A Brewery Guide
If you are looking for a good cold one, check out a craft brewery. You don’t have to travel very far because Sarasota has quite a few small and independent breweries, which means they produce less than 6 million barrels a year. So enjoy a pint today, on American Beer Day at one of Sarasota’s favorite craft breweries.
Almazonica Cervecria (translation: Amazonian soul) is Sarasota’s newest brewery. It features South American flavors in small-batch beers and Peruvian street food-inspired bites. Its founder, Darwin Santa Maria, is well-known in the local culinary and craft beer scenes for spotlighting ingredients from his native Peru.
4141 S. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, Florida
www.AlmazonicaCervecria.com
Big Top Brewing Company’s circus-themed beers celebrate the ‘big top’ circus culture central to Sarasota history (especially as we celebrate Sarasota’s Centennial). The brewery’s flagship Circus City IPA and New England-style Hazy Highwire are two IPA examples of this microbrewery’s hopping good beers. You may also like Trapeze Monk, a citrusy Belgian witbier, and the seasonal Pumpkin Stiltskin Ale.
975 Cattlemen Road
Sarasota, Florida
www.BigTopBrewing.com
Brew Life Brewing is a small batch brewery and a retro arcade. It features classic vintage console games like Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig Dug that pair well with its quirky craft microbrews ranging from tart fruit-forward flavors in the brewery’s best-known Pink Guava IPA and its Mango Sour ale to sweet, dessert-like stouts, mead, and barley wine. Classic red ale, Kolsch, stout, and IPA flavors also present more traditional options in the taproom.
5767 Beneva Road
Sarasota, Florida
www.BrewLifeBrewing.com
Calusa Brewing is named for the Indigenous people who inhabited southwest Florida from Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys before their extinction during European colonization in the late 1700s. “Calusa” translates to “fierce people.” The brewery produces fresh brews bursting with interesting flavor and drinkability. Emphasis is on IPA that ranges from traditional style and oak-aged wild ales, India Pale Ales, fruited Berliners and Kettle Sours, and Stouts, to name a few.
5701 Derek Avenue
Sarasota, Florida
www.CalusaBrewing.com
Sarasota Brewing Company microbrewery offers over 20 seasonal beers that rotate throughout the year. Traditional American and European style beer are always available, as well as at least five unique brews on tap and several favorites from around the world. Enjoy a pint of Sarasota Gold Light bodied golden beer with a mild hop essence 5%, Sequoia Amber Lager, a Medium-bodied amber lager with a citrus hop finish of 5.5%, or a Midnight Pass Porter Full-bodied dark ale 6%.
6607 Gateway Avenue
Sarasota, FL
www.SarasotaBrewing.com