The Boozy Blondes kick off Season 3 of the Boozy Blondes podcast with Volume 3 of the Jax Ale Trail series! If you listened to Jax Ale Trail Vol. 2 in Season 1 of the podcast (Episode 021), the blondes promised to bring a valuable and resourceful episode in Vol. 3. (Vol. 2 was a little fuzzy, so while entertaining, there were some gaps in the details, but come on, who hasn’t forgotten some things while day drinking?) Listen in, and you’ll see they achieved that goal! Tune in to this aggressive leg of the Jax Ale Trail (5 breweries plus 3 bonus beach bars) to learn about what Jax Beach in Northeast Florida has to offer the drinking crowd.
The DOE is Jekyll Brewing Sour Thangs Orange Cranberry, a 5.5% fruited sour. Jekyll Brewing happened to be the first stop on the Ale Trail too. With the boozy bros in tow, the girls stopped here first for “quality beer, delicious food and chill vibe,” as its slogan reads. It did not disappoint. Jekyll Brewing has five locations where they brew beer and also distill spirits and make wine! A triple threat! Chrissy drank the Pack of Mules made with ginger beer, lime and house vodka. (Insider tip, you can order this drink with gin or bourbon if you prefer.)
Molly enjoyed a flight of Earth Mother (4% Cucumber Lime gose), Sour Thangs Watermelon, Lime & Hibiscus (5.5% Sour), Moon Peeps (5.2% blackberry flavored Belgian Wit) and Southern Juice IPA (6.3%). Phil also enjoyed Southern Juice and Rainer drank the El Chapo Margarita infused with jalapeño. The group had their base food here too splitting fish and chips, pork sliders and pork rinds.
The group headed west and crossed the street to check out Green Room Brewing, Jacksonville Beach’s first microbrewery! This brewery has an extensive tap list with 7 permanent taps and 9 rotating taps, releasing a new beer every Thursday! This pet-friendly brewery does not serve food, but you can bring your own. Chrissy loved the She Doesn’t Even Go Here (5% blueberry seltzer) and Molly couldn’t decide on just one, so indulged in another flight: Count Shakula (6.2% Oatmeal Stout), Fruit on the Bottom – Apricot Peach (4.2% sour), Diamond Blueberry (5% blonde ale) and Panty Vigilante (11.8% Belgian Quadruple with black currant). Phil enjoyed a NEIPA Hazy and Rainer had a spicy Mexican lager – La Ola.
Ink Factory Brewing was next, a short walk to the west of Green Room. This brewery is home to a microbrewery, cowork and espresso bar – the Boozy Blondes office dream! Caffeine fix in the morning, work in one of the conference room, then head downstairs to happy hour. What more could you ask for? Ink Factory had great beer and even better swag – there’s a surf shop here too! Think of this brewery like a bakery – fresh beer on tap every day, but once it’s gone, it’s gone for the day. So get here early to enjoy all the taps. Chrissy had a 7% Bahama Breeze seltzer – Breezy Bits. Molly and Phil got the Fun Foam (6% Milkshake IPA), and Rainer drank Factory Kolsch (5.2%).
It was time to eat again, and THE BEST food truck was parked at Ink Factory. Hard Pressed Burgers. Jacksonville’s best burger according to the Boozy Blondes. Definitely made the top 5 list of Chrissy’s worldwide best burgers list! Follow them on Instagram to see where they will pop up next and do yourself a favor – EAT ONE. It’s a simple smash burger with thinly shaved onion, house pickles, garlic aioli and American cheese. The meat mix is house made, and the girls are still drooling over this burger.
A half mile west of Ink Factory is Southern Swells Brewing Co, the fourth stop on Jax Ale Trail Vol. 3. Southern Swells offers a full bar! The patio is pet friendly, and while they don’t serve food, their share a courtyard with Talkin’ Tacos, so you can get your beer snacks there. The group played a game of shuffleboard while enjoying their drinks – Chrissy sipped on The Duval, an 11% electric blue sweltzer cocktail complete with a mustache swivel stick. Molly enjoyed Spicy Cukes, a 6% sour ale infused with cucumber and jalapeno and Phil had Karate in the Garage (6.8% NEIPA). No one can remember what Rainer drank here.
This day happened to be the first Jacksonville Jaguars preseason game, and with 75% of the group excited for this event, they hurried farther west down the street to Engine 15 Brewing Co. to catch the game. Engine 15 hosts 30 tap lines! Try to find a beer you won’t like here! Chrissy drank Sour Sara (5.8% strawberry guava sour) and Molly drank It’s Your Blood (5.2% Irish Red Ale). Phil enjoyed Sunday Funday (4.6% session IPA) while Rainer had the J’Ville Lager (5%).
The theme for this adventure was food every other stop, so it was time to eat again. The girls each had a hot dog and chips, and Molly added mac and cheese to hers which was reminiscent of Kraft blue box – so perfect for this point of the day!
So they did it! They hit the five breweries in Jax Beach, but the night wasn’t over yet. The group grabbed an Uber and started their tour of three Jax Beach staples – Lynch’s Irish Pub, The Ritz and The Brix. Lynch’s offers a full bar, live music, a menu packed with Irish staples and 42 beers on tap!
The Ritz and The Brix are located near each other. The Ritz opened its doors in 1945 and it still a “great place to meet” almost 80 years later! The Brix has a great outside courtyard and a million giant-sized tvs inside great for watching the game.
To wrap up the gang hit the Waffle House across the street from their hotel for some class late-night bites.
The blondes went four for four on Jax Beach breweries listed in their Jax Ale Trail passports (Jekyll Brewing opened after the passports the blondes own were created)! Predictions for Vol. 4 are that the girls will travel around Jacksonville’s southside area.
Be sure to follow all these fun locations on Instagram and stay tuned for Jax Ale Trail Vol. 4!
- Jekyll Brewing | @jekyllbrewing
- Green Room Brewing | @greenroombrew
- Ink Factory Brewing | @inkfactorybrewing
- Southern Swells Brewing Co | @southernswells
- Engine 15 Brewing Co | @engine15brewing
- Lynch’s Irish Pub | @lynchsirishpub
- Ritz | @theritzbar
- Brix | @brixjaxbeach
Cheers!
Boozy Blondes 