Florida nearing milestone of 100 operating breweries

I’ve heard more than a few people in the state’s beer scene estimating during presentations and conversations that “Florida will have 100 breweries by (fill in the blank).”

Very soon, perhaps in just a few months, that statement will be “Florida has 100 (plus) breweries.”

In updating the Florida Brewery Map and List on this site, I realized that there already more than 100 total breweries and brewpubs on it, but not all are open yet.

Here are the criteria I use to compile it.

• The brewery or brewpub must produce beer on its premises. This means you will not find companies such as Native Brewing Company in Fort Lauderdale or Fantasy Brewmasters in Fort Myers that contract their beer at other breweries.
• It does include breweries such as Grayton Beer Company in Santa Rosa Beach, which recently opened a new brewery and no longer contract brews, and Holy Mackerel Beers, which still contracts the bulk of its production, but opened The Mack House – Holy Mackerel Nano Brewery in Fort Lauderdale last year.
• It includes two brewpubs – Karibrew in Fernandina Beach and Marco Island Brewery – whose brewing process is completed on site but started elsewhere.
• It does not include BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse locations. Their beer is brewed out of state, but the chain is one of the brewing partners announced for BrewHub, the operation being built in Lakeland that will offer brewing and marketing services for other breweries. (BrewHub is on the map.)
• To be included, a brewery or brewpub must have a physical address – it would be hard to map it otherwise – and if not yet open, it needs to have made solid steps such as ordering or installing equipment, and starting the regulatory process.
• Other maps and lists out there are based on different criteria.  The Florida Brewers Guild maps only lists those breweries and brewpubs that are members. Others list breweries that haven’t made any steps toward opening other than filing as a business entity, sometimes years ago, with no progress since.

So, with that out of the way, here are the numbers (drum roll):

Breweries open and operating – 89

Breweries on the way – 27

TOTAL – 116

Of the “breweries on the way,” several are poised to open very soon –within weeks – and many of the others by the end of the year. Of course, speed bumps happen along the way at every new brewery, whether it’s unexpected regulatory issues or equipment taking longer to arrive than anticipated. But it’s almost guaranteed that the state will hit the 100-brewery mark sometime this year, perhaps even by the end of the summer.

View Florida Breweries in a larger map

The century mark is in sight.

Cheers to Florida-brewed beer!

Note:  I’ve found that there are usually one or two mistakes or omissions each time I update the map and list. Please leave a comment below if you are aware of any.

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