A Visit to the Titanic Brewery and Restaurant
Mark Tumarkin

I don't know if it's tempting fate to name your new brewpub after a ship that went down to a watery grave; but if Jamie Ray's beers have anything to do with it, this is one business that should float on to success. Anne and I visited the Titanic Brewery and Restaurant on our recent trip to Miami. The Titanic had opened about a month before, and I was eager to try Jamie's beers. It is located in Coral Gables, off US 1 (just immediately south of the University of Miami's Mark Light Baseball Field).

One of the other purposes of my trip was to pick up some avocado honey from Scott Ross. So we arranged to meet Scott, his wife Janice, and several other friends from MASH, the Miami brew club, at the Titanic for dinner and beers. Jamie is also a member of MASH. He was previously the brewer at the Clevelander Hotel on Miami Beach, and had also brewed for a while at Hammerhead's in Key West. He had learned his brewing chops out in the NorthWest, in Idaho.

The food was very good, not just your typical pub grub. As an appetizer, I had hop-seasoned salmon cakes--but enough of that, this review is supposed to be about beer, not food. Jamie is currently brewing six beers at the Titanic, but the night we were there they were out of the stout. They also have a number of micros on tap. I started out with the sampler, generally my favorite approach to a new brewpub. I started on the sampler from lightest to heaviest, also generally a good approach. The first beer was the Triple Screw Light Ale, a quite tasty Kolsch style ale. I am not very familiar with Kolsch, but this one seemed to be appropriate to the style as I understand it. It was very pale colored and clear. It was a dry, light bodied ale with some fruity esters, a floral hop character, and a slight yeasty finish. Very clean and enjoyable.

Next in line was the Boiler Room Nut Brown Ale. This was a traditional English brown ale. This ale was a rich medium-brown color, and somewhat cloudy as it was served unfiltered. It was very malty, with some hop bitteness and a bit of earthy hop flavor, probably Goldings. This beer was good, but is not one of my favorite styles, so it was the one I enjoyed least. This was followed by another English ale, this time an ESB. Again, this was an unfiltered ale, copper colored, with relatively low carbonation. Very appropriate for style. It had a very pronounced caramel character, with some butterscotch diacetyl flavor. There was good hop bitterness and fruity esters, but the balance was decidedly towards the caramel malt flavors. As Dr. Bob would have said, it could have used more hops. This was definitely an ESB, more alcoholic than most bitters, but not obtrusively so.

This was followed by Captain Smith's Rye Ale, one of my favorites. This was also an alcoholic beer at about 6%, but very well balanced and tasty. It was light amber in color, medium in body and very fruity. It was very well balanced between the malty, spicy rye and the floral hop character, probably Hallertauer or Tettnanger. Terrific head retention. It had a clean, spicy finish with none of the astringency that is sometimes found in rye beers. As I said, it was one of my favorites.

Last up was the White Star India Pale Ale, also one of my favorites. With this beer, Jamie shows that though he's now brewing in S. Florida, his roots are still in the Northwest. This is a classic American IPA, big and hoppy. It had a great malty base, but the hops rule. Lots and lots of Cascades, in all their floral, citrusy glory (Yes, Dr. Bob would have approved of this one). They were out of the Shipbuilder's Oatmeal Stout, so I didn't get a chance to try that one. I was also a little surprised that there wasn't a Scotch Ale. Jamie makes a killer 80-Shilling. But I can look forward to those on another trip. Before we left I'd revisited the Rye and the IPA, and enjoyed them even more with a full mug. I'd definitely recommend a stop at the Titanic if you find yourself down that way.