Green Bench Brewing Co.

Green Bench Brewing Co. holds a genuine claim to local history: three friends, Steven Duffy, Nathan Stonecipher, and Khris Johnson, opened it in 2013 as St. Petersburg’s first microbrewery. Getting there took real work. According to the brewery’s own account, the founders had to push through zoning and land-use changes and weather several changes in ownership structure before they ever poured a pint. That origin story matters because it explains the place’s personality: this is not a corporate tasting room bolted onto a strip mall, it is a beer garden that grew out of stubborn, homegrown persistence.

What you will find on Baum Avenue North is a sprawling, casual space built around the idea of beer as a reason to sit still and talk to people. The lineup goes beyond standard ales and lagers. Green Bench has built out a serious mead and cider program alongside its beer, and the brewery ages sour and barrel-fermented beers in large wooden foeders, the kind of slow, patient brewing that rewards regulars who like to track how a batch changes over months. If you are curious about that side of the operation, ask a bartender about what is currently resting in the foeders; it is one of the more interesting things happening in Tampa Bay brewing and it is not something you will find at a typical taproom.

Attached to the brewery is Webb’s City Cellar, a bottle shop and small-format retail space that keeps its own, more limited hours (it is closed the first three days of the week, so do not plan a Monday bottle run). It is worth checking those hours separately from the main taproom before you go, since they do not match.

Practically speaking, this is an easy stop whether you are a serious beer person or just want a low-key patio to grab a drink with friends. The taproom is open seven days a week, with hours stretching to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays for anyone making a night of it, and a slightly earlier close on weeknights and Sundays for a more relaxed pace. Because the beer list rotates and includes small-batch and barrel-aged releases, it is worth checking their tap list online before making the trip if you have a specific style in mind, since the exact roster can change week to week.

Green Bench also functions as a community gathering spot rather than just a production brewery; the founders have talked publicly about wanting the taproom to be a place where relationships get built, not just a pour-and-go stop. If you are new to St. Petersburg’s beer scene, it is a reasonable starting point precisely because it was here first, and its influence on the city’s later wave of breweries is easy to trace once you know to look for it. Bring cash or a card for the tab, expect a laid-back crowd, and budget more time than you think you need. Beer gardens like this tend to swallow an afternoon.