MIAMI – The craft beer business is gathering potency in South Florida, the Miami Herald reports.
Wynwood Brewing Co. founder Luis Brignoni is looking to triple the capacity of his brewery — which is just 4 months old.
“We thought we had the perfect size space and all the tanks we’d need, and then things just took off,” he said. “We’re trying to keep up while maintaining consistent quality.”
Meanwhile, Funky Buddha Brewery, which opened last June, is also looking to more than triple its production.” We started with 18 retail accounts, and now we’re in something like 400 bars and restaurants from Sebastian to Key West,” said John Linn, Funky Buddha’s brand manager. “Meteoric is really the only way to describe it.”
With an eye toward enjoying similar successes, a handful of other wannabe brewers are planning to open their own production facilities.
“I’m very happy for the Wynwood guys, who sort of paved the way for us,” said Diego Ganoza of soon-to-open Gravity Brewlab. “Because of them, we all have fewer hoops to jump through, or we have a better idea of how to get through them.”
South Florida’s craft beer craze is part of a national wave that has been growing for several years. There are more than 2,500 craft breweries in the U.S., with another 1,500 in the planning stages, according to the Brewers Association.
In South Florida, while sales of macro beers have fallen flat or declined, craft brew has grabbed market share, raking in 6.3% of the beer market in 2012 and 5.5% in 2011, Technomic reported.
“In Florida, our [craft] market share is still like 4%, maybe even less,” said Funky Buddha’s Linn. “We have a bigger piece of the pie to capture, and we know we have tons of potential customers out there who are looking to drink something better than fizzy yellow swill.”
The upcoming legislative session in Tallahassee will address a number of issues related to the state’s beer industry, including allowing beer sampling in grocery stores and the sale of 64-ounce growlers. The Florida Brewers Guild supports these measures, while the beer wholesale lobby opposes them.