When Caledonia Brewing officially opened its doors in the historic Dunedin Times building last May, there was already no shortage of places in the picturesque Pinellas city to score a locally made craft brew. In fact, Dunedin boasted more breweries in close proximity than any other district in the Bay area, and yet another brewery, Soggy Bottom, opened up around the same time as Caledonia.
But co-owner Hollie Parker and her partners — husband Jeff, brewer Dave Dally, Jr. and his parents, Dave and Claudia and sister Dawn — weren’t worried about getting lost in the shuffle. They had long been a part of the local craft beer scene as homebrewers and consumers, after all, and they were looking forward to making their hometown the center of their business.
"We're not gonna make something just because we saw that it's become a trend"
“We played with the idea of maybe Clearwater,” said Hollie, “but we knew in our hearts that we wanted to be in Dunedin. We all live here, we grew up here. Dave was born in the hospital behind [the brewery].”
Coming into an area already known for its beer, Hollie said there wasn’t any real pressure to compete amid what was already a tight-knit and supportive community; the Caledonia crew simply wanted to add to the area’s variety by offering the beers they know and love making. Dally brews on a relatively three-and-a-half-barrel system, and they’re focused on serving great flavors in their tasting room rather than jumping into wide distribution.
“We knew what we liked, and what we’d been successful with, and I feel like you have to be true to yourself,” said Hollie. “I think we have a good variety of beers, but we’re not gonna make something just because we saw that it’s become a trend. We’re gonna make beer that’s good and that we enjoy drinking. That doesn’t mean that we don’t enjoy experimenting, but we’re not here just to follow beer trends.
“I think that’s what makes Dunedin unique, we all have our own little niche, and we fill somebody’s niche. I kind of know what’s on tap everywhere, so if we don’t have something here, I can direct someone down the street. And they do the same.”
587 Main St., Dunedin. 727-351-5105.
This article appears in Feb 15-22, 2018.