Palm Beach Brewing Company
Try out local flavors at South
Florida Beer Festival
By Tim O'Meilia, Palm Beach Post Staff
Writer
Saturday, January 12, 2002
WEST PALM BEACH -- Joe Hughes and Jonathan
Gottlieb have a beer they want people to taste and, as luck would
have it, the first South Florida Beer Festival opened Friday
night at the Meyer Amphitheatre on Flagler Drive.
Their brew is Palm Beach Blonde, one of 50
beers festivalgoers can sample while they listen to a variety of
live music from the stage this weekend.
"The next time you pick up a blonde, make
it a Palm Beach Blonde," said Gottlieb, hoping sales of the
first product of his Palm Beach Brewing Co., based in Jupiter,
are as snappy as its slogan.
"It's an English ale with American
hoppiness," explained Hughes, the brewmaster, who tried lots
of recipes before settling on the one for Blonde, "something
light and crisp for a sunny day."
Visitors can sample Blonde at the keg next to
other Florida microbrews such as Thunderhead Red, Native Lager
and Old Thumper. Beer booths ring the grassy amphitheater, along
with booths serving food.
"Beer festivals have been successful in
other parts of Florida, so we thought we'd try one here,"
said Brian Custer, special events manager for Fantasma
Productions, which is holding the three-day event.
The festival continues from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
today and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Festivalgoers must show an ID card at the
entrance and receive a wristband to drink beer. The $7.50 entry
fee includes five 2-ounce samples of beer. Tickets for more
samples are $1 each. Patrons can buy 14-ounce beers for $3 or $4.
Nonalcohol drinkers and people younger than 21 are admitted free.
tim_omeilia@pbpost.com
P.B. County hails ale of its 1st
brewer
Palm Beach Post Staff Reports
Monday, January 21, 2002
JUPITER -- "The next time you pick up a
Blonde . . . make it a Palm Beach Blonde."
That's the slogan for Palm Beach Brewing Co.,
Palm Beach County's newest -- and only -- brewer, and its first
creation, a hearty ale with a full, yet light taste.
The Blonde was featured this month at a beer
festival in downtown West Palm Beach. It's available only in kegs
at a handful of selected restaurants and liquor stores.
The company is the product of three area
businessmen -- Jonathan Gottlieb, an insurance executive; Bill
Magrogan, an FPL executive; and Joe Hughes, a structural
inspector -- all with a love of beer.
The company eventually wants to open a brew pub
in the county, but it's trying to build name recognition and
demand for the suds. "There's a vacuum of brew pubs in this
area," Hughes said.
The only brew pubs locally are Hops Restaurants
bar and brewery in West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach and Stuart, and
Brewzzi in Boca Raton. Brewzzi plans to open a brew pub in
CityPlace this summer.
Palm Beach Blonde is made under contract by
Shipyard Brewing Co. of Orlando. It's common for small brewers to
contract out the beer-making because of the high start-up costs.
Gottlieb said he would like to see Florida
eliminate a 70-year-old law that bans brewers from selling
directly to customers except on the brewers' premises. It limits
the ability of small brewers to build name recognition and make
money, he said.
That law was intended to prevent bigger brewers
from creating monopolies, said Michael Bryant, president of the
Florida Brewers Guild.
--Phil Galewitz