We're headed to Florida the first week of August and it looks like a visit to Peg's is in the cards. I'm pretty stoked. Does anyone know how many beers they normally have on tap, and if you can purchase growlers and/or bottles? I don't see a lot of reviews for any of their beers and I'm wondering if that is just because they're not distributed outside of the brewpub. I would love to take some home with me. We're also planning to hit up Cigar City, anywhere else in the Tampa area that we shouldn't miss?
If you have time to go over to Dunedin, definitely check out Seventh Sun. They're a tiny little brewery, but make some pretty awesome stuff. The Dunedin Brewery is really close to them too if you want to check that out too. But I'd highly recommend Seventh Sun.
In re: Peg's - you got it, you drink their beer at the brewpub or nowhere. The beers they have on tap (usually three or four) tend to rotate with whatever Doug has finished at a given time...it seems to be a crapshoot what they have on when you're there. I don't *think* they fill growlers, but I'm not certain. They do generally have a good bottle selection from other breweries though, and the food is excellent. As for recommendations other than CCB...in addition to the above (7nth Sun does make some great stuff)... If you're up near Tarpon Springs, St. Somewhere has some very nice saisons. If you were coming later in the year, I would suggest Rapp Brewing (Greg is a start-up, but with some quality brews; the OMG was amazing) in Seminole, but when I spoke to him it looked like the brewery won't be finished until a few months after you're here. If you're driving & not flying, a stop by Swamp Head in Gainesville is always a good idea.
Oh, one more...Tampa Bay Brewing Company in Ybor is a good brewpub as well and more centrally located, only 10-15 minutes from CCB depending on traffic. I'd recommend the Moose Killer barleywine, and they just starting canning Old Elephant Foot.
Peg's does not do growlers. If you have some wiggle room in your schedule, try to visit when he's having some sort of event. They post on Facebook when the barrel-aged stuff and Berliners are on tap.
No growlers? Then why are over half the reviews for Rare D.O.S. From growlers? Did they stop doing growlers or something?
To my knowledge the only time Pegs did growlers was at the Barrel Aged release day, when they gave the first 25 customers in line small swing tops of RareR DOS. I've heard/read that their brewing permit/ alcohol serving liscense does not allow growler fills, I'm not sure how that works though. Also, I echo the comments of Tampa Bay Brewing Cmpany and Moosekiller Barley wine.
Thanks for the recommendations! We're flying to Orlando but driving a rental over to Tampa. It sounds like 7th Sun is doable for another brewery stop and maybe Tampa Bay Brewing. I'll keep an eye on Peg's FB page to see if any events will coincide with our visit!
If you are going to 7th Sun, there is no reason to not stop at Dunedin Brewery. They are only a couple blocks away from each other.
