The best brews at the Craft Beer Expo in St. Petersburg, Florida

Craft Beer Expo St. Petersburg July 2010 Craft beer is becoming more and more popular and with the rise in popularity, there’s been a surge in beer tastings. Nearly every city hosts brew-centric events and most feature prominent national craft beers along with regional and local offerings.

The Tampa Bay area has a solid craft beer following and hosts several tastings throughout the year. The 3rd annual Craft Beer Expo was held in St. Petersburg, Florida on Saturday, July 31st, 2010, in the expansive and historic St. Pete Coliseum. Huge venue, huge event.

There were over 100 craft beers from over 25 breweries to sample, along with a delicious cheese pairing. Rogue, Dogfish Head, Bells, and Sierra Nevada were some of the larger breweries in attendance. Local favorites Cigar City and Saint Somewhere brought their tasty contributions as well.

Events like this are a good opportunity to expand your palate and try some styles you wouldn’t normally drink. It’s also an opportunity to try some specialty beers that aren’t easily found. There were many great craft beers available to sample like the interesting Pangaea from Dogfish Head Brewery, made with ingredients from all seven continents. Another highlight was the spicy Chipotle Ale from Rogue Brewery and the Rye Squared was a delicious, hoppy surprise from Georgia’s Terrapin Brewery. The Retro Red was a malty and solid offering from The Fort Collins Brewery out of the Colorado and Stone Brewery’s Smoked Porter was fantastic. But the highlight of the tasting came from the elusive and rare Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout, a decadent, layered, and massive 11.5 % abv offering brewed by Tampa’s own Cigar City Brewery.

All in all, it was a fun beer tasting well worth the $25 price of admission, particularly for those arriving early. There should have been fewer tickets sold and there should have been enough commemorative tasting glasses for everyone. After a couple of hours, many left in search of St. Pete’s trendy beer bars like The Independent as the lines became too long to justify and the latecomers received cheap, generic, plastic cups. But, there were many delicious craft beers to sample, along with some good music and a great crowd, all in a historic and cool venue, making this a successful and solid event.