St Pete's and Clearwater and Ft Myers - beer beer beer

[stella_tigre]

Greetings! We are heading down there in a week or so. The last threads I've managed to come up on search about the places to go there were sort of old. I imagine we'll make it to the Dunedin group of breweries - they are not far from the first place we're staying - any favorites?

But where else is worth a special trip in the St Petes or Clearwater area, there are so many choices! We're going to do things besides drink beer, mind you......

Second location will be Ft Myers area, anything that is so great we should not miss?

Thank you all!

 

[Derp]

I moved almost 20 years ago so I can't really speak to the beer scene, but Punta Gorda is on your way to Fort Myers and I can't recommend the Celtic Ray pub strongly enough. Fantastic pub food and the Irish owner famously refused to serve American beers back in those days. He's relented now that there are craft beers available, but you still won't find a BudMillerCoors. No televisions to be found, but good conversation abounds.

https://celticray.net/drinks-menu/

The Ice House pub is only a couple of blocks away and also has a decent selection:

https://www.theicehousepub.com/beers/draft-beers

Punta Gorda is a beautiful small town and well worth a quick visit.

 

[brewswithshoes]

I live on the line between Dunedin/Palm Harbor. Numerous good places to get great beer. I would recommend:
Woodwright Brewing (kinda new - right next to Dunedin Brewery)
7th Sun

Further out in Tampa/st Pete/clwtr:
Angry Chair
Cycle Brewing
Green Bench
Cigar City
Rapp brewing
Brew Bus

There are so many others that are good. These are just some of the few we frequent the most.

Enjoy your trip. It’s 78 degrees today and quite perfect!!

 

[myelo]

Sorry to butt in ... but I'll be in Sarasota in May so thanks for all the advice so far.

 

[stella_tigre]

I live on the line between Dunedin/Palm Harbor. Numerous good places to get great beer. I would recommend:
Woodwright Brewing (kinda new - right next to Dunedin Brewery)
7th Sun

Further out in Tampa/st Pete/clwtr:
Angry Chair
Cycle Brewing
Green Bench
Cigar City
Rapp brewing
Brew Bus

There are so many others that are good. These are just some of the few we frequent the most.

Enjoy your trip. It’s 78 degrees today and quite perfect!!

Thanks! Looking forward to this - we just dropped from 27F to 20F in about a half-hour, as the wind came up and the snow started blowing...Which is better than my sis in SF SD, under a blizzard warning. This has been a bit of a narsty winter in the midwest this year.

 

[FleEsq]

I work in Fort Myers and live in a little fishing community called Matlatcha, (very good seafood). Derp is right about the Celtic ray- good fish and chips. There are some craft brewery's in the area that are quite good. Bury Me brewing, Fort Myers brewing, millennial brewing, are good brewery's. Big Storm in Cape coral is good( they also have a rum distillery on the cape as well called Wicked Dolphin). Coppertail and cigar city in Tampa are excellent.


Be careful down here, the saying is come on vacation leave on probation.

 

[jcav]

I agree Woodwright is excellent. It is basically a house and the husband is a skilled wood worker and has his shop in there. The other part of the house is a brewery and his wife brews all the beer. She is very good at it and her beers are worth the trip to Dunedin. Also near there in Dunedin is Caladonia which is a small tap room with some good brews as well. If you can get to Tampa then of course you have to check out Cigar City Brewing!

Have fun,


John

 

[passedpawn]

I agree Woodwright is excellent. It is basically a house and the husband is a skilled wood worker and has his shop in there. The other part of the house is a brewery and his wife brews all the beer. She is very good at it and her beers are worth the trip to Dunedin. Also near there in Dunedin is Caladonia which is a small tap room with some good brews as well. If you can get to Tampa then of course you have to check out Cigar City Brewing!

Have fun,


John

If you (the OP, not you John) visit Woodwright, ask for Eunice Painter. She's the brewster there. Note that you can LITERALLY throw a rock at 4 other breweries (Dunedin Brewing, 7th Sun, Cueny, House of Beer) and a distillery (Cotherman Distilling). You can hit a few more if you played pro ball. The owner of the distillery is a fairly active member here on HBT (and a good friend of mine).

If you go to Dunedin, the little restaurant at the marina, Bon Apetit, is really nice.

 

[passedpawn]

The best place to watch the sunset and drink a beer is at Frenchy's on the beach in Clearwater beach. There are a few Frenchy's here, so go to the one on Mandalay right on the water. It's right on the sugar sand. It's touristy at Clearwater Beach, but fun. Make sure to get a cup of the she-crab soup - best thing on the menu.

 

[jcav]

Oh yea forgot to mention Cueny, they had some good Belgians when I was there last year.......

John

 

[passedpawn]

Sorry to butt in ... but I'll be in Sarasota in May so thanks for all the advice so far.

If you have time, I highly recommend the tour of Ringling Circus museum and the House of John mansion tour. Very cool (for me).

