During our 2011 Spring Break in Florida, we planned a day trip to Tampa — a fun family outing at the Florida Aquarium followed by lunch at Tampa Bay Brewing Company.

We loved our leisurely stroll through the Florida Aquarium, but let’s be honest, this day trip was all about Tampa Bay Brewing Company, which has always been our favorite brew pub to visit when we’re in the Tampa area.  For many years, we had visited TBBC at its old location in a brick building on 15th Street in historic Ybor City. This was our first visit to the new location in Centro Ybor, a collection of shops and restaurants in the heart of the Cuban district.

Although the ambiance of the new location wasn’t quite like the old place, the beer, food and service were just as outstanding. I had an authentic Cuban sandwich with black beans and yellow rice on the side.  The food was awesome!

And so was the beer…I ordered a sampler tray, which came with seven house-made beers and two sodas:

• Wild Warthog Weizen
• TBBC’s True Blonde Ale
• Red Eye Amber Ale
• Old Elephant Foot IPA
• Iron Rat Stout
• Jack the Quaffer Porter
• Moosekiller Barleywine Style Ale

The Moosekiller was my favorite, mainly because I don’t often find Barleywine in a brewpub. Moosekiller clocks in at 100 IBUs of bitterness and 10% ABV. I also liked the Old Elephant Foot IPA, which was solid. Descriptions of all of the TBBC beers are available on their web site. I sure wished those home-made sodas were TBBC beers!