Ryan Sentz - Owner/Head Brewer Funky Buddha Brewery

The first time I ever went to the Funky Buddha Lounge I had something called the Maple Bacon Coffee Porter.  Except there was no long lines and nobody showing up at 4 a.m. and waiting by the door (like there are now when it's available) - it was me, my wife , and a couple snifters of a drink unlike any I'd ever had before it.  It had a sweet molasses and maple nose, a chewy almost syrupy consistency, and the taste had hints of smoky bacon and lingering coffee.  It was breakfast in a glass.  I honestly couldn't believe those flavors were possible to recreate in a beer, let alone successfully.  But it was.  Ryan and the guys at Funky Buddha seem to do this time and time again - recreating familiar tastes and smells in beer - like their no crusts, a peanut butter and jelly brown ale, and their chocolate cherry porter, both of which taste exactly like their names.  

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What I found the most interesting was the importance of family and camaraderie in the brewery.  Fermenters named after family members and family dogs, two brothers running the show, and a sense of family between the employees who worked even through a 30 minute power outage to make sure that what needed to get done got done. Even through their rapid rise in popularity, they're guys that haven't forgotten where they came from and haven't grown any egos or illusions of grandeur.  Still, they do what they want to do how they want to do it and don't make any apologies for it.  It's why they've grown so fast and been propelled into international acclaim and why everyone wants a bottle of the infamous maple bacon coffee porter and it's why they'll be around pushing the boundaries in South Florida for a long time to come.

We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed having it.  

Cheers!

Craft Commander

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Michael Demetrus - Brewmaster M.I.A. Brewing

Miami is a melting pot.  You'll hear it said time and time again.  It's because the fabric of Miami has and always will be stitched together by outside influences and experiences.  People brought the experiences, cultures, and skills they had built up in other countries, cities, and States, and helped create this city we now know as Miami.  Now, the aptly named M.I.A. Brewing Co., is looking to recreate this phenomenon through its beer with Mike Demetrus, formerly brewer at Finch's Brewing in Chicago, at the helm.  Bringing influences from San Francisco and Chicago, two of the countries most established food and beer scenes, to our virgin market, M.I.A. is poised to deliver a phenomenal product that hits the essence of what Miami is - a melting pot.  

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Putting quality and consistency at the forefront, M.I.A. will bring South Florida beers that you can drink alone or pair with the most elegant of meals.  Striking balance between tradition and the future, the core lineup (see our beer review page for more info) pays respect to what the style of each offering is supposed to embody all while putting M.I.A.'s own stamp right on the forefront.  

Can you tell I'm excited?  You should be too.  

Credits: Stages & Stereos for all music in our videos and Christopher Alzati (alzaticon@gmail.com) for film and editing

For more photos from our time with Mike at M.I.A., go to our "Snapshots" page.  For more information on the core lineup, head over to "Craft Beer Reviews".

Vincent Tursi - Brewer/Jack of all Trades at Night Shift Brewing

     Vince Tursi is a brewer at Night Shift Brewing, a young but incredibly fast growing brewery from Everett, Massachusetts.  Known for their creative, culinary inspired beers, Night Shift is quickly becoming known as a premiere sour producer and experts at producing incredibly well-balanced barrel aged beers and juicy IPA's.  Staying true to their philosophy of thinking outside of the box, Night Shift is poised to become a mainstay in the American brewing scene and has already become one of the American craft beer scene's leaders in expanding what most people perceive to be capable with regards to beer.

      In the case of Vince and his personal philosophy on brewing, it seems like his joining Night Shift as brewer was a perfect match.  A philosophy based on originality and creativity all while producing beers that are true to style, is responsible for the growth and popularity of the brand and will continue to propel their growth in the future.  As he correctly calls it, brewing is an art, and Vince doesn't take that lightly.  Try Night Shift beers like El Lechedor, a horchata inspired Mexican Milk Stout, and Farmer's Duel, a saison blended with beer aged in red wine and white wine barrels each fermented on separate yeast strains, and you'll see the artist he truly is.  

