Food Review & Walkabout from the 2022 SeaWorld Craft Beer Festival

The 5th Annual Craft Beer Festival at SeaWorld, Orlando is well underway… the posted start and end dates for this popular late summer festival are Aug 5th - Sep. 5th, 2022 (that's the whole Labor Day weekend, including Monday) … but it's just as (hot) fun as ever, and we managed to find a couple of great bites while strolling around the park this year!

There's been no word yet, if the festival will be extended like it has been in years past. It would seem to make sense (to me anyway)… because Epcot's Food Festival is running — basically all the time. SeaWorld has been pushing their two Halloween events a lot though, and with construction on the new coaster still underway, they may be short of space this year. I guess we'll know for sure in a week or so.

A Practical Guide to the SeaWorld Craft Beer Festival

After reporting on the festival for the past four years, I decided to put an overview page together — which will kind of act as a Guide to the Craft Beer Festival. That way — I'm not writing the same "what is it" paragraph each year. The new guide is live, and (although, I'm probably a bit biased) I think it looks really cool, and is packed with a ton of information. If you'd like to check that out click here to see the new "Practical Guide to the Craft Beer Festival".

I will still start off with a little blurb about the Sampler Lanyard though… because it really is a great deal and it makes buying food and beer samples at the festival much easier and more enjoyable.

The 2022 Sampler Lanyard

The Sampler Lanyard allows guests to purchase a pre-determined number of samples at a discount price -vs- paying the full out-of-pocket menu board prices for the food and beer samples. If you want to read more about the Sampler Lanyard and how it works… there's a whole section in the practical guide page that covers everything (click here).



This year's price breakdown looks like this…

• Individual Items Priced Between : $6.99 — $11.99
• With the 8 Sample Lanyard
  ($58.58, including sales tax)
  Each Item is : $7.33
• With the 12 Sample Lanyard
  ($74.55, including sales tax)
  Each Item is  : $6.22
• With the 15 Annual Passholder Sample Lanyard
  ($74.55, including sales tax)
  Each Item is  : $4.97

Does it make a difference? Heck yes. When you're paying $11.99 for a small food sample... you can't help but compare it to a full size appetizer from your favorite causal restaurant. But when all the food samples are just $4.97 — you get what you want, based on what sounds and looks good... you enjoy it for what it is, and move on to the next sample. That kind of "stroll and sample" idea is what the festival is all about.

Food For Thought

The Beer Festivals at other SeaWorld and Busch Garden parks in different cities (all owned by the same parent company) appear to be focusing more on the craft beer, and less on the food. There's more pretzel nuggets, flavored popcorn, wings, sliders and a couple cupcakes — all things that might pair well with beer samples as "snack food", but nothing that would really stand alone as "festival food".

SeaWorld, Orlando seems to be trending that way a little bit more each year… but they still have one of the more extensive festival menus — when comparing this festival's menu, to all the other SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Beer festival menus.

The overall menu at SeaWorld, Orlando's Craft Beer Festival is five items smaller than it was last year — and there wasn't even one vegetarian or gluten sensitive item on the menu. I'm not vegetarian… but the Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites were one of my favorite items last year.

The Food

We started off this year at the indiscreetly named Pub Grub booth. I think when you ask random people what they think "Pub Grub" is... half of them will be thinking about the bold, artisanal flavors of a modern Gastro Pub… while the other half will be thinking about wings and sliders. Sadly, the "Pub Grub" booth at this year's festival only offered one food item — a hot dog. I'm not on the marketing team... but "Beer Dog" or "Salty Dog", or "Piggy Pup" — would all be better names for the booth. Just saying.



So what about the $11.99 "Sunshine City Dog" — it was just okay. About the same as anything I would expect to find over at Captain Pete's.



