BUSINESS
BUSINESS IS HOPPING
ED DRONDOSKI
Microbreweries tapping into growing popularity
Like many cities across the country, Port St. Lucie is
embracing the microbrewery craze. The city is home
to one brewery with another one under construction
and on the horizon is a craft draft bar that wants to
sell the tasty concoctions from the breweries.
“We welcome them with open arms,” Mayor Greg Oravec
says, although the city isn’t specifically seeking them out.
“Microbreweries are a growing trend and we are a good place
for them to settle.”
According to the national Brewer’s Association, Florida
ranked fifth in number of barrels of craft beer produced in
2015, the last year for which figures are available, with an
economic impact of more than $2 million. At that time there
were 151 craft breweries in the state.
Side Door Brewing Co. on Village Green Drive in eastern
Port St. Lucie has been open for a little more than a year.
HopLife Brewing Company expects to open in early spring
in St. Lucie West. And HopCat plans to build a waterfront
bar and restaurant known as a brewpub, that will feature 100
craft beers on tap in Tradition on the Lake, but hasn’t submitted
plans to the city yet.
Craft beer, made by small independent breweries, is
notable for its exotic names. Side Door ‘s flagship beers are
Hinge Pin and Painted Door and a coffee porter called Jittery
is especially popular. Sometimes the names reflect themes —
some of Side Door’s tend to reflect a building theme, or they
indicate what flavors are in them, or they might reference the
expected effect on the drinker. Coconut, chocolate, coffee, key
lime and mango are only a few of the flavors that might be in
a craft beer.
32 Port St. Lucie Magazine
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Side Door Brewing Co. bartenders Megan Lyshon and Rob Pierce serve craft beer brewed on the premises by owner Dwayne Buchholz.
BY SUSAN BURGESS