South Florida Beers

Hey HBT - going to be heading to southern Florida (think Naples, not Miami) and I'm wondering what beers brewed locally/regionally I should look for while down there. Google kicked up "Marco Island Brewery" and a few other "brewpubs" but not much else so hopefully you can help me out. Any good IPA's floating around down there?

Thanks!

I sent an email to Cigar City Brewing in Tampa to see who carries their beers in Naples. Florida's best beers, many think. I'll post if I get a response.

I'll be following this thread closely. my wife and mother in law are in key west visiting her sister and I was wondering the same thing.

I will be heading to Naples to visit my aunt and uncle next month, my uncle is a Coors light drinker so I'm sure he won't know anywhere to grab a decent brew, but I'll ask anyway.

Great, thanks in advance. My plan is to hit up a few liquor/grocery stores and just buy a bunch of randoms, but any heads-up for some especially good beers is appreciated.

If you are driving from the north then swing by Tampa and Cigar City. get a few growlers of some fresh Jai Alai IPA and enjoy!

Cigar City is, in my opinion, one of the best breweries in the country, rivaling what some of the experimental west coast breweries are doing. If you can, stop by their tap room - it's centrally located (and close to the Mons, if you are into that kind of thing).

Swamp Head in Gainesville has actually been beating Cigar City for some awards, but they still have a fairly small operation with a limited lineup, and their quality still varies from batch to batch. Often, Cigar City will have some Swamp Head on tap at their location. The Swamp Heat taproom in GNV has limited hours (4-7 Wednesday through Friday), but it's right off I-75.

Besides these two, most Florida breweries are fairly forgettable or very small-scale, catering to a very regional audience.

I have to back up what everyone is saying about Cigar City. I've also found that although Florida is almost a complete wasteland for craft beer, the liquor stores and grocery stores on the coast tend to have much better selections.

Well Jai Alai IPA was the big winner. For the most part that was about the only thing I could find that I've never had before, but I loved it. Me and my brother in law found our way to a few empty bottles. We also hit up Marco Island Brewery and I was a little unimpressed. Had only 3 beers on tap, a mediocre stout (very light thin beer, lacking in mouthfeel) and a Belgium ale that was nothing to write home about either. At least I got to try a few new things, but Cigar City takes home the gold.

No surprise there. We in Tampa have great hopes for this young brewery's continuing success.

Naples has a Total Wine & More (http://www.totalwine.com/StoreList.aspx?store=908) and a Whole Foods. Both almost always have a better selection and price than most supermarkets / liquor stores. Although its not clear from the distribution list, maybe you can get CCB in the bottle there if you can't find it on tap anywhere.