Angry Chair Brewing has made the most of their humble facilities at the crossroads of Florida Ave and Fern Street, but when Angry Chair co-founder and co-owner Ryan Dowdle announced on the BeerWise podcast that they would be moving to a larger facility, the public had many questions about their new home. Earlier this week, Ryan gave Florida Beer News a tour of the new facility as well as answers to some frequently asked questions about the brewery.
Making the Space Their Own
In a past life, the building was a Kash N Karry grocery store, then it got new life as a craft brewery called Cold Storage Craft Ales. Next, it was adapted to the home of Brew Bus Brewing, and now the space at 4101 North Florida Avenue has transformed into the new home for Seminole Heights’s Angry Chair Brewing.
One of the first adjustments in the new space is Angry Chair’s food counter, but Ryan stresses that Angry Chair Brewing is not a brewpub or a restaurant. “We’re going to be a brewery that has food, not a restaurant or food-centric establishment. We’ll have greasy, well-done bar food.” In fact, Angry Chair’s Chef Robert Hammer has been previewing the food the new Angry Chair will serve as the old facility was closing. Angry Chair’s menu will feature items like chicken wings, smash burgers, and bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Vegetarian options will be available and Ryan expects the menu to be limited at opening.
The new Angry Chair will also feature television sets for the community to gather and watch communal events like football games, hockey games, and other sporting events. Ryan says that it was an important feature to him to give the community a gathering space. “At the end of the day, the brewery is a business in the community. If you want to have a bite, a beer, and a watch a game, you should be able to. We want to be a part of the community and have the community be part of us.”
What will change about the beer?
Ryan says that one of the biggest changes will be the regular availability of Angry Chair’s lagers. “You’ll come into a taproom with fewer beers that will require a syllabus,” Ryan says. “We will still have the offerings that Angry Chair has been known for, but we will have four 30-barrel (945 gallon) dedicated lagering tanks.” At opening, Ryan hops to have a collaboration lager on tap as well as Angry Chair’s Vodnik Pils, and Full Circle Light Lager. Ryan also says that fans can expect a year-round kolsch at the new Angry Chair. The first collaboration lager should be available in September/ October.
Ryan says that patrons will also see a familiar IPA on tap in Space Grass, Angry Chair’s core IPA, but Ryan hopes that Angry Chair’s English Brown Porter will also makes its way onto the tap list and into fans’ hearts.
More stouts, right?
Ryan says that while stouts put Angry Chair on the map, stout production will not increase much in the new facility. “Stout production might increase as much as five percent,” Ryan says. “We will still have forward-thinking beers. Lots of barrel-aged options, fruited sours, and the works, but we’re not going to jam the warehouse full of barrels. The plan is to release one barrel-aged beer each month. We’ve currently depleted our supply of barrel-aged beer with the move, but we should be on track to release one barrel-aged beer per month starting in January or February.
Can I park there?
The new facility will have 78 parking spots instead of the usual 4 spots that the old facility boasted. They will need the spots because one of the first events the new Angry Chair facility will host will be the signups for The Sullen, Angry Chair’s reserve society where a signup fee will guarantee a select group of individuals access to special bottles, tasting room discounts, and a once-a-year dinner exclusive to members.
Ryan concluded the walkthrough by saying that the brewery plans to open its doors to the public by the end of August, and will host a grand opening further into the future (provided that inspections and construction finishes happen as scheduled). The new facility will be open Thursday through Sunday, at least at the outset.
For more information, follow Angry Chair Brewing on Facebook or Instagram. You can also listen to Angry Chair’s Ryan Dowdle on the BeerWise podcast by clicking here.
About Angry Chair Brewing
You’re probably here for the stouts, that’s what we are most known for. There’s no line we won’t cross in that area, and we appreciate the love we receive for our interpretations of that style. With beer, you’re always learning, experimenting, and tweaking something. We consider our beers forward thinking, and we don’t always brew to style. Somehow we won a gold medal for our pilsner though, so we can follow the rules if we want to.
We don’t intend on being a one-note brewery and are constantly pushing ourselves to do more. At any given time our tap list will feature a variety of styles, stouts, and IPAs being more common, but we make a lot of sours and porters as well.
We brew beer, we age beer, we bottle beer, we can beer, and we definitely drink beer.