 

[Murphys_Law]

The best place to watch the sunset and drink a beer is at Frenchy's on the beach in Clearwater beach. There are a few Frenchy's here, so go to the one on Mandalay right on the water. It's right on the sugar sand. It's touristy at Clearwater Beach, but fun. Make sure to get a cup of the she-crab soup - best thing on the menu.

And don’t forget the buffalo shrimp!

Man I miss that place!

 

[stella_tigre]

Thanks so much for your suggestions so far! We'll have to make a plan so we don't miss anything. Set up our daily schedule to coordinate the sightseeing and the brewery/restaurant stops. If anyone wants to meet up for a HBT soiree, we'll buy a round!

Edit, for the record, we're down to 7F and dropping like a rock....

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks so much for your suggestions so far! We'll have to make a plan so we don't miss anything. Set up our daily schedule to coordinate the sightseeing and the brewery/restaurant stops. If anyone wants to meet up for a HBT soiree, we'll buy a round!

Edit, for the record, we're down to 7F and dropping like a rock....

PM me place and time. I'm pretty close. Maybe I can get Yooper or jcav to join us. It'd be kinda cool to meet at Woodwright.

 

[passedpawn]

If you get to downtown St Pete, it's an awesome waterfront town on the bay. I suggest parking near the Salvador Dali museum (which is really cool), and walking along the water to the Vinoy Rennaissance hotel. Along that walk, you'll see a lot of neat places to visit. Lunch at Cassis American Brasserie, it's fantastic. Many breweries down there too.

Welcome to Florida!

Lots of beer...




But make sure you get some of the good stuff...

 

[jcav]

PM me place and time. I'm pretty close. Maybe I can get Yooper or jcav to join us. It'd be kinda cool to meet at Woodwright.

I would love to meet and have a few beers! Count me in!

John

 

[stella_tigre]

We're in Clearwater from the 17th (weather allowing!) THRU the 25th. Then down to Ft Myers area for a week. Our dance card is wide open - "We're retired!"

Would love to hook up with anyone who can, and if Yooper is down there, we met at Portland once and then didn't reconnect in in the confusion. So that would be great too!

 

[Yooper]

We're in Clearwater from the 17th (weather allowing!) and the 25th. Then down to Ft Myers area for a week. Our dance card is wide open - "We're retired!"

Would love to hook up with anyone who can, and if Yooper is down there, we met at Portland once and then didn't reconnect in in the confusion. So that would be great too!

Let me know when you guys are around- Clearwater is a jaunt for me but I'd love to get together again! We're about 80 miles north, through nasty traffic and constant redlights. @passedpawn has an idea or two of a place to meet up with some HBT friends. What about @jcav? I've never had a chance to meet you!

 

[cyberbackpacker]

I grew up in Pinellas County, and I make it back down most years during Michigan's Spring Break (first week of April)... my mom still lives in Pinellas Park and my brother lives near Honeymoon Island. It'd be great to meet up with some HBTers when I am down there too!

Last spring break I hit 4 of the Dunedin breweries with my brother if I am remembering correctly!

Oh, and for the OP... driving from North to South (or vice versa) right off of 66th Street North and Park Boulevard is an amazing Cuban Restaurant called La Teresita-- their roast pork is amazing (as is all their food really). It is quite possibly what I miss most about living in that area!

 

[brewswithshoes]

PM me place and time. I'm pretty close. Maybe I can get Yooper or jcav to join us. It'd be kinda cool to meet at Woodwright.

I’d love to meet up as well. Let me know....


One other place I forgot to mention but really enjoy. St. Somewhere in Tarpon Springs. Lots of Belgian style and all use a house Brett yeast. Really good stuff if u like Belgian style.

 

[passedpawn]

I’d love to meet up as well. Let me know....


One other place I forgot to mention but really enjoy. St. Somewhere in Tarpon Springs. Lots of Belgian style and all use a house Brett yeast. Really good stuff if u like Belgian style.

Great!

 

[FleEsq]

Its winter down here so bring a parka, 62 is the low and a high of 82. Hit the Blue Dog cafe in Matlacha for cracked conch or red Grouper. Its stone crab season but the price is steep this year. The Blue dog is a small place but they are packed this time of year.

Also you might want to try Fish Tale Grill on the cape for good seafood.

 

[stella_tigre]

Well, we're back up to a balmy 0F after a low of (not too bad) -5F. Windchill has eased off to -17 or so, and it's sunny! So we'll slip on our light jackets and head out for dinner tonight, maybe.

We hope we can hook up with you all! Gotta get all these suggestions down on a list and find all of them....

 

[passedpawn]

Its winter down here so bring a parka, 62 is the low and a high of 82. Hit the Blue Dog cafe in Matlacha for cracked conch or red Grouper. Its stone crab season but the price is steep this year. The Blue dog is a small place but they are packed this time of year.

Also you might want to try Fish Tale Grill on the cape for good seafood.

Yea, wool undies for those chilly nights. Bring a handwarmer too, and go buddy-system to the mailbox in case you get stuck in a snowdrift.

