The Sippin’ Seven Alachua County Ale Trail is a fun way to visit all of the area’s breweries—and win fun prizes.
Written by Melissa Peterson
Photo courtesy of Visit Gainesville
The brewery game is strong in Alachua County, and thanks to Visit Gainesville, Alachua County, there’s an exciting way to explore these breweries and earn fun swag in the process.
The Sippin’ Seven Alachua County Ale Trail is a free, gamified, digital brewery passport that allows participants to sign up and check in at Alachua County breweries. Each visit to a brewery earns the participant points that are redeemable for fun, free branded merchandise, including pint glasses, T-shirts and more. The breweries included on the trail are Blackadder Brewing Company, Cypress & Grove Brewing Company, Daft Cow Brewery, First Magnitude Brewing Company, High Springs Brewing Company and Swamp Head Brewery.
“The digital pass is very easy to use,” explains Jessica Hurov, Alachua County Tourism Development manager. “To sign up, all that’s needed is a name, phone number and email address. Once a profile is created, visitors can scroll through the list of the breweries and check in by clicking on the brewery name. The app uses geolocation fencing to verify that the pass user is currently at the brewery. Once the blue check in button goes grey, a successful check in has occurred. The pass can also be used to review merchandise options, which can be redeemed in person at the Visit Gainesville, Alachua County office in downtown Gainesville or at the Daft Cow Brewery. There is also an option to have merchandise shipped if needed.”
The pass launched in November 2022, with the initial launch event taking place at the Downtown Gainesville Festival & Art show. The goal of the campaign is to create awareness of Alachua County’s breweries and craft beer culture. Many of Alachua County’s breweries have won significant awards for their products. Prior to the launch of the campaign, there was not an integrated communications campaign for our breweries.
The breweries on the ale trail all offer guests a unique experience that will make checking off each stop an adventurous quest.
Blackadder Brewing Company is a microbrewery located on the west side of Gainesville with charming, old-world atmosphere. They boast a total of 40 taps of Blackadder beer, guest beer, guest wine, guest cider and sodas. Blackadder is well known for their beloved Wednesday night trivia as well as their charity partner events they hold.
Cypress & Grove is named after the original crossroads, and this 15-barrel neighborhood production brewery is built in an old ice plant. They use water from a 386-feet-deep artesian well located in their building that was originally used to provide water for ice production, which now is used to make their beer. They offer everything from light and bright beers to dark nitro beers and more.
Daft Cow is Alachua’s first craft brewery and is located in San Felasco Tech City center. They offer 15 beers that are brewed on-site, along with guest cider and seltzer. Daft Cow consistently has live music, food trucks and fun events like bingo and trivia during the week.
First Magnitude is a craft brewery and tap room located in downtown Gainesville. They are about great beer, an excellent space for enjoying a pint and being an active part of the local community. They recently were awarded a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for their Drift Session brown and the World Beer Cup silver for their Vega blond ale.
High Springs Brewing Company is a family-owned and -operated brewery nestled in the beautiful downtown of High Springs. They are an open-air establishment with a nice lawn to be enjoyed by all ages.
Swamp Head brewery is a local brewery that offers 28 taps of craft beer in a welcoming taproom with weekly beer releases, daily food trucks and occasional live music. They were founded in 2008 and have been making it their mission since day one to brew world-class beers and establish themselves as Florida’s brewery.
Sippin’ Seven Alachua County Ale Trail
visitgainesville.com/sippinseven