Craft Beer in the Sunshine State

Florida doesn’t usually get its fair share of good news. It seems like we’re constantly embroiled in some sort of divisive and sensational news story that’s the very lifeblood of the Nancy Graces of the world. But in 2013, Florida’s craft beer industry absolutely flourished. More new breweries opened and/or expanded than you can shake a mash paddle at, and some of this country’s most coveted brews finally made it south of the Florida-Georgia border.

The Good

Despite some delays (thanks to the government shutdown), a ton of breweries opened up in Florida in 2013. Really, a ton? Well, yes because I can’t get a solid tally on the numbers from 2013 just yet, but I assure you it was a lot. 

Some highlights of the year included:

Cycle Brewing – While Doug Dozark is no newcomer to the FL craft beer scene, 2013 offered Floridians the opportunity to see Cycle Brewing leave the nest of its longtime home at the locally adored Peg’s Cantina (literally home, as Peg is his mother) and open a brewery in downtown St. Pete that immediately took flight with the quality beer they make.

Aardwolf Brewing Company – Despite a long soft opening, Aardwolf kept themselves very busy with an excellent pilot batch series, some great collaborations with other prestigious local brewers, and a thoughtful guest tap list. The amazing job they did restoring San Marco’s historic South Jacksonville Utilities building didn’t hurt either!

Intracoastal Brewing – I’m totally crushing on these guys. Seriously, having opened just this fall, they are consistently making some of the best beer in Central Florida. And now they are hosting yoga on Sunday mornings in the brewery and my crush just straight-up turned into true love. Namaste and pass the beer.

Florida craft beer powerhouses experienced some exciting growth in 2013 as well… 

It was no joke when Cigar City Brewing opened its first brewpub on April 1st of 2013 in North Tampa. CCB Brewer Tim Ogden made the move to head up the brewpub’s operations and is doing a fantastic job brewing beers that pair with the Tampa/Cuban cuisine.

It was also not a joke, when faced with the conundrum of meeting demand without putting a strain on current operations, that Cigar City’s Founder Joey Redner started brewing in a recently shuttered Cervezas Del Sur brewery in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Hopped on the High Seas was born and they are now brewing about 200 barrels of the beer at a time in Puerto Rico, actually dry-hopping the beer as it sails across the Atlantic and then canning it when it finally arrives in Tampa.

Funky Buddha also made a big-bellied move when it opened its new facility in Oakland Park. The 20,000-square-foot facility boasts a 30-barrel brew house, which feeds nearly 1,000 gallons of beer per batch into their 4 60-barrel fermenters – a capacity that now makes them South Florida’s largest craft microbrewery.  But they’re still just a quick trip up the road from the lounge with a hookah, where it all started.

2013 also ushered in some great new choices for craft beer lovers in Florida. Both New Belgium Brewing and Founders Brewing finally started to distribute in Florida. 

The Bad

Sometimes we all just can’t get along, and such was the case with Intuition Ale Works and the King Street community. While many (myself included) felt that the brewery brought vitality and income into the struggling community, inevitably the squeaky wheels got the grease. I was actually witness to the sheriff being called over the noise of a food truck’s generator and it was evident that all parties involved (sheriff included) were growing weary of the situation.

In June, Intuition released the following press release:

“It is with heavy heart that we announce that we are no longer able to host events of any size in our open-air brewery space. After recently receiving a substantial fine for a noise violation and dealing with the stress of frequent visits by Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, code enforcement and the Environmental Quality Division, all due to complaints made by our residential neighbor, we have made the extremely painful decision to permanently close the brewery area.“

But in the dark cloud/silver lining department, the brewery is currently looking for a new home, as they have long since outgrown their King Street operations, and we are all looking forward to another grand opening. 

The Ugly 

As the craft beer industry grows, brewers in almost every state are fraught with legislative woes. Last spring, a bill that would have legalized 64 oz. growlers died when Rep. Debbie Mayfield refused to bring it up for a vote in the House Business and Professional Regulation Subcommittee, which she chairs. While we may have lost that battle, we still can win the war when the growler bill returns to Tallahassee during the next legislative session. After a late summer visit to Cigar City, Mayfield tweeted this: “We need more entrepreneurial sucess [sic] stories like @CigarCityBeer in FL. I enjoyed my visit yesterday.”

When dozens of craft beer supporters pounced on her like a can of Heady Topper requesting and sometimes demanding (who, me?) support for the growler bill, she replied: “I plan to and more.”

See what a good craft beer can do?

Bottom Line

All in all, it was an incredible year for Florida. We have all done a great job in banding together to get craft beer legislation moving forward, to get our friends’ establishments off the ground, and to keep supporting our local brewers. For all Florida’s faults, the craft beer community is still doing a great job of supporting each other and that is worthy of cheers.