3 Daughters toasts its new brewery at St. Pete-Clearwater airport

Travelers can now crack open a cold orange-flavored IPA inside the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport. 

The grassroots 3 Daughters Brewing company has officially cut the ribbon for the new brewery inside the airport. The location was originally scheduled to open in November, but the pandemic and supply chain issues caused delays.

“We actually started this project almost three years ago,” 3 Daughters Brewing owner Leigh Harting said. 

The 3 Daughters Brewing and airport teams at PIE cut the ceremonial ribbon.  

“We have three daughters we are trying to put through college so thank you for supporting this brand,” Harting said, applauding concessionaire SSP America and her partner Brian Horne for making the new location a reality. 

Leigh Harting, owner of 3 Daughters Brewing (left), and Tom Jewbury, PIE airport director (right), toasting to celebrate the brewery’s new location inside the airport.  

3 Daughters is one of the largest independent breweries in the state. 

“3 Daughters Brewing created a great local gathering place in St. Petersburg, growing their craft brewing business and evolving as a restaurant and family-friendly hangout. Bringing this popular concept to PIE is an important part of developing a welcoming and thriving airport and destination. We are thrilled to welcome 3 Daughters Brewing to the PIE family in time for the busy summer season,” said Airport Director Tom Jewsbury.

The official grand opening date is June 2. The brewery can be found at Gates 2-6 in the post-security passenger area. 

The new restaurant and bar will be operated by SSP America, a division of SSP Group. The brewery will feature 3 Daughters’ signature craft beers, wine, liquor, and non-alcoholic beverages, and its popular Beach Blonde Ale BBQ wings, BBQ pork sandwich, and pretzels with beer cheese.

SSP officials said while the pandemic has interrupted many plans, the local popularity of 3 Daughters has remained consistent. 

3 Daughters Brewing’s Florida Orange IPA. The brewery will not ferment its beers onsite in the airport. 

In addition to the brewery’s celebration of the new restaurant, Allegiant Air, the primary airline at PIE, will serve 3 Daughters’ newest IPA called “Florida Orange”  aboard its flights. 

Harting explained 3 Daughters crafted the new brew for its partners, which had to then cancel the order due to Covid; however, 3 Daughters didn’t let the batch go to waste.

“We took it, we reformulated it and added orange to it, and it is now one of our best-selling beers,” Harting said. 

Inside the new 3 Daughters Brewing PIE location. 

The new 3 Daughters brewery joins other new restaurant concepts in PIE, including Hudson’s Dunkin in the pre-security concourse, Market 361 and Duty-free in Gates 2-6, and Sand and Sky by Hudson in Gates 7-11. 

In August 2020, Mazzaro’s Italian Market opened in post-security Gates 7-11.

Mazzaro’s inside PIE. Image provided.   

“How exciting is this to celebrate a local brand [3 Daughters Brewing] that started with a passion for family, community and food. As a local Tampa Bay business owner, it gives me great pride to work with a top-tier local brand,” said Karnardo Garnett, CEO of Legacy Hospitality, which worked with SSP. He also commended the teams on propelling forward with the successful opening of Mazzaro’s during the pandemic.

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The next restaurant to open and see a makeover is the Fuel Bar. The airport team said it will start on the renovation of the existing restaurant in the coming weeks and will take a month to complete.