St. Sebastiaan Belgian Microbrewery

OUT OF BUSINESS! SURPRISE!!

Drove an hour to try this place out. Found overgrown grass, empty parking lot, and small sign on door stating that they are no longer in business.

Disappointing trip. Could not find any interesting beer nearby.

Looking in the window looks like standard microbrewery set-up and all the equipment, tables, fixtures, decorations and dishes were still in place and looked ready to roll. The website for this microbrewery is currently still up but the location is not actually in business.

This place has a few good things and a few bad things going for it. Let’s get the bad out of the way first: 1) The beer is served way too cold. All of my beers were in the 35-40 degree range. 2) Of the 4 beers on tap, one is a US macro light beer clone with almost no flavor or body. 3) The bartenders knew nothing about the beer. When asked what seasonal beer was the answer was "Summer". 4) The prices may be low, but the pours are small. My glass had a 13 oz mark on it and it was 1 inch above the foam line. Probably an 11 oz pour. 5) When you change beer types they "wash" your glass on this thing set into the bottom of the pour tray, rubbing the rim of your glass onto the brass right after the bartender had just wiped up with the same rag he was cleaning the bar with. yeesh. Now the good: 1) Correct glassware. 2) The sampler of 4 3 oz beers and a 12 oz whole beer is $5. 3) All of the beers seemed fresh and well brewed, if on the lower end of the strength range to be in style. 4) Plenty of room to spread out at the bar or in a booth. 5) I didn’t eat there but the food that others were eating sure looked tasty. Anywhere else I would have given this place a lower rating. But I give them a decent showing for having the stones to bring fresh brewed beer, any style, to this sun baked land of trailer parks and orange groves.

This place is amazing. A belgian style brewery and restaurant located in the middle of nowhere on the west coast of FLA. Normally four beers on... three regulars (a light, a blonde and a dark) and a specialty. While we were there they had a belgian strong on that kicked ass. My wife and I split the mussels from brussels as an appetizer and they brought back visions of Antwerp... Had a chopped steak smothered in mushrooms and my wife had the chicken reine. Both were very tasty. They also do samplers which was very nice! The place mats provide interesting facts about belgian brews and the country itself. Interesting reading to say the least! I can highly recc. this place!

I'd passed by this place in the middle of nowhere (Spring Hill) a few times with nobody in the group wanting to stop for a few. I should have let the others ride on without me as this place was impressive. Yesterday afternoon I hopped on the Harley and rode up from St Petersburg/Tampa on the new Suncoast Expressway to make the 50 mile+ trip a bit quicker. Nice drive on this toll road and it felt like in only a few minutes we were there. No more excuses from all of you in Tampa who say it's too far for a beer!

We arrived at about 4pm to find out that they had a 2-for-1 happy hour on the beer, and "early bird" specials on the menu, which were a real deal, about half the price of the normal dinner menu with the same GIANT portions. Sometimes it's nice to live in an area full of retirees who demand that every place cater to their early-bird habits!

Now about the beer! We started out with the Oatmeal Stout which was very good and similar to other Belgian offerings I've had over the years. Excellent head that clung nicely to the glass, and a slightly different flavor than most. Very drinkable and went well with the Belgian Stew. Next we had the Dark. Another excellent offering, and the best of the lot I, believe. The wife agreed. This was a good, if not great brown ale. Not one for the lighter beers, I almost neglected to try the Blonde. Wow, that would have been a mistake! What a great flavorful beer it was. Reminded me of a hefeweizen, a really good one at that! We didn't try the light "novice" offering due to the fact that we filled upon the others, but next time I will definitely give it a chance, or bring a light beer drinker with me to give it a fair chance <grin>

The atmosphere was great, and the cleanliness was impressive. Who knew this place, so far north to the north part of Tampa Bay was so good? I'm going to make this a definite stop for our motorcycle trips in that area! There is even a back road going along the coast that starts and the closest intersection that is very scenic!

Went back by myself while my wife had "girls" night at the Bon Jovi concert. Last time I was there for lunch and it was slightly pricey. Well this time I sat at the bar (which is damn nice) and they had appetizer specials going...hey cool that' nice. So I get an appetizer dinner consisting of 10 hot wings and this pastavegetable fried sauce conglomeration with this hot dipping sauce that was so good I damn near shouted about it.

I also got two large Oatmeal stouts since it was happy hour...when the bill came it was $10.45 and I had 7 wings for take out because the other app was so big it filled me up.

I thought the bartender got the bill wrong, but it was correct. What a bargain.

The Oatmeal stout was excellent by the way. I had to drive so I didn't sample any of the other beers (I'd had them all before) but I was quite happy. Was just a great little excursion.

Original visit early July of 2004

This place is only a short jump from me, but I just never bothered to go until recently. I am a frigging moron. St. Sebastiaan was the first stop and the clear cut champ of my recent five brewpub mini-vacation that took me from Spring Hill to Lousianna and back. The beer is exceptional.

