Knightly Spirits in Orlando, Florida

This is Part three of a three part series

As I’ve pointed out, finding good beer in Orlando is not a hard prospect. Within a short drive of the theme parks and general touristry of the area, there are many places that serve a great pint of beer. When your vacation is over, however, and your kids have enough Mickey paraphernalia to fill a small cargo van, where can you go to get a bottle or two of craft beer that you simply can’t find at home?

While many local bars offer bottle sales (most notably of which is Redlight Redlight), this can get expensive as you’re paying for the convenience of getting the beer cold and already at the bar. There are several local venues; however that have a great selection of beer at fair prices.

Total Wine and More (2712 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32803) is a mostly south eastern chain that focuses mostly on wine (who would have thought?). However, Total Wine has a very respectable beer selection and their single bottle sales are very reasonably priced. The Orlando location is located very close to the aforementioned Redlight Redlight. For what could be considered a big box liquor store, Total Wine’s beer selection comprises about 6 aisle facings, not including the small cooler section in the back corner of the store. Single bottles range from around $1.00 to $18.00 depending on size and case price. While bomber selection at Total Wine is a bit lackluster, you can always create a very nice mixed six pack of local or harder to find ales and lagers.

Far off of the beaten track for many, one of the best if not the best bottle shop in Orlando is Big C Liquors (7600 University Blvd Winter Park, FL 32792). Located near the University of Central Florida, this non-descript store in a Win-Dixie shopping center is denoted by nothing other than a sign reading “Liquor.” Walking up to the store there is a banner touting “Over 450 beers,” and while I’ve never really taken the time to count them all the selection here is absolutely amazing. The small store is split down the middle with half devoted specifically to beer. Ten cooler doors line one wall and house a number of craft and non-craft beer (non-craft is located near the back, this is a college area store), while directly across lies a matching length of warm bottles. Imports from Belgium, Germany, Austria, Britain, and France are near the top of the shelving, while American Craft Beers line the bottom. Big C is often one of the first stores in the area to receive new beer, so their selection of harder to find ales and lagers is pretty impressive.

Closer to the tourist areas of town lies Knightly Spirits (2603 South Hiawassee Road, Orlando, FL 32825). Located about ten minutes from Universal Studios, Knightly Spirits sits in a very small strip mall that is exceptionally easy to miss if you are not paying attention. That being said, walking inside there are a number of low-lying shelving units for wine and liquor, near the back of the store is the beer section with a good number of single bottles and six packs. Knightly Spirits easily has the best selection of imports in the area. Anything that can be imported into Florida is available here. If you are looking for imports Knightly Spirits is easily the number one place to visit. The cramped setting is a bit awkward to navigate, but it’s well worth it if you are trying to find some hard to find Belgian or even Italian beers. Also, unlike Big C, Knightly Spirits will usually let you break up a six pack if there is a beer that you really want that is not on one of their racks.

Visiting Orlando doesn’t have to be all tourist traps and theme parks. If you are looking for a good selection of craft beer, Orlando has one of the best in the state of Florida and we take a lot of pride in this.

So next time you’re in the Orlando area, visit the parks, grab a pint and take home a few beers to make your friends back home jealous.