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Mimicking the excited rise of suds to the top of a glass, our craft beer scene is exploding. As soon as one microbrewery opens, two more pop up. Just in the past few months, Lee County saw Cape Coral Brewing Company and Bury Me Brewing open, while RipTide Brewing Company touched down in Naples. Two more are planned for summer (Seven Oaks Brewing Co. and Palm City Brewing), and what’s more is that some our earliest hits keep getting better—Fort Myers Brewing Company and Naples Beach Brewery each underwent major expansions last year. Naples Beach Brewery built a real taproom (before, it had operated on a takeout system), and further north the “Food Truck Thursdays” hot spot (at least three haute mobile kitchens park there for a regular mini food fest) more than doubled the size of its sitting area and traded plastic for glass pints.
Speaking of that other trend, anyone who wants in on the wave of gourmet food trucks navigating our coast, look no further than the breweries. New riders are jumping into the fray, including The Butcher’s Son (a must-try for Southern comforts like fried-chicken-and-mashed-potato sliders and lime-juiced tater tots), and each brewery has a schedule of when they park out front; check websites and social media for more info.