Our worldwide beer tasting adventure continues with a tour of the Brevard County breweries on Florida’s Space Coast! This area of Florida is famous for the Kennedy Space Center. Located on Cape Canaveral, visitors have the opportunity to walk amongst the retired spacecraft and meet astronauts. You can even find places to watch rockets launch into space from the nearby beaches. If oceans are more your thing, there is also Port Canaveral, where you can watch the cruise boats head out to see while enjoying a cold one. I am a huge fan of the Space Coast! It is an excellent weekend getaway from the crowds and theme parks of Orlando, and there’s a lot to experience for microbrew fans. So grab a glass and settle in for a trip to the Brevard County breweries on Florida’s Space Coast!
Brevard County Breweries
- Bugnutty Brewing Company
- Charlie & Jake’s Brewery Grille
- Cocoa Beach Brewing Company
- Dirty Oar Beer Company
- Florida Beer Company
- Hell ‘n Blazes Brewing Company
- Intracoastal Brewing Company
- Lost Shirt Brewing Company
- Playalinda Brewing Company
- Quarters Brewery and Arcade
Bugnutty Brewing Company
Our first of the Brevard County breweries is Bugnutty Brewing Company, located in a strip mall on Merritt Island. Every so often we run into breweries where their first, second, and third priorities are beer, beer, and beer. That seemed to be the case at Bugnutty Brewing Company. The tap room was comfortable and clean, but it was fairly small, with no outdoor seating area. There was a kitchen on site, but it wasn’t open at the time of our visit, so we weren’t able to taste anything on the menu. It felt like pretty much any other bar, with some TVs above the tap handles and a selection of board games for patrons. It was all about the beer, and it showed with how creative and tasty each one was.
We ordered the $16 USD flight that included six beers of our choice. We selected Suzi’s Red Belly Ale, Dark Matter Black IPA, Raspberry Lipgloss On a Pig, Red Wheat & Blue, their house root beer, and Key Lime Pie. I found all of the flavors to be very interesting and unique. The Raspberry Lipgloss On a Pig was created for a competition in which the brewers had to choose ingredients out of a hat; the mix of raspberry, bacon, and chocolate gave it a delicious, savory dessert flavor. Of all the breweries we visited, Bugnutty earns itself extra points for creativity in brewing.
Cocoa Beach Brewing Company
Hidden away in the hustle and bustle of hotels and beachfront shops in busy Cocoa Beach is the unassuming Cocoa Beach Brewery. There is little to no parking or advertising for this “nanobrewery”, as it was described to us. The building itself is just a converted, right off the main drag and a block or two from the beach. We entered through the simple front door, walked through the living room littered with kegs and bags of ingredients, to the back of the house where a kitchen may have once been. Now, there is a small bar, three taps, a couple of tables, and a friendly bartender who is very well versed in the Brevard County breweries and beer culture.
We had a $3 USD flight of Cocoa Beach Brewing Company’s three nano-brews. On this visit, they were offering the Dirty Blonde Ale, Key Lime Cerveza, and Cocoa Beach Pale Ale. Each one was delicious and had a unique flavor. I particularly enjoyed the Dirty Blonde and gave it a five star rating on UnTappd.
Florida Beer Company
The next stop on the tour takes us from possibly the smallest craft brewery in the state to what is undoubtedly the largest, Florida Beer Company. This Brevard County brewery is attached to the company’s warehouse in Cape Canaveral, making it an obvious attraction for beach-going tourists and NASA interns alike. We couldn’t really pin down the vibe of the place; it felt less like a brewery and more like a corporate sports bar, with lots of TVs, loud guests, and bartenders who seemed to have been selected more for their appearance than their beer knowledge.
We ordered the $8 USD flight that included four tasters of our choosing. We selected the Carib Lager, Hurricane Reef Pilsner, Key West Southernmost Wheat, and the Hurricane Reef IPA. Despite the varying styles, they all tasted fairly similar, adding to the big corporate vibe. Each one was easy to drink and refreshing, but none of them stood out in any way. We joked that they were the perfect craft beers for people who hate craft beers.
Hell N’ Blazes
We enjoyed Hell N’ Blazes so much that we came back twice! It is conveniently located in historic downtown Melbourne and has a staff that is crazy friendly and knowledgeable. I loved the clean wood and metal décor and the excellent game room in the back. Although Hell N’ Blazes does not currently serve food, they did offer some free bags of pretzels and said they hope to be opening a kitchen soon. If their food is even half as good as their beer, you can bet that we will be one of the first in line to try their new menu. Hell N’ Blazes was definitely our favorite of the Brevard County breweries.
Hell N’ Blazes has a large menu of in-house brews. Their $8 USD flights consist of four, 4oz pours of your choice. For our first visit, we tried all of the their core beers, including the Causeway IPA, Huggins Hefewizen, Orange Blossom Honey Wheat Ale, and the Northern Flow Lager. I was happy with each of them, giving each no less than four out of five stars. My absolute favorite was the wheat ale. It seemed like the perfect Florida beer, with a citrusy orange flavor that enhanced the rest of the bouquet.
Quarters Brewery and Arcade
One of the newest members on the list of Brevard County breweries is Quarters. I am a huge fan of barcades (bars that are also arcades). Quarters Brewery and Arcade takes this idea to the next level, and is my very first brewcade! The menu of in-house micro-brews are still small, as is the game selection, but what better way to spend the day than to hang out in historic old town Melbourne, Florida while drinking a local brew and playing vintage games. I think I might be in heaven!
Flights are not yet available at Quarters, so we tried a pint of Dad Breakfast English Porter and the Princess Pale at $6.25 and $5.75 USD respectively. The porter had a fun hint of s’mores flavor, while the pale was easy to drink with only a hint of hoppy goodness. I sense good things to come for Quarters as they continue to grow and expand.
Wrapping Up
And thus concludes our tour of the Brevard County breweries on Florida’s Space Coast! All in all, we had a great time exploring the local beer culture and getting the chance to spend some time mixing it up with the locals. We found the area to be the perfect hidden paradise in which to enjoy our favorite drink of choice. If you’re planning to visit the area, you would do well to schedule some extra time for exploring the booming beer scene of Brevard County, Florida, USA.
The Places We Live 
Gotta add these to the list next time I’m in Florida!
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Absolutely. We had a great time. Thank you so much for commenting!
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