20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa
Craft breweries and exploration were the only things on our to-do list as we visited as many breweries as possible between Tallahassee and Tampa, Florida, in four days. We visited 20+ craft breweries in four days.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Lake Tribe Brewing
Our first stop was in Tallahassee at Lake Tribe Brewing Co.
The brewery founded by Jesse Ross, his father and his brother is named Lake Tribe in honor of their recreational camping group. The group includes several families who all share a love of recreation and craft beers.
Red Cloud IPA quickly became their flagship beer.
The trio creates beers that celebrate the outdoors, such as Cabin Camp and Float Down. We had the Long Paddle Lager, an American Lager (ABV 5.2%) made with caramel malts and American Noble Hop. The bartender said this beer paired well with fish or chicken and would be good over a campfire.
The beer was cold, and the temperatures were perfect for watching a game of cornhole on the back deck.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Oyster City Brewing Company – Tallahassee
Then it was on to Oyster City Brewing Company (OCBC) in downtown Tallahassee. This brewery started in Apalachicola, near St. George Island, one of our favorite vacation destinations. We planned to visit the original location in downtown Apalachicola on our way home.
In downtown Tallahassee, a band played to a packed house in the beer garden. We ordered an (ABV 6%) Red Right Return Amber and a (5% ABV) Tates Helles. It was a crushable German-style lager that we’d order again.
They were out of PSJ Peanut Butter Porter (ABV 8%), or we would have picked up a few cans. Same for the (7% ABV) Red Snapper IPA we’d heard about but discovered it’s only available during the 44 days of Red Snapper season.
After listening to a couple of music sets, we headed to Proof Brewing Company. Proof is Tallahassee’s first craft production brewery. The beer garden and taproom were packed.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Proof Brewing Company
We ordered a Tropical Lager (ABV 5%), a Munich-style beer made with pineapple, cherry, and mango, and a Berry Cobbler Evil Kiss (4.5%) Berliner Weisse.
Proof Brewpub’s menu of Southern shareable plates and sandwiches was the perfect way to recharge.
Proof’s second location, Proof at FSU, opened late last year on Florida State University’s campus, offering draft beer, signature cocktails, wine, and a lunch and dinner pub menu.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Ology Brewing Company
From Proof, we headed to Ology Brewing Co. [Powermill].
Ology was closing soon, but we ordered a Two Minutes in Heaven (ABV 6%) Gose-style ale with mango and passionfruit and sampled Sensory Overload (6.5%) hazy IPA Citra and a Stratocumulus (8%) hazy double IPA before heading out.
The Powermill location has a nice tree-covered deck and beer garden, but temperatures were in the low 30s, so we spent our time indoors.
Other Ology locations include Midtown, with a taproom, cocktails, and coffee and espresso; a Northside location, with a taproom and a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu; and another in Tampa.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Halpatter Brewing Company
After dinner in Tallahassee and a good night’s rest, we started the day in Lake City at Halpatter Brewing Company, where we had lunch. The beer was spot on.
We sampled the Halpatter Cinnamon roll brown ale, the Alligator Town Lager, an Apple Pie Gose, a Smooth Operator peanut butter Stout, and a Big Hal brown ale.
Halpatter is Lake City’s first craft brewery, and it’s in the old city hall building, restored with much of the character intact.
They have an upstairs and downstairs taproom, a beer garden with a small stage, a deck overlooking the beer garden, and rooms for lounging, Ping-Pong, and foosball.
The food menu also offers a variety of appetizers, sandwiches, soups, and salads.
After strolling around town and along the lake, we headed south toward our home for the rest of the week.
Brighter Days Brewing Company in Tarpon Springs introduced us to some interesting beer flavors.
We sampled a few beers, including So Fresh n’ So Clean (ABV 4.4%). This beer tastes like a vegetable garden with hot peppers in a glass. Livin’ Is Easy (5.3%) summer ale and a Midnight Marauders Imperial Stout were perfect beverages for relaxing and listening to live music with the locals.
Safety Harbor
Arte Zimmerman entertained on the deck under sunny skies. With a growler of Livin’ is Easy to enjoy later, Safety Harbor was our next destination.
How many breweries could we visit between Tallahassee and Tampa in a short period?
Safety Harbor is a quaint small town on the west side of Upper Tampa Bay and includes cottages, live oak trees dating more than 400 years, and numerous boutiques, restaurants, bars, and parks.
Our two-bedroom cottage had plenty of history and character. The cottage was formerly a laundry house in the early 19th Century.
With views of the Gazebo nearby and one of the Bay area’s best French restaurants, Parts of Paris, as a neighbor, we quickly fell in love with this house and location.
