The Ale & The Witch

Thugs work here. One of the bartenders regularly tries to start fights. The owner literally said «he doesn’t care, it’s america.»
Avoid at all costs.

Music was great and selection of beers was good. Appreciated they have bells on tap!!!

It’s a great place for beer and they have an excellent selection of beer. This is a fantastic place to get a local draft beer. Less sports bar feel and more indie.
It is a place you can relax and not have to worry about any rambunctious outbursts that are often commonplace downtown. They carry so many Florida beers that it makes my head spin. They carry St. Somewhere and he is hard to find. Staff is knowledgeable and helpful always.
They know their beers and their breweries. Prices are right. A flight isn’t bad and you can ask for a 4 oz pour all by its lonesome if you want. They have board games, clean bathrooms, bar and table seating.
There is live music inside or outside pretty much every time I have gone. Usually, the courtyard has music during the weekends. Bottom line, Awesome vibe for local beers. Can’t go wrong when looking for something amazing on tap with a good vibes.

When we come down from the ATL and head out fir a night of drinks down town we always start our night here.
We get a flight of local brews and then maybe a few pints.
Great seating outside too!

We went here because there was a band playing in the courtyard. We had an amazing time and were able to try some GREAT beers, well. most of them were great. We had so much fun and I can’t wait until I am back in town so I can go there again. The locals are really friendly and everyone is welcome. Go here and you will love it.

Why 5 stars? Because why did I even consider anything else?
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My original review was written less than 3 months after I created my Unilocal account. I clearly had no idea what I was doing.
Ale & Witch has a ton of great, local beer on tap. They have games. They have an awesome outdoor area that often has live music. What more could you possibly want in a craft beer bar?
You know how we all have done things when we were younger that makes you cringe in present day? Go ahead, check out what you were posting on Facebook in 2010 and let me know how you feel about your younger self.
Well, apparently at age 27, I was dumb enough to think Ale & Witch was only worth 4-​stars. The cherry on top is the staying power they’ve had, despite the craft beer boom going as crazy as it has.

They have a large selection of craft beers on tap from Florida and elsewhere in the US. Not sure if they feature any international beers but I didn’t notice any. The bartenders were happy to allow me to sample several before I found the one I liked and settle on two sour beers. Unfortunately the saison I wanted was tapped. They have a large patio outside where you can enjoy your beer or you can take your brews across the way to the bbq den.

Great beer selection. Love all of the local beers and support for local breweries. The bar tender wasn’t particularly friendly, which is the reason for the 4 star rating. Maybe it was just a bad night.

This is a really cozy and unique beer bar in St Pete. Located in a courtyard with some small stores and the BBQ den associated with the bar, it is quaint and normally has a great beer selection.
I went today with friends for Sour Sunday to try some new beers. They had about 10 different Gose/​Sours for $ 5 a pour. They also had their usual rotational brews (more than 20 taps to choose from). If you’re hungry, I would seek food elsewhere as they only have a couple of dips and bagged chips. I saw beer cheese with a bag of pretzels and fish dip with some kind of dipping vessel. The beer selection is really the star here. I’ve never had a bad time coming to this bar!

There are not enough good things to say about the Witch. Brett is a great owner; very friendly (most of the time) and extremely customer-​oriented. The 32-​ish? taps are always rotating and always represent a great cross-​section of American craft brewing. Macro beer fans and import snobs be warned; everything here is craft beer from the United States of America. Try em; you’ll like em. If you’re at all unsure about what to order (not an uncomment phenomenon) the always-​incredible bartenders are extremely knowledgeable and will provide great recommendations, or, if you’re really (un)lucky, my drunkard self will be there to offer unsolicited advice. Apologies in advance, but I swear I mean well. Live music and whatnot, but I comes for the beer. They don’t really serve food, but there’re restaurants around and you can bring whatever in. But hey, there’s food value in beer; there’s no beer value in food. So drink up, compadres.

Stumbled upon this gem next to our hotel. The range of local beers can be quite daunting if you are used to Bud Lite but the knowledgable staff was ready to help. Best of all, you could take that beer to chill with the crowd al fresco. This place regularly supports local musicians much to the delight of the very appreciative crowds. The vibe was great — lots of kids and dogs with some great live music. A great find!

A must visit if you love craft brews. Staff is very knowledgable and the rotating taps are literally daily. Special thanks to this awesome local stop and the local music brought to us every weekend!
WARNING:
If you are looking for a watered down cheap shitty beer, DO NOT GO HERE. Don’t even step inside! There are booby traps set for people like you. The main trap is called a LU-​Cas. You have been warned.

