Florida Craft Beer Options (please rate)

Funky Buddha - You've got Floridian and Hop Gun being bottled right now, no cans.
Due South - Cans, Cat 5 and Cat 3 are pretty solid and have been consistently better and don't think review have caught up.
Saint Somewhere - Bombers - Mostly Saison / Farmhouse

Are you leaving Cigar City out for any particular reason ? A few others locals are trickilng in that aren't mentioned on a weekly basis that sneak in through distribution. The Knightly Beer Purchaser is super knowledgable, if you give him an idea of what you're looking for he can likely set you up with a pretty killer line-up. How much are you looking to purchase and when, I'm sure a BA could go put a cart together.

 

Orange blossom isn't bad. OBP2 is very good beer. One of the first I had in Florida. Their new ipa back in the day ipa is a great drinkable ipa. Don't over look them or be too snobby.

 

Maybe you've already had CCB stuff and that's why you've left it off. Bringing home super-fresh Jai Alai is usually a nice souvenir for one's beer-drinking friends. Of the non-porter Brew Bus stuff, I prefer the Last Stop IPA. (St. Somewhere makes amazing beers but you are right: They make a style you have on your "not-interested-in" list.)

The one beer I don't see on your list and that you may be able to find in Orlando -- and one I'd certainly look for -- is Tampa Bay Brewing's Reef Donkey, an American pale ale. It is a phenomenal, hoppy-but-balanced ale and available in (99% sure here) 4-packs of 16-ounce cans. I'll defer to BAs from other parts of the state on what's coming from their areas.

 

The best ones IMHO are:
CCB Jai Alai, Tocobaga, Winter Warmer, Jose Marti
Due South Cat 5

And if you don't get Founders in Minnesota then get some Founders.
Seriously, get Founders...
Like...seriously... Breakfast Stout, Imperial Stout, Backwoods Bastard, Porter. Haven't had a lot of their IPAs though, I just stick with Jai Alai and Cat 5 for those.

Buddha doesn't have much to offer right now, IPA is ok but nothing to write home about. Jai Alai is better IMHO, but if you are looking for a lighter, more piney IPA hop gun gives you that. Jai Alai is a juicy citrus bomb.
Oh, and check the can date on the bottom of Jai Alai, it falls off very quickly, I don't buy it if it's over a month old.

If you can find Buddha Last Snow grab that, might still be some at little podunk liquor shops in Orlando, or closer to Kissimmee. There was a little shop that had a crapload of it by my house for a while.

Big Storm, I had Arcus IPA on tap and it's really good. Honey IPA, never had it canned though and flavors tend to change when a brewery starts canning/bottling.

Sours? You are SOL really looking for Florida brewed ones in bottles. If you can head up to tampa though Green Bench is probably still selling bottles of their sours, they are solid but not amazing. Rapp might still have bottles of their gose, maybe not though.

Bruery sours that come around are great, not local FL beer but we get it. Rueze is all over the place right now and it's delicious, and Tart of Darkness sits on shelves up north at Total Wine.

Mikkeller Invasion IPA is also sitting around, not FL brewed but a delicious brett IPA if you are into brett stuff. And anything from Anchorage with brett is awesome.

Saint Somewhere does make a sour called Lectio Divinia that is decent, not amazing but a solid sour, just don't expect it to be face meltingly sour. They also have a few other wild ales but they just weren't my cup of tea. FWIW they are fairly priced and local FL brews so could be worth a shot, plus the brewer is super nice.

The last time I had Holy Mack Panic Attack it tasted like black licorice. The head brewer also left, it's brewed outside of Florida as well and had some QC issues, I'd steer clear of them completely.

Brew Bus, everything I've had from them has been somewhat disappointing, I don't bother anymore.

The ones I didn't mention I haven't tried so can't really say much about them.

This goes without saying but I'll say it anyways, these are just my opinions and I've somewhat pigeonholed my drinking habits these days so take it all with a healthy dosing of salt. One of the joys of this hobby is trying new stuff so please don't let me stop you from trying beers you'd otherwise try. Everyone's tastes are different.

 

Swamp Head usually has a few bottles available and good growler prices. Everything from them I've tried has been 'pretty good' or better, and I'm very interested in their RIS. Nice little taproom.

 

If you are doing a tour in Tampa...CCB, Cycle, and 7vnth Sun are musts IMO.

Edit: and Rapp

 

Others to throw into the mix are 3Daughters out of St. Pete's, Jdubs in Sarasota, Intuition in Jacksonville, and 1st Magnitude. Ratings will give you a general idea, but honestly passing over a new-beer-experience simply because of them might mean missing out. All of us have had a beer we've enjoyed that the masses didn't. Bold City has a dynamite BB Brown ale, and Firestorm BIPA from Big Storm is damn good beer.

 

If you're getting anywhere close to Jacksonville...Green Room is my favorite. It's on Jax Beach and I basically lived there when I lived in Jax. My wife and I even had our engagement party there

 

if you make it to JAX...AArdwolf (Hop Pun), Engine15 (double Drop), Intuition(I-10).

 

Brew Bus Rollin Dirty Red is good for what it is, and meets your specs

CCB Tocobaga Red is seasonal/intermittent available in Orlando but worth calling around and asking about as stores get it in at various times throughout the year

You may also want to check the various local ABC liquor stores and Total Wine stores spread around the areas as their US Craft selection is nearly as good as Knightly if not better. I posted recently that the famous OBT Knightly was disappointing in what they had for US Craft on the shelves

 

Funky Buddha is my jam!! I was just there for pI day. The apple cobbler was incredibly good!

Their Big Axe small IPA is delicious. Last snow is awesome too.

They have a limited release of the more moro blood orange IPA right now.

Their staple beers (Hop Gun IPA and Floridian Hefe) are ok but nothing to write home to mom about.

 

First time poster and I, too, will be heading down to Florida this weekend for 10 days from Chicago. Unfortunately, my final destination is Ocala (kids to be w/grandparents) so I don't know if I will make it back down to CCB but I will surely be buying it wherever I see it. Any suggestions (beers, bars/brewpubs, etc) in case I don't make it farther south? My hope is to try several on tap, buy some and bring it home with me that I can't get here, and possibly trade some stuff from up here. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My preferences are IPA, IIPA, and stouts, barleywines, & porters (preferably barrel-aged). Thanks!