Finding The Best Craft Beers in Dunedin Florida
Dunedin is easily one of our favorite little towns in the Tampa Bay Area. Located just 20 miles outside of Tampa Bay, it is sooooooo worth the small drive toward the beach to check out all this town has to offer. With one of the best beaches we have ever been to, the best festivals, local beer, and a booming craft beer scene, Dunedin is one of our favorite little gems.
We love the craft beer in the Bay Area, and the breweries in Dunedin have particular magic to them. They’re so cute and have really got the beer brewing down to a science. Since Travis and I just love craft beer, we set ourselves on a mission to find the absolute best craft beer in Dunedin. Of course, this is all up to your own personal preference depending on the types of beer that you favor. Also, that obviously didn’t matter to us so we set out to find the best craft beer anyway.
This is what we came up with.
Soggy Bottom Brewery
Soggy Bottom has been open for exactly 343 days when we ventured into the brewery for the first time. We know this because when we asked the owner, he proudly pointed to the wall where it was posted. They have been in business for just under a year.
We were greeted by the bartender when we arrived, who ended up being absolutely awesome. We weren’t in SBB for long but he made the experience fun. He was super knowledgeable and answered all of our questions while still maintaining a full bar. His recommendations were on point, and I may have found one of my new favorite beers!
Recommendations: Blood Orange Sweet Tart (sour). Berliner weise. 4.0%
Peach Fuzz IPA. 7.0%
Caledonia
Caledonia has a cool Sottish theme to it. It is housed in the old Dunedin Times building which is an interesting building in itself. We sat in the cutest corner which was just perfect for my daily Instagram picture. There was also a small outside area.
The bartender was very personable and also worked at their distillery. I think he knew everything there was to know about Caledonia which is great. He showed us some great beers. Again we tried the flight here so we could try four of their best craft beers. We enjoyed ourselves at Caledonia but left after one beer flight because we were getting very hungry. Travis would say I got hangry. They only have small snacks so make sure you fill up before coming.
Recommendations: Citradonia Bloody Harsch IPA. Bloody orange + key lime. 7%
Smash you up Denali IPA. 5.2%
Dunedin Brewery
Dunedin Brewery is the absolute oldest craft brewery in Florida! It took about 15 years for a local neighbor to open up. Dunedin Brewery is known for its Apricot Peach wheat beer. Many people try to find it at local pubs and from what I understand it is not easy to find. We immediately ordered an Apricot Peach beer and food because we were obviously withering away. We also got a flight of 4 of the best beers that we asked the bartender to choose.
We were actually disappointed by the Apricot Peach beer. I don’t know if it was because we were too excited from the hype or if it was because the beer was way too warm but either way it was not our favorite. Surprisingly I think we wasted more than half of it. I do have to say the wings were great. They were expensive but ended up being worth it. They had lots of meat and were very crispy.
Recommendations: Gisteren (pronounced hester-en). Session Ale. 5.6%
Red Head Red. American Amber. 5.5%
Not Apricot Peach
Woodwright
Talk about all wood everything! Woodwrigt Brewing Company has a really cool homey ambiance to it that we love. There is a loft area upstairs that is perfect for lounging! It is also perfect for a new Instagram or Facebook picture.
I absolutely LOVE German beer. They really seem to have it figured out. There have been multiple occasions where I mentioned my love for German beer at another brewery and I was referred to Woodwright. I think it is awesome that their brew is respected enough in the community to be recommended by its competitors. I think that also says a lot about the owners and their good relationship with the community.
7venth Sun Brewery
7venth Sun Brewery has a great central location to all of the other breweries. It was perfect to stop here in between brewery hopping through Dunedin. The inside area is very small and there is no seating, so you have to sit outside! I love that they provide bug spray because I am so incredibly bug-prone. Travis is very conscious of it and always makes sure I am protected with bug spray. If we didn’t have bug spray he wouldn’t let us stay because he knows by the time we leave I will have 25 mosquito bites and probably the Zika top 5 virus.
We got a flight to try their top 5 craft beers. We both quickly agreed that the “Ask My Husband” was our favorite beer. It is a sour IPA which neither of us has had before. We absolutely loved it and we want it by the keg. Head Banger was a good beer too but would have been much better served in a cold glass. The Dinkin Flicka was a cool beer as well, that we only got a sample of. It is made it coconut, lime, orange, and orange blossom honey. I will be back for a full hour next time. The “Dinkin Flicka” is apparently a reference from “The Office” but I don’t watch television, so I don’t get it. At least the taste was great.
Recommendations: Ask My Husband. Sour IPA. 6.2%.
Dinkin Flicka. Berliner. 4.5%.
Headbanger. American IPA. 6.5%.
Cueni Brewing Company
Pronounced “coo-knee”, Cueni Brewing Company is one of the newest breweries Dunedin, Florida. It opened its doors in 2017 and did not disappoint. We spent our time sitting outside, with a nice view of that Pinellas Trail. The inside was a bit small and packed, but we went on a Sunday so that was expected.
I drank the Red-Headed Step Child & Travis tried their Belgian 3 way as per the bartender’s suggestion. We loved them both! I also liked the Cranberry Crime scene Wit. It got very humid so we continued on. We will definitely be back for more of Cueni.
Recommendations: Red-Headed Step Child. Red IPA. 6.5%
Belgian 3 way. Belgian Tripel. 8.5%.
Cranberry Crimescene Wit. Witbeer with hibiscus and cranberry. 5.2%.
Dunedin House Of Beer
D-HOB is a local little staple in Dunedin. It is open late night where you can find many young adults hanging out. There is a run down little patio area that the town seems to love. There’s nothing fancy about this hole in the wall style bar but we love it nonetheless. It never takes long to get a beer even when they’re busy which is nice. They also offer 40 beers on tap so it has more of a variety than most of it’s local competition.
They create their own craft beer as well as sell many local and foreign beers. I love the variety of the rotating taps here. They brew a Cool Cucumber IPA that I have fallen in love with. It is the perfect balance between the cucumber flavor and the hops. We also love their Peanut Butter Blonde Ale which all of our friends often buy. Sometimes if you sit in the patio area, there is a guy who will draw our caricature for a small donation. He is not pushy and will only ask one time. A random local bought a caricature of us together! You never know what experience you are going to get at HOB.
Recommendations: Cool Cucumber IPA. 6.9%.
Peanut Butter Blonde Ale. 5.9%.
Mango Hefeweizen. 5.4%.
Although we expected Dunedin Brewery’s Apricot Peach beer to win the best craft beer in Dunedin, we have to take our hats off to a few others. We found great beers at each brewery we visited. There is really something for everyone! The beer we enjoyed the most on our brewery tour was the Blood Orange Sweet Tart from Soggy Bottom Brewery as well as the Ask My Husband IPA from 7venth Sun Brewery. We can’t wait to go back, try even more beer, and find new favorites!
Have you tried any local craft beers in Dunedin Florida? What are your favorites? Please let us know!
Luckily for YOU, we also filmed our journey through the breweries in Dunedin. Be sure to check out our Youtube video and subscribe! Come have fun with us!