Lucas was the rudest bartender I’ve ever encountered. I am not a beer connoisseur and I asked for his advice on what I should order that is close to a crappy beer that I usually drink. He said they do not serve crappy beer and then he refused to help me. I thought he was just joking back with me but he turned and started helping somebody else. I asked for the manager and he was equally rude. He said he was going to overlook Lucas’s behavior because he’s only like that 10% of the time. I did not get the managers name but he must be related to that tool Lucas. NEVER going back again!!!

The Ale and the Witch serves a wide variety of local beers from breweries all around the Tampa Bay Area. If you are looking for a place to try local brews without having to go to each individual brewery then this is your place. They have a large outdoor seating area and some indoor seating in addition to seating at the bar.

Great atmosphere and music. Came during the block party with a few friends. They had a band playing and there were a bunch of people dancing, enjoying the music and beer — just having a good time.
Great be selection offering a large variety and not just your typical brews. They also have some of pub food if your hungry :)
Great music, great beer, great people. Really can’t ask for more.

I’ve been a customer at The Ale & The Witch since they opened and have always enjoyed myself. However, on my last visit I asked for a cup of ice water and the bartender said that all he could offer is a small cup of water or a bottle of water for $ 1. I requested the cup of water and received a cup (maybe 3 ounces — see photo) of warm, almost hot water. Anytime I have asked for ice water at a bar (event The Ale & The Witch in the past) I was given a cup of ice water or cool water at least. I can’t believe The Ale & The Witch has gotten so cheap that they would give customer a tiny glass of warm water if they opted to to forgo purchasing bottled water. I won’t be returning for a while, even though I doubt they’ll notice…

Awesome Tap House!!!
Great local and craft beer selection… and fun atmosphere :) plus great bbq options upstairs!!!
Live music and happy hour crowd made us same happy campers!!!

This is a cool, chill spot to drink some beer and catch live music.
The Ale part is a small area with the live music, board games, and a ton of local craft beers. We went on a night when they were giving specials on Florida beers and I was surprised to find so many! You can ask for a taste of any of the many on the chalkboard. There’s a good wide range from sour to porter to saison etc.
The atmosphere was pretty chill. Some people seemed to know each other very well (bartenders, patrons, musicians alike) while others were sitting alone and quiet. I felt sort of like I wandered into a club I wasn’t a part of yet. Not a terrible thing though. I could see this place becoming a definite ritual for some people and a good local and friendly bar seems hard to come by sometimes.
They seem to recruit a very good lineup of local music.
Upstairs is the bbq joint. You can go up there to grab bbq and bring it back down into the bar. They have your standard fare of ribs, pulled pork, coleslaw, and grits. Ribs were fall-​off-​the-​bone but small. Sauce was great. Grits were jalapeño cheddar and were awesome. Honestly, I would return for those.
Bottom line: This is a cool hang out spot for a relaxing evening any day of the week, especially on a weekday when it is less crowded.

Laid back hipster atmosphere for listening to live local bands. Theres always someone different playing and they’ve had some interesting music here. There is a huge list of rotating craft beers with pretty helpful descriptions of each beer. The only downside to this is by the time I finally find a favorite brewsky, the next time I go it usually is no longer on the menu so then I’m back to the drawing board. At $ 6-​$ 8 per brewsky, it’s not the best value. They also don’t serve any liquor which can be rough for someone that doesn’t like beer. The courtyard gets packed with people day and night. Get here early if you plan on getting a seat or you can always sit in the stairwell. The bartenders are friendly and will let you sample a couple beers until you find something you like. The inside bar is a bit on the small side. Especially because the band takes up about half the inside space but theres plenty of space in the courtyard. Not my favorite spot but not bad either.

This was on my «to visit» list and i am far from disappointed. This small bar is for craft beer drinkers. I have never seen a bar in my travels that has so many rotating craft beers on tap. Monks would think they were in heaven. Food is available from the sister ship upstairs, Witches BBQ which is fabulous. The owner, «The Wizard» is about the brewhouse busy as the day. Music from Americas best past play in the background. The bartender couldn’t be sweeter as she defines the bar to patron from afar and calls the names of those who frequent. I feel very relaxed here. They have live performers and get busy. The place is very popular with all ages that are of a laid back nature. Do yourself a favor and put this on your list!
See you down the road,
Chef Step.