Mr. Beery's

urwithdave

Florida

5/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

I had heard a lot of great things about this bar, so my wife and I decided to drive down to Sarasota to check it out. When we got there around 8PM there wasn't very many people inside. The bartender, Doug, was very knowledgeable and very friendly. The tap list was INSANE and they offer growler fills! I felt like a little kid at Disney World. I haven't seen any place in Florida that can hold a candle to the offerings. The prices were very fair.

I ordered up a ST. Choklat and my wife had a CCB 110k batch 3. There are some nice televisions that had several different baseball games on. There was a lounge area that had board games out for peeps to play. Just a really chill environment. The bar started to fill up with regulars. Doug knew them all by name and greeted them with a handshake. He didn't even need to ask 1/2 of them what they were going to be drinking.

The owner, Mark, came in. I had previously met him up at Cigar City at the 110k release. He came over and started talking to me and my wife. He just blew me away with his passion for great brews. We talked for thirty minutes at least. He was very hospitable and he told me that he would welcome BAs holding a tastings at his establishment. He advised me that he holds several events at his bar throughout the week. He said he Mr. Beerys website is up and that there is a real time update of the offerings on draft. Mr. Beerys is also on Facebook and it's a great way to keep updated on the upcoming events. We discussed the brews that were displayed up around the bar that aren't for sale and are part of his personal cellar. I literally was in awe. He got up and went to the back. He came out with two bottles and I'll just say that I owe him big time, thanks Mark!!

They do not have food but they do allow you to have food delivered. There is a place right next door where you can order from. There are several other establishments in close proximity where you could also order from.

My wife and I ordered up a couple Batch #69 Double cream ales. We finished them up and headed out. Overall, it is one of the best beer bars (if not the best) that I have ever been to. My wife and I had a great time. I could have stayed there all night. I will definitely be returning very soon. I will happily drive 30 minutes to get down there again. I highly suggest that you check this place out, it's simply a must for any beer enthusiast.

UPDATE:
This place just keeps getting better. They have expanded the bar and the place is twice as big. It is by far my favorite bar. I love the new huge projector screen tv. When I say huge, I mean huge. It is on the other side of the bar where it doesn't bother those whom do not want to partake in watching it. The new pictures that decorate the new side are amazing. They are photographs that were taken in the bar. They are in the process of painting different logos from breweries on the wall.
They offer beer school on Tuesdays where they select different themes and focus on different breweries. They also do tastings where they pair brews with different foods, all the way from cheeses to cupcakes. If you haven't been in, it is a must stop!! If you have been in before, but haven't seen the new renovations, get in and check them out. If you are in the area and want to share a brew shoot me a bm!

07-11-2010 17:31:03 | More by urwithdave

brewpubguy777

Florida

5/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

This place has 27 taps that are on a continual rotation, 1 Infusionator and 1 Hopinator and a Beer Engine. There is a beer for everyone, different styles from Lagers, Ales, Porters, Stouts, Belgians, Barleywines, Etc, not to mention a great bottle selection. Mark the owner is very knowledgeable as well as his employees and is just a fun place to be. 2 Pool tables, Skee-ball, Darts, Bar Bingo, Trivia and Tuesday nights are a rotation of events from Beer and Cheese pairings, Beer and Sandwich Pairings and my favorite Beer Geek Show and Tell wich you bring in a 750ml or 2 12oz beers that may be hard to get or limited brews to share with others who do the same, as well as daily specials. Much of the time you can find beers the you have never heard of or tried before. I had an Italian beer that is outstanding called Nora by Birra Baladin as of this post but who knows what new flavors you will get to have when you show up. The motto at Beery's is "No Crap on Tap"

02-13-2013 04:05:02 | More by brewpubguy777

dmincer

West Virginia

4.8/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

This place has a great selection of beer on maybe 20-25 taps. It also has a hopinator, which is a dry hop addition to a kegged beer, and a well chosen Sculpin IPA to add those dry hops to. It also has an Infusinator, which is a flavor canister filter through which the beer flows adding a bit of extra flavor. When I was there, they had peach and vanilla beans added to a Witte, which was a great combo. They've also got 1 or 2 casks and when I was there it was Peach Jai Alai from Cigar City and it was a great beer. The selection on those taps has a bit of everything from 4 IPAs to a few barleywines to a few stouts to a few belgians and even a couple ciders. Selections of each were well chosen. Best of all, Monday night is $10 all you want to drink night from 3-11pm. I got to try about 8 new beers for a total of $10. Most incredible deal I've benefitted from in a while. I'll go to this place again whenever I'm in town despite the location being 6 miles south of Sarasota near the mall

