Welcome back, lushes! It’s time to fill our 6-packs once again, and this episode is all about celebrating the best breweries in Northeast Florida — as ranked by the girls’ very own Boozy Blondes Field Drinker, Tanya.
As a seasoned beer explorer who’s visited breweries all over the country, Tanya knows her way around a tap list. The Boozy Blondes challenged her to narrow it down to their home turf and rank her Top 6 Northeast Florida Breweries.
If Tanya sounds familiar, that’s because she first joined the podcast back in Season 2, Episode 040 (listen here), and the girls were thrilled to have her back to fill a 6-pack. But also, Molly and Chrissy filled their own 6-pack, and Tanya judged.
The girls met at Legacy Ale Works and enjoyed a variety of beers from their local Jacksonville brewery. Molly had the Pineapple Express Milkshake IPA, Chrissy sipped on The Front Porch American Stout, and Tanya enjoyed one of Legacy’s flagship beers, Hibbity Dibbity IPA.
Tanya divided the area of northeast Florida into three regions: north, middle and south. She consulted with her husband (also a craft beer drinking connoisseur), and they just couldn’t narrow it down to six. So Tanya brought two roadies with her, aka honorable mentions. Here is her list:
SOUTH
Legacy Ale Works | Tanya has been enjoying the beers at Legacy since its inception, and she loves the growth she’s seen there over the years. Retired Navy officers currently own the brewery, and offer events, family days, and have grown to operate a full kitchen!
Old Coast Ales | A Boozy Blondes’ fave! Old Coast is right next door to Osprey Tacos and who doesn’t love tacos and beer? This brewery started with just 10 gallons in a garage and has grown into a St. Augustine staple. And you can hear more about Old Coast in Episode 003 in the St. Augustine Breweries Pub Crawl episode (listen here). Her favorite combo is the Salt Run (gose) with the Cuban tacos at Osprey.
MIDDLE
Ink Factory Brewing | It’s a coffee shop and brewery! You can hear more about Ink Factory in Episode 050 Jax Ale Trail Volume 3 (listen here). Tanya loves the sours. And shout out to Hard Pressed Burgers parked outside and the Ink Factory swag!
Wicked Barley | “Naughty Ales for Noble Souls” Fun fact: you can paddle up to the brewery! They are home to a dog-friendly beer garden and event space. Tanya loves Blood Drive, a blood orange IPA. Wicked Barley also offers a full menu, including Sunday Brunch, complete with a mimosa flight. And they serve mead!
NORTH
First Love Brewing | Located in the Fernandina Beach area, Tanya literally stumbled upon this brewery driving around that area of town one day. They have a large beer selection and rotate taps every three weeks or so. The owner has tons of official boozy education…which poses the question, why did the Boozy Blondes not go to school for brewing?! Tanya says don’t miss their pizza! She loves the hot honey pepperoni pizza.
Mocama Brewing Company | Tanya loves that their beer is available in Publix, so if she can’t get to the tap room, she can stop by her neighborhood store and enjoy some at home anytime she wants! Prosim Pilsner is one of her faves, and she loves that four friends own this brewery.
As noted before, Tanya brought two roadies along for the ride since narrowing it down to just six proved to be an almost impossible task! Her honorable mentions are Aardwolf Brewing Company and Grace Note Brewing.
The girls present their 6-pack to Tanya and earned a solid B+. They filled their 6-pack with:
Definitely listen to this episode if you want a down and dirty description of some of the best breweries Northeast Florida has to offer! The Boozy Blondes are so thankful for their friend, and drinker in the field, for researching her faves and providing you lushes a great resources for checking out the beer scene in the Boozy Blondes’ home base.
Do you have a favorite brewery that missed the list? Leave a comment below and maybe the blondes can make a visit on a future episode! Cheers!
On May 4, 2024, the St. Augustine Craft Brewers’ Festival celebrated its 5th Anniversary at the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida! This is basically a Boozy Blonde’s playground and the girls recap the event in this episode so you can plan for the 2025 fest!
The festival offers three different ticket types: General Admission, VIP and Designated Driver:
General: (850)available, 1pm entry time, access to food trucks, live music and unlimited tastings – tasting glass provided by Ice Mule Coolers
VIP: (100) available, get you early entry (12pm), private bathrooms, an air-conditioned pavilion and catering provided by Meehan’s Irish Pub, a local favorite. You get guaranteed parking and a private beer station plus access to everything listed in general admission ticket description.
Designated Driver tickets: all proceeds benefit Epic Behavioral Healthcare, a non-profit specializing in the prevention and treatment of substance use and mental health disorders
There were almost 30 breweries on site at this event! The girls grabbed their tasting glass and tasting glass necklace (courtesy of Fishardy Fishing Carters) and took off running towards the closest brewery. They almost hit them all!
