Travel – Where to Drink – Page 5

Episode 006 | Jax Ale Trail – Vol. 1: Lemonstreet Brewing, Tabula Rasa, Fishweir and Buchner’s Bierhalle

January 12, 2022November 5, 2023 The Boozy Blondes

Just north of the blondes’ hometown of St. Augustine is the city of Jacksonville. Fun fact, Jacksonville is the largest city by landmass in the continental US. DUUUVAL! This means there is plenty of space for delicious breweries. Visiting them all would take a lot of time and dedication – two things the Boozy Blondes devote to research for their podcast!

Jacksonville is home to the Jax Ale Trail – a collection of 22 breweries across the greater Jacksonville area. In this episode the blondes make it to 3 (plus a bonus German Speakeasy)! So looks like they will be devoting a lot more time to exploring the Jax Ale Trail! If the other 19 breweries are half as good and fun as these first three, the girls have a lot to look forward to!

The Jax Ale Trail passport can be picked up at any one of the 22 breweries and passport owners earn prizes as they collect stamps:

4 stamps = a koozie
8 stamps = a t-shirt
All 2 stamps = ??? It’s a surprise! The blondes really want to earn this one!

To earn your rewards, drop off your passport at the visitors center at 110 N Laura Street, Suite 120 in downtown Jacksonville.

The DOE is Chocolait from Fishweir Brewing – a barrel aged sour with chocolate and orange.

First stop on the Jax Ale Trail was Lemonstreet Brewing. It has such a great space! So many private spaces to hang out in. Gabe was the bartender (also Director of Sales for Lemonstreet) and served the girls a flight. The favorite was Pink Automation, a sour with pineapple, jalapeño and hibiscus. The food truck on site was To Be Frank serving delicious hot dogs!

Next stop was Tabula Rasa, not far away. Corey was the bartender here serving the girls a flight. Owner Ryan gave the girls the “cider” to try called Thorin Appleshild. Technically it’s not a cider – brewing cider requires a different license in Florida because it’s considered to be in the same category as wine. Each state is different, for example in PA, ciders are considered to be in the beer category. 🤷‍♀️ Regardless it was delicious! It is an ale brewed with apple cider and finished in bourbon barrels for 5 months.

Tabula Rasa has a beautiful outdoor area with fire pits and frisbee golf. They offer s’more kits and host open mic nights!

Th final stop on the Jax Ale Trail was Fishweir Brewing in the Murray Hill neighborhood. As sour lovers, the girls were thrilled to choose from so many options! Fishweir also offers Champagne drinks – Champagne + your choice of sour on tap. Fishweir has a light and airy welcoming feel and offers lots of events, including “Posture & Pints” on Sundays!

With three stamps on their passports, the blondes decided to check out one more place. They had heard of a German Speakeasy located on the same street as Fishweir. They located Buchner’s Bierhalle after walking through Blackhat Vapor. Buchner’s is amazing; it’s like walking into a different world!

Buchner’s has an extensive menu including five different charcuterie boards! After a day full of drinking beer, the girls switched to wine and enjoyed a charcuterie board, giant soft pretzel and schnitzel – a great way to end the day in Jacksonville.

Boozy Blondes with Ryan in front of Buchner’s

Buchner’s has a large outdoor beer garden with long picnic tables and hosts numerous events throughout the year including an Oktoberfest celebration, of course! Ryan was the girls’ server and was fantastic – if you visit, ask for Ryan and tell him the Boozy Blondes sent you!

This biggest takeaway from the first leg of the Jax Ale Trail is to get recommendations from the bartenders. The girls enjoyed so many different beers they probably would not have tried otherwise. Molly would never go for a beer with spice (like the jalapeños in Pink Automation) and Chrissy shies away from ciders because they are typically super sweet (Tabula Rasa’s cider beer was not sweet).

Have you been to any of the breweries in the ale trail? Share with us – #jaxaletrail #onlyinjax

Stay tuned for our second leg! We will have earned our koozie after that!

Season 1, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 003 | Pub Pedal: St. Augustine Craft Breweries: Bog, Dog Rose, Ancient City and Old Coast Ales

December 31, 2021November 5, 2023 The Boozy Blondes

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The Boozy Blondes explore their hometown breweries in St. Augustine, Florida, in this episode. St. Augustine is home to four craft breweries and the girls pedaled their bikes to all four – the best local breweries in St. Augsutine!

The DOE is Dream Pop from Bog Brewing Company. Dream Pop is a Farmhouse Ale aged 8 months in oak and finished on organic pink rose petals.

Our partner for this episode is Winc! Click here for a discount off your first order!

This first stop on the St. Augustine Craft Brewery Pub Pedal was Bog. The blondes split three beers here: Blueberry Lemon sour (5.5%), Mixed Culture Saison (6.7%) and Automatic Midnight (19.6 Imperial Stout). They arrived around lunchtime, and lucky for them, Tacos My Blessings is a permanent food truck behind Bog.

Boozy Blondes Outside of Dog Rose Brewing

From Bog the girls rode to Dog Rose Brewing Company where they enjoyed victory on the shuffleboard table while sharing a flight. Rhapsody in Red (American amber – 5.2%), Helles in a Bucket (bock – 7.9%), Bertha Brown Ale (brown ale – 6.3%) and Lions Head Honey Sour (sour – 5.2%). They say the honey in this beer came from bees in the lions head. The girls think this is a lion’s head from the Bridge of Lions in downtown St. Augustine, and found this reference from 2020.

Here the girls met Disco Witch Brewing owners Jeff and Shelly. Disco Witch is scheduled to open Spring 2022 in Yule, Florida. A grand opening celebration is scheduled in May!

