Starting south in St. Petersburg and working our way north to Tarpon Spring and Trinity, this guide links you to the best craft breweries in Pinellas County. To view an individual brewery for additional information and a link to their website simply CLICK on their name. As the weather warms cold beer and fun is something we seek, please enjoy checking out some, if not ALL, of the breweries listed here in our Easy Guide with Links to the Best Craft Breweries | Pinellas County.
As the craft beer industry continues to grow something wonderful is happening. Old buildings, often abandoned and long forgotten are repurposed, transformed by creative minds looking for just the right spot for their brewery. We hope you enjoy learning a little more about the history of the people, the buildings and the beers found at the BEST craft breweries in Pinellas!
St. Petersburg
3 Daughters Brewing
There are a couple of fun things to look for in this brewery. First, in the tasting room look for a brick built into one corner of the bar paying homage to owner Mike's great granddad who owned a brewery over a century ago in Lexington, Kentucky. Once you find the brick, look directly opposite to see hand-prints made by the 3 daughters who inspired their name. With over 60 recipes on tap you are sure to find something you love! 3 Daughters cans and distributes, check the menu at your favorite bar or restaurant in Florida, Georgia and the Bahamas for their fine brews. Stop by the tasting room and #DrinkLocal from one of 14 taps or call the number below to schedule a tour.
Arkane Aleworks
With their 'brew boots' firmly on Arkane had a soft opening on the second of July and will be open seven days a week come August 1st, 2016. Created by Joe Scheibelhut and Dan Graston, Arkane represents a passion for craft brewing. Joe and Dan met working at Rapp Brewing where Joe rose to be an award-winning head brewer. Dan, you might remember from the bar. Curious how they came up with the name, it fits! Arcane means 'understood by few, mysterious or secretive'. To Joe and Dan, for most people the actual art of brewing beer is mysterious. Great name, great beers! We can't wait to share the mystery with our friends, across the bar at Arkane! Who wants a beer?
Brewers Tasting Room
BTR is a unique concept, in short, they help local brewers. They assist the brewing community with creation and delivery of craft beer to consumers. At BTR you find a relaxed atmosphere, delicious bar food and craft beers from a variety of local breweries. If you want one place where you can try several 'wares' before visiting the individual breweries and try fantastic new creations from local brewers not yet in a brewery, this is the place to go!
Cage Brewery
This new brewery located in St. Pete's Grand Central District began life at R-Bar in Treasure Island. They've moved off the beach bringing 17 taps of their own craft beers with them. The new facility offers microbrew-loving beer fans two Tap Rooms in an old-school way. Relax with a cold one and enjoy vintage pinball machines and video games or play a game of Foosball or Corn Hole. Feel free to bring your fur-baby friends too! This is a pet-friendly brewery!
Cycle Brewing
Hit the ATM before heading to Cycle Brewing, they are a CASH BAR only located at 535 Central Avenue in Downtown. Most pints are $5, they run specials on Tuesdays. Sit in the bar or on the sidewalk where you can also fill Growlers or 'Crowlers' a 32-ounce can-to-go for $8.00. 64 oz glass growler fills are $15 and gallon fills are $25 at Cycle.
Photo courtesy of Cycle Brewing Facebook
Flying Boat Brewing Company
Flying Boat Brewing Co. is named for an aircraft flown during the world's first ticketed flight across Tampa Bay.You may be familiar with the story of the flight but did you know that the Benoist Flying Boat also took part in the first ever airborne beer transport! The Benoist Type XII "Cross Country Plane" was responsible for the first ever beer delivery of beer by airplane when a case of Falstaff Beer was safely delivered to the mayor of New Orleans. Owners Glenn Zakany, Tanner Zakany (Glenn's son), Josh Perian (Glenn's son-in-law), and owner/brewer Tyler Singletary, currently attending the Annual Craft Brewers Convention in Philly, are opening an 11,000 square foot brewery near Woodlawn Park in St. Pete. Once a film studio the building will be air-conditioned (a plus), and as a neighborhood brewery, a sweet place to walk for neighbors! As of Feb 2017 their bike shelter arrived, landscaping is going in, and the beginnings of our ADA ramp. They've been busy, the taproom will soon be here! In the meantime find them at festivals and events by following them on Facebook!