We walked downtown for dinner at Water Oak Seafood and Steak Bar and plotted the next day’s brewery visits while watching golf carts, motorcycles, and pedestrians moving through town.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Tampa Bay Brewing Company
We started the next day with lunch at Tampa Bay Brewing Company (TBBC), one of Florida’s oldest and largest independent craft breweries. The patio bar offered quick food and drink service.
Our order included Reef Donkey (5.5%) American pale ale, an Old Elephant Foot (7%) hoppy IPA, a Gourds Gone Wild (5.9%) pumpkin ale initially brewed as a collaboration with Southern Brewing, and a Key Lime Pie in the Face (8%) sour smoothie. The remainder of the beer flight included some sours and fruited Florida Weiss beers that we enjoyed.
Next time in Tampa, we’ll dine indoors and enjoy the AC.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Wild Rover Brewing Company
From TBBC, we made our way to Wild Rover Brewing Company. This British-American brewery includes traditional foods, decorations, and room for live entertainment, including musical acts.
We enjoyed learning about the brewery, its history, the 40 original beers on tap, and shopping the authentic British sundries available.
The menu is British-American with fish & chips, shepherd’s pie, Scotch Eggs, and burgers.
We ordered two flights of beer that included the Mild Rover (ABV 3.2%) IPA, Jailbreak (5%) Irish Dry Stout, Beverly (4.5%) pilsner, and Easy Living (4.2%).
The flights also included Locomotive Breath (4.2%) Red Irish Ale, Bell Boy (5%) English porter, Hop On for Nowhere (6.5%) IPA, and a Let it E.S.B. (5.2%).
Troubled Waters Brewing Company
We headed back to Safety Harbor and then took a leisurely walk down Main Street to Troubled Waters Brewing.
After the bartender explained Woodruff Syrup and how the green, herbaceous sweetener elevates traditional Weiss beers, we ordered two flights with and without the syrup.
Click for more information: Woodruff Syrup Info
We liked our beers with and without Woodruff and have recommended them to others who enjoy traditional German beers.
Our flights included, The Floor is Lava (6.6%) New England Hazy IPA, Hefe (5.1%), Fun Police (ABV 5.1%), a Mimosa Slushy, a Suns Out Buns Out (5%), a Mango Habanero SMaSH (5.2%), Cosmic Chaos (6.7%), and a Carters Peanut Porter (6%) – a nod to President Jimmy Carter who changed the laws allowing homebrewing.
A father and son started the brewery after getting their start as homebrewers. They eventually moved from Chicago to Florida, working at Cigar City before opening their brewery.
From the brewery, we headed back to our cozy cottage, where we settled in for a relaxing evening with card games. We picked up the best pizza we’ve ever had from The Nona Slice House.
We were progressing on our tour of Florida breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: HOB Brewing Company
Dunedin (Duh-nee-dn) is another quaint town nearby. We’d heard nine breweries were located downtown or nearby, which sounded like the perfect way to spend a day.
We started at HOB Brewing Company, where they have 24 taps of beer, wine, cocktails, and canned drinks.
HOB has a huge outdoor recreation patio with a service bar. The brewery started in 2019 and expanded in late 2020.
Located on one of Florida’s most popular urban pathways, the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail stretches 49 miles from St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs.
The brewery catches bikers and walkers from the trail and locals and visitors like us exploring the area.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Dunedin Brewery
Our next stop was Florida’s oldest microbrewery, Dunedin Brewery. The brewery’s website says it played a crucial part in creating Florida’s craft beer scene, including forming the Florida Brewers Guild and fighting the Florida bottle law to bring diversity to the marketplace.
Dunedin’s founders also worked to form Tampa Bay Beer Week.
Hand-crafted in small batches, 14 barrels at a time, it’s easy to find a good beer for every taste. We tried several ales and a brown ale coffee. The brewery has a large patio area and a decent size taproom where musical acts perform almost every night.
On our way to the next brewery, we spotted Iberian Import Co., where we shopped for cork items and sampled port wines from Portugal and Spain.
Downtown Dunedin
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Woodwright Brewing Company
Woodwright Brewing Co. is down the street. Fortunately, our reporters returned and enjoyed their beers on the balcony when a rainstorm hit, driving everyone from the patio indoors for more music on the balcony.
Musicians started playing bluegrass, and then the party started. Or, as our reporter said: “And then a hootenanny ensued!”
The beer is primarily German or European that are true to form and style. They offer 14 beers on tap, and the website says: “There are no extracts or craziness with the beer. We aren’t adding fruit, sawdust, or glitter to our beers.”
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Cueni Brewing Company
Cueni (Q-knee) Brewing Company was our next stop.
We were looking for coffee and pickle beer, and Cueni had both. This was our introduction to toppers of cinnamon sugar and Tajin.
