Visit Jacksonville cuts a craft beer trail

Craft beer is often something locals can rally behind as a defining feature of a city or state. Something that lets your beer drinking fans say, “This is our beer.” Here’s some good news for you Florida brewers: Visit Jacksonville is ready to show you off in its new Jax Ale Trail and the Jax Ale Trail Brewery Passport tourism campaign.

The Jax Ale Trail invites beer lovers on a self-guided tour of the seven craft breweries across the city of Jacksonville, including Aardwolf Brewing Co., Bold City Brewery, Engine 15 Brewing Co., Green Room Brewing, Intuition Ale Works, Pinglehead Brewing Co., and Veterans United Craft Brewery, as well as local restaurants that brew their own beers and other beer attractions.

Visitors of the Jax Ale Trail will receive a Jax Ale Trail Brewery Passport, which can be stamped at each of the local craft breweries, to receive cool, free prizes.

“Craft beer is becoming a more and more popular reason to travel, and not many destinations are making it easy for visitors to find all the information for local breweries in one easy step like our passport and website do. We know that new visitors will be surprised by the quality, and quantity, of beer here in Jacksonville,” said Katie Mitura, director of marketing and communications at Visit Jacksonville, the city’s official marketing organization.

The collaboration with the local craft breweries and attractions, the Jax Ale Trail Brewery Passport and the new Jax Ale Trail website, give Visit Jacksonville an opportunity to promote all of the beer-related activities and breweries in the city while at the same time giving visitors a unique destination experience that can only be enjoyed in Jacksonville.

“We are very excited to participate in the Jax Ale Trail and proud to represent Jacksonville as a thriving craft beer destination. Cheers!” said Christina Bradford, marketing coordinator at the newest brewery in town, Veterans United Craft Brewery.

The Jax Ale Trail Brewery Passport is free and can be picked up at any of the breweries as well as the Visit Jacksonville Visitor Centers in downtown or at the Jacksonville Landing.

Two local companies, Jax Brew Bus and Play Harder Tours, will be offering guided group tours of the seven breweries on the Jax Ale Trail Passport, with visits planned during the weekdays and weekends. Other activities on the self-guided portion of the Jax Ale Trail include tours of the Budweiser Brewery and samplings at local restaurants that brew their own beers like Ragtime in Neptune Beach, Zeta in Jacksonville Beach, Seven Bridges on the Southside and the River City Brewing Company in downtown Jacksonville.