1. Where is your brewery?

3 Daughters is located in St. Petersburg, FL, about five blocks away from Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. Our tasting room is at 222 22nd Street South, but our beers are sold on draught and in cans throughout the state of Florida.

2. What was the first beer you had that made you realize craft beer was going to be a bigger part of your life?

Our owners actually come from the retail side of hospitality with Mike having a long history at Outback Steakhouse and then owning his own Italian restaurant on Beach Drive. With a focus on farm to table recipes, our introduction to craft beer came in the form of a beer battered fish. At that time, our Head Chef, Ty Weaver, was an avid home brewer. When he made the blonde ale that went in our fish recipe, we decided to put the rest on tap under the name "To Be", as in whatever Ty wanted the beer to be. That beer and subsequent others began to outsell our domestic beers on tap. That is when we decided to sell our interest in the restaurant and move full time into the craft industry.

3. What is your favorite style to brew and why?

Just like a parent is not supposed to have favorite children, so we shouldn't (in theory) have a favorite beer. When asked, our head brewer will talk about a lot of beers but his favorite came down to the Stern Line Stout because of the rich aroma during the boil.

4. If you were stranded on an island (with a working refrigerator that automatically replenished itself) and you could only have one beer for the rest of your life in that fridge, which would it be?

We asked around the brewery to see what everyone would say...

Ty (Head Brewer) - Stern Line Stout; Mike (Owner) - Stern Line Stout; Leigh (Owner) - Belgian Dark Strong; John (COO) - Bimini Twist IPA; Chris (Sales) - Rod Bender Red

There really is something for everyone!

5. What is your favorite music to listen to in the brewery?

Depending on what music you hear when entering the brewery, you can guess who got there first to open. If you hear bluegrass, Susan or Tim may have turned the music on. If you hear Rock, Captain Steve (one of our brewers) is in charge of the tunes. That is definitely playing during the day while they are brewing. However, if you hear any country music, it is a good bet that Mike, Ty or Leigh had control of the playlist that day.

6. Which other brewery has inspired you the most? Why?

Everyone has a different answer to this story. At 3 Daughters Brewing lots of breweries have given us inspiration and assistance. We appreciate all the help given by Cigar City who came by before opening and gave very helpful suggestions. They have led the craft beer revolution in Tampa and it is awesome that they are also great people. As we were designing our tasting room in 2013, we went to Asheville, North Carolina, and toured many breweries including Highlands Brewery, Green Man, Wicked Weed, and a few others. They are all great but we were inspired by Wicked Weed who we consider true innovators and leaders in the market.

7. Single hop beer - which hops are you using?

Using Cascade in several of our beers like the Beach Blonde Ale and it works really well.

8. Where is your favorite place to get a beer after work and why?

We love to go to other craft breweries when we have spare time. It is great to support the craft beer industry and taste what others are doing.

9. What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone who thinks they want to get into the craft beer industry?

Ask others for help and advice! Find the breweries that are leading the industry and ask them for assistance. The craft beer community is closely connected and everyone is willing to other breweries. We have given others our business plan and are glad to let others come in and learn from our experience. Biggest advice: ask others who've done it before you.

10. Dogs or cats?

Dogs!

1. Where is your brewery?

Downtown St. Petersburg, Fl

2. What was the first beer you had that made you realize craft beer was going to be a bigger part of your life?

Stone Ruination. It has just come to Florida and I was at lunch with my friend and his family after he graduated from college. The waiter asked if we liked craft beer and I hadn't really had a lot of craft beer in my life, so naturally as a 21 year old I said, "yes." He poured the bottle into a glass and it was so bitter that I couldn't drink it all. I had no idea so much flavor could be put into a glass. At that point, I knew that I wanted to learn everything I could about making beers that were that aggressive and flavorful.

3. What is your favorite style to brew and why?

Farmhouse ales. There's no real definition for the style so it allows for infinite variances. Probably more so than any other beer style. They can be virtually any ABV, any color, almost any acidity level or hop profile; and you can use basically any form of mixed culture or single strain that you'd like. They do very well in stainless or in wood for primary, and they're excellent on fruit, spices, treatments, wood, and micro flora post fermentation. They're great clean, they're great funky, and they can be as complex as any beer out there, even when it's a simple. low ABV beer.

4. If you were stranded on an island (with a working refrigerator that automatically replenished itself) and you could only have one beer for the rest of your life in that fridge, which would it be?

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

5. What is your favorite music to listen to in the brewery?

Right now? Aweseom Mix Tape #1. Guardians of the Galaxy is my jam.

6. Which other brewery has inspired you the most? Why?

This is a difficult question because I find myself inspired all of the time by so many different breweries. I'd have to go back to Stone, first. I'd had good craft beer before drinking their beers, but non that affected me quite like Ruination, Sublimely Self Righteous, and Arrogant Bastard. Those beers changed me as a person. After having them (all on separate occasions) I was reminded of how much I don't know in the world. When it comes down to it, I'm an insignificant moron in a vast universe of unknowns. Whenever I began to think that I had it "all figured out," these beers individually brought me back to reality.

The second brewery would be Cigar City. Hunahpu's gave me a similar experience. A few other breweries that I admire and draw inspiration from would be Russian River, Jolly Pumpkin, New Belgium, Crooked Stave, Trinity, Wicked Weed, Allagash, Three Floyd's, The Rare Barrel, Jester King, Evil Twin, Prairie, The Bruery, New Glarus, AC Golden, Anchorage, 7venth Sun... Yeah... Just to name a few...

7. Single hop beer - which hops are you using?

Cascade. It's by no means my favorite hop, but we know more about it than most American hops and I don't usually like many single hop beers. Hard to go wrong with classic.

8. Where is your favorite place to get a beer after work and why?

I hardly ever want to get a beer after work, but if I had to choose, probably Cycle Brewing. They're five blocks from my brewery, it's really low key, dimly lit, rad beers, and I can usually be alone for a few minutes.

9. What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone who thinks they want to get into the craft beer industry?

Spend time working in a brewery. Get experience brewing on a system, cellaring, packaging, barrel aging: everything. Learn the practical process before jumping in. It's complicated. In the meantime, drink a lot of different beers and come up with a niche that you love. Focus on what you do well and allow your passion to shine through. Last, do not be afraid to ask for help.

10. Dogs or cats?

I own neither. I'm not a pet person, honestly. I love other people's animals, but I chose to forego the responsibility. I guess you could say I dislike them equally.