07-27-2012 22:52:40 | More by dmincer

PorterLambic

Florida

4.5/5  rDev -6.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Been here twice now, once for a special event (24 taps of Bell's) and again on a regular Tuesday night. Having said that, I prefer the event night. With all the TV's lining the east wall and sports on every one of them, it felt a little like an upscale sports bar, albeit one with an exceeding great beer selection! Several tables and a nice raised seating area featuring several loveseats and chairs.

Like they say, "No Crap on Tap". 24 frequently rotating taps of "I want all of them!". There is at least one, and realistically several, beers for everybody. With Imperial stouts, IPAs, brown ales and lagers this is the second best beer-drinkers retreat in town. They often have, I am told, real cask-conditioned brew on tap. Plus "The Infusinator".

The atmosphere is very friendly with the only ding being the overabundance of sports (I was recording the game!). The staff is really nice and very attentive.

No food is available but several places in the cool Gulf Gate area will deliver or you can step out for a minute and walk the block to get something from a local eatery (Munchies 420, anyone?)
A really nice place and I 'll gladly return repeatedly.

And I have been back repeatedly.
They have had some significant remodeling done recently. The bar is now nearly twice as long and the wall between the two halves has been removed. It really opens the place up and brings a cohesiveness to the joint. I like it a lot. They've even removed most of the TV's over the bar so the sports bar feel is gone, too.

12-04-2011 21:01:26 | More by PorterLambic

bigbexpress

Tennessee

4.94/5  rDev +3.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

I travel a ton and usually consult Beer Advocate about locations before I go. Mr. Beery's is one that has been on my list to visit for some time. It was definitely worthwhile and goes toward the top of my list of great beer bars. I have been to places that had more taps. I have been to places with a larger beer selection. However, what set's Mr. Beery's apart is the quality and uniqueness of what is on tap. For example, Cigar City's Jai Lai is a great IPA from a great brewery in Tampa. Mr. Beery's had a special limited edition of Jai Lai that was brewed a little differently and had a very unique character. It was a great beer. The staff is also very knowledgable and themselves craft beer enthusiasts. Then there is the owner, Mark. He is a super guy and a real beer lover. As a craft beer lover, I can tell you it is great drinking beer with "my people". That is what you get at Mr. Beery's. If you love craft beer and you are in the Sarasota area, you have to stop in for a pint. Highly recommended!

08-19-2011 20:02:23 | More by bigbexpress

DeltaFoxtrot

Florida

5/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Best craft beer bar in Sarasota and the surrounding area, hands down. On any given day you'll see U.S. craft beer selections spanning some of the best breweries available in the state of Florida. 27 taps total consisting of 24 regular rotating taps, 2 Randall style filtered tap and 1 cask pulled through a beer engine. The bottle selection is mostly Florida locals but sometimes includes some interesting additions.

The atmosphere is great, you'll see everything from large crowds socializing in the back room to people sitting by themselves at the bar, chatting up the person next to them.

The staff is great, and knowledgeable. They'll help you find what you're looking for or suggest something that you may not have tried in the past.

I've been frequenting the bar since they opened (I live dangerously close) and have seen the time and effort the owner and staff put into keeping everything fresh and new, including events like brewery tap takeovers, food pairings, live music, trivia and special releases. That's why I continue to go back.... often.

08-04-2011 19:06:50 | More by DeltaFoxtrot

thryn

Florida

4.94/5  rDev +3.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

What's not to like about this place? Well, the only two things I can think of that I personally don't care for are the TVs and the occasional spillover of bro types from the rest of the Gulf Gate bars. That's the half point docked, and I understand that a lot of people like TVs in bars and that any place in a plaza is going to get spillover from surrounding establishments.

So what's to like? Everything else.

First off, the beer selection. There are 24 taps, plus TWO Randalls, one for hop infusion and one for Mark's mad scientist experiments, plus a proper hand engine for cask beers. Their motto is "No Crap on Tap," and while there is usually a beer or three among the 24 that I don't want to drink, I've been in plenty of places with more taps and fewer interesting brews on offer. On a recent visit I had Dogfish Head Sah'Tea and Cigar City Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. Dry-hopped Ballast Point Sculpin was a recent cask beer, as was the papaya IPA from Swamp Head.

