What’s the history behind our St. Pete Beer & Bites Tour:

07 Feb What’s the history behind our St. Pete Beer & Bites Tour:

Eat.Drink.Local

What’s the history behind our St. Pete Beer & Bites Tour:

We love eclectic St. Petersburg, Florida and it just so happens to house many of our favorite award winning and new craft breweries alike.  Launching a Craft Beer & Bites tour here was really a no brainer after our first Beer Tour launch in Dunedin.  Both cities have so much history and the brewery stories are as unique as their specially crafted beers.

Our tour starts at 3 Daughters which was founded by two St. Petersburg chefs who were trying to create a recipe for their beer battered fish with the final result being their own crafted brews. From there, they brewed their craft and eventually invested in a brew house to increase their brewing capacity for the restaurant.  The story goes that as they finally branched out from being in the restaurant business to a craft brewery business, the thought that kept running through their minds was “how many beers do we have to sell to put 3 Daughters through college?”…and thus the brewery was named.  The handprints of the 3 daughters who inspired the name cans be found on the wall in the tasting room

The next stop on the tour is a new brewery – Cage – which was just recently recognized as one of the best new breweries in Pinellas County.  It originated at the R-Bar in Treasure Island before moving to its new location right off Central Ave.  It has live music and great outdoor seating space.  Being relatively new to this district, Cage has certainly cemented its name as one of the favorite hangouts of locals and a great place for tourists to experience uniquely crafted beer including a peanut butter porter.

We then head over to Pinellas Ale Works or PAW where all their crafted beers are named after dogs (Go figure….)  The brewers Michael and Dennis started as home brewers and won many state and national awards in the homebrew competitions.  They quickly were nicknamed “top dogs” in their craft and turned that passion into a brewery serving many locals and tourists in a renovated auto body shop in the Grand Central district.  Doors officially opened in 2016 and they will soon open an event space next door to the brewery which is sure to house many special occasions and meetings.

We then move down the street to Avid who is in the process or renovating their tap room.  At the present time, they are the “go to” place for home brewers for all their supplies and one of the few breweries we know that conduct classes in home brewing techniques.  They are hoping to re-open their tap room in the next few weeks and our plan is to include them in the tastings.

Our final stop is Green Bench who was named after the rich history of the early St. Pete 1900 when it was known for its “green benches.”  At the height, we are told that almost 2500 benches lined the St. Pete sidewalks and were regarded as gathering spots for locals and tourists serving as a “symbol of hospitality”.   And therefore, the name Green Bench Brewery originated. Owned by two St. Petersburg natives that not only attended school together, but also developed their passion for creating great craft beer.  The tap room and outdoor seating area certainly is representative of the philosophy of the original “green bench”.

We are so lucky to have these breweries as our partners on the tour.  Their service is VIP and the pours are generous.  We also have partnered with local vendors to serve food on the tours so it is truly of taste of St. Pete history past and present!  Join us for a one of a kind experience.

Read more about the benches here  http://bit.ly/2nTCFSP