Dog Rose Brewing Co | hear Chrissy interview owner Courtney Murr in this episode who is also the Festival Director! Dog Rose is located in St. Augustine, Florida.
Ancient City Brewing| Another hometown brewery with two locations – one downtown and one over by the St. Augustine outlets. You can hear more about Ancient City in Episode 003.
Ruby Beach Brewing | Located in downtown Jacksonville, the girls stopped here before a Jags game in 2023.
Hourglass Brewing | The girls interviewed Ashley aka FloridaHopMama in Season 2, and she gifted them a collaboration beer from here Episode 029. At the festival, Chrissy drank Macro-Dose and it was 19.2%! Molly had the Margs on Deck – a crushable summer gose with black sea salt, coriander, lime and blue agave nectar (6.4%).
Pareidolia Brewing | The blondes were so excited to meet owners Pete and Lynn! This brewery is located in Sebastian, Florida, so about 2 hours south of St. Augustine, and the girls recap their visit in Episode 020. At the festival Molly tried the Citra Surfer, Citra forward juicy IPA with notes of grapefruit and Chrissy had the Don’t Be Blue…Berry a 5.3% wheat beer, with blueberries obviously.
Cask | Cask was there – Cowford Ale Sharing Klub. This is a group open to all who are of legal drinking age and who wish to learn and share information about home brewing. They have monthly meetings at local breweries to share and sample their homebrews and even host their own competitions. The girls met some of the members at the Palatka Beer Fest in November 2023.
Cueni Brewing Co | Cueni is in Dunedin, Florida, and if you visit their taproom, you’ll see they have the best flight boards!
Fishweir Brewing Company | The girls love Fishweir. They stopped there on their first leg of the Jax Ale Trail (Episode 006)! Molly drank the Kush Terpene Hazy (with no THC) and Chrissy enjoyed the Gatorade Seltzer.
Reve Brewing Co | Reve is another Jacksonville brewery, and at the festival the blondes met the owner Eric who is also a brewer and Mike, another brewer and his wife Jennifer. They brought two beers to the festival: Light Into Ashes (6.2% hazy IPA) and Far Side of Fantasy (6% sour with cherry, lime and lactose).
Alcatraz Brewing | The girls were too late to sample their beer! So sad. They sold out quickly – another reason to get the VIP tickets. That extra hour really helps to give you a jump on all the tastings.
Ivanhoe Park Brewing Co | The girls visited Ivanhoe in Orlando, Florida, not too long ago – October 2023 and loved it! At the festival they came armed with four beers – Joyland (7% American IPA), Park Hopp’r, a 5% pilsner, Halftoberfest, a 5.42% Vienna lager and Guavacation, a 4% berliner weisse beer with guava and raspberry.
First Magnitude Brewing Co | The girls both had the Anastasia Sour here – it had the prettiest can! It was a sour beer with raspberry, hibiscus and vanilla. First Magnitude is out of Gainesville, Florida.
Old Coast Ales | This is another St. Augustine brewery you can hear more about in Episode 003. The girls love hanging out here and love Osprey Tacos next door too!
Bog Brewing Co | And Bog was also there rounding out the St. Augustine breweries! You can hear more about Bog in Episode 003.
3 Mavins Brewing | They are based out of South Florida and use simple clean ingredients in their beer like honey, agave nectar and maple syrup. They brought their Amber Lager (6.2%), Encore Session IPA (4.7%) and the Pink Lady (5.5% pale ale).
Southern Swells Brewing Co | The girls visited Southern Swells on leg 3 of the Jax Ale Trail and you can hear all the details about this brewery in Episode 050!
Southern Philosophy Brewing Co | The Boozy Blondes really connected with Gallagher and Nicole at Southern Philosophy. They are located in western Georgia, and the girls really wish they were closer! They brought four beers with them: The Lagoon (4.1% lactose free sour conditioned on coconut with pineapple, clue curacao, Sicilian lemon, lime and tangerine puree), Cinco de Mustache (5.5% Mexican lager), Chipotle Smoked Porter (6.5%) and Sowega Honey Haze (8.3% IPA).
INK Factory | Another favorite of ours – you can hear all about Ink Factory in Episode 050 Jax Ale Trail Volume 3, including the amazing burger from Hard Pressed that was on site when we went. They had two beers at the festival – Surfadelic, a hazy pale ale and Triple Whip Volume 7, a smoothie sour with pineapple, mango, key lime and white chocolate!
Azalea City | Another Boozy Blondes favorite, out of Palatka, Florida. Molly had one of her faves, Fresh Squeeze Hazy IPA, and Chrissy had the Irish Coffee Stout. You can hear from Azalea City’s owner Andrea Canover in a behind the scenes interview Episode 035.