They also do tap takeover events, bringing in rarities from breweries such as Dogfish Head, Southern Tier and Cigar City.

They keep Florida brews in the tap rotation and Florida beer is now the primary focus of their bottle selection, which I think is very cool.

Their prices range from about $5 to about $10 per pour, but they also offer some cool deals to ease the sting on the wallet -- a 6-ounce pour of any beer is $3, and a flight of four of those is $10. On ticket night, you get three tickets for $12, which buy you any three full pours. They also vary what's offered for cheap on happy hour.

And -- my favorite -- 40 skeeball tickets get you a beer. That's right; I said skeeball. I am not super good, but I find that I typically spend about what I would on a beer on enough skeeball games to get 40 tickets. And I get to play skeeball! Win-win. They also have a ring-toss game and a bunch of board games up by the couches in the front room. In the back couch area, there's a projector and a big screen for movies (though usually it's just got a sporting event or some crappy TV show on it like the rest of the TVs). Or nothing. I like it back there when it's nothing.

There's other stuff that makes them the best game in town, beer-wise -- great lighting, for one. I've heard some people say they wish it was a bit darker in there, but I appreciate being able to see my beer. If you kill a keg, you get to keep the glass. Tuesday night beer schools -- beer geek show and tell, beer and cheese or other food pairings, and style classes are the usual features -- are great. Bartenders are quick and attentive, liberal with samples and do a wonderful job as ambassadors of craft beer ... and they also do fills of 32-ounce to-go bottles!

There's no food, but they have a booklet of nearby restaurant menus, some of which deliver. Rocky is often seen bringing his huge grilled sandwiches over from next door to awaiting customers.

Mark brought a monster to Sarasota a little over a year ago with this place, and it just keeps getting better. Go there.

07-05-2011 23:00:24 | More by thryn

AdamBear

Pennsylvania

4.66/5  rDev -2.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

Atmosphere: Came here on a Monday night. it was nice and open, but seems spacey enough for a more crowded night. The bar area is not large, however there is a room with pool tables, a section with chairs and board games, and an extra room full of couches.

Service: one bar tender on duty, he was always there when you needed him and he was helpful with the selection. also very enthusiastic

Selection/Quality: the bulk of the selection was the 27 taps, about half of which were available. however, the beers were amazing and rare. there is a bottle list of really decent beers, that unfortunately seemed way over priced.

Overall, I am coming back here....again and again. the beers on tap are ones that I've never seen anywhere else. There are also two Randall-esque "infusinator" taps plus a cask. This place is just a dream of a bar for any craft beer lover.

05-12-2011 00:04:51 | More by AdamBear

BigMcLargeHuge

Arizona

4.72/5  rDev -1.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $$

What can I say? I love this place. It is a narrow squeeze from the front door and past the bar (but they have taken over the adjacent space to add a lot more space). The space opens up into the where some of the space has an elevated area with couches and comfy arm chairs (along with lots of board games and such to play). What this place may lack in poshness or size it more than makes up in quality (no crap on tap) tap offerings. The owner, Mark, is a treasure to the beer community and has reached hero status with some of the Tampa area geeks that have been fortunate enough to meet him. Few people know more about craft beer than Mark. He brings in the best available beer and pushes that to the limit to all of our benefit. You need to get down here have a great brew and say hi to Mark. You'll be glad you did.

02-14-2011 04:07:20 | More by BigMcLargeHuge

nopucophop

New York

4.66/5  rDev -2.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | $$

This is a very cool place. One of the best in Sarasota. They space is large and accommodating. Big bar and a cool lounge area. They had a lot of good stuff on tap including Sculpin. The bottle selection is small but all of quality. They do sell 32oz growlers to go. The owner Mark is a very cool guy as well as Mic the bartender.They make the visit just as fun as the beer does. It seems they are constantly doing beer dinners and having events. The location is great as well. It is in Gulf Gate. So there are many restaurants around as well as other water holes, but this is the gem of the area. I did not want to leave and can't wait to go back again.

***UPDATE***

I was able to go back and I have to say this place just gets better and better. The guys are so cool. I mean they just bend over backwards to make your visit the best it can be. This is the place to go in Sarasota.

10-19-2010 17:37:39 | More by nopucophop