When we read yesterday that Bradenton’s Motorworks Brewing Company had plans to move into the former Orange County Brewers location in downtown Orlando, we reached out to Motorworks Brewing’s Director of Sales & Marketing Barry Elwonger for more information about the brewery’s second location.
Motorworks Brewing has been searching for a second location for a while now, Barry confirmed – about three years. When this location opened up, it was already built as a brewery and unlike other spaces, the Orange Avenue space would require little construction to allow brewing operations to commence.
“As a craft beer market, Orlando is underserved per capita,” Barry says. “We know that the area has 20-25 breweries, but some of them are neighborhood breweries and some are nano-sized. This location had all of the boxes checked off for us, and when we looked at the space on Orange Avenue, we knew that this would be our second home.”
Barry says that this new Orlando location is special project for him – he is a UCF alumnus who has been wanting to make beer for his alma mater’s market for some time.
At first, the majority of the beer for Orlando’s Motorworks Brewing will come from the Bradenton brewery, especially core Motorworks beers, Barry asserts. “In time there are plans to hire a pilot brewer to use the seven-barrel brewing system to help fill Orange Avenue Motorworks Brewing’s 30 taps. The taps will be Motorworks beers almost exclusively.” Initially, the brew crew from Bradenton will run operations, eventually turning them over to a local brewer.
Unlike Motorworks Bradenton, the Orlando location will feature a coffee roastery, too. Motorworks Bradenton doesn’t have the foot traffic or the easy way in and out to support morning coffee business, but Orange Avenue Motorworks will use its downtown location to serve coffee roasted onsite.
“We see a lot of opportunity in the marketplace coming from our Orlando location,” Barry says. “We are closed to the Amway Center, the Citrus Bowl, downtown Orlando nightlife, and not far from the University of Central Florida. We couldn’t be happier with this new spot.”
About Motorworks Brewing
Since opening in 2014, Motorworks Brewing has quickly become one of the most-awarded breweries in Florida with over 22 national and international medals, including being awarded Best Large Brewery in Florida at the 2017 Best Florida Beer Championships.
We’re also home to Florida’s largest Beer Garden, where you can enjoy a beautiful, raised deck surrounding a 150+ year-old oak tree and play games on our 10+ cornhole sets, bocce ball court, or enjoy a game of Giant Jenga or just sit back and relax under the shade of the old oak.