Why Every Beer Lover Needs to Visit Jacksonville

If you’re a beer lover, Jacksonville needs to be on your beer bucket list. Not only does the area have more than 20 breweries on the Jax Ale Trail, it also has some great food and hidden gems to accompany your pint.

4. Pairing the freshest seafood with craft beer

Jacksonville is Florida’s shrimp capital and commercial fishing has played a large part in the city’s history. The local shrimp, called Mayport Shrimp, are caught at the mouth of the St. John’s River where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. These tasty shrimp can be enjoyed throughout the city’s local restaurant scene. You can participate in the Mayport Shrimp & Seafood Trail to find all the best spots in the city to try this local delicacy and other fresh seafood. Some of the same restaurants that craft creative dishes with these shrimp also serve beer from local craft breweries. An IPA like Aardwolf Brewing’s Nonchalant IPA and Dockside Seafood’s Bangin’ Shrimp Tacos are a match made in heaven.

3. Exploring barrel-aged beer

Jacksonville’s Reve Brewing is the brainchild of co-founders veteran brewer Eric and Vanessa Luman. Eric has brewed at several breweries in Jacksonville dating back to the late 1990s, and when Eric and Vanessa opened Reve, Eric promised he was only going to explore the beer styles he particularly enjoyed. Those beers included a fascination with imperial stouts aged in used spirit barrels. Each week, Eric tries to release a new beer that has been aged in a used spirit barrel, usually bourbon, and sometimes aged with an adjunct ingredient like coffee, cookies, bananas, walnuts, etc.

2. Fresh tacos made inside a craft brewery

While many taquerias can have a limited beer selection, Tepeyolot Cerveceria in Jacksonville’s San Marco neighborhood dishes up authentic Mexican food at a brewery. Dreaming of an American barleywine with beef nachos? It’s possible. What about an amber lager with a zwickelbier with a meal of masa cakes? Absolutely. Salsa, guacamole, and queso with a house-made hazy IPA? Look no further. The food and beer combinations are only limited by the visitor’s imagination and what happens to be on draft at the moment.

1. One of the largest beer cellars in the southeastern United States

Kickbacks Restaurant and Goozlepipe & Guttyworks are one establishment with many hidden gems, including one of the largest beer cellars in the southeastern United States. Upon entry, Kickbacks can be mistaken for a normal pub. The menu is extensive and caters to many different tastes, including the late-night crowd. The bar boasts a 200-beer tap list, with a good portion of the draft menu curated by owner Steve Flores to include vintage beers that have been aged in Kickbacks cellar.

While the draft list is a reading list unto itself, it doesn’t hold a candle to Kickbacks’ cellar list. The pub has a downstairs beer cellar that many patrons don’t even know exists. The not-so-secret cellar stores about 75,000 vintage bottles of beer that have been painstakingly aged by Steve. The best part – no secret handshake is needed to order from the cellar list, patrons simply need to ask for the cellar menu to taste any number of bottles of this liquid art.

Ready to plan your trip to Jacksonville? Download the VISIT JAX APP today to get started.

Explore More

Jax Ale Trail

Jacksonville's craft beer scene continues to grow, and you're not going to want to miss out on this beer-related adventure.

October 16–17, 2026

Beaches Oktoberfest

Beaches Oktoberfest at Seawalk Pavilion in Jacksonville Beach is North Florida’s premier German celebration.

Author

Mark DeNote

Local Expert Guest