Intuition Ale Works, a Jacksonville brewery in the heart of the Riverside District, is just one of the establishments that have been integral in turning a square mile of Jacksonville, FL into “craft beer central.” So when I got word that they were throwing a release party for their Underdark, an Imperial Stout aged in oak barrels, my calendar was magically cleared and it was time to gas up the car to make the 2.5 hour journey.

My first introduction to Intuition’s beers was in a pretty unlikely place – a swanky hotel bar in the heart of historic downtown St. Augustine. I took a chance, as I always do, and asked the bartender if there were any craft beer options and, lo and behold, there were. He highly recommended the King Street Stout and I was more than impressed.

Since opening in 2010, Intuition Ale Works has definitely made its mark on the Northern Florida craft beer community. The brewery specializes in small-batch, hand-crafted ales and has a passion for both creativity and quality. Their brew schedule is intense, to say the least. They brew 8 to 12 times a week and produced over 3,000 barrels of beer in 2012, all sold in Northern and Central Florida.

In early 2012, Intuition became the first craft brewery in Florida to can their beers, starting with the flagship People’s Pale Ale, followed by their Jon Boat Kolsch and I-10 IPA. This, my friends, is a big deal for us Floridians. So much of our activities are outdoors, and whether you’re at one of our beaches, lakes, or rivers, glass is universally banned. So having good craft beer choices had previously been next to impossible. Other craft breweries have since followed suit, so our outings are no longer plagued with beer we didn’t want to drink in the first place.

Intuition Ale Works’ ambitious brew schedule, creativity, and innovation are apparent in their tasting room. With 20 of their 55 beer arsenal on tap for the Underdark release, it must have taken me 10 minutes to put a flight together. After studying the beer menu and conferring with my group as to who was getting what, I finally decided on a flight that I felt would showcase their diversity. Having already sampled the Underdark (and immediately purchased as many bottles as they would let me), I finally decided on the I-10 IPA, El Jefe Hefeweizen, Punk Monk Dubbel, Triad Tripel, Shotgun Shack Black Rye Ale, and Lowdown Porter. I tend to be a Belgian and dark beer kinda gal, but I was surprisingly impressed with every beer in my flight. The brewers at Intuition know what they are doing and they are doing it well!

As busy as the release was – the place was literally packed 15 minutes after opening – I was able to snag some time with Owner and Head Brewer Ben Davis to chat a bit about the community and industry as a whole. “This is our city and our community, that’s who we brew for. The challenge is seeing how this is all going to play out in the next 3-5 years, to see if this growth is going to be sustainable. But the future is very bright and encouraging. For us, it’s all about showing people how proud we are of our beers.” Well, I say mission accomplished!

Luckily, I don’t need to come up with an excuse to head back and tackle the rest of the beers on the board – and neither should you. Jacksonville’s 2^nd annual Craft Beer Week is April 1-6 and the Jacksonville Craft and Import Beer Festival is May 17, and I’ll be there for both. If you’re planning on attending either festival, Intuition Ale Works is a must and I hope to see you there. Cheers!