There was a time, not that long ago, that the city of West Palm Beach wasn’t necessarily jazzed about the idea of a brewery in its pristine downtown locale.
These days are a little bit different now, and some months ago Palm Beach opened its first brewery, West Palm Brewery & Wine Vault, located at 332 Evernia Street. It’s a stone’s throw from the new BrightLine station, and just steps away from the city’s lively Clematis Street.
From a resident’s perspective, Tarpon Springs, Florida is pretty much like every other place in the state.
From a tourism perspective, Tarpon Springs is that Greek city on the Gulf Coast, and really doesn’t exist past Dodecanese Street.
Starting this Saturday, thousands of craft beer enthusiasts will be back on the Tampa Bay Ale Trail (TBAT), as the second season of the popular passport program kicks off.
I have to start off by saying that the new Tidal Brewing Company in Spring Hill has the greatest on-stage brewing system ever.
So it’s a little odd to say this, but Hernando County is starting to get some teeth in the craft brewing explosion. If you’ve never heard of Hernando County, I am not surprised. It’s north of Pasco County, which sits north of Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties, putting it about an hour away from Tampa and St Pete.
It’s always nice to meet the person behind the beer that you’re drinking.
Not that the beer isn’t good, but you get that additional enjoyment out of knowing the background and purpose behind the beers that you’re enjoying.
And so it was on a recent trip to St Petersburg I sat down with Dennis Decker, co-owner and brew master at Pinellas Ale Works. As is a common story in modern craft beer, Dennis had been brewing for several years at home, honing his talents on traditional German styles that he (and I) are fond of.
Ah, yes. The cider game is strong at 3 Daughters Brewing.
What started as an interesting side project has grown into a rather substantial part of the 3 Daughters identity. And that’s for good reason, since these ciders are incredibly flavorful, incredibly inventive, and push the boundaries of what I thought ciders could do.
As much as I love the giant video wall at 81 Bay Brewing in Tampa, and their huge video game system which needs to be seen to be believed, and their art gallery, and their amazing beers, I now have a new favorite reason to go there.
Namely their brewery cat Mittens.
(This post is one for our Christmas in June series, which is a bunch of blog posts that I had partially written for beers that appeared over the 2017 holiday season, but never managed to publish on time. Enjoy this as insight for some of the beers that you can try at these fantastic breweries, and place the blame for its untimeliness squarely on my shoulders.)
Somehow it’s a bit better for me going to Riptide Brewing in Naples after having been to the nearby Naples Zoo. For me, at least, the brewery is indelibly linked to the zoo and its most famous resident, Uno the one-eyed Florida Panther.