We had a nitro cold brew coffee, and a flight of beers with and without the Tuesday toppers.
The flights included a Helles, an American peanut porter with and without cinnamon sugar, a There Goes My Gose Dill Pickle, a Mrs. Maisel’s Hazel Porter with cinnamon sugar, a Belgian 3 Way Tripel, a There Goes My Gose pickle with Tajin, a Devil Gose Down to Georgia, and lots of water.
It’s a small taproom with a sign listing what’s brewing and features some fun artwork.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: 7Venth Sun Brewing Company
Our next stop was 7venth Sun Brewing Company, where we ordered a five-flight tree with a Märzen Gardens, Control Freak pale ale with Citra Mosaic, a Black Robust summer porter, Seven Minutes in Helles, and a ManGrove Double IPA. We also tried the Graffiti Orange creamsicle wheat.
7Venth Sun has two taprooms, a small storefront with ten taps in Dunedin, and 28 beers on tap at the Tampa location.
The beers play off Florida’s sunshine and abundance of citrus for flavors. There’s a good selection of IPAs, Berliner Weiss and Florida Berliners, pale ales, stouts, porters, and saisons.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Soggy Bottom Brewing Company
Our final stop on this day was Soggy Bottom Brewing, Dunedin’s sixth brewery. Soggy Bottom has been at its current location since 2017. With a prohibition, post-depression theme, and an industrial feel, the brewery and its beers are popular with locals and visitors.
We ordered a pint of The Long Summer Walk, blackberry wheat, a flight of Outlaw Amber Ale, a Two-Face IPA, a Norfolk Brown Ale, and a Toasted Coconut Porter.
And we ordered two pizzas that the bartender said were cooked at a sizzling 600 degrees. Pizza and beers were delicious, and we took some back home for a late-night snack.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Big Storm Brewing Company
We started the next day with lunch and beers at Big Storm Brewing Company in Clearwater. Big Storm has taprooms in Clearwater, Odessa, Orlando, Cape Coral, and Ybor.
Big Storm Distillery sells premium spirits, which are available near the front entrance.
This large brewery, taproom, and restaurant have a huge outdoor space and plenty of seating at the bar or tables around the room. The brewery was founded in 2012, offering beer names such as Tropic Pressure Golden Ale and Key Lime Shandy.
The Tropic Pressure (ABV 4.4%) was an excellent way to start the day with fruity notes with a kiss of cinnamon. Tropic Pressure went perfectly with a burger and fries but could have been just as drinkable with a salad or fish.
Our flight included a Wavemaker Amber (5.4%), an easy-drinking ale with a caramel note, a Palm Bender India Pale Ale (7.3%), a Bay Beer (4%), an American light beer and a Sunny Key Lime (4.5%) wheat ale that was tart and citrusy like a Key Lime pie.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Grand Central Brewhouse
From Big Storm, we headed to downtown St. Petersburg and Grand Central Brewhouse (GCB), where we had a couple of Ya’ Got Any Sours (3.7%) peach/mango Berliner Weiss’, a Kolsch Me Ousside (5.5%) How Bout Dat Kolsch and a crowler of I Would Walk 500 Mild (5%) American Ale.
Downtown St. Pete
Grand Central features a large taproom, a beer garden, an upstairs terrace, and LALA, a Mediterranean-inspired pub with a rooftop terrace and garden that serves lunch and dinner next door.
Shiny copper serving tanks are suspended above the bar, allowing beer to be poured directly from the tanks.
If I Brewed the World Brewing
From Grand Central, we walked to If I Brewed the World, a small-batch brewery creating unusual flavors and good times.
If I Brewed the World considers itself a “Mix Tape” of breweries.
We started with a Beery Crunch, a wheat beer that tastes just like breakfast cereal, and Brunch, a breakfast wheat with coffee, maple syrup, sugar, and bacon flavor. We also had a Butterbeer brown ale.
This brewery has IPAs, ales, sours, and even handcrafted vanilla root beer.
With a small taproom, and a nice beer garden out back, we could spend a lot of time here enjoying all the quirky flavors of beer, but we had more breweries to visit.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Three Daughters Brewing Company
Our next stop was 3 Daughters Brewing. Opened in 2013 in St. Petersburg, 3 Daughters is one of the largest independent craft breweries in the State of Florida.
Three Daughters Brewing has another location in Clearwater with views overlooking Pier 60. It features a brewery, tasting room, food, and entertainment options like the original location.
On our visit, various activities were taking place at the St. Pete location. We watched a group learn about bonsai pruning, a market with vendors open for shopping, a corporate group holding a private function, and families and groups enjoying the outdoor patio.
We were happy to see Tropicana Field behind the brewery and thought this would be an excellent place for pre-and post-game celebrations.
