Wanna get away? For 10 years, LauderAle brewery has been a ticket back to the ‘other’ Fort Lauderdale

LauderAle Brewery & Tap Room once got a one-star Yelp review from a critic who acknowledged never having been there. The knock: It was too hard to find, and the reviewer gave up.

The paradox of LauderAle — the location of this geographically challenging gem is a prized selling point and its most obvious drawback — defies easy analysis.

But the regulars sitting out on the patio recently, beers in hand, were willing to take a crack at it.

“If you know, you know,” says Joe Hover, of Fort Lauderdale. He has been coming to LauderAle four or five times a week for more than six years, accompanied by buddies Josh Houck and Matt Celesti, who all work nearby for a yacht services company. “This is our local watering hole, our place to come after work, vent, talk BS, get a smile back on our face.”

The trio will tell you that the Fort Lauderdale brewery’s remote location, tucked behind a stand of nondescript warehouses between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades, encourages a unique sense of loyalty among those willing to seek it out.

They’ve never seen a fight, never heard of a car being broken into, and the laidback atmosphere is rarely infiltrated by “hipsters,” they say.

“I honestly think this is the best brewed beer in the county, bar none. The staff is amazing and the clientele’s chill. What more do I need?” Celesti says. “But as a business owner, you can’t rely on the regulars to keep you afloat. That’s just a fact of life.”

This weekend, LauderAle will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a four-day blowout taking place Thursday through Sunday. The party will include more than 20 new beer releases, live music, top local food trucks and special anniversary merchandise.

“The plan was to just stay open as long as we could,” cofounder Kyle Jones says. “We never imagined we’d make it 10 years.”

Jones and business partner Joey Farrell began their brewing career with a 5-gallon malt extract kit in his one-bedroom Victoria Park condo, later moving to Farrell’s garage in Rio Vista. When Farrell’s father said he could let them have a rundown warehouse cheap, they jumped at it.

At the time LauderAle opened in 2014 , the only other tap room in Broward County was Funky Buddha Brewery, which had opened in Oakland Park the year before.

Even with Google’s help (plug in 3305 SE 14th Ave.), arrival at LauderAle does come with a sense of accomplishment, the route looping under Federal Highway and over FEC Railway tracks before a U-turn that is likely to inspire “this can’t be right” misgivings.

If you get momentarily turned around, you’ll be in good company. Over time, the refrain from frazzled visitors became so frequent that LauderAle turned it into the name of a blond ale called I Got Lost on the Way Here.

But to finally pull between warehouses and into the brewery parking lot, the glow of garden lights strung over the patio, energetic shadows radiating from the doorway, feels revelatory and exotic. This is the “other” Fort Lauderdale that you want out-of-town visitors to see — warm, unpretentious and authentic.

The hyperlocal vibe extends to the beer taps on the wall, an homage to the iconic red-and-white Florida Power & Light Co. smokestacks that stood nearby for more than 50 years until they were demolished in 2013 .

Jones understands the romance of being remote, but points out that one man’s exotic is another man’s pain in the rear.

“It’s a positive in some ways. We have lots of parking. A lot of people love it, but I think being off the beaten path, that’s also a negative, right? People just want the convenience sometimes of driving a few minutes and getting somewhere easily,” he says.

In recent years, the rustic warehouse has been updated and muraled — new booth seating is being added along the walls — and a patio was created and covered, instantly becoming a popular hangout spot. The family-friendly/dog-friendly tap room has picnic tables and board games, and is home to a variety of events, including yoga, trivia nights and community fundraisers.

“The atmosphere is unique. [Visitors] can tell somebody did it themselves,” Jones says. “It’s not like they spent a bunch of money and built it all brand-new. We’ve built things over time as we can afford it and as we get feedback from the customers.”

General manager Miranda Fuller books a consistently strong lineup of local musicians and food trucks, including Kaminari Ramen, Jenny With the Pot and Tight Lines Food Shack. Regulars like variety.

“If I have the same truck here two days in a row, it’s like the world ended,” Fuller says, laughing.

Guided by head brewer Jimmy DiFrisco, LauderAle’s beer menu is broad (more than 30 at a time) and approachable, with a variety of IPAs, saisons, sours, stouts, a porter and a German Kölsch always available, as well as a few barrel-aged beers.

There is no AC in the high-ceilinged tap room, which informs some of his other beers.

“The most common question I get: What’s the lightest beer you’ve got? The light lagers, cream ales and fruity cream ales are the beers that people keep drinking,” DiFrisco says.

Jones is hopeful that the anniversary party will encourage new visitors to give LauderAle a try.

“It’s been tough. But this year’s off to a great start, and it’s one of the best years we’ve had since COVID,” he says. “The anniversary is our biggest event of the year, obviously, and if we can do really good at the anniversary, hopefully we’ll continue on having a great year.”

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

LauderAle’s 10th anniversary events will roll out Thursday through Sunday and feature a thoughtful lineup of some of South Florida’s most popular food purveyors and musicians. Admission is free. Here are the highlights.

Thursday: LauderAle will open to all at 4 p.m. for a party that pays extra attention to Captain’s Club members, giving them advance access to new releases and anniversary merchandise. Food: BC Tacos. Music: Rogue Theory (8 p.m.).

Friday: The brewery opens at 3 p.m. with two new beer releases. Food: Eat BMC smashburgers and Good Days Pizza. Music: Emo and ’90s tributes from Got You Covered (8:30 p.m.).

Saturday: Opens at noon with 10 new beers, releasing one every hour, as well as new glassware and merchandise releases. The centerpiece of the evening will be the Full Moon Alien Party at 8 p.m., with fiery entertainment by Island Cirque and a spacey-punk costume contest with prizes. Food: Jorio Coffee (noon), Mystic Lobster Roll Co. (noon-5 p.m.), La Condesa Taqueria and Apocalypse BBQ (4-11 p.m.). Music: DJ Maxotica Capella (2 p.m.), Tamboka (4-7 p.m.), Behind the Houses, Bradley Morales and Matt Brown (9:15 p.m.-close).

Sunday: The party reignites at 11 a.m. (after the 10 a.m. Ales and Asanas beer yoga class) with doughnuts by cult-faves LuchaDough. Brunch begins at noon with food truck Brunch N Roll, accompanied by DJs sets. The day will include 10 more new beer releases. Food: Tight Lines Food Shack (3 p.m.). Music: Sons of a Tradesman (6 p.m.).

Again, LauderAle Brewery & Tap Room is at 3305 SE 14th Ave., Fort Lauderdale. If you get lost, call 754-779-7470. For more information on the brewery and anniversary events, visit LauderAle.co .

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com . Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and Twitter @BenCrandell .