1776 11th Ave N, St Petersburg FL
Green Bench Brewing Company
Specializing in expertly crafted IPAs, Stouts, and Scottish ales. This microbrewery harkens back to the early 1900's when St. Petersburg was known as the “City of Green Benches”. At one time in the cities history, more than 2,500 green benches lined the streets of St. Pete inviting residents to relax and enjoy life for a while. Serving well as a symbol to sit a spell Green Bench is the perfect name for this wonderful St. Petersburg brewery and tasting room. Stop in to experience the city's first production microbrewery at their on-site tasting room and beer garden. Enjoy life for a while!
Mastry's Brewing Co
The first Brewery on St.Pete Beach, Mastry's is about a week away from opening (expected date 8/23) Repurposing an old gas station and tire shop we can't wait to taste the beer and enjoy the scenery! Brewmaster/ owner Matthew Dahm and assistant brewer Micheil McElvey are making what they like and what they know their followers want. Focusing on their tasting room first, they want to serve the community for awhile before tapping into broader distribution lines. We are anxious to see inside, only getting sneak peeks now and then it look like Mastry's will have a defined beachy vibe. Look for us at the bar at the newest Craft beer brewery to come on board!
Pinellas Ale Works
What happens when craft beer guys unite? Pinellas Ale Works! The result of two guys meeting at the Dunedin Brewers Guild, mutual admiration as homebrew winners of both state and national competitions, and friendship. Finding themselves at the top of the homebrewing industry nationwide it was only natural for owners Matthew and Dennis to take their passion one step further by opening a brewery! Pinellas Ale Works (PAW), a former auto body shop, opened this past January as a 15 barrel Microbrewery, dog-friendly tasting room and beer garden. Their 'Official' opening party is May 20th, don't miss it! Woof, to these exceptional beers!
St Petersburg Brewing Company
You will not find a more creative bunch of people than the ones at St. Petersburg Brewing Company. Housed in what used to be an old skateboard shop and garage we were not surprised to find they paired their brews with everyone's favorite, Girl Scout cookies! Our favorite is their signature St. Pete Orange Wheat. If like us you went when they first opened, much has changed. There is a food menu now, and yes, pretzels their amazing pretzels are still available along with new mouthwatering treats like a pint of....wait for it......BACON! Stop by to say Hi, sit inside or out, it's always fun at SPBC!
Madeira Beach
Mad Beach Craft Brewing Company
Mad Beach Craft Brewing Company is the best place to enjoy a great craft beer right on the beach. This brewery with location has a massive 6,000 square foot tap room where you can enjoy great brews, awesome food, live music and games while catching a game on the big screen. Brewpub Chef Tyson Williams works closely with brewers Matthew Powers and Alex Garcia to offer an inspired menu that pairs well with their expansive Caribbean and Southern-style menu. Chef will put his menu up against all others, stop in to taste creativity.
Seminole
Rapp Brewing Company
Rated was voted Florida's best new brewer in 2013 by Ratebeer.com, Rapp Brewing brews artisanal ales and lagers in small batches using only the best ingredients. Independently-owned and operated by brewmaster Greg Rapp, Greg combines traditional brewing styles with his old-school knowledge. Rapp crafts over 20 beers at the brewery and offers flights of 4, 6 or 9 beers for sampling. Located in a warehouse, Rapp produces multiple 1.5 barrel batches daily supplying the tasting room he refers to as 'nano' in size. The tasting room may be small in comparison to others at 650 square feet but Greg's ales and lagers are mighty! Born to do this, Greg's great-grandfather Rudolph Rapp owned and operated a brewery in Mohrungen, Germany near the turn of the century. A few of his great-grandfather's beers are recreated at the brewery, Rapp is unique among Pinellas breweries.
