The Florida Keys are arguably some of the closest spots to paradise. Ocean breezes coming off the Atlantic, a laid back atmosphere, and history dating back to the Spanish colonization of Florida welcome local and tourist alike. Until the last few years though, there was a sparse collection of watering holes that served local craft beer.
The beer drought changed as breweries around Florida began their ascent and started looking at the Keys as one of Florida’s last craft beer frontiers. Statewide, brewers like Tampa’s Cigar City and Saint Augustine’s Mile Marker began sending their beers into the keys. Their beers flowed from the taps like an underground spring, but with the exception of one small brewpub, none of the beer was brewed in the Keys.
That essential problem was one that motivated twenty-year homebrewer Jim Brady to move forward with his grand idea: Bone Island Brewing Company.
Jim got his taste for great beer while living in Germany, but upon returning home to the Southernmost City, he lacked tasty beer in his hometown. In 1993, like many other men of that time, Jim began homebrewing to slake his thirst. Since 1993, Jim has kept busy. He has perfected his recipes, advocated for beer in the Keys, founded a homebrew club, became Cicerone and Beer Judge certified, and was appointed by the Secretary General of the Conch Republic as Key West’s Ambassador to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer. Last March, Jim’s beers won him the John Doble III Memorial Scholarship from the Florida Brewers’ Guild. He was able to attend the Siebel Brewing Institute of Chicago’s concise course in brewing technology and learn from the pros the ins and outs of professional brewing.
What does all of that mean for Key West? It means that Bone Island Brewing Company has an experienced brewer at the helm, so that when the brewery celebrates its grand opening this month, the beer flowing from the taps will be anything but ordinary, a tribute to the Keys themselves. What kind of beer will pour forth from the foamy imagination of Brady? All kinds. According to Brady, he has plans for five core beers:
*Black Hole (Oatmeal Stout)
*Benediction Belgian Tripel
*Velvet Lace Belgian Witbier
*Hefe El Jefe (German Hefeweizen)
*Richard’s Burton Ale (Burton Ale/English Pale Ale)
These beers all have some substitutions that will be made from time to time, including a barrel-aged variant of Black Hole, an imperial version of Velvet Lace, and an American Pale Ale to rotate with Richard’s Burton (named as a pun for restaurant store owner Richard Tallmadge not the famed actor).
With the many recipes and variants that Bone Island has thought up, it is easy to think that the brewery will be brewing on a tremendous scale. This is not the case. Currently Bone Island is housed in a restaurant store where Brady brews all beers on a 1.7 barrel brew kettle and ferments in 525 Liter vessels. Bone Island has expansion plans to go as far as 15 barrels in the future, but for now all of Bone Island’s beers will be available at the brewery and to go in growlers.
What’s in a name? Bone Island is a reference to Cayo Hueso, the Spanish name for Key West.
Brady emphasizes one thing about Bone Island Brewing: “Bone Island is an evolution. I have been totally blessed to date and am happy to be where we’re at.” Despite that evolution, Brady is humble and knows that brewing is an art form. “Never being satisfied doesn’t always mean always being frustrated. It simply means there’s always room for improvement. One of my sayings is, ‘If you’re a golfer, you haven’t arrived unless you get a hole-in-one on every shot. Keep practicing, my friend…'”
Bone Island Brewing Company’s grand opening will be on Sunday, February 23rd from 10:00am – 2:00pm at the restaurant store’s monthly Artisan Market at 1111 Eaton Street, Key West.