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We needed a break from the outrageous prices of Nashville so we shot east for the weekend to try out more breweries at the home of the Volunteers. This places truely defines craft beer using local, craft ingredients and a focus on community support. It is an independently owned, small batch brewery offering nothing but real beer. No seltzers, no sours or anything bougie – just good beer. We had a Hand Crank pale ale and a Karmic Rap Sheet hazy IPA along with a bag of Fritos Chili Cheese corn chips. Yumo!

This place is a little hard to find and should have been called Nowhere. Located in an up and coming redeveloped area, this swanky but friendy brewery was mostly local folks that seemed to be regulars. They were very dog-friendly and had the Kentucky Derby on all the TVs. We had the Idol cream ale and Viridity west coast IPA which were very tasty.

This brewery claims to be voted #2 Brewery In America by USA Today. I call bullshit. USA Today don’t know jack about beer or the tap room experience. Not sure what their criteria was but it ain’t right. Sure, it’s a cool setup like many other places but after 725 breweries, we are pretty sure we know what a Top 10 brewery looks like and this place can’t rate as #2 in the nation. We were in the mood for a couple of blondes so we had the Calamity Jane and the Hail Southern. We would rate these beers as average.

This dog-centric brewery is a perfect stop for today since we have our newest puppy Elvee with us. We rolled into this place with high expecations since their beers are German-inspired. We tried the Zum Bamberg smoked marzen and the Izar Haze hazy hefeweizen. Both beers were modern infusions between old-world recipes with a new twist. I mean, smoked marzen? A hazy hefe? Crazy but good!

Google Maps says we stopped at this place back in March 2020 when we were in town for the race but didn’t blog about it. Turns out, they were closed due to Covid so we didn’t get to try any of the beer. This time, they were wide open for business with a full array of outdoor adult activities including basketball, Frizbee mini-golf, ping pong, a giant Connect 4 and of course corn hole. We tried the Juice Quest hazy IPA and the Amber ale while ducking the runaway Fizbees. Both beers were slightly above average and were a good clean start to the afternoon.

Our last stop for the night in Ocala, we detoured south just west of I-75 to check out the 3rd brewery in town. This bustling brewery has quite the variety of beers and just happens to be having locally popular Trivia Night. It was so popular that you needed a reservation to sit i side so we had to sit outside to enjoy our Paid Time Off german lager and Gonna Be May marzen and watch the sun set.

The official name is “brewery” but this place is more than that. We had a few laughs and called this place “banana hammock” brewery. They only offer a couple of their own beers and a lot of guest beers but they are known locally for their food. We had both of their in-house beers: the Lemon Point hazy IPA and the Fossilized Turtle tripel along with an appitizer of Gyoza pork pot stickers and a Cong You Bing pot roast pancake. Wow! The food and beers were awesome. Even though we aren’t big fans of lemon, the Point was surprizingly delicious.

There is more than just ale at this place. You can get a little bit of everything here. Not only do they brew beer, but they also distill their own vodka, make their own craft sodas and have locally made Outlaw craft corn chips. And, they have one tap handle that serves cold brew coffee on nitro. Veeerrrry interesting! We had the Limitless Red Ale and the Into The Haze pineapple hazy which was really refreshing on a hot day! We also walked out with a couple of bags of the Honey Siracha and Chili Lime Blaze corn chips.

Drove by this place on the way to a Scottish pub to eat and just had to stop when heading back to the hotel. Good idea! With a little over a dozen beers on tap, most were either DIPA’s or stouts but the stouts were the highlight. Played it safe with the Red Is The Irish Cream and it was delicious but the cookie inspired stouts were very tempting. The Samoa, the Oreo, the Chocalate Peanut Butter and the Caramel Fudge Brownie all sounded bonkers so I broke down and got 5 oz pours of the last three. Well, it was a bit disappointing. They all tasted about the same.

We made the journey into the heart of town with great anticipation to check out this newly opened brewery. This hip brewery attracts the yuppies living in apartments just a block or two away from all the dowtown action. We sat outside and enjoyed an American Garage west coast IPA and a Minson’s Irish Red ale while taking in the smells of the Asian food truck and the Reggae tunes from house sound system. To our surprize, we noticed the beer menu had an imperial hazy IPA called Double Ditch so we had to order one and send a pic to our Brandon friends who created the term “ditch beer” back in our Old Chicago days. Flash back!