Dog Rose opened in October of 2017 and was named one of the Top 20 Best New Breweries in the US by USA Today in 2020!

The next stop for the blondes was Ancient City Brewing on Cathedral Place right downtown. This is the location of Ancient City’s tap house. Its brewhouse is west of town on Agricultural Center Drive by the St. Augustine outlets.

The girls had one beer each here – Chrissy had Augustine’s Orange Amber Ale (5.3%) and Molly ordered Ponce’s Pale Ale (5.2%). Ancient opened in May 2015.

For the final stop the girls pedaled hard over the Bridge of Lions to Old Coast Ales. Fun fact (that the girls learned too late), if you ride your bike to Old Coast, you earn 10% off your beer! Here Molly ordered the No A’postrophe (amber ale – 7.2%) and Chrissy was ordered the Static Haze (New England IPA – 6.4%).

Old Coast opened in February 2017 and is neighbors to Osprey Tacos. Tacos were ordered and Molly owes an apology to the blondes’ friend Elias. She blamed him in the episode for dropping the guacamole, which exploded everywhere, when really it was Phil! The girls do a lot of research (ahem, drink a lot) so they always have the boys and/or other friends around to keep an eye on them and clear up minor details later. 😉

These 4 breweries join forces during the holiday season. St. Augustine is known for the Nights of Lights, and these breweries started the Nights of Pints. During the Nights of Lights (typically from the end of November through January), you can purchase the Nights of Pints package at one of the four breweries which includes a t-shirt and punch card. The punch card is good for one free beer at each brewery!

If you happen to be in St. Augustine and are visiting Bog, Dog Rose, Ancient City or Old Coast, let us know! Send us a message and let us know your favorite!

** Since we recorded this episode, Bog no longer allows pets inside. Please call the breweries before bringing Fido so you are aware of the most current rules.

Season 1, Travel - Where to Drink

Episode 002 | St. Pete Ale Trail: 3 Daughters Brewing, Green Bench and More!

December 31, 2021November 5, 2023 The Boozy Blondes

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Pack your bags (and at least 70% of your friends) and join the Boozy Blondes as they explore the St. Pete beer scene! Saint Petersburg, Florida, is in Pinellas County which is home to 47 breweries! 17 of these are in St. Pete, and during this trip Chrissy and Molly made it to 6. Check out all the stops on the “Gulp Coast!”

The Drink of the Episode (DOE) is Beach Blonde Ale from 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Pete – perfect for the Boozy Blondes. Beach Blonde Ale is a blonde ale, light and refreshing, 5% ABV.

Fun fact – Chrissy celebrates her birthday twice every year. August 3rd and December 3rd. December 3rd is her actual birthday, but growing up in NEPA, winter birthdays are no fun. It’s typically gross weather, cold, maybe snowy. So she switched her birthday to August so she could celebrate in the summer with pool parties! The tradition stuck, and now (decades later) the blondes still celebrate big in August. All this to say, the St. Pete trip was in celebration of Chrissy’s birthday.

They booked rooms at the Hollander Hotel, a historic boutique hotel in downtown St. Pete. The hotel has a beautiful pool area complete with private cabanas perfect for an afternoon birthday celebration. The Tap Room Bar & Grill is on site offering 21 beers on tap and craft cocktails. And the food is delicious! The girls enjoyed both brunch and dinner at the Tap Room.

Following an afternoon at the pool the blondes walked the short distance to Sea Salt for Happy Hour. Sea Salt offers drink and appetizer specials from 3pm to 6pm daily.

Saturday was pub crawl day! The Boozy Blondes set out to tackle as many breweries as possible out of the 17 in Saint Petersburg. First stop Right Around the Corner.

The Boozy Blondes and Crew Halloween 2016

Right Around the Corner is the perfect place for nostalgia and competition. From N64 to PlayStation, you can relive your glory days tearing up the track in Mario Kart as Princess Peach (if you’re Molly) or Wario (if you’re Chrissy). Who is your go-to character?

*Side bar, one of the best Halloweens ever, the blondes rounded up a group of friends, tied balloons to their beach cruisers and raced to downtown St. Augustine as the cast of Mario Kart! The Boozy Blondes love Mario Kart. Has anyone played Beerio Kart?

Anyway, there is Skee Ball and Air Hockey, pinball, vending machines full of surprises and a great selection of craft beer. Molly had the Just Like Old Times (Berliner Weisse with lactose, vanilla and orange) and Chrissy enjoyed the Palmer Arnold (sour).

The next stop on the tour was 3 Daughters Brewing. This is a large operation and offers multiple event spaces for your group. The day the girls visited, 3 Daughters released two beers: a peanut butter marshmallow blonde and mango habanero IPA.

After a flight and hot dog bites the girls moved on to Pinellas Ale Works (PAW). This brewery offers an extensive beer list. It’s a very pet friendly brewery and during happy hour $1 from each beer sold is donated to a local shelter.

Next stop was Avid Brew Company for “Christinas” and regular sized hot dogs. Christinas are half light lager or pale ale and half kombucha. Avid is a smaller brewery with a cute outdoor space.

The final stop was Green Bench and Webb’s City Cellar. They share a beer garden and Webb’s offers Mead. The girls tried all four of the local mead options on tap. Webb’s was closing down for an evening event so they hung out in the beer garden for a while – the boys got beers from Green Bench. *video of naming meads* So technically, the girls hit 6 stops on the Gulp Coast Craft Beer Trail. Green Bench and Webb’s each count individually. As of November 2021, the passport is now offered digitally so you can keep track of your stamps on your phone!