Fermentation Lounge

This is a wonderful bar. Their beer selection changes frequently and they always have a great variety of new beers on tap to try. They also have wine. The staff is always professional, friendly and offer great recommendations. The vintage vibe of the decor is fun!

The only drawback is that they only have one bathroom.

I'm not going to sit here and claim that Fermentation Lounge is the equivalent of the Toronado or Redlight Redlight, but I can say with certainty that it's a hip craft beer bar that does a excellent job with its tap selection and bottle list.

Like many a good beer geeks' hangout, Fermentation is a relatively unassuming bar from the outside, tucked back within a neighborhood. It's not the kind of place one will randomly happen upon while strolling around Tallahassee - you have to want to find it.

Sampler flights of three are offered, which is always a nice touch. It's also possible to go with a "double flight" of 6, which is exactly what we did. Not with beer, but with mead, mind you - turns out this place boasts a nice little mead selection, and the guys behind the counter are more than happy to let you in on it. I particularly enjoyed the Viking Blod, a mead of which I have a bottle at home, but have been afraid to crack open because it's 19% ABV. I shouldn't have been hesitant. It sounds big and tough, and does indeed look like blood due to the addition of hibiscus, but it's surprisingly gentle and balanced for such a powerful beverage.

My visits to Tallahassee-area bars weren't comprehensive, but from what I did experience, my feeling is that this is the best beer bar in town.

Fermentation Lounge is a cool little beer specialty bar that great for the beer connoisseurs out there.

Located on All Saints, it fits well with the neighborhood vibe. The bar is quite small, basically a strip-mall sized rectangular bit of space. There is also a nice outside area which blends with the storefronts of the neighboring shops and which was populated by beer drinkers during my visit.

This is a spot for beer-lovers. You will also pay beer-lover prices, because they do not sell your common boozehound beers, but instead a variety of specialty beers, foreign beers, and microbrews. The beers I drank during my visit were between $4-$5 a pint. All of them were very good. The bartenders were friendly and the bar had a fun atmosphere that was a little bit sophisticated and a little bit bohemian.

This place is not for everyone. A bar like this is naturally going to be a bit pretentious, but it's not unbearable here. I may return, but I generally count myself amongst that group that just doesn't like paying $5 a beer. For those of you that do, or for those of you who want to sample some unusual and tasty beers, Fermentation Lounge is sure to be a hit.