We only have one brewery in town and it's Pensacola Bay Brewery. Their beers run the spectrum of below to above average. The taproom is small, cash only, and only offers chips for consumption. It is pet friendly and I believe you can BYOF if you are hungry. Oh yeah, they fill growlers as well As for shops: Richey's East on 9th Ave, 9 Mile Rd, and Gregory St Bambooze on Davis Highway Wine World on Gregory St Apple Market on Scenic Hwy - this is a grocery store but they have a small but quality selection If you're looking for other places to drink, there's Hopjacks Filling Station (does growler fills) and World of Beer on Palafox (downtown). Tin Cow, which is a make your own burger joint, has 80 some odd canned beer offerings and pretty decent food and is between Hopjacks and WOB.
Ah, you're right! I forget that McGuire's is a brewery. It's a shame because I was there on Monday for lunch
I went in the women's restroom once and didn't figure it out until I couldn't find the urinals (you know what I'm talking about). You covered all the bases on your post. I don't think I'd send people to McGuire's over any of those places and Pensacola Bay is certainly making better beer than McGuire's. I'd add Old Hickory to the list for cocktails and whiskey. Really liked the space when I was in there last year, but I imagine weekends can get insane.
If you have a vehicle, i definitely recommend hitting Maggie's Bottle and Tail in Orange Beach and Cottage Hill Package in Mobile. Both have great selections and its a diff distro area. Sadly The Filling Station is no more, but another decent growler station is in Pace, The Liquor Store/Moonshine Willie's. Have 12 taps now, and the bottle selection just got expanded.
Travel soccer had us in Orange Beach three weeks ago. Maggie's is a great little gem. Had Bourbon barrel aged Laika on growler tap.