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      Most important of all is how nice of a guy he is!  All of the Night Shift employees seem to carry a nice gene and only one visit to the brewery will show you what I mean.  On our visit to the brewery earlier this year, employees filled the space on a Saturday to answer questions about their beers, interact with patrons, and get honest reactions to what they were producing.  Vince welcomes this honest criticism as he is always seeking to make a better beer with every batch.  After all, as he puts it, nothing is ever perfect.

      Check out our conversation with Vince and learn about the brewery's expansion in to their new 16,000 square foot space, learn about their ingredient selection process, their current and future beers, their former brewery's bathroom, and Vince's history with regards to brewing and the Boston beer scene.  We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed talking to Vince, and we can't wait to see what more Night Shift has up their sleeves.  To one of our favorite breweries and now one of our favorite brewers, we wish you nothing but success in the future and can't wait to revisit this conversation when your brewery grows again!

Cheers!

Wayne Wambles - Brewmaster Cigar City Brewing

"If it doesn't exist, create it"

                                            - Wayne Wambles

An innovator, creator, pioneer, and all around great person; Wayne Wambles has pushed Cigar City brewing from small upstart brewery to a multi-national power house brewing beers that are revered around the world, all while staying true to the history and culture of Cigar City's home State of Florida.  See, tradition and culture matter, they matter to Cigar City and they matter to the hoards of people who flood the Cigar City taproom every single day.  Just ask the 30 people waiting in line to get in on a regular Saturday morning at 10:30 in the morning!  

Cigar City are the leaders in Florida, and Wayne and Joey Redner (cigar city's vocal and proud owner) know it; although, they never set out to be anything more than a brewery that produced consistently good and true beer.  It's the Florida immigrant history that built Tampa and it's the immigrant history that both Joey and Wayne want to highlight.  As Wayne put it best: Cigar City is doing nothing more than trying to put Florida's tradition and history into a liquid.  

For those of us lucky to have been able to sit down with Wayne one-on-one and have a conversation with him, it becomes obvious immediately that you are talking to a genius.  A person so in-tuned with his craft and his mission, gifted with an ability to understand the scientific processes that are undergone when different ingredients are introduced into his beer, and someone who can pick out the exact yeast strain a brew used in their latest batch of beer.  Seriously, just walk up to a bar and order a beer with him.  Best of all, amidst all the accolades he's earned and the respect he's garnered in his field, you will never meet a more humble person who spends too much time improving his craft to worry about what his ego is doing. It's truly refreshing to meet someone who has earned the right to an ego but chooses not to use it! 

Wayne explains Florida-weisse style and other sour beers in Florida

We sat down for an hour or so outside of 7venth Sun Brewing in Dunedin, Fl, to discuss Wayne's start in brewing, the work he's done and is currently doing at Cigar City, the 2014 Florida legislative session and the lessons learned from the experience, and the future of craft beer in Florida and around the country.   The full interview is on this page with loads of our photos from our day at Cigar City and with Wayne in the "snapshots" section.  We hope you enjoy, but most of all, we hope you learn something from the man behind our favorite brewery's beer.  Oh and yes, we were outside, please ignore the passing cars!  

Alexandra Nowell - Brewmaster Three Weavers Brewing

Watch our conversation with Alexandra Nowell (Brewmaster - Three Weavers Brewing), a South Florida girl turned California brewmaster and David Rodriguez (brewer/head cellarman - Wynwood Brewing), as we discuss her career, the craft beer movement, the pink boots society, and the future of craft beer.

Alex is currently the Brewmaster at the soon to open Three Weavers Brewing Company and formally was Lead Brewer at Kinetic Brewing Company, and Lead Brewer at Drake's.  We had a blast with Alex and are proud of our hometown girl as she continues to rise through the ranks in the craft beer industry.   Be sure to look out for Three Weavers brews coming soon.

Check out these pictures of Alex throughout her career.  

In the GABF festival hall, after taking home two bronze medals for Kinetic Brewing Co. (2013).  Photo: Bernie Wire

Pulling samples from barrels at Drake's Brewing.  Photo: Kelsey Williams

Tapping a firkin in the Drake's Barrel House. Photo: Mike Condie

Brewing Drake's/Faction fir tree beer collaboration. Photo: The Full Pint