3 Daughters creates beers, ciders, hard seltzers, and hard sodas. We had a Rod Bender Red Ale (ABV 5.6%), a Stern Line Oatmeal Stout (ABV 5.2%), A Wake Coffee Blonde (ABV 5%), an “El Hefe” Hefeweizen (4.6%), and a Mission to Märzen (5.1%), and a Floating Dock Light IPA (4.2%).
With 42 rotating beers on tap, we’ll need more time to find our favorites.
The tasting room in St. Pete had plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained. We played pinball and scrabble and explored the brewery and outdoor area.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Pinellas Ale Works
Pinellas Ale Works is nearby, so we stopped for a flight that included a Festbier (5.7%) year-round Oktoberfest, an Aberdeen (9%) Strong Scotch ale, and a Peanut Butter Pup (5%) stout.
While enjoying the beer, crowds hurried in to order beers and off toward the beer garden. It was trivia night in the beer garden, and the rush was to place an order at Made Fresh Taqueria food truck before grabbing a table.
This brewery has regular board game night on Tuesdays, trivia on Wednesdays, a Yappy Hour on Thursdays to help local animal rescues, and live music from Friday through Sunday.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Cage Brewing Company
After another full day of eating and beer tastings, we were tired, but Cage Brewing was in front of us, and we needed to know what was on tap.
With 18 taps of their own craft beers, we tried a Spocktoberfest (ABV 5.8%) Märzen, a Java Jill (7.3%) coffee porter, a PBS (7%) chocolate peanut butter porter, and a (5%) Winter Warmer porter in a flight, and a King Krush (9%) Double IPA.
Cage has two taprooms, old-school video games, pinball machines, foosball tables, and a large outdoor area with covered and open spaces.
Crooked Thumb Brewery
Our hosts completed a few more brewery visits to Woodwright Brewing, Crooked Thumb Brewery in Safety Harbor, and Southern Lights Brewing Company in Clearwater.
Gypsy Wind, a musical group playing Kentucky bluegrass and gypsy swing, performed in Crooked Thumb’s beer garden. Our reporters settled in to listen with a Vampires & Centaurs (ABV 6.5%) hazy IPA brewed with TBBC.
A Call Me Sexy (9%) red wine barrel-aged sour, and a Digital Vortex Dodecahedron (DVD) coffee stout (5.2%) that our coffee-loving reporter loved.
Crooked Thumb opened in 2015 with a 15-barrel brew system that offers 15-20 beers on tap.
Crooked Thumb will welcome other brewers to Safety Harbor in March for the first Berry Beer Fest. Brewers around the bay area will pour their berry beers and special blends.
Unlimited pours of beers will be available during the four-hour festival.
General admission tickets for Berry Beer Fest on March 10 are $40, and attendees must be 21+ to enter.
Participating breweries include Cueni, Gulfport Brewery, Motorworks Brewing, Leaven Brewing, Pye Road Meadworks, Barriehaus Beer Co., Marker 48 Brewing, 5 Branches Brewing, TBBC, Unrefined Brewing, Cigar City Brewing, Troubled Waters, Garagiste Meadery.
20+ Florida Craft Breweries from Tallahassee to Tampa: Southern Lights Brewing Company
Our group ended the day at Southern Lights Brewing Company. This brewery was founded in 2015 by a group of beer lovers specializing in small-batch ales and lagers.
Southern Lights appears to be a local hangout with a neighborhood vibe. A Scarlet Witch (5.7%) Irish Red Ale, and the Rare Darkness Stout (ABV 5.9%) with hints of roasted coffee were the beers of choice.
Deep Brewing Company
And on the way home, we stopped at Deep Brewing Co. in Tallahassee to sample some of its small-batch ales and lagers. The tasting room included the bar, large fridges for take-home beers in bottles and cans, and a view of the production space.
Diving artwork and artifacts connect the name of the brewery and the names of beers on tap; Spear Pressure, Reef Dweller, Narcosis, and Deck Hand, to name a few.
We ordered a Sea Dragon (ABV 4.2%) fruited sour made with passionfruit, sweet pears, and sea salt. “Lurking just beneath its hot-pink surface dwells the complex and bright tropical acidity of passionfruit, sweet pears, and sea salt.” This beer is available beginning in October each year.
The covered front deck was a good place to watch squirrels and fondly recall our busy week in Florida.
We met a lot of great people, drank a lot of beers, and visited some fun places. We, of course, only had time to see a small sampling of the many breweries in the state. But when it comes to craft brewing, the cities from Tallahassee to Tampa are packed with great places to visit.
We hope to see you all again or meet you the next time we explore craft brewing destinations in Florida.
Cheers!