Big Top Brewing Co. will become Sarasota County's first production craft brewery when it opens Nov. 27 with a craft beer pub crawl through Sarasota.
"We've been working hard toward this," Big Top CEO Mike Bisaha said in a phone interview today. He said the brewery wanted to get kegs of its three core beers (Suncoast Pale Ale, Trapeze Monk Belgian Wit and Circus City IPA) out to local bars before opening its tasting room at 6111 Porter Way near Interstate 75.
The pub crawl starts at 5 p.m. at Gecko's Gill & Pub at 1900 Hillview St. in Sarasota. Crawlers can eat a snack or dinner at the restaurant before heading out to the next pub.
All of the Gecko's restaurants plan to serve Big Top's beers, said Anne Rollings of Gecko's Hospitality Group. But the Hillview restaurant places a major emphasis on craft beer, so they wanted to kick things off there, she said. No reservations are required, she said.
Bisaha said details were still being worked out, but the pub crawl planned to continue on to Mr. Beery’s, The Beer Box, World of Beer and end at the Cock & Bull.
Big Top will only be kegging its beers at the moment, Bisaha said. Cans are coming, but he said they haven't unwrapped their canning machine.
Big Top will be the first of five production breweries in Sarasota and Manatee counties to open.
