Trip to Tampa soon

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ruger988

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I'm still a couple months out but why wait to start planning? Heading to Tampa for a week in Early May and have nothing planned for 98% of my time, obviously the bulk of that time will be spent doing beer related activities.

The obvious:
Cigar City
7venth Sun
Lueken Liquors

Any advice for those stops (what day of the week is the best, etc..) and any more recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I'm driving down from VA so plan to load the truck up with stuff I can't get here for the ride back so bottle shops are definitely welcome. For the record, I love all beer but I tend to prefer Belgians/sours and shy away from hop-bombs.

Not afraid of a short day trip if its worth it, but I have a free bed in Tampa so I'm trying to stay semi-close.
 
I'm still a couple months out but why wait to start planning? Heading to Tampa for a week in Early May and have nothing planned for 98% of my time, obviously the bulk of that time will be spent doing beer related activities.

The obvious:
Cigar City
7venth Sun
Lueken Liquors

Any advice for those stops (what day of the week is the best, etc..) and any more recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I'm driving down from VA so plan to load the truck up with stuff I can't get here for the ride back so bottle shops are definitely welcome. For the record, I love all beer but I tend to prefer Belgians/sours and shy away from hop-bombs.

Not afraid of a short day trip if its worth it, but I have a free bed in Tampa so I'm trying to stay semi-close.

Unless you really like 7venth I would avoid it. I personally don't care for their beers, most are infected and not on purpose. Plus it is a good ways away, if you are staying in Tampa. You'd be better served going to Cycle and Rapp over in St. Pete. As well as Barley Mow - though I have only had one of their beers - way better than 7venth, but that's not hard to do. If you do like infected beers you should also hit up Green Bench in St. Pete.

Luekens is a good drive too. The bigger store - Dunedin - is semi-close to 7venth. The one in Oldsmar is closer to Tampa, but it depends on where you are staying in Tampa.

Total Wine next to Cigar City is pretty good.

It all really depends on how far you want to drive, traffic sucks but depending on where in VA you are from you might be used to it and don't mind. If you do want to go to the places you listed not in Tampa, I would wait until the weekend.
 
I'm still a couple months out but why wait to start planning? Heading to Tampa for a week in Early May and have nothing planned for 98% of my time, obviously the bulk of that time will be spent doing beer related activities.

The obvious:
Cigar City
7venth Sun
Lueken Liquors

Any advice for those stops (what day of the week is the best, etc..) and any more recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I'm driving down from VA so plan to load the truck up with stuff I can't get here for the ride back so bottle shops are definitely welcome. For the record, I love all beer but I tend to prefer Belgians/sours and shy away from hop-bombs.

Not afraid of a short day trip if its worth it, but I have a free bed in Tampa so I'm trying to stay semi-close.

Might want to check out St. Somewhere in Tarpon Springs (Bob ONLY makes saisons). http://www.saintsomewherebrewing.com/

Green Bench in St. Pete brews belgian beers. http://greenbenchbrewing.com/

Between them, there's about 15 more. Check out that beer trail link above.
 
Unless you really like 7venth I would avoid it. I personally don't care for their beers, most are infected and not on purpose. Plus it is a good ways away, if you are staying in Tampa. You'd be better served going to Cycle and Rapp over in St. Pete. As well as Barley Mow - though I have only had one of their beers - way better than 7venth, but that's not hard to do. If you do like infected beers you should also hit up Green Bench in St. Pete.

Luekens is a good drive too. The bigger store - Dunedin - is semi-close to 7venth. The one in Oldsmar is closer to Tampa, but it depends on where you are staying in Tampa.

Total Wine next to Cigar City is pretty good.

It all really depends on how far you want to drive, traffic sucks but depending on where in VA you are from you might be used to it and don't mind. If you do want to go to the places you listed not in Tampa, I would wait until the weekend.

I've not had anything from 7venth before, so it will be new to me, heard some great things though, first I've heard anything negative. I'll be there for a week and have nothing to do for the vast majority of time, so a 20-30 minute drive won't bother me int he least. I'll definitely be going to Lueken in Dunedin so might as well hit some other spots while I'm there.

I'll add Saint Somewhere to the list as well.

Thanks guys, keep the tips coming!
 
Saint Somewhere is another one of the "wouldn't hurt to miss" venues. Plus Bob has some crazy hours that he is even open. Unless he has expanded them since the last time I went buy. Not to mention that is a drive for you. A long one. Plus you can taste the sanitation issues he has. I also wouldn't call it "only" saisons. And using the term saison is stretching it. A lot. He did do a collab with 7venth Sun though. So that should tell you a bit about both of them. And I've only heard and experienced the opposite of you. I've hardly heard good things.
 
You really need to check out Coppertail Brewing in Ybor City. The new tasting room is impressive. Two story glass wall behind the bar gives you an awesome view of the brewery. And the beers are good.
 
You really need to check out Coppertail Brewing in Ybor City. The new tasting room is impressive. Two story glass wall behind the bar gives you an awesome view of the brewery. And the beers are good.

Dunedin Brewery is really good. Great brews, great food.

Both added to the itinerary. Keep 'em coming!!

PS.. how strict is Florida on the whole "no robbing banks" thing? May need to go that route if the list grows too much more, haha.

(Joking, no one call the Feds please.)
 
Southern Brewing and Winemaking is a kickass LHBS with a bar. They serve their own brews and they are excellent. They just won several awards for their beer.
 
For Cigar City, check their schedule of events - they at times have large ticketed events....say hi to Neil in the tasting room...
Quite frankly 7eventh Sun does some excellent beers. Cycle on the other hand has basically main stream brews and they charge you for taste....Dunedin is a decent brewery some solid brews and some main stream. Their pub grub is pretty solid as well... If you are in Dunedin there are two ale houses that you can get a smattering of local and regional brews. HOB has been around for years. New joint, Clear Sky Draught Haus, we have not been there...
 
Couple weeks out....

Gonna drive down to Lauderdale for a couple days as well.

Any good events or festivals the first week of May I should know about in either city?
 
I've heard good things about LauderAle, definitely going to track them down. Thanks!
 
Local place here called Rapp is growing in popularity. A couple guys there are at the cutting edge of brewing. They will try anything and a lot of them are good. 7th Sun is in an area of Dunedin that has a couple breweries. Dunedin Brewery is one.

I have a Lukens right up the road from me. Didn't realize people made it a point to hit them up. Why the desire to go there? I usually pass it on the way to Total Wine.
 
Local place here called Rapp is growing in popularity. A couple guys there are at the cutting edge of brewing. They will try anything and a lot of them are good. 7th Sun is in an area of Dunedin that has a couple breweries. Dunedin Brewery is one.

I have a Lukens right up the road from me. Didn't realize people made it a point to hit them up. Why the desire to go there? I usually pass it on the way to Total Wine.

Just a bottleshop I know of in the area, I order stuff from them that isn't distributed in VA a few times a year. Total Wine have a better selection down there?
 
Just a bottleshop I know of in the area, I order stuff from them that isn't distributed in VA a few times a year. Total Wine have a better selection down there?

Yea, the beer selection is excellent. The couple of times I have gone to the Lukens, it had a couple here and there that Total Wine didnt have though. But overall, my go-to beer store is Total Wine.
 
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