Tasting beers at Due South Brewing Co., Boynton Beach; Photograph by Jessie Prezza

During the nation’s craft beer boom of the early 1980s, Florida taps continued flowing mostly with big-box beers like Budweiser. The land of boat drinks and beach bars looked like a dry state when it came to indie brews compared to other big shots like California and New York. But within the past four years, the number of craft breweries here has come to an overflowing head. With more than 150 microbreweries in Florida, we’re in the top dozen states for number of craft brew houses.

Why did it take our state so long to get involved in all the brew-ha-ha? To understand the better-late-than-never story of Florida’s microbrews, says Mike Halker, president of the Florida Brewers Guild, we need to go back to the 1980s, when American beer drinkers declared, “Boring!” to bland mass-produced pilsners and lagers.

The beer garden at Proof Brewing Co.; Photograph by Proof Brewing Co.

Beer aficionados all over the U.S. started brewing their own India pale ales (IPAs), porters and stouts. Some of these hop heads turned pro, and the craft beer movement started to rise as quickly as foam in a pint glass.

“Home brewers up North, in Boston, for example, started producing enough that they had extra to ship down to Florida,” says Halker.

The team at Wynwood Brewing Co., Miami; photograph by Wynwood Brewing Co.

Craft beer drinkers living in colder climes wanted to find microbrews when vacationing in the Sunshine State. To fill the grain-to-glass gap and please tourists, slowly but surely Florida craft breweries arrived. Now the state’s diversity of cultures and culinary influences are reflected in myriad styles of beer that complement a range of international fare. Malt in light ales and pilsners balances Caribbean spice, and a hoppy IPA pairs perfectly with the heat found in Southeast Asian dishes.

Homegrown, Sort of

Halker, who also happens to be a head brewer at Due South Brewing Co. in Boynton Beach, would love to say that every ingredient he uses is sprouted in the Sunshine State. He can’t, because hops—beer’s essential flavor ingredient—is not yet grown in Florida. “A lot of it has to do with our humidity,” he says.

Beer toast at Due South Brewing Co., Boyton Beach; Photograph by Jessie Preza

But hops hope remains. Right now, University of Florida researchers in Apopka are experimenting with several plant varieties. Fueled by a $158,000 grant from the state’s Department of Agriculture, beer geeks want to find a way to grow non-native hops in the heat and humidity. The yellowish green flower prefers temperatures between 42 and 70 degrees, and the Apopka team expects to have perfected a Florida-friendly variety within two years. In the meantime, Halker says most craft brewers look to Washington state’s Yakima Valley, where the majority of the country’s hops grow. Even grain, another craft beer essential, gets imported from the Midwest for the most part.

Halker turns to classic Florida crops to create local terroir: grapefruit juice from Fort Pierce, honey from Loxahatchee and coffee that’s roasted just down the street from his brewery. Other Florida-based microbrews infuse local fare with concoctions on tap, such as Miami Brewing Co.’s Big Rod Coconut Blonde Ale and Tomoka Brewing Company’s Watermelon Basil Saison.

Hops at Due South Brewing Co.; Photograph by Jessie Preza

Beer, it seems, is the new flavor frontier for makers and drinkers across the state thirsting for authenticity and creativity. In tasting rooms from Tallahassee to Miami, Floridians unite for the love of home and handcrafted brews. And that’s cause enough for a toast. Cheers!

Where to Imbibe Some of  the State’s Best Suds

Photograph by Concrete Beach Brewery

Concrete Beach Brewery

This Miami brewery has been given a wide berth to create unique Magic City brews thanks to partnerships with the co-founders of Alchemy & Science, an independently-operated subsidiary of the Boston Beer Company and Alan Newman, who founded Vermont’s Magic Hat Brewing Company. Newman, in particular, leads an effort at CBB to create a strong sense of community gathering, dubbing the taproom the Social Hall.
concretebeachbrewery.com

Photograph by Wynwood Brewing Co.

Wynwood
Brewing Co.

Situated in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, this brew house helped reinvent the neighborhood of formerly blighted warehouses into the vibrant eat-drink-shop destination it is today. WBC’s Luis G. Brignoni won a gold medal at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in Denver for Pop’s Porter, named after his father, who started his beer obsession seven years ago with a Christmas gift of a home-brewing kit. wynwoodbrewing.com

Photograph by Proof Brewing Co.

Proof Brewing Co.

There’s not a lot of craft beer in or around Tallahassee, so Proof Brewing Co. founders Byron and Angela Burroughs have created a destination tasting room and beer garden with a bocce ball court at their Railroad Square Art Park location. Discerning beer lovers thirst for Proof’s selection of India pale ales, including the flagship Guru IPA, which recently won gold medals at the Florida Best Beer Championships. proofbrewingco.com

Photograph by 7veventh Sun Brewery

7Venth Sun Brewery

Devon Kreps and Justin Stange have one of the smallest brewing systems producing some of the state’s best Belgian-style beer in charming downtown Dunedin. Kreps holds a degree in fermentation science and brewed at Anheuser-Busch; Strange worked at Cigar City Brewery in Tampa. She joined forces with him eight years ago. The duo only employs Cicerone certified bartenders (the beer equivalent to a wine sommelier). 7venthsun.com

Photograph by Jessie Preza

Due South
Brewing Co.

A visit to this four-year-old Boynton Beach brewery puts guests in the middle of production. Lagerheads may look on while brewers and cellar men create beer just 20 feet away. With 14 to 18 different varieties on tap at any time, Due South is best known for its Caramel Cream Ale, which the owner brewed for his wine-loving wife, who applauds his creativity yet remains true to the vine.  duesouthbrewingcompany.com

Photograph by Florida Beer Company

Florida Beer Company

Jim Massoni and Ed Scott’s 60,000-square-foot Cape Canaveral-based facility once housed Chrysler’s space division operations. You can view the brewing room and bottling line through 120 feet of plate-glass windows in the visitor center. As for its beer styles, Florida Beer Company is perhaps best known for its light lagers and summertime beers that
incorporate Florida-grown ctrus such as  oranges and Key limes.
floridabeer.com

For a full listing of the state’s brew houses, check out the Florida Brewers Guild, floridabrewersguild.org.