Sarasota is known for some of the best beaches in the world and its Italian architecture due to its ties to John Ringling, but the small town on the Florida’s Southwestern coast also has a few breweries.
It certainly doesn’t get mentioned often as a beer Mecca – although nearby Tampa certainly does – but I found some decent breweries and a growing craft beer scene.
Big Top Brewing Company
Big Top may be the most noted brewery in the area, if only due in part to its prime location right off I-75. The brewery cans a lot and their cores are available in many nearby outlets. They certainly know their audience with the Ringling ties to the city, although there didn’t seem to be a ton of circus tie-ins outside of the name and the names of a few beers.
I tried their popular Circus City IPA, as well as Conch Republic Key Lime Wheat, Big Life Tropical Lager, Hazy Hiwire IPA, and Guava Pale Ale. All of the beers here had one thing in common: sweetness. If you like sweet beers, this is your place. I don’t mind a sweet beer now and then, but I’d rather not have super sweet IPAs and lagers.
JDub’s Brewing Company
JDub’s is a laid back place that regularly has food trucks and has a small taproom with high top tables and a small bar. This seems to be one of the favorites of the locals.
I really liked the versatility of their beers. From the light drinking Poolside Kolsch to the sweet Bell Cow chocolate porter, their beers were true to style and were very drinkable. I also had their Blueberry IPA and Left on Lido Pale Ale on my flight.
Calusa Brewing
Calusa had by far the best beer I tasted in Sarasota. The taproom was busy and filled with both locals and tourists alike. It sits in a pretty nondescript building, but the taproom is big and open with a large bar. They’re one of the new kids on the block at about two years old, but their quality is up there with some breweries that have been around much longer.
They are definitely buying into the haze craze, as they had a few New England IPAs on their tap board when I visited. Their Focus IPA is smooth and a top-notch hazy beer, and I enjoyed their take on a rye New England in The Rip, which I hadn’t tried before. I really enjoyed their Dry Hopped Czech Pilsner, and the Dissonance Breakfast Brown is a nice subtly sweet cinnamon beer that pours a nice malty dark brown and would be perfect for dessert.
3 Keys Brewing
3 Keys is located a little north of Sarasota in Bradenton, and this brewery is one of the most fun I’ve ever been to. Owned by a veteran who is originally from Michigan via Lexington, Kentucky, it’s a family-run place with his son as the brewer and most of his kin working the bar. The owner Jeff was behind the bar when I visited, and enjoyed chatting with the mix of locals/regulars and out-of-towners like myself. They have an extremely laid-back atmosphere, and live of to their “Family.Friends.Beer” 3 keys motto. They’re one of the few brewpubs that you can find in the area, with pizza, burgers, and more available.
I really enjoyed their beer with some of my favorite styles available as well as things I’d never tried before. Their Here it GOSEAgain has a nice balance of salt to balance out the sweetness, and I enjoyed all three of their NE IPAs that I tried (Out of Hoptions, All the Hops, and Suns Out Buns Out). But the show stealer was an experiment beer that I’d never had before, a Sauvignon Blanc Dry Hopped Double IPA. It was perfectly dry with the grape notes from the wine. Definitely a keeper beer.
Check out more Brewery Adventures here.
Check out the full list of breweries I’ve visited here.