We often focus on the “bites” portion of “Bites + Brews” but this month we’re preparing for Oktoberfest by focusing heavily on the “brews” with a roundup of the best breweries to visit in Tampa Bay. Whether you prefer the fruitier, full-bodied sips of ale or the crisper taste of a lager, you’re sure to find a new favorite at one of these hop-fueled venues.
3 Daughters Brewing
222 22nd St. S., St. Petersburg
(727) 495-6002
Since its founding in 2013, 3 Daughters Brewing has grown beyond its original 15,000-square-foot St. Pete tasting room, expanding to include locations in Clearwater Beach and the St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport. At 3 Daughters, you’ll find hand-crafted cider, hard seltzer, hard soda, sangria and non-alcoholic CBD seltzer, but it’s the beer that started it all—from core creations like Florida Orange IPA to limited releases that cater to the creative spirit of the tasting room brewers, such as Watermelon Wheat Ale and Mango Crazy DIPA. Whichever location you visit, you’ll find 42 rotating taps and around 300 creations over a year. And if you can’t make it to one of the tasting rooms, you can still enjoy a cold one, as 3 Daughters partners with nearly 5,000 establishments throughout the state—from Publix to Disney World—that carry their products.
Green Bench Brewing Co.
1133 Baum Ave. N., Saint Petersburg
(727) 800-9836
A visit to Green Bench Brewing Co. is essentially a trip to two businesses in one, with the company’s Webb’s City Cellar— a 2024 James Beard Awards semifinalist for Outstanding Bar—right next door. Green Bench got its start in 2013, crafting unique beers, mead and cider, and in 2019, Webb’s City Cellar came to fruition with a tasting room, event space, hundreds of fermentation-forward products and the ability to craft new creations and styles not found at Green Bench. The two entities unite as one with a central beer garden and the availability of products at both locations, though certain flavors are unique to each. The names of both companies pay tribute to historical elements, like St. Pete’s prominent green benches, with Webb’s an homage to Webb’s City Drug Store. Likewise, the beers themselves represent the area with offerings like the Sunshine City IPA and Bench Life American-style light lager.
Southern Brewing & Winery
4500 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa
(813) 238-7800
Southern Brewing & Winery is a small-scale brewery and taproom that opened its doors in 2011, offering 40 rotating taps of made-in-house beer, wine, mead and cider. While some breweries focus on a particular style, Southern Brewing offers a variety of specialties, including the increasingly popular Mango Wheat and the 2024 Best Florida Beer Competition award-winning brews Red Zeppelin, Darkside of the Kolsch and Thee Saxman. All of these can be enjoyed in the brewery’s relaxing Bier Garten, complete with fire pits, a water fountain and an entertainment area for live music, trivia and other events. In addition to selling its own craft beverages, Southern Brewing also doubles as a homebrew supply store offering over 100 types of grain, 80 types of yeast and 50 types of hops.
Wild Rover Brewing Company
13921 Lynmar Blvd., Tampa
(813) 475-5995
A family-owned and operated establishment, Wild Rover Brewing Company is rooted in the British pub scene and inspired by the English folk song “The Wild Rover” by The Dubliners. While the company is no longer serving fish and chips out of a double-decker bus in Odessa, it now offers a lineup of food and a rotating tap list of 40 original beer recipes, specializing in cask ales for natural carbonation at its 13,000-square-foot facility in Westchase. The craft cask ales work to preserve the history of old-school English brewing and are even served with a handpump to pull the beer through the line and into the glass—a tradition Wild Rover aims to keep alive. Like its namesake, music is the heart and soul of Wild Rover. In addition to hosting live music, even the beers pay tribute to the classics, with offerings like Let It E.S.B., an extra special bitter, and Beverly Pilsner.
Looking for more libations? Check out the 2024 Best of the City: Best Brewery winners. Or if you’re looking to advertise, click here.
