Tampa Bay Brewing Co.

After discovering what beer is supposed to taste like, I was delighted to return to my hometown and discover that we had our own brewpub!

Atmosphere here is pretty run-of-the-mill. Patio with outdoor seating and a separate bar is certainly a nice touch for those sunny Florida days. Indoor bar has a fair amount of seating.

Quality of the beer is good but not noteworthy. I was impressed enough to make a few return visits.

Service tended to be prompt and friendly. I mentioned that I homebrewed and was quickly introduced to the brewmaster. From that point on, I was known by name and I appreciated that level of attention.

Variety of beer is another great plus. I recall a smoked brown beer being quite interesting. Good breadth of styles and they typically have something unique on tap.

Food as I recall was typical brewpub-type fare.

Reasonable prices.

 

A fine brewpub located in Ybor in Tampa Florida. Plenty to do within walking distance of this place, an enjoyable brick building thats fairly wide-open and can seat quite a few people - outdoor seating available as well. A significant selection of brews are offered from light to dark with some seasonals sprinkled in; quality of the beer seems fine, food is pretty stand brewpub fare but good quality. Overall not necessarily a place to go out of your way for but just fine for an enjoyable visit.

 

This place was great all around; ; the food, the vibe, the staff, and of course the beer. Visited it while traveling on business and had a very good time.

 

 

 

 

 

Right outside of my office. A good place to stop off at and enjoy a beer while either watching the trolley or the people outside. Great service; great food. Wicked delicious beer cheese dip. Good selection and variety of beers to choose from.

Out and about Ybor, lookin’ for lunch and drink post ‘Tail. This, mad local, in a festively done up joint on the strip, where I literally, just saw a chicken cross the street out front (presuming to get to the other side). Yes, a goddamn chicken, and everyone is unfazed by that. He had attitude, too, strutting his stuff. This cockerel takes no shit, you could just tell…

It’s like a theater plaza building or something and we are putting up in the out front penned space, sun on my face. The space with plants potted, tile & brick floorings, and a center fountain with 15 tables square and roundy, some on shared benchings, some umbrella’d, plus 5 barrel tables riddled about and to the rear. Squared awninged-up plank wood topped laminated shiny shiny bar, vertical dark slat wood base, & a red foot box. Seating 3 sides around for 20 or so on highback leather metal chairs. Mug club mugs a-dangle above and stemmed glassware, too.

12 tap stainless steel tower, only 7 beers up just now (Old Elephant Foot IPA, 7%; Reef Donkey APA, 5.5%; Iron Rat Imperial Stout, 10%; Red Eye Amber Ale, 6%; True Blonde Ale, 5%; Moosekiller Barleywine Syle Ale, 12%; Wild Warthog Hefeweizen, 5%) as the Jack The Quaffer Porter, 6%, had kicked kicked (boooooo). The sampler gets you 4 of ‘em, so… Iron Rat Imperial Stout, full, inky, roasty, bittersweet chocolate; Red Eye Amber Ale, a little not good, I can’t say why; True Blonde Ale, slight citrus-a-ness about it, easy drinking; Wild Warthog Hefeweizen, banana, check, clove, check, it’s a good Hefe.

There will be food. Oh yes, there will be food. I had something called a Bad A** BLT Sandwich and subbed up for the gumbo side, as I am champion. Bacon and gumbo, these are a few of my favorite things. Jed & D split the award winning cider wings & Cantonese Calamari (which was excellent and had peppery goodness heat), looking all green, yellow, & red confettilike. Food was gewd.

Went on walkabout to see what what inside. Lengthy ‘L’ Shaped copper top bar on the inside wall seating 20 on hightop chairs. 12 tap barbell towers on the ends, plus a tower of 4, another of 6, and something on the barback sunken, hmmmn. Growlers above tiered booze on the barback, and mug club mugs a-dangling. Flatscreens on both ends of the bar, and a blackboard in the corner listing tap selections. Exterior walls of windows seem to run through the plaza and to the rear, and then the inner walls of brick and painted places, too. Rough concrete floor and black paneled ceiling. Horsebrass and framed pics, tins, beer pieces, darts, a fireplace, ceramic mug lined pillars, and barrels dotting the room. 2 dozen booths & tables throughout sectioned, a small bar to the rear, and the brewing equipment in the corner, yep, there it is.

Guest taps (Victory Winter, someone’s Gose, etc.), and apparently, there are seasonals on that I didn’t know about because they didn’t offer that little morsel of knowledge up outside (no, I wouldn’t have thought I’d have to ask as being that you want to sell your beer, you should want to tell me these things). Guava Guts, 6%, McBrews Scotch Ale, 7.8%, & Full Moon Madness Subtropical Porter, 6%, were their names. I sampled, troo. Guava Guts was meh, and the Porter was banana and… (You mean, like a Dunkelweisse?) The guy behind the bar couldn’t speak to it, but apparently it’s to be a banananana & vanilla beer.

Will be back down in May for another round. Had a couple of nice beers (Iron Rat Imperial Stout, True Blonde Ale, & Wild Warthog Hefeweizen were the wins) and they lunched us up perfectly. Would like to get a bit further into the beer list, dig

 

 

 

 

 

Nice brewpub with good variety of beer on tap. A few to go cans in the cooler. Get the Reef Donkey if you like hops.
Cheers

 

 

 

Service was really good in this place, lots of locals hanging out. Quality is pretty good, nothing really stood out to me on the beer menu. Had a great IPA and that was about it! (Reef Donkey)

 

 

 

 

This place is the perfect brew pub. They have ok food, but the beer selection is great. They brew their own beer on site. They have everything ranging from IPA to dark stouts.

 

 

 

 

Go here about once a week. Staff is always very nice and most of the time attentive. Food selection is good with specials happening most days of the week. Gets busy on the weekend but has plenty of outdoor seating/outdoor bar also. If had one complaint it would be the lack of guest taps, there are a few both nothing special. This is only off putting because its really a resturant with a brewery inside it (unlike their new location), so it makes you want a little more variety of beer when you come here often. This though is a great place to have a good beer with great people and is a huge hit with out of town friends.

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent beer and great food on offer had the meatloaf which wAs great and the imperial stout Rat I think it was called.