Florida—the only state to have it’s own tag on Fark. Becky recently coerced me into going down to the panhandle state for a nice relaxing weekend. I went to visit Disney for the first time in my life, with the consoling thought that after a long day dodging strollers and waiting in endless lines I could relax by the pool with a nice cold local beer in hand. I guess I’ve been living in Philly a little too long. The local stores carry nothing that isn’t distributed by A-B, who has some large offices and brewing concerns throughout the state.
On the final day of our visit, we made our way to Ybor City (right outside of Tampa) to visit what turned out to be the best brewpub within a hundred miles of Orlando—Tampa Bay Brewing Company. According to Google, there were two other breweries in that general vicinity, but the friendly folks at TBBC informed us that they were both bought out by A-B, and their brewing facilities were moved to more industrial locations suitable for moving the massive quantities now being produced.
TBBC has a very open brewpub layout, with nothing more than railings separating the indoor seating from the brewing area. We were there at the day’s opening, and were greeted by a pungent malty fog that rolled out the door and settled on the surrounding block. The beer list had great breadth (they even brew their own rootbeer!) and the beer flight got us decent sized samplings of all 9 beers for just $11. I thoroughly enjoyed the Moosekiller, Iron Rat Stout, and Wild Warthog, while Becky went for the True Blonde and One Night Stand (hmm…)
I wish we could have brought some home, but we were informed that Florida has laws (that came were lobbied for by A-B) that prevent brewpubs that use beer in their recipes from being able to sell it in bottles (makes sense to… wait—no it doesn’t), nor can they offer growlers (although that would have been tough to get back on the plane). So, if you’re stuck in Florida wondering where the good beer is, look up Tampa Bay Brewing Co. in Ybor City right outside of Tampa and have a few drinks. Make sure to stop by earlier in the day—Ybor City’s beautiful to stroll around, but I was told that it turns into a Mardi Gras-esque scene after sundown.