Headed to Jacksonville, FL

I spend a lot of time there for work. Easy to use Uber and much better than Gator Cab....

If you are downtown, I would suggest Aardwolf Brewing. If you want to do a shortish Uber ride, I really like Wicked Barley. Tons of other options near the beaches.

 

Near downtown, yes, go to Aardwolf first and foremost. I consider it the best brewery in Florida by a long shot. Intuition near the Jaguars' stadium does good work. Main and Six about a mile north of downtown is very impressive, and there's another decent brewery right next to it called Hyperion.

As for non-beer activities, obviously the beach is an option. There are some really nice beachside parks, but that's more of a daytime kind of activity. There should still be people on the beach if you go to the more built up sections in Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, or Atlantic Beach. All of those are cool suburbs / beach towns with restaurants and bars even if you don't want to hang out by the water, and there are some good breweries over there (Green Room, Southern Swells, and Atlantic Beach Brewing Company, among others). The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp minor league baseball team has a nice stadium downtown next to Intuition, and that can be a lot of fun if your free evening happens to coincide with a home game. San Marco (where Aardwolf is) is a pleasant and happening neighborhood. Riverside is another hip neighborhood near downtown.

 

If you're Uber dependent it may be farther than you want to go but, Southern Swells is making some great NEIPAs.

 

Aardwolf is good and they do a variety of styles, but calling them the best brewery in Florida is getting a little ahead of ourselves. Maybe the best brewery in North Florida.

 

Skimmed the thread.....I'll add ale wife beer shop if it's not been said. Can hit that and aardwolf in same go. Not too far apart

 

To each his own, but I think Aardwolf isn't held in as high of regard as some of its peers mainly because it's in a less craft-beer-centric and less frequently visited market than Tampa or Miami, it has limited distribution, and it places a lower emphasis on trendy styles than the places that get more buzz. Very few Florida breweries hold a candle to it for slow sours or can match its versatility across a wide range of styles. If NEIPAs, pastry stouts, and Florida weisses are all you care about (which seems to be the case for a lot of Floridians on this board) then, sure, it doesn't necessarily top the heap, even as it's quite competitive in those spaces.

 

Sorry, but Southern Swells is the top stop here. I like Aardwolf, and would probably put them second, but Southern Swells are doing some of the best IPAs in the country right now, on par with Trillium and the like.

 

Yeah have to agree here. Aardwolf is good...I particularly enjoy their stouts. But claim of the best is not something I would make

 

Jax resident here, i pretty much agree with all of the above. Aardwolf is a 'Cut above' brewery, I'd say it is a must visit if you are downtown / San Marco. My favorite new brewery is Main and Six, there beers are just flat out solid, great atmosphere, good people. Absolutely agree that Southern Swells is the bomb! Totally killing the NEIPA game. Wicked Barley is steadily improving their beers, have really good food, and have a cool environment, right on Goodby's Creek. If you make it to the beach, Green Room is a favorite as well. When are you going to be here? Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any other questions.

 

I'm from Jax and I stop at Southern Swells on every trip I make home, but I'm a big fan of IPAs. If you are looking for more variety go to Aardwolf. Those are the best two spots in my opinion.

 

Don’t forget Beer30 San Marco is just a few blocks from Aardwolf. Great bottle shop with usually solid beers on draft and crowlers to go

 

Been to Aardwolf but my fav is in Jax beach - Engine 15. A good variety of their own bier and guest taps. My preferred place. Decent bar food too.

 

Engine 15 is a really solid brewery for us here in Jax, The J'ville is a really tasty craft lager, i really like it. Their other location may reopen prior to your visit, it is in a warehouse district and contains the production brewery, only Engine 15 beers on tap though, not the guest taps at the beach. I like their other beers as well, and as mentioned, the bar food is good (Pigs in a Blanket are a favorite).

 

Yeah Southern Swells and Aardwolf for sure. And yes to Alewife. Kelly is awesome peoples!

 

I'm neither a Jax resident nor a BBQ aficionado, but I think the food here is pretty good and they have a solid draft list. And since you're traveling on business, the prices are fair and won't hurt your meal per diem