Dees Brothers Brewery | The girls were so excited to see Dees Brothers at the festival! They are located in Sanford, Florida, and the girls had just been there a couple weeks before the festival for Sanford’s Mini Masters event. And you can hear bout Dees Brothers in Episode 034 Sanford Breweries and Bars). Dees Brothers is a great brewery with amazing beer and equally amazing food. They brought Thunder & Lightning (7% American IPA), Dees Bier (5.6% Hefeweizen), Lakeside Pilsner (5.2% Czech style pilsner) and Aquadnauts (10% Belgian-style Quad).
De Bine Brewing Co | The blondes loved Zak. Zak is the head brewer and operations manager and De Bine which is located in Palm Harbor, Florida. They brought four beers with them: Safety Glasses (5% hazy IPA), Czechered Past (5.1% pilsner), Fire the Cannons (5.4% Red Ale) and Wappy Sprayberry (Mixed Berry Wheat 6-ish%).
Aardwolf Brewing Co | Aardwolf is another downtown Jacksonville brewery! They brought some Star Wars themed beers with them for the event – Princess Leia Cake (vanilla and lemon hazy IPA), The Power of the Darkside (Empire stout with coconut, banana and peanut butter), C3Pilso (just beer) and This is the Way (pistachio coconut sour).
Whew! Be sure to start looking for tickets in March 2025. This beer festival lives up to the hype. It’s in a beautiful location and hosts A TON of amazing breweries serving up great craft brews! Don’t miss it!
General Admission Tickets are $50 ($60 at the gate) or you can get VIP tickets for $120, which give you access to the festival an hour early, plus extra VIP perks.
The Craft Brewers’ Festival features unlimited beer tastings from over 25 craft breweries from North and Central Florida and the surrounding areas. And bonus! You get a custom souvenir tasting glass.
This festival is more than just beer. There’s live music, food trucks and fun boozy vendors like the Boozy Blondes who will be there getting their drink on and passing out swag so make sure you say hello and claim your free Boozy Blondes koozies and stickers.
Here’s a list of some of the breweries you can sample at the Craft Brewers’ Festival:
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!
The Boozy Blondes did it! Season 2 is in the books. It was full of special guests, amazing travel destinations and so much fun!
The girls celebrate this milestone with, what else, Champagne as their DOE! They reflect back on the 2023 season and highlight their guests, top moments, struggles and wins.
Those Boozy Blondes sure had a great group of boozy friends joining them in Season 2:
One of the blondes’ most favorite parts of creating and hosting this podcast is connecting with and meeting other amazing people passionate about the beverage industry! They are incredibly grateful for the time and enthusiasm all their guests provided this season (and in Season 1) for the Boozy Blondes Podcast!
Tune in to this episode to hear Chrissy’s favorite moments from this season (running the gamut from Paris, France to the Jax Beach Waffle House!) and how well Molly did meeting the goals she set for herself in Season 1.
The girls look forward to Season 3 and have fun libation vacations planned already! They are sending you a big cheers and thank you for reading this blog and listening to their ridiculous, yet resourceful, podcast. CHEERS!
Back in 2021 before the Boozy Blondes released their first podcast episode, they met Shelly and Jeff Denis during a St. Augustine Pub Pedal (listen to Episode 003 – Pub Pedal: St. Augustine Craft Breweries: Bog, Dog Rose, Ancient City and Old Coast Ales; the girls met Shelly during the “research” part of creating this episode). Shelly mentioned she and Jeff were opening a brewery in Yulee, Florida, in 2022. This was going to be the place where funky beer and funky beats collide – two things the girls are seriously passionate about – music and craft beer. The blondes (including Shelly, she’s blonde too!) exchanged information, and finally, about 7 months after it opened, Chrissy and Molly finally reunited with Shelly at Disco Witch Brewing.
There is so much going on at Disco Witch Brewing, it’s difficult to determine where to start. So, let’s start with the DOE. The girls split a flight (side note, the flight “paddles” are shaped as vinyl records! Totally appropriate given the obvious music theme at the brewery) that included Night Fever Porter (4.45% porter), Strawberry Fields Forever (6% wheat ale finished with strawberries and hibiscus blossoms), Strange Magic (Oktoberfest Marzen complete with a cinnamon and sugar rim), Earth Wind & Pretzels (6.7% blonde ale) and Breakfast in America (5% blonde ale finished with maple, bacon and brown sugar). Shelly was enjoying a pint of You Sexy Thing (4.7% milk stout brewed with marshmallow and chocolate). Does anyone else just love these names???
Guys. These beers are incredible – and Shelly releases new flavors and concoctions all the time – a few each month! She has no former experience in the craft beer world – she started this all herself, brewing on her pool deck when she moved to Florida in early 2020…and by early 2020, we mean six days before the Covid lockdown. So during the pandemic, she gave away about 2500 bottles of her home brew. And with raving reviews, she thought, I’m going to open a brewery.
