Discover the 2 Best Ways to Sip Your Way Across Tampa Bay, St Pete & Clearwater

With an almost embarrassing number of breweries, bars and distilleries, Visit Tampa Bay and Visit St Pete Clearwater have come up with creative and interactive ways to make exploring even more fun.

Bay Crafted pint glass courtesy of Visit Tampa Bay

Bay Crafted Pass

Imagine earning prizes while sipping craft brews and cocktails at local breweries and distilleries. That’s just what’s happening in Tampa Bay with the brand new Bay Crafted Pass, a free passport program that launched in May 2021. Once visitors and locals are registered for Bay Crafted, they can unlock prizes by checking in at participating locations in and around Tampa.

7venth Sun, part of the Bay Crafted Pass, has 24 beers on tap. Photo credit Visit Tampa Bay

“Tampa Bay is Florida’s beer capital, boasting dozens of internationally renowned craft breweries and a bustling cocktail culture with roots stemming back to Prohibition,” says Santiago C. Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay. “Not only is this pass a fun incentive for the consumer, but it helps generate a much-needed economic boost for local businesses. “We have already seen dozens sign up and redeem prizes with our Bay Crafted campaign as we continue to showcase the best of our craft breweries that help to make Tampa Bay Florida’s beer capital,” Corrada added.

Juice Lord is the first beer brewed at Magnanimous Brewing and is its best-seller. photo credit Magnanimous Brewing

After Bay Crafted pass holders check-in at four locations, they’ll earn a Bay Crafted pint glass; after eight check-ins, a Bay Crafted t-shirt. Twenty-one local breweries and distilleries in the Tampa Bay are participating in the pass program, including longtime favorite Cigar City Brewing, Florida Cane Distillery, and Magnanimous Brewing, which opened on the edge of downtown Tampa late-September 2020. “Getting new eyes on our product and company is something we strive to do every day, and we think this [Bay Crafted] program will be great for that,” says Charlie Meers, co-owner of Magnanimous. “It’s an awesome opportunity to reach new consumers and potentially make new customers and friends for life!”

Gulp Coast Passport

Across the bay, St. Pete and Clearwater in Pinellas County are home to 45 breweries and four distilleries, which makes for plenty of sipping with the Gulp Coast Passport. The Gulp Coast - thought of as Florida’s answer to California’s wine country - runs from Tarpon Springs and Dunedin, home of Florida’s first-ever craft beer brewery, in the north, through Clearwater and south to St. Pete and the beaches.

“The St. Pete/Clearwater Craft Beer Trail (also known as Gulp Coast) perfectly mirrors the diversity of the destination, with each brewery serving as a window into the community,” says Leroy Bridges, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater Vice President of Digital and Communications. “We’re home to the most breweries of any destination in Florida, as well as the oldest craft brewery in the state, and the Gulp Coast passport helps visitors and locals navigate the scene, as well as explore the destination,” adds Bridges.

Grand Central Brewhouse is one of the stops on the Gulp Coast. Photo credit VisitStPeteClearwater.com

In addition to Dunedin Brewery and Clearwater Brewing Company, among dozens of others, one of the stops along the Gulp Coast is the new Grand Central Brewhouse that opened in December 2020 in St. Pete’s Grand Central District. The expansive indoor and outdoor space features a brewery, taproom, beer garden and event venue, and is kid- and dog-friendly, so everyone’s welcome.

"We hope that the Gulp Coast Passport encourages craft beer lovers to think of the St. Pete/Clearwater area as a premier craft beer destination,” says Kevin Milkey, founder and CEO of Grand Central Brewhouse. “We are one brewery of an amazing assortment of local craft breweries and believe what is good for one brewery is good for the entire local brewery community.”

A digital version of the Gulp Coast Passport is coming soon; in the meantime, visitors and locals can request a hard-copy passport and win prizes for sipping along the Gulp Coast.

Tours Are Us

If you’d rather have someone guide you to participating breweries and distilleries, hop aboard Brew Bus’ Local Loop in Tampa and hop off at several Bay Crafted participating breweries; in St. Pete and Clearwater, Thirsty Pelican Tours can show you the way along the Gulp Coast.

Cheers to however you choose to sip your way across Tampa Bay!