There are only four beers on tap, but they are all very good and the 1731 Dark is Amazing.

The food is of a very high quality. I mean far beyond anything you will get from a like priced chain like say an Outback. I love Outback by the way it isn’t a diss to chains this place just has great food.

Another cool thing is St. Sebaastian is like a Belgian Beer Museum. I mean it is covered ceiling to floor with vintage Belgian beer bottles, brewing equipment, photos of the famlies history with beer making and many other amazing items.

I would say if you are in Tampa, St. Pete, New Port Richey, Tarpon Springs or anywhere else close it is 100% worth the trip.

This really is a top notch establishment and I am a variety whore so a place with only 4 beers has to be excellent for me to gush about it. St. Sebaastian is.

Second visit 12/18/05:

After a second visit (one year later), my review needs an update. Food score went up-- they added some Belgian items to the menu, and the overall quality of food has improved. Style-wise--the menu is more Dutch than French.

Once again, four beers were available at our visit. The light adjunct lager offering has been replaced with a light blond ale style-- an enjoyable, likable beer with a little less flavor, but much less alcohol. Still identifiable as a blond ale.

Just like a year ago, their seasonal offering was a tripple-style beer with slightly lower alcohol than a traditional tripple. Much better than last year--no fusel alcohol notes, more pronounced esters, and a little more hoppy.

Their 1731 Dark looks like a dubbel but offers pronounced roasted coffee and hop notes, and does not have the sweetness that one would associate with a dubbel.

In the past year, the Sterkens have been busy at work getting the menu and beer brewing to a higher level of quality, and their efforts really show.Certain Belgian styles are meant to be consumed fresh, and have completely different personalites when served fresh (versus stored in kegs or bottles for weeks or months). A visit to St. Sebastiaan will afford you a chance to discover the unique charms of Belgian styles when they are served fresh.

A suggestion if you want a tour of the brewery area--contact them ahead of time. They don't offer tours when the brewers are working.








Old Review:
Visited 12/20/04.

Quite a surprise to find a member of the Sterkens family running a brewpub specializing in Belgian beer about an hour north of Tampa. Restaurant is large and features a modern interior with a long bar, and about 75 tables in various areas. The bar also serves wine and spirits.

Three beers of the four beers offered at the time of our visit are regulars--an American adjunct lager, and a Witt, both tasty, refreshing and appropriate for the style; and a dark dubbel that offered complex roastyness over sweetness, and lively estery notes that one could only find in a fresh beer. The fourth beer, a seaonal tripel (at 9 % abv), featured peppery phenol notes as well as a hint of fusel alcohol.

The salads we ordered were generous and delicious, and served promptly. The menu featured standard burgers and chicken, but alas no mussels or smelly cheeses.

I can't believe this place exists up in the middle of nowhere off Rte 19. The belgian brews were very quaffable despite a lower abv than accustomed to for this style. There were 4 to choose from and the 2 I tried were enjoyable. The food however was very dissapointing. Pork tenderloin was extremely tough and the vegetables on the side were over cooked and under seasoned. Manager was kind enough to replace the pork but the replacement wasn't much better. If the food would improve they might have something here. The best part of the visit was observing what seemed to be some locals who looked to be average Bud drinkers getting hammered on the 7% brew.

The food reigns here though the few beers are quite good. Very nicely laid out establishment with extremely nice furnishings and fixtures. They've thought this place through. The floors are utilitarian concrete, but so nicely painted or stained as to appear as stone. Great dark wood tables and booths. The brewing equipment is nicely sandwiched between the interior and the exterior glass walls. Very inexpensive glassware to match the 4 beer styles they serve here.

The food is excellent with a combination of great taste, large portions and superior presentation. We heard several diners gasp at the sight of their dinners and ask for doggy bags when they were ready to leave. We opted for a lighter lunch of soup, bread and salad and were stuffed, and thrilled with the quality of our food. The beers are excellent, but I think they should stop brewing a light lager, as good as it was, and just offer an American light to anyone needing a fizzy yellow. Better that they brew another of the good Belgian styles.

This place is as much a nice restaraunt as it is a brewpub, but the beer is of high quality, and the menu offers many excellent choices. I opted for the Belgian stew, which was rich, meaty, and well spiced (and perfect for the cold evening!). The beer choices were a dark, a blonde, and a "novice light" (complete with corn adjuncts, to please the American lager crowd!). I opted for the dark, which was a tasty, Belgian-style brew (but without the high ABV). I followed that with the blonde, which was absolutely delicious! The bartenders were extremely nice, and I was given (without asking) a tour of the brewing process. Overall, a very nice experience. I wish it was closer to home. This puts Hops to shame, and the restaraunt is nice enough in it's own right. The beer was excellent, and incredibly fresh. If you happen to be up Tampa way, take a ride up and check this place out.