Clearwater
Big Storm Brewing Company
Visit any one of Big Storm Brewing Company's four Florida taprooms to indulge in a distinctive beer experience. From Orlando to Ybor, Odessa to Clearwater, you are welcome to join where the magic happens and savor a freshly poured serving of one of their specialty brews. Take a sip of your preferred Big Storm beer, nosh, kick back, and unwind.
Big Storm wants to provide you with the authentic Florida experience, wherever you may be. They strive to provide a varied selection of drinks for beer enthusiasts. Big Storm can offer you favorites from Florida like Tropic Pressure Golden Ale and Bromosa Tangerine IPA because of their commitment to quality, flavor, and innovation. They create experiences rather than just beer and you can see that they're passionate about what they do with every drink.
12707 49th Street N, Clearwater (727) 201-4186
Grindhaus Brew Lab
Grindhaus Brew Lab is a small neighborhood brewery focusing on high-quality beers and cult movies! Housed inside HiFi Homebrew and BBQ Supply Robb & Lisa's dream to open a taproom is met! We visited Robb last week to pick up supplies for a Honey Pale Ale and got a peek at the Tasting Room. The bar is fabulous, and their space is nice. They got through the paperwork,did their own interiors while brewing and pouring at local beer festivals like Wazoo. The hard work is done, time to drink beer! Recently rating a 3.93 from Untapped. Every Saturday you can pop into one of their Brew & View events, receive a guided tour of the brewhouse and taproom, talk about the brewing process and catch a flick on the big screen!
Pair 'O Dice Brewing
A Brewery and Tasting Room focusing on Hoppy West Coast style ales with no frills, Pair O' Dice offers the freshest, highest quality craft beers. That’s how they roll at this, the first production microbrewery in Clearwater. Opened three years ago by two former Anheuser-Busch employees, the husband and wife team of Ken and Julia Rosenthal rolled the dice, took a chance and are living their dream. Perfecting their scratch beer recipes for 8 years you can taste the quality and attention to detail with every sip of their fresh, local, hoppy, aromatic craft beers. Taste 'Paradise' at Pair o' Dice today. And check them out at the The Vinoy Renaissance - St. Petersburg where the Executive Chef' is featuring their beers in the Vinoy's Fantastic Sunday Beer Brunch creating foods and craft cocktails with Pair O' Dice beers and dishes that pair perfectly with their suds.
Sea Dog Brewing Co
A brewpub in the heart of Clearwater, Sea Dog Brewing Co. offers delicious beer brewed on site with tasty pub food Sea Dog implements a traditional English style using quality English two-row malted barley and British top-fermenting Ringwood yeast. Experience Sea Dog, Shipyard, and Bobby Brewer exclusives from their 15 taps. Brewer Bobby Baker, a Safety Harbor native received his bachelor’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He began training with Sea Dog in Bangor, Maine in 2012 where he learned the old English style he uses today. Sea Dog’s brewing system is a Peter-Austin system, a first generation microbrewing system developed in England in the 70's. Upon learning the trade Bobby's creative side took over and he began crafting new beers for Sea Dog. Lucky for us!! Stop by and bring your pup, dogs are always welcome!
Safety Harbor
Crooked Thumb Brewery
Reclaiming an old auto repair garage in quaint Safety Harbor Florida, Travis Kruger, Jason Toft, Kenjiro Tomita and Kip Kelly. at Crooked Thumb are always experimenting with new styles & recipes, releasing small batches, limited editions and, pilot beers designed to delight the senses. Their newest, a Hoppy Saison is brewed with Dr. Rudi and Tettnang hops, we can't wait to try it, described as earthy, spicy and fresh with a citrus finish, it sounds perfect! Be sure to ask about their unique hand-thrown and glazed one-of-a-kind ceramic growlers. These boys truly take the art of craft beer to a wonderful new level. Plan a visit to old Florida, explore Phillipe Park and check out the brewery. Promise, it will be a fun day!
