Orlando & Tampa early March

Hey there! So traveling to Orlando for work and spending a couple of days in Tampa afterwards. I am looking mostly to visit small breweries/taprooms/ brewpubs (with the exception of Cigar City), but considering bars also in the case of Orlando, where the scene doesn’t look as exciting as Tampa’s. I have been browsing the places section and this is my planned itinerary:

Orlando – mixed between breweries, bars and some bottle shops, should be able to hit 5 or 6 places:
Redlight Redlight
The Ravenous Pig
World of Beer
Cask & Larder
Crooked Can
Ocean Sun
Knightly Spirits & Whole Foods for bottles

Tampa – this one looks more complex, since there are plenty of interesting breweries:
Cigar City (brewery, not the brewpub)
7th Sun
Cycle Brewing
Angry Chair
...I would like to maybe check a 5th place and seems I will have to choose between Rapp and Coppertail.

Any feedback regarding the list/ priorities would be great, thanks a lot!

Looks like you’ve done some research!

In Orlando, redlight is a definite, and I would add hourglass brewery to the mix. I don’t know about world of beer, but they’re a chain bar here, so they may not have as much interesting stuff. If you’re going to Ocean Sun, then check out Rogue Pub next door, good beer and good food. Crooked Can and Knightly are must stops.

As for Tampa, I suggest going to Cigar City at opening and they do a special growler beer every Tuesday. They have about 40 of their own beers on tap at all times. When you go to cycle, if you want to tick beers, then there are four breweries all within downtown, but if you have to pick, Cycle and Green Bench are the picks (for me, at least). Angry Chair is awesome and there are some great restaurants around there like Rooster and the Till, the Refinery, Ichicoro, and more. As for a 5th brewery, I would say that depends on where you are - Coppertail is on the Tampa side and Rapp is on the Saint Petersburg side of the Bay. You could hit Rapp and Arkane Ale Works within minutes of each other and you could hit Coppertail and Tampa Bay Brewing for a meal.

I would also add the Stein and Vine to the list, and if you eat there once, you’re probably going to want to go back.

If I can help or you need more info, please hit me up. Cheers!

Thanks for the thorough response! Indeed, really excited about this trip.

Hourglass looks interesting indeed... might swith it for one of the bars...
Regarding Tampa, completely forgot about Green Bench is there, so that’s even more choice to agonize about... Not super interested in ticking as many breweries as possible right now, more like spending a couple hours in each place getting a flavor of the whole range and enjoy the ambiance. Stein & Vine looks promising, but rather out of the way and kind of focused on taprooms/ brewpubs this time..

Anyway, great feedback and ideas, thanks a lot!

Not much to add onto what Mark has said since he is a Florida expert, but I would say that in St Pete area it would be easy to hit numerous breweries as they seem to be in clusters within walking distance. I personally like Rapp over Coppertail for the fact that you can get a good number of Coppertail beers in bottles to try around Florida. I did brewery hopping back last January and barely brushed the surface of what is to offer in Tampa/St Pete, which is a great problem to have since it was very different when I started visiting in 2007...Cheers, Shawn

I really enjoyed Willard’s Tap Room in Largo. Wide variety of local stuff, so it was a great opportunity to do a sampler of a bunch of local breweries in one sitting. The drive from St. Pete wasn’t too far, though it wasn’t close to any other big stops that I can recall.

Originally posted by andrewje41
I really enjoyed Willard’s Tap Room in Largo. Wide variety of local stuff, so it was a great opportunity to do a sampler of a bunch of local breweries in one sitting. The drive from St. Pete wasn’t too far, though it wasn’t close to any other big stops that I can recall.

Quick notes:
Dunedin brewery is working walking distance of 7th sun (the original location). Hidden Springs is also nice. Cigar city brewpub is closed as of the new year, so don’t plan on that as a back up. If you are bottle shopping, there is a total wine and Whole Foods near cigar city that are nice.

In Orlando, Ten10 is a nice place, although I hear they may be in some financial difficulty, so double check before heading there.

If you drive from Orlando to Tampa, you will most likely drove on I4. I would hit up BrewHub along the way. Pain to get to but worth it.

Cheers

Thanks everyone for some great recomendations. Seems like the Tampa gameplan looks could be the following:

Arrive late Thursday evening: hit Cigar City downtown Tampa
Friday: brewery hop the full day in West Tampa / St Petes: 7th Sun, Rapp, Green Bench, and Cycle
Saturday noon: lunch at Angry Chair for some goodbye beers

BTW anyone has a good reco for transport between Orlando and Tampa? Wont be able to rent a car (driving licence expired) and the only things I have seen are Gray Hound and Red Coach, but they take ~3.5 hrs each way...

Originally posted by Fukito
BTW anyone has a good reco for transport between Orlando and Tampa? Wont be able to rent a car (driving licence expired) and the only things I have seen are Gray Hound and Red Coach, but they take ~3.5 hrs each way...

Originally posted by Homer321

Originally posted by Fukito
BTW anyone has a good reco for transport between Orlando and Tampa? Wont be able to rent a car (driving licence expired) and the only things I have seen are Gray Hound and Red Coach, but they take ~3.5 hrs each way...

Uber?

I would say swapping WOB for GB’s Bottle shop on Virginia Ave and then walk a block over to the Thirsty Topher. Both are quirky little places with a great selection.