Visiting Tampa/Orlando? LOOK HERE FIRST! Spring '15 Update

frank & steins just opened up another location in winter park, about 11 miles from the Orlando one.

also to help toot my liquor stores horn a little, in between Tampa and Orlando in the town of davenport, i run a liquor store/ bottle shop (like knightly). i don't always get some of the crazy releases, but ill tell you guys i try my damnedest!

(for all of you guys/girls staying in the Disney area)

liquor at ovation
7850 lake Wilson rd
davenport, fl 33896
863 424 9996

m-t 9am to 10 pm
f-sat. 9am to 11pm
sun. closed

another good brewery off of i-4, going towards Tampa, is two Henrys. its attached to a winery, if your lady needs convincing to stop. the same exit as dinosaur world, easily recognized from the road. they have a small, but pretty solid line-up. (watch out for the blueberry jalapeno porter, holy shit its good)

two Henrys/ keel and curley
5210 Thonotosassa Rd
Plant City, FL 33565
(813) 752-9100


Monday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 11:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 11:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

 

AWESOME! i look forward to meeting in the future.

 

Excellent information! Unfortunately doing the whole Disney thing with my wife's side of the family in September (I hate large groups of people, I hate theme parks, and I hate overly expensive tourist bullshit). Now, that being said, I am making time for myself and my brother-in-law to hit some various locations to make sure we get our fill of Florida's beer scene (We'll be in need, I'm certain). We'll be renting a vehicle to drive to Tampa on morning, staying that night, then hanging out the next day before heading back to Orlanda. I plan to hit Cigar City but which one is best - brewery, taproom, are they all one in the same? Need suggestions. Also, we discussed hitting the beach and I saw Seventh Sun is right off the beach and I'd like to check it out. The main breweries I'm interested in are CCB, 7th Sun, and Cycle. Am I covered if we hit those three or do you recommend any over the others? Are there any beer events or special releases around that time of year (end of August into the beginning of September)?

Thanks!

Kyle

 

ccb brewery/taproom are the same thing. (their connected to eachother)

tuesday is their special growler release day (a must!)
and if im not mistaken wed and thurs are their brewery tour days.

i have not personally made it to 7eventh sun, but heard many amazing things about it. cigar city and cycle are within 20-30 mins. from each other. another good one to hit in the st. pete area, 2 blocks from cycle, is green bench.

as far as releases, if you time your trip right, zhukov might be hitting the shelves as far as ccb goes.

 

Posting today to:
1) Pull this forward in the forum since it's a great resource.
2) Suggest anyone who's in town through Sunday, March 14 hit the Events page for Tampa Bay Beer Week.
3) Answer @antlerwrestler19:
a) Tampa Bay Beer Week's Halfway There Festival (halfway between the annual Tampa Bay Beer Week, which is going on now) is typically in early September. That'd be a one-stop way to sample most, if not all, of the Tampa Bay area's breweries along with some other "guests."
b) Distances between breweries are less accurately measured in miles. That is, traffic dictates how long it takes to get from one to another. Cigar City to Cycle or Green Bench (or anywhere in downtown St Pete) can be 20-25 minutes if the traffic gods are smiling upon thee. Going the other way, particularly during rush hour, can be upwards of an hour. It's a SOLID 45 minutes -- without traffic -- between St Pete and 7venth Sun (in Dunedin).
c) 7venth Sun is fantastic. It's close to the Intracoastal but a 10- to 15-minute drive to the "beach" (either Clearwater Beach or Honeymoon Island).
d) I recommened doing clusters of breweries. Pinellas County, if you've never been, is super-dense with more than 25 municipalities, each of which has its own police force (in addition to the Florida Highway Patrol and the Pinellas Sheriff's Office).
e) Cigar City has on its website its beer-release schedule. I'm unsure if anyone else does.
f) Cigar City also has on its website (or maybe its Facebook page, which is public) its tour schedule.

 

Jake's American Bar at Leows Royal Pacific in Universal kept me happy for a week with a steady stream of Cigar City, Funky Buddah, and Bells. The hotel was not that good but Jake's was terrific and they had some of the best hot wings!!

 

I went to Bowigens this past weekend in Casselberry and had a great experience. As Orlando is pretty short on breweries, I would say this is worth adding. Also maybe you should consider adding Persimmon Hollow and Crooked Can.

 

Hey guys, I'm going to Disney in April and need some advice. I will not be able to make it off property, and I need suggestions. My sister lives in Orlando and works at Disney, but she doesn't really know craft beer. I would like to bring a shipper home with me. Could you guys suggest some stores in the Orlando area that have online shopping and in-store pickup? I can get my sister to pick it up and bring it to me if I can just go ahead and order it online. Thanks!!!

 

Your best bet is Totalwine.com (choose Orlando-Milennia Mall or Orlando-Colonial dr depending on where she is located.) They are not the best with keeping inventory updated but I have placed a few orders and they had them ready within a matter of hours for pickup. You may need to call them to see how having you pay / sister pickup would work.

 

Thanks I will definitely check them out. I'm surprised there aren't more stores online in the Orlando are. It's such a big place.

 

I'm going to be in the Tampa area in May for a few days and want to check out Cycle/Peg's. Can someone tell me the difference between Cycle and Peg's Cantina? I know that Cycle was part of Peg's then they opened a brewery separate from Peg's. Doe's the brewery have a tasting room or is it strictly a brewery and you have to go to Peg's to get Cycle beers? I see them referred to together and separately.

 

Cycle is where you want to go. It is the main tasting room / growler-crowler fill station for all of Cycle's beers. Peg's has food and Cycle beer on tap but is a bit farther away. The good thing about Cycle is you are only a few blocks away from Green Bench so you can hit two breweries without having to travel very far.

 

Got it, thanks for the help. Gonna try to hit Cycle, Green Bench and Rapp.

 

Great post. I would add Wild Rover to the brewery list (but I'm English so I may be biased). It's a bit far out in the sticks but they have some great English-style beers brewed on premises. Good food too, from their big red Routemaster double decker bus!
http://thewildroverbrewery.com/

 

(Obligatory grumble about the assumption that ladies = wine.)

 

so sorry..

 

I am going to an Expo show at the Convention Center in Orlando this week, and plan to cruise over to Tampa to try and catch Cigar City's growler Tuesday and then hit up a few other places. What should I expect as far as the drive? Is traffic usually bad between the two cities in the morning?