I am writing my entire review as I sit here at the brewery, drinking their beers.
Location: Grand Central Brewhouse in sunny St. Petersburg, FL. (Grand Central District)
Rating: 10/10!
Everything is awesome! The End.
Ok, obviously I’ve got to give you a little more insight into my experience. But… *Spoiler* the beer is good!
Ok, let’s start from the beginning shall we.
First off, the building itself is eye-catching. As you pull up to the brewery right off of central avenue, you can already tell a lot of effort was put into making this brewery special. The structure of the building is very modern. Tall brick pillars with wide open windows providing a very spacious open concept feel.
Right as you walk inside they have a beautiful, clean main tap room surrounded by roll up garage windows. With windows looking into the brewing area to give you that feel of being close to the beer.
They have an upstairs with more taps, TV’s and huge windows overlooking central avenue, as well as windows allowing you to look down into the brewery from above. The upstairs leads into a really nice outside deck with couches and tables. The deck overlooks the outside courtyard area, as well as central avenue.
This courtyard is what brings the whole experience together. It has outdoor games and plenty of seating, with a surprisingly nice breeze flowing through to keep the area bearable in the summer. They team up with a local sandwich shop ‘The Studio Public House’ for food, and advertise live music and local events during the weekends for entertainment as well. Overall, the atmosphere of Grand Central Brewhouse is second to none when it comes to quality and size.
I just finished my first beer, on to the next…
So the real question is how is the beer?
One of the main things I enjoy about this brewery is the unique styles of beer they brew. They always seem to have multiple European style beers on tap, which is a nice refreshing change to the usual beer styles you see around the area. But to answer the questions, their beer has yet to disappoint. As a matter of fact, so far my beers have been spot on perfection.
The selection of beer on tap helps to keep things interesting, and the taste will keep you coming back for more.
As I am writing, I am trying out the “Sweep the Leg, Johnny” a Rauchbier, which is a German style smoked beer (Wikipedia is telling me that they dry out the barley with an open flame to give the beer that taste). It’s delicious!
Surprisingly light and easy to drink. I don’t think I’ve ever had a Rauchbier beer before, and I am pleasantly surprised at how good it is.
The first beer I had was the “The Dude Abides IPA”. I always find myself starting with the most popular IPA the brewery makes. That way I get a good feel for whether or not I wanna stay for a second round. This IPA was slightly hazy, with plenty of hops. I really enjoyed it!
Full Disclosure on the beer tasting topic, I am not an expert on this shit. I don’t brew beer, I don’t smell or sip it to taste the different hops or flavor profile. What I DO do is drink a lot of it, any style. I do not discriminate. If you tell me a brewery has a sour that I have to try, I’m going to go try it. I am here to drink beer and have a good time.
Now, this doesn’t mean I won’t tell you if a beer is bad. I’m just not actively trying to be that guy. To be honest, I have not tried too many beers that I didn’t like. Well, let me rephrase that… I haven’t tried too many beers that I don’t “appreciate” the flavors is what I’m trying to say.
Ok, back to Grand Central Brewhouse…
Moral of the story is, if you are ever in the St. Pete area looking for a well made beer, there is no shortage of options around here that’s for sure. I would definitely recommend Grand Central Brewhouse to the list of places to check out, if you haven’t already.
To recap, the atmosphere and space makes it a great destination any day of the week. The unique beer selection and brewing style adds a little excitement to the craft beer experience.
As a matter of fact, I like this place so much you just might find me here sipping on their classic Vienna lager a few times a week.
Final thoughts…
10/10. My experience was great, and I’ll probably be back tomorrow. The End.
