With its slogan of "Aggressively Pursuing Craft," and like the shark in its logo, Atlantic Beach Brewing Company is steadily and methodically making its way towards hitting the shores of the Jacksonville, Florida area beer scene. With an anticipated opening around mid-May, the Atlantic Beach brewery looks to create a big splash as it serves up its house beers from day one.
Husband-and-wife Spencer and Linda Horn, along with brother Chuck Horn, are the partners currently transforming a former furniture store in the corner unit of a strip mall into an impressive 7000sf brewery and tap room -- or, tap rooms (yes, plural), as it turns out. According to Spencer, the concept has been in planning for about 2-1/2 years. Spencer and Linda are originally from the area, and they "got the craft beer bug" while living in Seattle for a while. After speaking with a number of brewery owners and learning what can go right and what can go wrong, they set their sights on opening their own brewery and moved back to North Florida. Spencer's experience in management, marketing, branding and sales with Starbucks and in consumer packaged goods gives the partners a background for the administrative side of things, and Chuck is managing the construction. Yet, the group found it best to "stick to what they know" and bring in a professional brewer to handle the brewing side of the operations. Enter Rory Malloy, Brewmaster and Brewery Manager, who started homebrewing in 1992 and spearheaded a new brewery concept in the Tampa area about 2-3 years ago. After signing the lease last August, construction and build-out of the space began.
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| Spencer and Linda Horn, with Brewmaster Rory Malloy, in the Atlantic Beach Brewing Company brewhouse (photo by Linda Johnson) |
Currently, sounds of saws and the aroma of sawdust fill the air at the brewery, and build-out is making swift progress.
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| Under construction: Waiting to strike..... soon (photo by Linda Johnson) |
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| Wood and metal tables throughout the main tap room (photo by Linda Johnson) |
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| Before: Stone wall behind the main bar that will feature 20 taps (photo by Linda Johnson) |
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| After: new tap tower (photo from Atlantic Beach Brewing Company) |
When entering the front door, guests will enjoy a spacious 1800-sf front/main tap room with ample tables and chairs and a 32-foot bar with about 18 seats. Yes, the first thing you'll probably notice is that the place is big. But, that's not all. That reference to tap rooms, meaning more than one? Walk through the main tap room and you'll enter a second, only slightly smaller, tap room, which will also double as an event space. The back tap room has another set of 20 taps.
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| Tap wall in the second tap room/events room. (photo by Linda Johnson) |
The second tap room also has its own entrance on the side of the property:
Of course, the next question is: What about the beer? First, there will be plenty of beer at Atlantic Beach Brewing Company. Just behind, and visible from, the back tap room is the where all the brewery action takes place. Beer is already brewing and fermenting in the 10-barrel brewhouse, which currently houses four 30-barrel fermenters, two 20-barrel fermenters, and one 30-barrel brite tank. The brewery is built for expansion, with drops for seven additional tanks (one brite tank and six 30-barrel fermenters) in place. A small one-barrel pilot system will also be used for new recipes, treatments and test batches. The permits and licenses have been secured, and several of the fermenters are filled with an IPA, a session IPA and a brown ale ... and more on the way!
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| Brewhouse at Atlantic Beach Brewing Company (photo by Linda Johnson) |
Rory will brew all styles of beer here, and there are "no guidelines," as he will "stick to what [he] wants to do." Patrons looking for an array of beer styles will find it, and all styles and colors will be featured: lighter ales, IPAs, session IPAs, Belgian, saison, barrel-aged, browns, porters and stouts (good news for this writer on that last one!). He's also open to brewing collaboration beers with other breweries. Linda adds that the tap room will serve beer for the casual beer drinker and beer enthusiasts alike.
While the brewery plans on offering around five "core" beers, the tap list will constantly rotate and will include seasonals and special treatments, says Rory. He will also be bringing on barrels for barrel-aged beers. Look for bottle releases in the future as well. One of the beers that customers will get to know is the house "Duality IPA." The name has several meanings: Owners Chuck and Spencer are twins; Rory brewed a "collaboration with himself;" and it's also a reference to working two jobs and doing a number of things at once to make this brewery a reality. The Duality IPA is a "standard" IPA, coming in at 6.5-7 ABV, with an IBU under 70, but with a very light color (under 3 SRM, i.e., "Standard Reference Method"). After a sneak peek tasting of the Brown Ale, this writer is hooked.
Rory adds that, as set up now, the brewery can handle a 3000-barrel capacity, expanding to around 6000-7000 barrels under long-range plans. In addition to the two walk-in coolers for each of the tap rooms, the brewhouse includes a third cold room for distribution. The brewery plans to begin distribution in kegs this coming fall, and looks ahead to adding an on-site canning line within 18 months. So, there's something to that tag line of "Aggressively Pursuing Craft." Spencer adds that the group kept thinking "aggressive," and that the shark "just fit" that theme.
Atlantic Beach Brewing Company will open with 8-10 house beers on tap, and additional house beers will gradually be added. Guests are welcome to bring in their own food, and there are several restaurants and take-out options nearby. The venue will be dog- and family-friendly. A front patio is also in the future plans. The events room can be rented out, and events can be catered.
In the sea of craft beer engulfing the state of Florida, look for Atlantic Beach Brewing Company to strike soon.
Atlantic Beach Brewing Company is located at 725 Atlantic Blvd., Atlantic Beach.
I had a great time visiting with Atlantic Beach Brewing Company, and thanks to Spencer, Linda and Rory for time out from their busy schedules. Stay tuned for updates about Atlantic Beach Brewing Company as it gets closer to an opening date!
In the meantime, be sure to follow brewnymph.com for more beer news and beerfest events -- there are some pretty awesome fests still on the spring calendar....
Thanks for reading....
Cheers!
Til next time,
Linda
Linda Johnson, Certified Cicerone®
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