Update: The 2026 festival has ended. Bolts Brew Fest is the Tampa Bay Lightning’s annual craft beer festival — the 2026 edition was its ninth — and is expected to return in summer 2027.
Bolts Brew Fest returns to Benchmark International Arena (the building most of us still call AMALIE) on Saturday, July 25, for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s ninth annual summer beer festival, confirmed directly on the event’s official site — unlimited sampling from more than 100 craft beers, ciders, and spirits while supplies last.
More than 50 breweries are pouring, including plenty of Tampa Bay regulars — Coppertail, Green Bench, Motorworks, Three Daughters, Crooked Thumb, Tampa Bay Brewing — alongside national names and a few international imports. Beyond the beer, expect a golf simulator with TrackMan tech, an AI photo booth, a one-liter Stiegl shotski, a roaming Kombi Keg draft station, and an Oktoberfest-style stein-holding contest. Local weatherman Dennis Phillips is stopping by to pour his own Rule #7 Hurricane Pale Ale, and ThunderBug will be roaming the arena floor all night.
Tickets are tiered by entry time: General Admission gets you in at 7 p.m., GA Plus at 6 p.m., and VIP at 5 p.m. with a private lounge, exclusive pours, and a BOGO offer for a Lightning preseason game. There’s also a $50 designated driver ticket that includes the full GA experience minus the beer. Doors close at 9:30 p.m.
It’s one night, it’s downtown, and it’s the kind of event that sells out its early-bird tiers fast — if a Saturday of unlimited Tampa Bay beer sounds better than whatever else is on the calendar, this is it.