low the bill is when I receive it. The only markdowns are that bands can be too loud, and that they are closed on Mondays. I'll give this miscellaneous rating a NINETEEN (19/20).
OVERALL (100)
Doing simple mathematics, Twisted Trunk rates 55 (out of 100). This places it first (to date) in my rankings.
RANKINGS
1. Twisted Trunk Brewing - Palm Beach Gardens, FL - 88
2. Infinite Ale Works - Ocala, FL - 77
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