For almost a decade, the craft beer scene in Miami was concentrated in Wynwood, a neighborhood known for street art, and several craft breweries like Veza Sur Brewing Company and J Wakefield Brewing all within walking distance of each other. More recently though, breweries in Wynwood have been closing down, while beer companies are increasingly popping up in other parts of the city. One of these is Tripping Animals Brewing Company, a brewery founded by three Venezuelan friends who started making beer in Caracas before migrating to Miami.

The name is meant to reinforce their love of fun beer and events, while also being an homage to the diverse flora, fauna and fungi of their homeland in South America. Naturally, the beer that they make is a reflection of this.

Core beers at Tripping Animals include No Mames, which is a take on traditional Mexican lagers like Corona and Modelo with a bit more flavor, as well as Limonada Rosada, a sour ale conditioned on lime and strawberries that is inspired by refreshing Latin American citrus coolers. There is also Ever Haze, a hazy IPA that is hopped with Cashmere, Citra, and Amarillo that is packed with juicy tangerine notes, along with a potent aroma of orange and grapefruit peel. It’s a quintessential hazy IPA with bold and bitter citrus notes, balanced with a juicy mouthfeel. In many ways, quite similar to Jai Alai from Cigar City Brewing in Tampa which is probably the most iconic IPA from Florida.

Ever Haze IPA at the Everglades

The citrus notes are even more pronounced in a seasonal variation of Ever Haze that is conditioned on Florida oranges. It’s juicy, sweet, and slightly tangy, with almost too much orange juice flavor, and unfortunately the flavor comes across more like something from a carton rather than fresh squeezed juice. Thankfully, it’s somewhat balanced by some bitterness from the blend of hops, and some bright notes of zesty orange oil. It might be a bit too sweet and juicy for the average person who enjoys the herbal, piney notes of a traditional India Pale Ale, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Ever Haze Hazy IPA brewed with Florida Oranges

There is also a stronger, double dry hopped version of Ever Haze that similarly increases the citrus flavor, but takes it into another direction, as they’re drier, sharper, and more complex. It’s brewed with a liquid concentrate of citra hops called Citra Incognito that is known for intense lemon and orange flavors, as well as Lupomax Cashmere which is a hop pellet that has extra lupulin so there are more hop acids and essential oils present. This all contributes to an intense, complex double IPA that is redolent with citrus character.

Tripping Animals Ever Haze DDH IPA

Another interesting Double Dry Hopped India Pale Ale is Bodega Glizzy, a strong beer brewed in collaboration with Other Half, OLOGY, and Outer Range. In addition to Citra Incognito, there is Riwaka hops, which brings pungent notes of pink grapefruit, and an interesting caramelized orange zest flavor. It also uses a rare type of hops called Anchovy that has only recently become available, and is still relatively difficult to source. Anchovy is an experimental hop variety that comes from Segal Ranch, a family-owned farm known for small batches of estate quality hops. Despite the name, Anchovy isn’t pungent, salty, or earthy, and instead it packs intense watermelon candy flavor. It gives Bodega Glizzy a bit of watermelon flavor, but not that much.

Bodega Glizzy with a Patrinostro Sandwich from La Segunda Bakery

A bit less intense than these hazy, extremely hoppy India Pale Ales is Big Ride, a straightforward session IPA brewed with Cryo Mosaic. It’s earthy and herbal, with notes of fresh pine and tart pineapple. Just like the can art of an elephant riding a bicycle, this beer is big and well balanced.

Tripping Animals Big Ride India Pale Ale

Beyond India Pale Ales, Tripping Animals has also become well known for sour ales. Options like Limonada de Mango and Limonada Con Té are variations on Limonada Rosada with the berries swapped out for other additives. For their annual beer festival called Irie Jungle, the company conditioned a sour ale on coconut, mango, pineapple, and soursop that was released and served exclusively at the event. A similar beer called Gremlin Mode brewed with Xul Beer Company from Tennessee used those same fruit additives, but they swapped the soursop for peaches, and added some vanilla.

Their most well known line of sours is the Fresco Series that pays homage to popular soft drinks like Mountain Dew Baja Blast and Orange Fanta. These seem to be popular, and a beer company can’t be faulted for making beverages that loyal customers want to drink. However, I find them both too artificial tasting, sweet, and similar to an actual soda poured from a can. With all due respect, because Tripping Animals definitely deserves some respect for their India Pale Ales, but these sours are not good, and should not even be considered beer.

Tropical Blast and Who Loves Orange Soda?

California is known for Chardonnay grapes that are used in award-winning, paradigm shifting wine. At Angel City Brewing in Los Angeles, they brew Belgian Tripels with grape must, while also aging Barley Wines and Dark Lagers in brandy barrels. The beer feels representative of the state as the brewery uses local fruit. It’s disappointing to taste so much artificial orange flavor at Tripping Animals, considering they’re located in Florida, a state that is famous for growing this fruit.

Concrete Beach and J Wakefield were both known for complex sour beers that had layered acidity due to the use of fresh tart fruit, and wild fermentation. Concrete Beach was briefly rebranded as Dogfish Head Miami before closing down, while J Wakefield has been forced to close their taproom due to high operating costs. Tripping Animals on the other hand, despite my misgivings about their sours, have recently opened a second taproom. They’re obviously doing something right.