Sure we got a story, but it seems to take a different turn daily.
Stay tuned for the re-write. COMING SOON.
We cut our teeth on craft beer back in 2000-2001 when, Dayna, our owner/proprietor/quality control specialist/treasurer worked at a locally operated brew pub chain, John Harvard’s Brew House in western PA. It was here we discovered that the pale, fizzy-waterlike beers labeled as “domestic” were merely a couple styles among a couple hundred. These “new” beers were all unique in their hop, malt, yeast, and water profiles. Each style encountered offered new insight into the art and science that is brewing.
Many fine craft beers from numerous states and countless breweries were enjoyed over the next decade, plus. While we were drinking plenty of great beer, there still was not a push to brew our own. It was our other passions that drove us to learn even more about the styles, the ingredients, and the processes. Ultimately, it was sustainability that brought us back to brewing and the desire to have a few more choices in the area.
In 2004, we made our way to Pensacola so our head brewer, David, could pursue his Master of Science in Biology at the University of West Florida. While working towards his degree, the couple landed great jobs, continued their education, bought a house, and started a family.
As a couple, we actively made strides to minimize our footprint by first working on reducing, reusing, and recycling. Water conservation, composting, and solar collection became part of our daily lives. Shopping local, buying seasonal, and canning/preserving natural foods also became central to the pursuit.
Examining the foods and beverages we consumed and the effort it took to manufacture and deliver those products, became a central part of our purchasing decisions. Beer, of course, was always a staple and was part of this critical examination. We knew beer only needs to be made with 4 ingredients, but there was no bottle labeling requirement to list these ingredients or many of the other “ingredients” used in the process. Only the name of the beer, ale or lager, the brewery name, and alcohol percentages were required, leaving much undisclosed. Many questions arose as to what it took to get these 12 glass bottles wrapped in cardboard to us. Critical examination and research continued...for a number of years. Much time was spent researching the four critical ingredients while also examining the process by which beer is created, packaged, and shipped for sale.
With all the knowledge collected, it was time to give hombrewing a try. It was Dayna who decided it was time, having purchased a 5 gallon homebrew kit from the Shady Lady. We jumped in to the process and quickly turned out a porter and IPA (two of our must have beers at the house at the time). Immediately the process became a labor of love that was sought out vehemently. There was so much to learn and different techniques to try and so many more styles to attempt. Anyone who has brewed (and bottled) knows the time and effort that is involved in making a great beer and getting it in to a consumable form. Again, it was Dayna who became the catalyst for the next step, as David was booted out of the kitchen and in to the garage.
Once out of the kitchen, so many more options became available. Moving from the stove top
to the burner allowed for bigger batches, bigger batches of course meant more beer. Having more beer is great, as long as you do not have to try to get deal with all the bottles necessary for it. This pushed us towards kegging in to 5 gallon Corny kegs. With corny kegs comes dispensing and storage issues that led to kegerators. Finding local suppliers for equipment and ingredients became increasingly important as online ordering, while convenient, still left a lot to be desired.
The need for local suppliers and knowledge led us to find Pat and Gary through a work colleague, Jill, who was also a homebrewer and in the local club. At the time, they two were
very avid homebrewers, one who had lots of handmade equipment and the other sold ingredients from their home business. Many streams of information became available through them and they eventually got me in to the Escambia Bay Homebrewers club and their guild. I quickly learned of their monthly meetings focused on an individual style which they encouraged their members to brew in advance for tasting and discussion at the meetings.
As the numerous components to the beer process began coming together organically and finding great feedback on the beers we were making, we further expanded what we were doing. Even with a few homebrew meetings a month and many thirsty friends and neighbors, we were still making more beer than we could consume. Eventually, we felt that we needed to help Pensacola find the many great homebrews being made in around Escambia county. So, with the help of our friend, Mark, we developed a local, homebrew tour aptly named, Pensabrew.
Eventually we were making and giving away so much homebrew to friends and for charity events that the sustainability aspect of our endeavors came in to question. It was roughly 2014 when we began considering if we should scale back or maybe go all in and try to bring Escambia county its second, currently operating brewery. Yep we decided to go all in.
After weighing financials, locations, needs, and desires, we found ourselves ready to move forward. We went to the county for our pre-application meeting in August of 2015. We met with the board and showed them our conceptual plans and discussed our plans for OUR
microbrewery. We were directed to pay attention to ingress/egress requirements, storm water issues, and nearby wetlands. We were then politely told “It is illegal to own and operate a brewery in Escambia county.” Yes, we were surprised too, as our friends at Pensacola Bay had been operating for roughly 5 years at this point, which we shared back with them. Unfortunately, no land use code for breweries is needed within city limits, but for those who want to operate outside of the city limits (still in Pensacola though), we had to play by the counties rules and regulations. We promptly grabbed one or two small business owner “hats” and pursued updating the just-recently-updated code to include microbreweries, microdistilleries, brewpubs, and microwineries. After many meetngs, many speeches, and many months, we were on our way to enacting change in the code. Just ahead of us was yet another hearing, as the board opted for conditional usage requirements for breweries on commercial property. This allowed us to meet our neighbors, everyone with 500’ of the property was given notice of our development.
Eventually we got through these portions of red tape and that allowed us to put shovels to the ground, but oh how much more we had ahead.
To be continued....
