Last January I was able to sneak away for a quick trip to the Tampa Bay Area to visit my brother and SIL. I was thrilled to leave the 9 degree weather in Cincinnati for 68 degrees in Florida.
My brother and SIL enjoy a good local brewery as much as I do, so we went straight from the airport to Cigar City Brewing. We enjoyed a pint and pretzel sticks with beer cheese and mustard. If I have not mentioned this yet, I love a good soft pretzel with beer cheese. My SIL does too, so we planned on indulging a lot this trip. I had Fancy Papers, a hazy IPA, and it was great. Pretzel sticks were great. The brewery atmosphere was laid back and the staff was very friendly.
We had time for one more brewery before dinner so we stopped in the Ygor neighborhood of Tampa and visited Barriehaus Beer Co. Here we got a flight so we could sample several beers. And enjoyed another pretzel. All the beer we tried was good. Pretzel was a little tough. Cute neighborhood brewery.
The second day was overcast and rainy on and off, so we had to ditch our plans to kayak with the manatees. My SIL, niece, and I headed to visit the Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach. This is a protected reserve with an observation tower, trails, and boardwalk. It sits in the shadow of a Tampa Electric power station. In the winter the manatees leave colder waters to return to the warm bay. The viewing center is actually built by Tampa Electric and is a state and federal sanctuary. It was a beautiful day and definitely worth the trip if you are in the area.
Continuing our brewery tour, we stopped at Kombucha Garden. They have many flavors of kombucha on tap. I tried the Pineappilyever After and it was refreshing and delish. My niece had an iced lavender latte and said it was good too. Cute place with a great vibe.
Next, we visited the Henry B. Plant Museum. It is located on the University of Tampa campus. The unique architecture of the building alone is worth the trip. It was interesting to hear the history of the area. It was originally a hotel build by Henry Plant, he played a large role in the growth of Tampa Bay.
After the museum we headed back to the Ygor area to Tampa Bay Brewing Company. We were hungry and had a hummus/baba plate, a flight, and a pretzel with mustard and beer cheese. Our server was very friendly and knowledgeable about the beer. This is a bigger location that some of the breweries we’d visited so far and had more of a sports bar feel. They had a bourbon barrel beer that was amazing, as was the PB&J. Best pretzel yet.
Home for bit, then dinner at Mr. Dunderbak’s, a German brewpub. This is a family favorite for them, and I agree, the food was fabulous. They also have over 400 varieties of craft and European beers available.
My last full day, was sunny, but much cooler. We had one of the main activities for this trip planned for this day, riding part of the Pinellas Trail. The Pinellas Trail is over 60 miles total. It stretches from Tarpon Springs in the north, south to St. Petersburg. It was built along an old rail line, starting in 1990. I had roped my SIL into this adventure with me, proming only 10-12 miles on this trip.
We rented bikes from Kafe Racer in Dunedin, loaded them in the back of the van, and headed to Tarpon Springs for our starting point.
Brighter Days Brewing was up first. I was happy to see that most of the breweries we visited sell 4-5oz samples. You don’t have to invest in a whole flight, or pint. The beer was great, definitely plan on stopping in if you are in the area.
We then headed south on the trail. It is only a few blocks to Two Frogs Brewing Company, unfortunately they were closed, so we rode on by. Less than 0.5 miles from Two Frogs is Sponge City Brewing. It is a few blocks west of the trail. Online it said they were not open until later, but we decide to check it out anyway and they were open. So glad we rode by to check them out! They were open and it was delightful. We shared a flight, and another order of pretzel sticks. Staff was helpful and the head brewer came by the table to discuss the beer with us. Only open 7 months – but ranked high in my opinion. Looking forward to checking them out next time I am in town.
These are the only 3 breweries right off the trail, but there are several more breweries and a distiller in town as well if you want to make a full day of it in Tarpon Springs.
We rode about 5 miles to Palm Harbor. Just over half way there is Walls Spring Park, in case you need a restroom stop.
Our first brewery in Palm Harbor was DeBine Brewing Company. We grabbed a pint here and headed back out. The blueberry sour was fabulous!
We headed west a few blocks from there to a park, Pop Stansell, on the bay. Explored a little, then back on the trail.
The other brewery right on the trail, Stilt House Brewery was closed, so we continued on.
Shortly after this, trail crosses over the road at as you continue on toward Dunedin, this is the only incline on the trail. It’s pretty flat the rest of the way.
As we continued onto Dunedin to finish our brewery tour, we decide to take a detour west toward Honeymoon Island. We rode only a few blocks to the drawbridge, put our toes in the sand and decided to turn around. We wanted to make sure we had enough daylight to finish our tour in Dunedin. If you start early enough you could include a longer visit.
Just over a mile after the honeymoon beach detour you will see Hammock Park, this is another great spot for a bathroom break. It’s then 1.5 miles to Dunedin. There are 8 breweries total here. Four close to the trail, there are also many great restaurants, brewpubs, etc. This is a very cute and walkable town. We got down to business and first visited 7venth Son Brewing Company. We each got a pint, and I purchased a can of a gluten free beer to go. Beer was good. It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside.
Next door is the Hopscotch Cafe, while not a brewery they do offer many great draft options. We had a brewery passport, so we stopped in. We got a charcuterie board and beer.
It was almost sunset, so we rode west 2 blocks from this strip mall for quick ride to the bay to grab a picture.
We quickly returned our bikes and then headed on foot to the explore more of Dunedin.
We headed to Cueni Brewing
We also had HOB and Dunedin brewing on the list, but opted out. It was gettin late and we had indulged a lot. My brother and nephew joined us for dinner at Salty __-. Then we headed home. Dinner was 9/10.
12.8 miles total, we both survived and it was a great day!
My flight the next day was early afternoon, so we grabbed lunch at one more brewery before heading to the airport. We went to Ygor area again, grabbed coffee and shared a crepe at a local cafe. Then we headed to Zydeco Brewing. We choose this brewery because it had great reviews and the food sounded great. New Orleans inspired. Unfortunately they were in the process of closing for a short time, the rent has increase in this neighborhood a lot lately and they are building on their own site. The menu was very limited due to this. We grabbed a pint, lunch, and a pretzel. Food and beer were great. I hope to visit them soon at their new site and try more
It was a quick 3 days, but it was a great visit and we succesfully visited 8 breweries and tried 5 pretzels. I missed my family and was happy to get home (despite the winter weather).