Dunedin
7venth Sun Brewing
7venth Sun brews in Dunedin and in Seminole Heights, zipcodeTampa where you find Belgian-style beer, IPAs, second use spirit barrel aged beers, oak aged sour beers and more. The brains behind this fun brewery are Devon Kreps and Justin Stange. Fulfilling a dream they opened their doors January 7, 2012. Devon earned a degree in Fermentation Science at Oregon State moving on to brew at Anheuser-Busch. Devon then moved to SweetWater Brewing in Atlanta where Justin was a shift brewer. 7venth Sun, located in a small storefront location in what remains a single zip code town, makes the most of a four and a half barrel system with patience and ingenuity! Their motto: Quality and consistency are the cake – creativity and innovation are the frosting!. Look for them at festivals and stop by either location for a real treat! Go ahead, have your cake and eat it too!
Caledonia Brewing
Caledonia Brewing announced in Feb 2017 that walls are going up ASAP, interiors are coming together, and they have their T's printed! They look great! Housed in the old Dunedin Times/Printing Building (1925) in the shadows of Mease Hospital we are excited to see the finished taproom. In the oldest city on the West Coast south of Cedar Key Caledonia Brewery has a strong Scottish heritage and are proud of their roots. It's been 40 years since they were in this building, the word is they are restoring much of the interior, personally, we can't wait to see and taste Caledonia Brewing's craftiness!
Dunedin Brewery
Established in 1996, Dunedin Brewery is Florida's oldest craft brewery. At the forefront of a what is a swiftly growing, vibrant community of local microbreweries and brewpubs much SHOULD be said about the way Dunedin Brewery assists microbreweries as they stretch to achieve their dreams. Words we think of when it comes to this wonderful brewery are 'integrity', 'class' and 'amazing.' Dunedin Brewery is dedicated to bringing you the best craft beer and towards helping not only the community they live, work and play in but the community of homebrewers and microbrewers in Tampa Bay.
Dunedin House of Beer
Featured in Draft magazines Top 100 Best Beer Bars in the United States Dunedin House of Beer offers an extensive beer menu with over 40 selections changing daily. Check their website and Facebook pages often as they consistently promote local breweries giving fans a chance to meet the brewer and learn. Our favorite HOB beer? Doctor's Orders! A 3.9% Saison, you should definitely have one of these a day!
Woodwright Brewing Company
Enjoy the weekend sipping Woodwright's 10 fresh brewed beers in the tap room or out on the deck down in the heart of Dunedin. Open Thursdays and Fridays 5:00 pm - 12:00 am and Saturday from 1:00 - 12:00 a,m. be sure to make them part of your tour of Dunedin!
Palm Harbor
de Bine
de Bine Brewing Company is a new microbrewery and taproom located in the downtown Palm Harbor district on the outskirts of Ozona. A friendly place known to open even when they are closed if you happen to wander by at the wrong time! As they continue to work on the 'frills' (they just added the shuffleboard table) they continue to brew some of the finest craft beers on the Gulf Coast at de Bine. A scenic trip up Alternate 19 from the Dunedin Breweries, be sure to try de Bine's Vanilla Bean Porter, pure heaven in a glass!
Lagerhaus Brewery & Grill
Lagerhaus brewery is a local favorite for great craft beer and a burger. May 17th celebrates the 7th year of brewery operations at Lagerhaus. The Helm family behind Lagerhaus has been involved with winemaking since the 1400's and has a brewing history dating back to 1620 with Balthazar Helm von Worlow, a resident of the castle Burg Altischein in Maehren (Moravia now the Czech Republic). Balthazar started a brewery in Tabor, Bohemia in a gothic-style building still standing today. Erna Helm, born in 1936, is the mother of Franz Rothschadl, Jr., his father, Franz Rothschadl, Sr. was born in 1901 and was also in the wine business. Mr. Franz Rothschadl creates for Lagerhaus today. During his brewing career, Franz has won more than 30 awards including 11 Gold Medals over the last 4 years as well as the Gold Medal at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in 1999 for his Royal Bohemian Pilsner, beating long-time category winner Sam Adams Boston Lager! Lagerhaus is one of the most successful Pub Breweries in America according to Newsweek magazine. Follow the links to their webpage to see what's Franz has on tap today.
