Upward and onward: Florida brewery numbers continue to grow

Florida was fifth in new brewery opening in 2014, according to the Brewers Association. (Photo by Rodney Sedillo)

The Brewers Association announced during the recent Craft Brewers Conference in Portland, Oregon, that Florida came in fifth in the number of new breweries opened in a state during 2014, with 42 (Washington state led the pack with 83).

According to the latest update of the Florida Brewery Map and List page on this site, this trend should continue through 2015 and beyond. The current number of breweries and brewpubs that make beer on premise in Florida stands at 139, up from the 124 listed on the last update in January.

Another 27 28 have announced addresses and have taken solid steps toward opening. This doesn’t count another handful or so that have not yet landed a physical address, but might well be on the next update in a few months.

Only one, Sawgrass Brewing Company in Coral Springs, has closed since the last update.

We should easily hit 150 operating breweries and brewpubs by the end of the year, if not much sooner. A tally of 200 or more when 2016 rolls in is not out of the question.

Here are the criteria I use for a brewery to be included on the map:

• The brewery or brewpub must produce beer on its premises. This means you will not find companies such as The Abbey Brewing Co. in Miami Beach 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 in 2013.
• 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. The chain is one of the brewing partners at BrewHub, the operation in Lakeland that offers brewing and marketing services for other breweries, and contracts at some out-of-state breweries as well. (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, or starting the regulatory process.

Other maps and lists out there are based on different criteria.  The Florida Brewers Guild 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.

I’d like to offer a shoutout and gratitude to the page’s latest sponsors: Tampa Bay Brewing Co. and Tampa Bay Brews Cruise.

Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can drop a line to gerard@beerinflorida.com, and I’ll send the details.

This is a labor of love for me. I feel it is the most accurate listing of its type out there, but it has become a lot of work. If you feel it is of value to you, I would not object if you were to drop a little change to help using the “Donate” button on the right column of this page.

As always, I appreciate any feedback if I missed a brewery, have one listed as opened that has closed, or made any other errors. Send me an email or leave a comment below.

Cheers!

Gerard

FLORIDA BREWERY MAP AND LIST

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