BUSINESS
their name. The containers can be sealed for the trip home.
He’s proud of the details in his tasting room, which he designed
and created. The bar top is an example, he says, of the
work he put into the place. It looks like leather but it isn’t. It’s
craft paper, glued down and then topped with a heavy coat
of clear resin.
The vertical surface beneath the bar top is corrugated metal
with pictures that look like decals on it. The room is bright,
warm and welcoming with no hint of a heavy, dark, bar-like
look. He says he wanted one side of the room to reflect the
outdoors and the other to look like the inside of a house.
Kelly and partners at HopLife are just in the process of creating
their tasting and brewing rooms in a 5,500-square-foot
former warehouse unit. The tasting room may hold about 70
people. In February, they painted the walls and brought in
a crew to create a finished floor. Meanwhile, the equipment
was pulled outside to make room for the workers.
BUDDING BREWER
He got caught up in the brew-making hobby in 2011 from
watching how-to videos on YouTube.
Kelly was so fascinated by what he saw that he began making
his own brewing equipment using Igloo coolers. “A lot of
people start that way,” he says. “I brewed my first beer and
a fireman buddy tasted it and said, ‘Oh my goodness! You
made that?’ ” Buoyed by the enthusiastic reaction, Kelly kept
on brewing, learning how to make different types and flavors.
Kelly had been a firefighter and EMT, coming up through
the ranks to battalion chief. He ended up talking with another
firefighter who was into craft beer and Kelly then taught
him how to make it. That firefighter, Rob Tearle, eventually >>
HOPLIFE BREWING COMPANY
Address: 679 NW Enterprise Drive, St. Lucie West,
Port St. Lucie
Owners: Jim Kelly, Rob Tearle, Jeff Blitman
Hours: To be determined when it opens,
possibly by the end of April
For more information: Call 528.0037 or
visit www.facebook.com/hoplifebrewingcompany
Port St. Lucie Magazine 35
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