I have to admit I don’t remember that many of the beers at St. Pete Brewing Company. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.  We tend to remember things that are really bad and things that are really good. What this means is that I didn’t find any of the beers at St. Pete Brewing Company particularly bad or outstandingly good. Looking back over my notes, I wrote that many of the beers were typical or solid, meaning they embodied the traits of the style but didn’t go above and beyond. To me, this is a good thing.  The worst is to go out to a brewery expecting an IPA to be an IPA and instead be offered some odd contraption that the brewer interpreted as an IPA.  

St. Pete Orange Wheat was the first beer I tried here.  This is an easy drinking wheat beer with a slight nose of orange and a bit of orange on the tongue.  The wheat gives it a slightly bready flavor.  Great beer for hanging out on a summer day in Florida.

Milo’s IPA is named after a dog which instantly endeared me to this beer.  This was a good solid IPA that was on the less hoppy side. A great IPA for those not really into the hoppiness but want to be trendy and try an IPA.

Pinellas Pale Ale was a good pale ale with light hops and a bit of pine– perfect for a beer that is named PInellas which is derived from the Spanish word for pine. 

Grateful Stout was another good beer embodying what I think of as a stout. It has a good coffee like flavor. 

The Banyan Blonde didn’t have much nose but had the flavors typical of a Blonde Ale.

Evacuation Route ESB was another good solid beer embodying the flavors common to an ESB without overpowering bitterness. Not being a huge fan of ESBs, I was surprised to find that this one was so pleasing in taste. 

Overall the experience at St. Pete is satisfying.  You leave feeling you had beer that were typical of the style.  The atmosphere is also attractive, located downtown St. Petersburg. I actually didn’t even know that St. Petersburg had a real downtown until my visit.  I had always just seen the shopping malls along the interstate and figured it was “strip mall heaven” like Naples and most of Ft. Myers. I was pleasantly surprised to find a vibrant downtown with many restaurants and shops within easy walking distance of each other. So visit downtown St. Petersburg– two more breweries in downtown will appear in future blogs.