PINELLAS PARK – A national beer-rating website has ranked Rapp Brewing Company in Pinellas Park as the best new craft brewery in Florida.
Ratebeer.com’s coveted ranking comes just four months after Greg Rapp, a longtime home brewer and founder of the Pinellas Urban Brewers Guild, opened the nano-brewery in a warehouse on Bryan Dairy Road. Ratebeer.com members from around the world base the ranking on ratings. The popular website also ranked Cigar City Brewing in Tampa as the best brewery in Florida and CCB’s Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout the best beer in Florida.
“I’m honored by the ranking, especially since so many excellent breweries opened last year,’’ said Rapp in a press release. Rapp is a former software engineer who began brewing 10 years ago. “We all learn from each other and it’s great to be part of the craft beer renaissance in Tampa Bay, the center of Florida’s craft beer scene.”
The brewery includes a 650-square-foot tasting room and hosts special events for craft beer enthusiasts, including frequent gatherings of home brewers. It specializes in small-batch artisanal ales and lagers and explores myriad beer styles, including some once thought to have been lost to history and others that push the boundaries of modern craft brewing.
Rapp Brewing is distributed by Great Bay Distributors, though most of its beer is sold directly to customers at the tasting room.
“We plan on limited distribution and instead desire to focus on direct interaction with craft beer enthusiasts,” Rapp said.
The tasting room offers pints and flights of beer to sample, as well as growlers to take home beer.
![[Image]](/content_images/070312_pco-01z_front.jpg)
