Booked trip for ten days in Venice in early May. We have plans to take a trip to CCB at least one day. What other breweries are worth checking out? Top bottle shops within a reasonable distance?? Any special releases around this time? Also, how would I go about shipping beers back to Ohio? Is it best to just ship them to my house or can I take them on a flight...I've never been on a commercial airline, only small engine planes. Maybe even some IP trades.... Much help and advice would be greatly appreciated fellow BA's!
From one Ohioan to another, you have the major Florida breweries (CCB, 7eventh Sun, Funky Buddha, and Cycle--Formerly Peg's--but theres more. Florida Beer Co, Tampa Bay Beer Co. makes solid stuff, Due South makes some pretty solid stuff (I hear great things about Caramel Cream Ale), Swamp Head, Green Room, and I hear great things about Tequesta Brewing. You have to check bags of alcohol on a place, so keep that in mind. And the baggage people dont care about your beer. Pack that stuff safer than you think you should. You could always just grab a box and ship it back to yourself via fed ex or UPS. Other stuff to look for: Saint Somewhere makes great stuff (Saison Athene and Serge were pretty solid), Highland makes good stuff, as does Terrapin and Sweetwater which all distribute to FL. Cheers.
you'll go through st. pete on your way to CCB from venice, so you may as well hit up green bench and rapp while you're at it.