 

[Shwagger]

Born and raised in st Petersburg. And ive been to every brewery in Pinellas county. Some are good. Some are trout. Get yourself a Gulp Coast booklet from the first brewery you go to. It has maps and descriptions of all breweries in the county. They also have them for hillsborough and Manatee/Sarasota counties.

That being said, a lot of good recommendations already posted. Dunedin and st pete are packed with breweries within walking distance of each other.

Dunedin brewery is not very good anymore for beer, but the venue has good food and live music.

Woodwright is great, 7 sun is too. Caledonia is ok.

Debine and stilt house have great beers. Visit them. Both in palm harbor.

Silver King is awesome, but I love to fish and it's fish themed lol. Saint Somewhere is the oldest brewery in florida no one has heard of and their tasting room is for sale. Insane Belgian ales there. 2 frogs is good and close to the previous 2 I mentioned, all in Tarpon Springs.

Big Storm is pretty good, a bit commersh but decent enough. Grindhaus is an awesome little place with awesome owners. Beer styles change almost daily on tap. Southern lights makes good beer and its a good atmosphere. Rapp ans Arkane should not be missed. Excellent brews at both. These are largo and Clearwater places.

St Pete has more breweries than you can visit in one weekend. Do not miss Inoculum. All sours. Weird venue. Amazing. 3 daughters is good, mastrys is on the beach as is mad beach and sea dog. But sea dog is commersh. Cycle is pretentious AF but their beers are award winning. Green Bench is fun and good ipas. PAW has the most underrated beers in town. Honestly, the list is long and most in st pete can be walked to from one another.

Just get the Gulp Coast book. The ones i didnt mention are just OK or weren't memorable when I went, but they get better with time, could be good.

I'm heading to Dunedin tomorrow to bounce a few.

 

[jcav]

Let me know when you guys are around- Clearwater is a jaunt for me but I'd love to get together again! We're about 80 miles north, through nasty traffic and constant redlights. @passedpawn has an idea or two of a place to meet up with some HBT friends. What about @jcav? I've never had a chance to meet you!

Hey Yooper, we should all really try to set up a day to do this, I would love to meet you too!

John

 

[Yooper]

Hey Yooper, we should all really try to set up a day to do this, I would love to meet you too!

John

I'm going to Tampa today, to take the family to the airport, but I suppose it's very short notice for you....................

 

[jcav]

I'm going to Tampa today, to take the family to the airport, but I suppose it's very short notice for you....................

Sorry Yooper, we were out yesterday and then at a friend's party and I did not get a chance to see this until now. I will pm you!

John

 

[stella_tigre]

@Yooper @passedpawn @jcav @Shwagger @brewswithshoes @FleEsq
Well, I've been a bad dog, we've been down here for a few days, already swilled a few. However, Woodwright's is open tomorrow thru the weekend, so we havan't been there yet.

Other than plans to hit the big towns (St Pete and Tampa) before Monday, if you all can agree on a time, or three, we can be at Dunedin, or Tampa or St Pete's. If a certain evening (or afternoon) works for all of you, we are able to make our schedule fit. "We're Retired!" is our motto.

Edit We will also be south for a week in Ft Myers area after next Monday

 

[Yooper]

@Yooper @passedpawn @jcav @Shwagger @brewswithshoes @FleEsq
Well, I've been a bad dog, we've been down here for a few days, already swilled a few. However, Woodwright's is open tomorrow thru the weekend, so we havan't been there yet.

Other than plans to hit the big towns (St Pete and Tampa) before Monday, if you all can agree on a time, or three, we can be at Dunedin, or Tampa or St Pete's. If a certain evening (or afternoon) works for all of you, we are able to make our schedule fit. "We're Retired!" is our motto.

Edit We will also be south for a week in Ft Myers area after next Monday

I just can't get down there this weekend- we have something going on here and I can't get away.

 

[passedpawn]

I'll be on the other side of florida (ft lauderdale) this weekend.

 

[Shwagger]

Huge loss to this area:

https://www.tampabay.com/topics/spe...FgWdA5vhfl_umPWmU5n_mk0hASbMV9OQkc4e4YgOJT0fg

 

[passedpawn]

Huge loss to this area:

https://www.tampabay.com/topics/spe...FgWdA5vhfl_umPWmU5n_mk0hASbMV9OQkc4e4YgOJT0fg

Wow, didn't know. Thanks for that.

 

[brewswithshoes]

That is quite the loss. I just had their gose at the Dunedin beer fest last week. Hadn’t had it in a long time and recalled how damn good it was. Classic style perfected by him.

RIP Greg

 

[Shwagger]

That is quite the loss. I just had their gose at the Dunedin beer fest last week. Hadn’t had it in a long time and recalled how damn good it was. Classic style perfected by him.

RIP Greg

Agreed. If it wasnt for Rapp, I wouldnt know what a Gose was

 

[jcav]

Thanks for posting, I also didn't see this. Very huge loss and so young. Prayers will go out for him and his family.

John