Brewing in the Warehouse Arts District of St. Petersburg since last December, 3 Daughters, 222 22nd St. S., has opened its doors to beer lovers and students around the bay.
The 3 Daughters Brewery and Tasting Room has a decided openness to it, a constant reminder this place is all about the beer.
The tasting room is built out of leftover materials from the building of the brewery. It leads into the giant warehouse, where patrons play shuffleboard next to porters aging in wooden barrels, and brewers work steadily to make the next batch, tours weaving around them and admiring the 2-story-tall fermentation tanks.
“We really wanted the room to have the feel of the brewery itself, for patrons to be able to feel like they’re in the brewery no matter where they are,” said Mike Harting, owner of 3 Daughters and downtown St. Petersburg restaurant Bella Brava. “Everything is open, anything you want to see you can see. You can walk out there, drink a beer and watch us keg the next 30 barrels.”
The tasting room can be a cozy place for a few people to enjoy a beer, though it was large enough to fit 1,500 people for the grand opening in December. They’ve built a stage for music, giving adults plenty to like, though also maintain a miniature golf course and even have plans to brew a root beer to keep a family friendly environment.
The whole thing started innocuously enough as an experiment on a menu item.
“Two years ago, we were talking about what else we could do to make our restaurant as fresh as possible.” Harting said. “We had a beer battered fish on the menu and decided to brew our own beer for it.”
Chef Ty Weaver, now head brewer at 3 Daughters, came up with a golden ale for the dish. They liked the beer so much they put it on tap. When the single tap handle soared to 30 percent of beer sales, they knew they were on to something and kept experimenting with different brews.
“It was too much fun,” Harting said.
Bella Brava expanded to become its own brewery, and by March 2013 construction began on the 30 barrel craft brewery, its products distributed to more than 80 locations in the Tampa Bay area.
Already a well-established member of the downtown St. Petersburg community, Harting quickly embraced his new home in the Warehouse Arts District.
“It’s awesome. This place is really fantastic,” Harting said.
Surrounded by artists’ studios, he connected with artists who built his sign, and commissioned Mark Aeling (sculptor of the giant metal lizard that greets entrants to the Fifth Avenue on ramp of I-275) to build a 12-foot-tall tap handle, among other projects.
The brewery also has several connections with USF St. Petersburg, which only begin with the tap handle at the Tavern at Bayboro. Students in the entrepreneurship program have worked with the brewery, making it a semester long case study for Professor William Jackson’s Scalability in Entrepreneurial Firms class. And while they’ve brought the brewery to students, the College of Arts and Sciences went a step further by placing students in the brewery.
On the edge of the tap room lies a glassed-in laboratory, run by USFSP students. As interns, they monitor beer quality and are beginning to grow yeast. Biology major Jessy Weber is one of several students who enjoy the unique opportunity of working at the brewery.
“As a scientist, I never thought I could do something like this with my degree,” Weber said.
Like everything else in the brewery, the lab is something patrons can observe, beer in hand, to get a full understanding of where the beer comes from. The environment makes it an experience Weber enjoys even more. “I look forward to going there every time,” she said.
To learn more about the brewery, check out 3dbrewing.com.
Guide to 3 Daughters:
What we tried: Everything! From IPAs to ESBs, summery wheats to dark stouts, there is a beer on tap for everyone.
What we recommend: The Beach Blonde Ale is appealing to just about every pallet and is available at many bars and restaurants. If you’re feeling more adventurous, try the Oatmeal Stout. It’s smoother than a typical stout with an interesting hint of Irish cream.
For the atmosphere: The tasting room is intimate, but the warehouse is huge and filled with activities. This brewery suits a first date as easily as a night out with old pals.
