By Whitney Elfstrom
Beer-lovers who are looking for their brew to be served up with an extra dash of knowledge can take solace at Webb’s City Cellar, the new tasting room at Green Bench Brewing Co.
For Khristopher Johnson, head brewer and co-owner, Webb’s is a space to showcase and properly introduce the public to the beers that Green Bench has always crafted.
Locals, who have been flocking to the brewery since it opened in 2013, know it centers on all things St. Pete, trying new ideas and, most importantly, producing good beer. The menu reads “where we go to escape and explore” and “the place that we slow down, consider and breathe.”
Much like its sister tasting room across the beer garden, which got its name from the historic green benches that used to line Central Avenue, Webb’s got its name from a historic St. Pete landmark.
It was named for Webb’s City, a St. Pete staple which billed itself as the “World’s Most Unusual Drug Store” from 1926 until its closure in 1979. The store spanned 10 blocks and housed 77 department stores.
With a wood chandelier as homage to the St. Pete shuffleboard courts, lamps hanging over the bar that look like hops, a ceiling covered in malt designs and a tasting room that opens up to show over 200 wine barrels, Webb’s is intricately designed to remind guests exactly what they’re there for.
Those who are looking for a more laid-back spot to sip their mead will relish in the intimate setting. Johnson said Green Bench has a lot of energy and movement, but can make it difficult to take a moment to breathe and talk about what the beers are.
“We really want to invite people to ask questions, and we want people to learn, and we want people to get excited about not just what we’re doing, but what this entire style is about because it’s so much more than just making beer,” said Valerie Niager, Green Bench’s communications director.
Webb’s has eight bar stools lining the bar to encourage guests to sit down and talk with their bartenders about exactly what they’re sipping on.
“Our goal has been to educate,” Niager said. “(The bartenders are) excited to share what they’ve learned with people who are coming in and taking the time to, again, have that conversation and not be pretentious or intimidating.”
Webb’s also provides a rubric to help guests navigate the menu and let them know the difference between brewing styles like clean beer (a traditional brewer’s yeast to create an ale or lager) and a wild beer (fermented with a blend of wild yeast and bacteria), among other brews.
Niager said that Webb’s is less about grabbing a pitcher and splitting it with friends over a football game. She said the new tasting room where guests can stop in to really absorb the process of tasting what’s on tap.
“You have plenty of quiet over here,” she said. “And plenty of different rooms and spaces you can go to and not be inundated with sports or kids or dogs or you know, all of the distractions.”
While dogs are still welcome at Webb’s, the tasting room is a 21-and-up zone.
In addition to its 12 taps, the tasting room also has a cooler with beers from other breweries that customers would be familiar with. Niager said this was in an effort to support other breweries in line with their business model.
“If you could recognize the title of a brewery or the name of the brewery and you like their product and you’re like, ‘Oh, they sell it here,’ then odds are you’re not going to hate what you do,” she said.
As the first brewery in St. Pete, Johnson’s goal has always been to challenge himself, the consumers, and the market by pushing them all out of their comfort zones.
He said that the brewery has been limited in how it brews its beers, so by building the new space from the ground up, it’s given brewers the chance to make the products exactly how they want them.
What’s next for the Green Bench and Webb’s operation? Focusing on fine-tuning the ins and outs of Webb’s City, and Green Bench’s new canning line, according to Johnson.
“Building into (the new space) is going to be fun,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be cool to finally make beer. I can’t wait to just get back to finally doing that.”
If you go: Open 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight Friday, noon to midnight Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday; 1120 Baum Ave. N, St. Petersburg; (727) 800-9836.
Thoroughly enjoyed this feature with the Webb’s City theme and recalling the memories of the Green Benches (which became pastel later on), “old folks” shuffleboard competitions and Williams Park. Grew up in St. Petersburg in the ’50s to ’80s and so remember the Webb’s City’s cheap gas, double ice cream cones, the talking mermaids on the 4th floor and the tic, tac, toe playing chicken. On one of my trips from Arizona will need to check out the new Webb’s City Center