BUSINESS TRENDS
30
SMALL BREWERIES ARE
HOPPING AND FLOURISHING
TCBusiness.com
BERNIE WOODALL
American Icon Brewery opened in October 2017 on the site of the old Vero Beach Municipal Power Plant, built in 1926 to serve a growing city. The building was
named to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
Once nonexistent, craft beer establishments
have become plentiful for local connoisseurs
Not long ago a desert for craft beer lovers,
the Treasure Coast is now home to 10
small breweries, one of them an easy drive
for most people in the area. All 10 have
been established in the past seven years
and stretch from Sebastian in the north
to the newest one in Stuart. None are in
Okeechobee County yet.
Sailfish Brewing Company in downtown
Fort Pierce was the first, opened in early
2013. David BuShea, president and cofounder
of Sailfish, says when he opened,
the closest craft brewer was Tequesta
Brewing Company, 40 miles away.
Essentially, every variety of beer is
available at these breweries, all of which
were begun by owners who excelled in
home brewing before being convinced by
friends to step it up to commercial scale.
Small-scale commercial, that is. Each of the
breweries in the area is tiny compared to
major beer corporations. Anheuser-Busch
InBev makes 70 percent of the world’s
beer, and its North American production is
about 95 million barrels annually.
The largest producer among the craft
breweries on the Treasure Coast is Islamorada
Beer Company, whose Fort Pierce
location is expected to make 12,000 barrels
of beer this year, up from 8,000 barrels
in 2018.
The brew pubs here have friendly
atmospheres that attract those passionate >>
BY BERNIE WOODALL
/TCBusiness.com
