Three local breweries are taking big steps. One brewing has set an opening date, another will start serving its own beer and a third is beginning distribution.

Wicked Barley Brewing Co. will begin distribution of its beers this week, through Cavalier Distributing. Wicked's Left Lag Lager, The Eradicator Double IPA, and seasonal/limited releases will be available in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.

It will have launches at these locations and times this week:

*Tuesday, 6 p.m., V Pizza, Mandarin

*Wednesday, 5 p.m.-9 p.m, Really Good Beer Stop, Jacksonville Beach

*Thursday, 6 p.m., Alewife, Five Points

*Friday, pub crawl in San Marco: Beer:30, 5 p.m.; Bearded Pig, 6 p.m.; Kitchen on San Marco, 7 p.m.; Bold Bean, 8 p.m.; Grape & Grain Exchange, 9 p.m.

Wicked Barley, which opened last year on Baymeadows Road, won two gold medals, one silver and was named best brewpub at the Best Florida Beer competition last month.

Meanwhile, Southern Swells Brewing in Jacksonville Beach is about to start serving its own beer. The tap room opened in January, before it started brewing its own beer. Well, the beer has been brewed and they'll start pouring it at noon on Saturday, April 8. The first beers available that weekend: A saison, two new England-style hazy IPAs, double IPA, mango wheat, milk stout with cocoa nibs and vanilla bean, pale ale and a mixed-berry Berliner weisse.

And Hyperion Brewing has set the date for its grand opening: Friday, May 19. It's in the heart of Springfield at 1740 N. Main St., just south of 8th Street. And the grand opening just happens to coincide with the Springfield Tour of Homes that very same weekend.

The brewery system is small, just one barrel, and co-owner Alexandra McKeown said there won't be core beers that will always be on tap. Instead, the plan is for constantly rotating beers. They will sell crowlers, a canned version of growlers, to go.

The tap room will have 15 taps, but all the beers won't be Hyperion's when they open, she said. They'll add more as they get rolling.

Roger Bull: (904) 359-4296