Stilt House Brewery
Located along the Pinellas Trail you can bike, jolly trolley or drive to Stilt House to sample their fresh craft beers with a focus on full-flavored, high-ABV ales. Enjoy Beer pong or Cornhole out back, Enjoy American Amber, Milk Stout or a crisp refreshing Citrus Wheat Ale and more at Stilt House Brewery. Nothing fancy, just great beer and good times at Stilt House!
Two Lions Winery & Palm Harbor Brewery
Opened in 2009 to make wine Rose played around for a while with unconventional ingredients before frustrated she turned to muscadine grapes. Before long she was winning awards leading to Two Lions Winery. When Rose became curious about brewing beer she created a recipe and went to work. She would d be the first to tell you, it wasn't good. Persevering Rose altered her recipe creating her first Double IPA. Sharing samples she was encouraged to begin brewing, eventually adding Palm Harbor Brewery to her list of accomplishments. Stop in to meet this talented and determined woman in beautiful Palm Harbor, FL. We love the Bodega Porter, the 7.9% Doppelbock, and the laid back atmosphere. A trip to Two Lions is like visiting someone's home. You gotta go!
Tarpon Springs
Saint Somewhere Brewing Company
Located in Tarpon Springs, Saint Somewhere Brewing Company has relacted. A distinctive brewer of traditional Belgian style ales St. Somewhere is an exceptional small-batch brewery, using only the finest ingredients available. Moving to downtown Tarpon Springs, they have grown to love the area and fall in love with this microbrewery! The brewing process is simple and authentic, they do it the way it was done 100s of years ago.
Silverking Brewing Company
Enjoy live music, flatscreen TV's, and a great atmosphere at Silverking! Located in the original 1909 Tarpon Springs Jail & Fire House on East Lemon Silverking was built by avid fishermen, people who love the outdoors! Open Wednesdays through Sunday (They still have to fish, right!) you get the feeling you've stepped into a really great lodge at Silverking. Silverking Strike is their flagship beer, found in restaurants and bars across the bay this golden pale ale is refreshing and perfect to take with you for a day on the water. (Grab a growler!) . Be sure to try their smoky Anclote Tailing Red and the Marshall Jones IPA named after Ruben, he played Marshall to these parts in the early 1900s!
Trinity
Escape Brewing Company
A nano-brewery located in Trinity, FL, Escape Brewing Company, founded by brother-in-laws John McGregor and Matt Thompson, handcrafts ales you can't help but fall in love with! Recently releasing their 100th Batch, a Triple IPA brewed with their team's favorite hops: Mosaic, Citra, Azacca, and Belma. it clocked in at a whopping 10.5% APV with the flavors and aroma of tropical fruit, citrus, and melon balanced out with a touch of pine. The brewers behind Escape are young, talented, ingenious and infinitely creative. A must stop on any serious beer tour, they make it worth the drive! Escape to Trinity and rejuvenate!
Ever-evolving as home brewers with a dream scout locations across Tampa Bay to house their creative spirits we will keep this Easy Guide with Links to the Best Craft Breweries | Pinellas up to date for you adding new breweries and updating you on those 'soonish' to be open. Please leave comments below letting us know what you think when you create a profile you can CONNECT to your favorite breweries, rating them and leaving comments for others to follow. Bookmark this article and keep in touch as we work on a Guide for Tampa Breweries too. We will link it for you here when it's completed, 'soonish".
All Photos: Photo courtesy of the Brewery Facebook Page
