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 4 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. The Tampa Bay Times recently credited it for “some of the most original brewing happening in Florida.”

The ranking is based on ratings by Ratebeer.com members from around the world. 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, a former software engineer who began brewing ten 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.

 “With an astounding 18 in-house beers on tap at any given time, ranging from revivals of arcane styles such as Roggenbier and a spectacular Lichtenhainer to Imperial Stouts and Belgian Golden Ales, Rapp Brewing holds claim to some of the most original brewing happening in Florida,” the Tampa Bay Times recently wrote. “If you're lucky, there may even be an open bottle of Rapp's OMG — a monumentally strong, 24 percent alcohol by volume brew served at room temperature, still and in a tiny snifter — which is something that you definitely won't find elsewhere, other than at the occasional beer festival that Rapp attends.”

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 go. Tasting room hours will be expanded beginning February 1st. Its newest release, a mango IPA called Mango Tango, will be released Saturday at 7 p.m., there is also a Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter in the works –the fourth beer produced at the brewery in collaboration with members of the home brewing community.

Upcoming Events:

• Mango Tango IPA Release Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 7:00pm
• Cigars and OMG Monday, March 4, 2013 at 6:00pm
• Cajun Café Night @ Rapp Brewing Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 7:00pm
• Sausage-n-Beer Friday, March 8, 2013 at 5:00pm

  Rapp Brewing is located near 66^th Street South and Bryan Dairy Road. 10930 Endeavour Way Suite C

Seminole, FL  33777

(727) 692-7912