It's said to be an All Beef Hot Dog topped with Sunshine City Beer Infused Sauerkraut and Beer Cheese with Crispy Onions. The sauerkraut was punchy, like a good sauerkraut should be — and you could detect the slightest notes of beer in full bite — but beer flavor notes were very far back in the mix. I do like a good beer cheese. This yellow oozy theme park cheese was a little chalky, and I couldn't detect any beer flavor or savory punch that you get with a beer-reduced cheese.



Walking down the path to the next booth "Wish You Were Beer" produced a slightly better item, some "Reimagined" Beer-Battered Crispy Shrimp — also for $11.99.



Last year, when I ordered the Crispy Shrimp — I actually received another one of my favorite dishes from last year's festival — because they ran out of the actual "Crispy Shrimp" that was on the menu board. A plate of Citrus Glazed Pepper Shrimp from Sharks was being served instead. I'd eat those little crustaceans all day long.

I did go back on another occasion though, and get the real "Crispy Shrimp" from 2021, and they weren't half bad. They had a very light, almost "popcorn tempura" type of batter around them and were served with pepper dip.

This year's shrimp, were very heavily battered… a little more like a hushpuppy type of batter — that completely covered any "fresh seafood" qualities that the shrimp might have had.



These were served with Creamy Slaw and Kimchi Ranch Sauce… neither of which really did anything to elevate the dish. The slaw was just chopped cabbage and carrots with mayo, and the Kimchi Ranch Sauce — looked a little like Thousand Island Dressing, but didn't taste like Thousand Island. It was a little creamy and a little "hot" (emulating "Kimchi" I suppose), but it didn't really bring any strong flavor profile to the party.

Pretty much all you tasted in each bite was a very heavy, over cooked batter.



Also from the Wish You Were Beer kiosk, we got the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie that's posted on the menu board at $9.99.



This little pie could be picked up and eaten, almost like a cookie. The pie shell was very sturdy. The menu board says this one combines Milk Chocolate, Kentucky Bourbon and Caramelized Pecans.

It wasn't as gooey as I was hoping it would be… that sweet pecan pie filling that's part of any great southern pecan pie was missing. I will say, that I could taste the chocolate and a very slight hint of bourbon — along with a very robust amount of pie shell. Caramelized Pecans??? I'd say the pecans were more of a texture, than a flavor in this one. All in all, it wasn't bad… it just wasn't a "wow" dessert either.



Moving on to a popular spot over by the Nautilus Theater — the "Sam Adam's Best Bites" booth is usually one of the festival's highlight locations. It's a larger booth, so the chefs can do a little more prep and plating with each item. This year was no exception and I found a couple of great items here.



The Two-Way Beer Drunken Ribs are a new item this year and feature Lager Marinated and Berbere Rubbed Ribs with Sam Adams Barbecue Sauce. These were posted as being $10.99 and were served with some pickled onions and a small piece of bread (a crostini, in spirit anyway).



This was great combination of flavors and textures… cool crunchy pickled onions with the hot meaty ribs together with the great spice notes from the Berbere Rub — and surprisingly, it's two dollars less than the most expensive items at the festival. I'd say it's one of my top three savory picks from the festival this year.



Also from the Sam Adam's Best Bites kiosk is this nice little dessert cup… as long as you don't read too much into the "Tiramisu" name. It really didn't have any of the hallmark Tiramisu flavors or textures but as a dessert cup, it was really nice. The dessert cup is listed on the menu board at $9.99.



The menu board says the "lady finger" layer is made up with "Oatmeal Stout Beer and Espresso Coffee Infused Lady Fingers" — a really great sounding idea — but hard to make work. Let's say a normal Tiramisu cup like this uses a tablespoon of coffee, but instead you use a half tablespoon of Oatmeal Stout Beer and a half tablespoon coffee — you just end up with less flavor. I was hoping for a really "drunk" couple of ladyfinger layers… especially at $9.99.

What About the Beer???

I mean, this is a beer festival after all. Honestly, I'd don't drink too many — because photo-wise, there's really only three kinds… dark brown ones, red ones, and yellow ones… and they pretty much look the same from year to year.