Disco Witch Brewing is a 3650 sq. ft space just west of the intercostal in Yulee, Florida. Now at the time of this episode’s release, Disco Witch has officially opened its Broom Closet – an additional 1400 sp. ft of space with its own bar and 8 taps. We should mention the original space has 16 taps – all Disco Witch beer. They also serve seltzers and wine, NA beer, kombucha and CBD seltzers – something for everyone. So all together Disco Witch Brewing offers 2 bars, 5 restrooms and 24 taps.
Besides great beer, at Disco Witch you can find great events! Listen to this episode to learn about some the amazing events you can find – from karaoke to lip sync nights and drag bingo to comedy shows. There are Name That Tune nights and every Sunday, you can reserve your spot for Champagne and Charcuterie. Did we mention you can host private events in the Broom Closet? You can even rename one of Disco Witch beers for the night to correspond with your event theme! Be sure to follow Disco Witch on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with all the fun!
There is also the exclusive Beer Coven membership. Good luck getting in! This Coven takes traditional mug club memberships to the next level, and the girls are super jealous of all its members. Listen to this episode or ask about membership when you visit Disco Witch Brewing for more details.
Shelly is one of three female craft brewers in the area and a member of the Pink Boots Society. She is extremely passionate about giving back, and you can hear about the great causes she supports in this episode.
Shelly is truly an inspiration, and the girls are blown away by her ambition, generosity, humility and strength. Cheers!
Eavesdrop on the Boozy Blondes in Hyperion Brewing’s adorable beer garden as they dish with Hyperion’s Director of Marketing, Aprill Lundgren! Hyperion is a family-owned nano-brewery in the Springfield neighborhood of Jacksonville serving fantastic-tasting beers with bold flavors! Hyperion was the first stop on the girls’ Jax Ale Trail Volume 2 tour (episode 021).
The DOE is Water My Lawn, a 4% sour with lip-puckering watermelon flavor. (While the Boozy Blondes enjoyed this beer, Aprill sipped on Porchfest Gold, an easy-drinking 5% golden ale.)
Hyperion Brewing opened its doors in 2017. Aprill’s home-brewing friend wanted to take things to the next level. After looking for investors, they pitched the idea to Aprill’s parents, with the intention of her parents cluing them in to the holes in their presentation. To their surprise, Aprill’s parents loved the pitch so much, they wanted to invest and be a part of the operation!
Hyperion got its name through the inspiration of a special beer. Aprill once drank a beer called Kronos which made quite the impact on her. Kronos is part of the Titan Series in the Hyperion Universe which is how the name came to be. From here the team adopted a celestial vibe in the brewery and beer names, such as Selene Citrine (5.4% blonde ale with blood orange) and Phoebe’s PB (6.5% porter with a rich peanut butter flavor).
There are 15 rotating taps at Hyperion and in addition to Water my Lawn, the girls split a flight with Neopolitan Dreams (5.4% porter), Phoebe’s PB and Selene Citrine. They really, really enjoy the beers here. Hyperion invested in a reverse osmosis water filtration system, which strips the Jacksonville water they use of hard elements and controls the exact water profile of each beer they brew. The girls believe this 100% makes a difference in quality and taste and attributes to why Hyperion’s beers really stand out and are so delicious!
The brewery also includes a taproom, Chef’s Corner kitchen (hello, Sunday brunch!) and beer garden perfect for hosting events such as showers, fundraisers and even weddings! Hyperion offers fun events like trivia, drag bingo, storytelling, yoga and has a run club (note, there are few things the Boozy Blondes would willingly run for – 1. a good sale or 2. if they are being chased and running for their lives or 3. for beer #willrunforbeer). Follow Hyperion on Facebook and Instagram to keep up weekly events.
Another amazing and unique aspect of Hyperion (there are so many!) is the Helios Brewer’s Experience. If you want to get your hands dirty and be a brewer for a day, take advantage of this opportunity! As head brewer you partner with Hyperion’s Brew Master to bring your boozy vision to life. Choose what type of beer to brew and what flavor profiles you want it to have. It’s hands-on learning from scooping grains, weighing out hops and doing quality control checks (yes, it’s a full day of work!). Your beer will be featured in the tap room too! (Above it is mentioned Hyperion hosts weddings – what is more special than serving your guests your own craft beer?!)
The Boozy Blondes loved their time with Aprill, and they absolutely love Hyperion Brewing. They definitely want to book a day as boozy brewers with the Helios Brewer’s Experience and have already started daydreaming about the perfect boozy blonde beer!
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!
Molly & Chrissy on the JAX Ale Trail
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.
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
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!
Chrissy at Fishweir
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!
Boozy Blondes 