By Jen Ring
There are 29 beers on tap at Sparkman Wharf’s LightHaus. Twenty-one are made in Florida. Seventeen right in the Tampa Bay area—18 if you count Yuengling, which now brews in Tampa in addition to Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
There are ciders from Keel Farms in Plant City and 3 Daughters Brewing in St. Pete, IPAs from Tampa Bay Brewing Company, Big Storm Brewing Company, Cigar City Brewing, and Magnanimous Brewing, lagers from Florida Avenue Brewing Company and BarrieHaus Beer Company, wheat beers, pale ales, and the occasional pilsner.
With more than 100 craft breweries, Tampa Bay is home to an enviable amount of local beer brewed in its backyard. You’d have to drink beer (or serve it) for a living to make sense of the many options, so we asked some folks who do just that—bartenders and bar managers at some of the city’s best taprooms—about Tampa’s favorite local suds.
LightHaus
LightHaus is a biergarten in the heart of Sparkman Wharf, one that gets pretty busy with all the bustling activity in the area. LightHaus bartenders John Atkinson and Chelsea Solano serve lots of beer and cite Jai Alai and Yuengling as Tampa’s top two selling beers at their bar. Atkinson’s personal favorite is Bromosa Tangerine, a mimosa-inspired Tangerine IPA made at Clearwater’s Big Storm Brewery.
“But I think the one that’s been really popular is called Juice Lord,” he says.
On the opposite end of the beer spectrum, Solano likes sours and ciders, two things Tampa Bay area brewers do well. Solano’s favorite sour beer is Hidden Springs’ Riot Juice, a Florida Berliner Weisse with blackberry, lime and vanilla flavors.
“The craft beer scene in Tampa is just so further ahead than everybody else,” says Lucien “Luc” Bonvovioir, who works for Big Storm, whose Bromosa and Pirate’s Fortune are both giant local hits. “I mean, there’s companies like Tampa Bay Brewing Company and 3 Daughters and Green Bench. They all just make phenomenal beer. Coppertail,” Bonvovioir continues. “This is one of the most competitive craft beer markets just because the beer that everybody makes is so good. And then, obviously, this is the perfect place to try them all.”
Yard House
Yard House opened across the street from Amalie Arena in December of 2023. Bar manager Will Sollars is a stout lover, but sells mostly lighter beers—the kind you could drink half a yard or 32 ounces of, the Yard House signature.
“Tampa is more of a light beer, easy drinking kind of city, especially when they’re going to the arena right before an event,” says Sollars.
Bartender Annie Scarborough, a Hazy IPA fan, recommends Magnanimous’ Juice Lord and Cigar City’s Fancy Papers. Her colleague Ethan Depiro, a server at Yard House, is also a Hazy IPA fan. His top five Tampa beers, in order, are Magnanimous’ Juice Lord, Common Dialect’s Refractive Error, Angry Chair’s Space Grass, Coppertail’s Unholy, and Cigar City’s Florida Man.
Coppertail Brewing Company
At Coppertail a beer flight is the way to go. There are simply too many good beers to choose from. The destination brewery on the outskirts of Ybor City has a combination of year-round favorites and seasonal brews on tap. Bartender Erin Gough recommends “Sun Runner” or “Florida Special” as a good summer choices, light and refreshing. No matter, you can’t go wrong at Coppertail.
Magnanimous Brewing
Magnanimous is home of the Juice Lord, a Hazy IPA, which is hugely popular around the city. It’s so well-loved in Tampa, in fact, at Magnanimous they keep more than one version of it on tap, says bartender Evan Gilstrap. Juice Lord Almighty is a Triple IPA with an ABV of 10.5% (compared to Juice Lord’s 7.5% ABV). For light beer drinkers, Gilstrap recommends Magnanimous’ golden European-style lager, Golden Rule, and Zurg, a Czech-style lager.
BarrieHaus Beer Company
BarrieHaus has brewed four award-winning beers, a Dortmund-style lager (Tampa Export), a Vienna-style lager (Family Tradition), a Czech-style Pilsner (Bublina) and a Munich Dunkel (The Dark). The beer at this Ybor City brewery, which opened in 2019, can sometimes be served in a dimpled mug, per German beer garden tradition, with three fingers of foam on top. It’s called a Hladinki pour, which BarrieHaus explains in educational pamphlets placed on their tables.
But even if the Tampa brewery you find yourself in doesn’t have handy learning materials at the ready, bartenders at all its favorite beer-heavy spots are knowledgeable about their craft (beer) and can recommend a great brew for you and your crew. Cheers!