TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – September is a good month for beer, with Tuesday being International Beer Lovers Day and later in the month, National Drink a Beer Day.
For beer lovers, Tampa Bay is a great place to be with breweries all over the area, from Cigar City in Tampa, to Motorworks Brewing in Bradenton, to the many, many breweries in Dunedin.
8 On Your Side has put together a light of 8 breweries throughout the Tampa Bay area for you to try, or even revisit this month to explore craft beer.
These are presented in no particular order. Let us know your favorite brewery or watering hole by reaching out to us on Facebook.
1. Cigar City Brewing
Address: 3924 W Spruce St, Tampa (brewery and taproom)
Famous for its Jai Alai India pale ale, Cigar City is often creating new brews, the connected brewery and taproom of Cigar City is located along West Spruce Street. A full service kitchen features starters, salads, flatbreads, sandwiches and more.
Cigar City also has other locations, including a taproom downtown at Amalie Arena outside on Thunder Alley, which has a full bar with the breweries full lineup of beers and Florida-inspired foods.
The brewery also has locations at Tampa International Airport, Airside C, Gate C. According to their website, they are only one of two active breweries inside an airport in the world as beer is brewed right inside. Airside F has the Cigar City Taproom, a bar located near Gate F88.
2. Coppertail Brewing
Address: 2601 E 2nd Ave, Tampa
“Florida Inspired. Tampa Brewed.” is Coppertail Brewing’s motto. Currently, the brewery’s website boasts many unique beers usually seen in Tampa liquor and grocery stores, including “Night Swim” and “Unholy.”
The brewery produces four core beers year-round with limited beers throughout the year.
Food is also served at Coppertail, from bar snacks, to shared plates and sliders and tacos.
3. Motorworks Brewing
Address: 1014 9th St W, Bradenton
If the name of this brewery sounds familiar if you just tend to frequent Tampa or St. Petersburg breweries, these are the folks who put pictures of adoptable dogs on their beer cans, even reuniting one lost down with its owner across the country!
In addition to being stars in the pup world, Motorworks features a large, lit patio that is also dog friendly. Six featured beers are always available, including the “Adoptable Lager,” as well as “Pulp Friction Grapefruit IPA” and “Gronkzilla Red IPA.”
The large beer garden will often feature live music and games, like cornhole and giant Jenga and Connect Four. The brewery also hosts movie nights every Wednesday or hosts big sporting events on a large projection screen.
4. Dunedin House of Beer
Address: 927 Broadway, Dunedin
The Dunedin House of Beer features all 40 taps online with real time updates. The list include everything you need to know, from what other brewing company a beer might comes from, a description of the beer and even prices.
The brewery hosts trivia night every Wednesday at 8 p.m., it’s free to play, but you can win $30 if you take first place. They also host a night market every second Friday of the month with arts and crafts, food vendors, live music and of course, beer.
5. Crooked Thumb Brewery
Address: 555 10th Ave S, Safety Harbor
Crooked Thumb’s featured beers include the “Digital Vortex Dodecahedron” coffee chocolate stout, a “tuxedo t-shirt” milk stout, “Shade Tree” IPA and a Harbor Lager, but more beers are of course featured year-round.
The location is home a brewery house with a 15 barrel brew system. The tasting room was restored from a warehouse built in 1963, but much of its charm remains.
6. St. Pete Brewing Company
Address: 544 1st Ave N, St. Petersburg
The current featured beers at St. Pete Brewing Company is the Grateful Stout, Scottish Ale and “Put Me in Kolsch,” but they have plenty more beers on tap.
The brewery has varying hours anywhere from noon until midnight, and theirs hours can be checked out on their website. Happy Hour at the brewery is held Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
7. 3 Daughters Brewing Company
Address: 222 22nd St S, St. Petersburg
In addition to its incredibly popular “Beach Blonde” ale, 3 Daughters Brewing also released a line of hard seltzers over the summer.
3 Daughters’ beer tap list features 13 brews, but they also serve cider and their hard seltzer. Bar snacks include French onion dip, smoked fish spread, beer cheese nachos, soft pretzels and more. The brewery does serve sandwiches and bowls as well.
A lineup of live music, as well as trivia and other events, are listed on the breweries’ website.
8. Angry Chair Brewing
Address: 6401 N Florida Ave, Tampa
This Seminole Heights Brewery has a vast amount of beers, including its 2nd anniversary stout, “3 Little Birds” fruited berliner weisse and more. They are most known for their stouts.
“There’s no line we won’t cross in that area, and we appreciate the love we receive for our interpretations of that style,” their website said.
In addition to the brewery itself, Angry Chair Brewing also has a 2,000 square foot barrel house across the street.
