Nestled in a corner of St. Petersburg’s North Kenwood area, with homes directly across the street, Flying Boat Brewing Co. feels a little different from most of the local tasting rooms. It’s got the now-mandatory industrial-chic interior and wide variety of beer styles — along with its utterly unique early-days-of-St.-Pete-aviation decor — but it’s also got a mellower vibe than some other local breweries; sitting out front with a gose or kolsch, watching the neighbors walk their dogs or the mailman amble from house to house, it’s easy to forget you’re a mile or so from the hipness and hustle of Grand Central or the EDGE District.
Maybe the location and resulting atmosphere help contribute to the lack of pressure head brewer Tyler Singletary and co-owner Josh Perian feel being one of the most recent additions to an exploding local beer scene.
“I haven’t really felt any pressure to do anything,” said Singletary. “I’ve always had a desire to do a lot of things, throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks.”
Singletary’s experience working at iconic Tampa homebrew shop Southern Brewing & Winemaking and Perian’s likeminded interest in formerly obscure pre-Prohibition beer styles have combined to create a lineup of Flying Boat beers that offer both something different and something for everyone.
“We’re a neighborhood brewery,” Perian said simply.
But is that enough in a market some are saying is approaching craft beer saturation?
Singletary and Perian think so.
“The best advice I heard when were starting this was, ‘do you, do your beer, and the rest will take care of itself,’” said Perian.
“I would say in the last four or five years, it has become a little bit more competitive,” said Singletary, “but we’re still very collaborative. I’ve got a collaboration with Cage next week, we’ve got stuff on the schedule with Hidden Springs, with Green Bench.”
“There’s a limited amount of shelf space, there are limited taps in the bars,” added Perian. “That’s where there might be a little competition, but we don’t see that among the brewers.”
1776 11th Ave. N., St. Petersburg. 727-800-2999.
