Jacksonville advice

I’m staying in the Riverside area of Jacksonville for 4-5 days later this month and looking for local advice on good beer spots.

I put together my usual BA/RB list of beer destinations in prep for our visit and it looks like there’s a number of solid options.

Just wondering which places are "musts," which ones we could maybe pass up, and whether there are any spots not listed below that are worth hitting up. Your help is much appreciated.

Breweries / Brewpubs:
Aardwolf Brewing Company - BA: 95 / RB: 95 / CS: 95
Intuition Ale Works - BA: 93 / RB: 93 / CS: 93
Bold City Brewery - BA: 90 / RB: 91 / CS: 91
Seven Bridges Grille & Brewery - BA: 87 / RB: 71 / CS: 79

Bars / Eateries:
Kickbacks Gastropub - BA: 97 / RB: 97 / CS: 97
Pele’s Wood Fire Pizza - BA: 85 / RB: 74 / CS: 80
World of Beer - BA: 73 / RB: 80 / CS: 77
Mellow Mushroom - BA: 80 / RB: 71 / CS: 76
European Street Cafe - BA: 76 / RB: 74 / CS: 75

Stores:
Grassroots Natural Market - BA: 95 / RB: 90 / CS: 93
Beer:30 A Craft Beer Emporium - BA: 95 / RB: 77 / CS: 86
Total Wine & More - BA: 90 / RB: 69 / CS: 80

I feel like this question pops up all the time...

I lived in Jax for a year and used to be the beer buyer at Grassroots.

For breweries, Aardwolf and Intuition are a must. I used to love both.

Bold City is a definite skip unless you want the ticks. However, it’s basically across the street from Intuition, so it’s convenient.

Seven Bridges is another "meh" unless you happen to catch a special release. Nice place, great brewer, but it’s just a Gordon Biersch chain that uses the same recipes as everyone else.

I always liked Green Room and Engine 15, but they’re a haul out to the beach.

Kickback’s is freaking awesome, but their taps are cut significantly right now due to construction. When you go in, ask for Eddie - he’s one of their best servers and a beer guy. Make sure to look at the bottle list. You can also download the Kickback’s Gastropub app on your smartphone to look at the taplist and bottles in advance.

Every other eatery on your list is pretty "meh." Pele’s only has a few beers, though usually good stuff. World of Beers and Mellow Mushroom are fine, plenty of taps, just same old corporate nonsense, though. E-Street isn’t going to impress you with their taplist. Mostly standard locals, Blue Moon, etc.

Those are all solid stores. Grassroots and Beer:30 should cover your beer nerd needs and they are really close to each other and everything else in Riverside. Total Wine is pretty far away from that area and won’t have anything good that GR and B:30 won’t already have.

If you’re interested in anything else, shoot me a message.

Yeah - Dr. Owl’s definitely the authority here. Between the above and the RBWG ’13 itinerary, you’ll be in the know for sure.

That said, if you only hit Aardwolf during your stay, you’d have gotten your money’s worth.

Originally posted by TheBeerSommelier
Yeah - Dr. Owl’s definitely the authority here. Between the above and the RBWG ’13 itinerary, you’ll be in the know for sure.

That said, if you only hit Aardwolf during your stay, you’d have gotten your money’s worth.

Originally posted by drowland
I lived in Jax for a year and used to be the beer buyer at Grassroots.

For breweries, Aardwolf and Intuition are a must. I used to love both.

Bold City is a definite skip unless you want the ticks. However, it’s basically across the street from Intuition, so it’s convenient.

Seven Bridges is another "meh" unless you happen to catch a special release. Nice place, great brewer, but it’s just a Gordon Biersch chain that uses the same recipes as everyone else.

I always liked Green Room and Engine 15, but they’re a haul out to the beach.

Kickback’s is freaking awesome, but their taps are cut significantly right now due to construction. When you go in, ask for Eddie - he’s one of their best servers and a beer guy. Make sure to look at the bottle list. You can also download the Kickback’s Gastropub app on your smartphone to look at the taplist and bottles in advance.

Every other eatery on your list is pretty "meh." Pele’s only has a few beers, though usually good stuff. World of Beers and Mellow Mushroom are fine, plenty of taps, just same old corporate nonsense, though. E-Street isn’t going to impress you with their taplist. Mostly standard locals, Blue Moon, etc.

Those are all solid stores. Grassroots and Beer:30 should cover your beer nerd needs and they are really close to each other and everything else in Riverside. Total Wine is pretty far away from that area and won’t have anything good that GR and B:30 won’t already have.

If you’re interested in anything else, shoot me a message.

I would definitely skip World of Beer.

I love European Street, BUT not for its beers. They have the typical imports and usually something decent on draft, but I go there for the sandwiches!

Grassroots is a great market and the best beer store. Total Wine has a very good selection too.


My take on the breweries in the jax beer scene, I am there usually once a year visiting friends and family:
Aardwolf is currently making the best beer
Intuition is trying hard, too hard at times, but makes some excellent beers. Underdark is a great under the radar imperial stout.
Bold City is the everymans brewery, nothing special, but not bad and a great laid back place.
Green Room is probably somewhere between Aardwolf and Intuition as far as quality. A bit more of the laid back beach feel and some very solid beers.
Engine 15 is a cool place, Id go just to get some of the Jasmine Saison!

I love Kickbacks, cannot wait to see the new place next door when it is finished, some great food and Steve, the proprietor, is very passionate about beer.
Grassroots is always a must stop to grab some beers.


have fun!

Also, since you are in the area, I highly recommend Bold Bean if you like coffee, Biscottis for a nice afternoon bite.

Originally posted by digita7693
I would definitely skip World of Beer.

I love European Street, BUT not for its beers. They have the typical imports and usually something decent on draft, but I go there for the sandwiches!

Grassroots is a great market and the best beer store. Total Wine has a very good selection too.


My take on the breweries in the jax beer scene, I am there usually once a year visiting friends and family:
Aardwolf is currently making the best beer
Intuition is trying hard, too hard at times, but makes some excellent beers. Underdark is a great under the radar imperial stout.
Bold City is the everymans brewery, nothing special, but not bad and a great laid back place.
Green Room is probably somewhere between Aardwolf and Intuition as far as quality. A bit more of the laid back beach feel and some very solid beers.
Engine 15 is a cool place, Id go just to get some of the Jasmine Saison!

I love Kickbacks, cannot wait to see the new place next door when it is finished, some great food and Steve, the proprietor, is very passionate about beer.
Grassroots is always a must stop to grab some beers.


have fun!

Also, since you are in the area, I highly recommend Bold Bean if you like coffee, Biscottis for a nice afternoon bite.

Also, if there’s something that seems pretty vintage/rare/strange/expensive you want from the bottle list, you may want to call and let them know. Or better yet, BM me and I will text Eddie and Steve. They have such a giant selection that it’s not all stored on site. Also, much of the bottle list isn’t cold, so they will ice it down for you on the spot but can get it cold with advanced notice.

Thanks again for the tips guys; I’ll mostly be looking to drink draft beer but will let you know if I’m seeking something special while in town. Cheers