From a tasting standpoint — I like beer. I really do. But I've been to enough beer festivals to come up with a theory — while there are over 9,000 craft breweries in the US — they're all just making the same 30 beers, ales, and ciders.



The 7oz cups here at the Craft Beer Festival seem to be about the right size though — just enough for sampling two or three different varieties… and enough to go with one food sample.

When looking at the beer menu board — the beers are all fairly mass-market. You're not going to find any "secret reserve" type of ale here. Most of the selections were chosen because they have flair profiles that will appeal to most guests — or because they have a cool sounding name. Who wouldn't want to try the "Strawberry Orange Mimosa Sparkling Ale" or the "Wicked Hazy Juicy New England IPA"?

Getting Back to the Food

The last two savory dishes were the superstars of the festival — and clearly my top two picks this year. Both were from the Tampa on Tap booth, which is located behind the "unnamed gift shop" (near Panini Shore Cafe).



The Birria Pork Tacos served with Oaxaca Cheese, Charred Green Onion, and Maduro Guajillo Chile Broth is pretty much everything I was hoping it would be.



The most important part of this $12.99 — the shredded pork — was cooked perfectly and was still juicy. Clearly better than my last shredded pork experience at Waterway Grill.



I wish the Maduro Guajillo Chile Broth were a little spicier, had more of an herbal flavor, and it should definitely be thicker (mine was very thin, like tomato juice) — dipping the taco in there should add another big layer of flavor.



My top pick for the festival this year though... goes to the Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs (also listed at $12.99)… they have a very simple description "Slow Braised Short Ribs with Creamy Stone Grits, Crispy Shallots, and IPA Au Jus" — but there's oh so much flavor in there.



If you haven't tried grits before, they're basically mashed potatoes — but made with corn and not potatoes. The texture and flavor combinations were all on the plate — the savory hot shot rib meat with the creamy grits, a nice crunch from the crispy onions — it's all there. Another thing I really like about this one is that they weren't shy about putting that IPA Au Jus on there.

There was enough of that extra sauce to really taste some of the beer in the mix. If this were on the menu at Sharks Underwater Grill — I'd order it without hesitation — it's a fancy restaurant level dish!



I finished out my walkabout of the Craft Beer Festival this year with a dessert from the New Orleans Corner booth (next to Voyager's Smokehouse)… it's the Beignets with Bavarian Cream.



The item is listed on the menu board at $9.99 — and much to my surprise — the Bavarian Cream was in the shape of a Hidden Mickey!



Well, sort of a Hidden Mickey anyway. These are not the French-style Beignets which are made with choux pastry — but some type of yeast pastry — honestly that's probably not quite right either. These were more like deep fried donuts, but without the whole in the center. Not quite what I think about, when I think about Beignets — these were a little heavier, slightly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

These can be topped with Bananas Foster, Nutella, or Bavarian Cream.

Due To A Storm in the Area…

Normally I like getting to stop and hear a couple songs from the amazing musicians and local groups that perform at the Craft Beer Festival each year… but the on-again off-again rain storms kept all the bands from performing this year. A couple got close… only for it to start sprinkling and lightening before they could perfom.

Wrapping Up

Even though I was a little hard on a couple of the food items — we had a really good time at the festival — and because I purchased all of these items using an 8 Item Sampler Lanyard… I felt the price was about right for the quality level of the food.

If I purchased everything out of pocket, it would have come to around $97 (with tax) — the 8 Item Sampler Lanyard was around $58 (with tax) — so I feel like it was a great price for several hours of fun, walking around and tasting all the different items at this year's festival.

If you want to read more info and see the full menu from the 2022 Craft Beer Festival at SeaWorld, click here and check out the SeaWorld, Orlando Craft Beer Festival event information page!

We've also put together a handy new Practical Guide for the SeaWorld Craft Beer Festival which is kept up to date with all the current and new information that we get each year. You can view that, by clicking here!