Tag Archives: new tanks

Green Bench Brewing Logo

Green Bench Brewing doubles capacity

Since Green Bench Brewing Company helped to change the city zoning codes in order to open a Saint Petersburg-based production brewery, there has been a high demand for Green Bench beer. While that is a great problem to have, Green Bench has been sweating in the Florida sun to keep up with their demand. Until now.

Yesterday, Monday June 9th, Green Bench purchased new brewing vessels (fermentation tanks, judging by their conical bottoms) and announced that they have effectively “doubled their brewing capacity.” Look for wider availability of Green Bench beer as the new tanks get plumbed in and filled.

Green Bench Brewing Company is located at 1133 Baum Avenue North in Saint Petersburg.

Funky Buddha Brewery

Funky Buddha celebrates one year with an expansion

Press Release:

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since Funky Buddha Brewery first opened its doors in June, 2013. With its first anniversary set for May 31, 2014, the brewery is ready to celebrate with a day-long festival of live music, the area’s best food trucks, and dozens of its own brand of culinary-influenced beers. Now, as year two looms, Funky Buddha is in the midst of a three-million dollar expansion featuring new equipment, a larger space, and bottles of its unique and innovative beer on the way this fall.

But before delving into the future, let’s take a look back at some of Funky Buddha’s accomplishments:

· South Florida’s craft brewery, now found on draft throughout Broward, Dade, Palm Beach, Monroe, and Martin counties at over 400 retail bars and restaurants

· Reached its initial brewing capacity of 5,000 barrels annually (one barrel=31 gallons) in January

· Grew to 28 employees (with 10+ new jobs planned for year two)

· Hailed as one of the top 20 breweries to visit in the country by USA Today in December, 2013

· The 2014 Rate Beer Best named Funky Buddha among the top 100 breweries in the world, while Maple Bacon Coffee Porter (the release of which drew 4000 people to the brewery in January) and Last Snow Porter named “Top 5” porters in the world

· Partnered with Fort Lauderdale-based Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza to create “Fuhgeddaboudit Red Ale,” available on draft in each of its 23 Florida locations

As exciting as year one was for Funky Buddha, its second operating year promises to have much more in store. Namely, the brewery is undergoing an expansion that will see it become the largest craft brewery to produce and bottle its beers here in South Florida.
This comprehensive expansion began in March with three new 120 barrel tanks from Portland, Oregon-based Metalcraft Fabrication, which are being used exclusively to produce flagship beers Floridian Hefeweizen and Hop Gun IPA. Two more of these towering, 4000 gallon tanks are slated to arrive in July, increasing Funky Buddha’s annual capacity to over 16,000 barrels.

To package all of that beer, Funky Buddha will install a custom-designed bottling line from CFT in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Arriving in late July, this state-of-the-art line will have an output of 100 bottles per minute, and will allow Funky Buddha the speed and flexibility to continue to grow in its current Oakland Park location. This equipment will mean the launch of 12oz glass bottles in August, which will be distributed via Brown Distributing to on- and off-premises retailers statewide. The launch will initially include six packs of the brewery’s core line up of Floridian Hefeweizen, Hop Gun India Pale Ale, and Crusher Session IPA, as well as a line of culinary-influenced brands such as No Crusts Peanut Butter and Jelly Brown Ale and Sweet Potato Casserole released bimonthly in four packs. Limited release 22 ounce bottles will follow in November, with barrel-aged brews, berlinerweiss, and other specialty releases on the slate.

Finally, to house that equipment, Funky Buddha recently signed a lease on an additional 21,000 square feet of space adjacent to the original brewery. Aside from allowing the brewery with the operational space to grow, the new wing will also feature offices, cold storage, and the space vital for the brewery to expand to its goal of 40,000 barrels produced annually.

“We’ve already grown so much faster than my expectations, but the arrival of bottles will enable us to reach a new level of distribution here in our backyard,” says KC Sentz, Funky Buddha’s General Manager and co-owner. “Year one was unbelievable, but there’s a lot more in our future.”

To celebrate its achievements and toast to future goals, Funky Buddha will host a One-Year Anniversary Celebration on May 31 from noon to 10pm. This festival will feature all the festivities Funky Buddha fans have come to expect, including live music and painting from prominent local artists, an assortment of the area’s most creative food trucks, and of course a plethora of limited release beers including old favorites and new creations.

“We are so humbled that the community here in South Florida has embraced us so much,” says Head Brewer and co-owner Ryan Sentz. “It’s important to me that we continue to focus on quality and innovation and ultimately do right by our customers.”

More information on our upcoming package launch, including product renderings and ship dates, will arrive mid-summer. For further details on the Anniversary Festival, please visit funkybuddhabrewery.com.

ABOUT FUNKY BUDDHA BREWERY: Founded in 2010 in Boca Raton, Florida, Funky Buddha Brewery is committed to producing bold craft beers that marry culinary-inspired ingredients with time-honored technique. Its lineup includes year-round brews Floridian Hefeweizen and Hop Gun IPA, along with specialty releases such as No Crusts Peanut Butter and Jelly Brown Ale and the highly sought after Maple Bacon Coffee Porter. Its Oakland Park production brewery opened in June 2013 and distributes draft beer to over 400 restaurants and bars across South Florida.

Funky Buddha Brewery

Funky Buddha’s expansion

There seems to be a race going on in South Florida. Not a cutthroat, winner-take-all race, but instead a friendly race to see who is going to be South Florida’s top craft beer producer. With a slew of new breweries looking to bring their liquid wares to the long bereft South Florida masses, many of the existing breweries are blazing a trail for the newbies to follow.

Enter Funky Buddha’s expansion. The Funky Bunch cannot make beer fast enough to slake the outrageously thirsty South Florida market, but they have heard the call of Buddha backers and they have answered by adding three new 120-barrel tanks.

According to the Funky Buddha blog:

These tanks will double our current capacity, allowing us to expand even further.

We’ll post more pics when these tanks arrive and get placed. But this is exciting news for us, as it means continued expansion throughout the state of Florida and bigger batches of our special releases will soon be on the way. That means more bars and restaurants will be carrying more of our special release beers to keep the thirsty masses sated!

Two of these tanks are fementation vessels, and will be used exclusively to brew Hop Gun IPA and Floridian Hefeweizen, our two flagships. The third vessel is a brite beer tank, which allows us to clarify, carbonate, and package our beer.

So, in short, more Funky Buddha beer will be on the way soon.

Darwin Brewing Company eyes an opening date

Since announcing their intentions to build a production brewery in Bradenton, Darwin Brewing Company has been building momentum and constructing their new home. Well, their new home took one giant step closer to reality yesterday when their brewhouse was delivered.

Darwin Brewing Company’s new home at 803 17th Avenue West in Bradeton will be a 6,000 square foot warehouse, playing host to both the brewery and its tasting room.

When asked about the new brewery by the Bradenton Herald, Darwin Brewing Company owner, chef Darwin Santa Maria said that he will have his brewing license next month and if all goes well, possibly open “while the Pirates fans are still in town.”

“It’s still our goal: maybe we get the end of spring training,” he said. “But we believe we’re going to make things right. Spring training is not going anywhere, so people are going to be seeing what we’re doing over here and get excited.”