Running ‘on love and fumes,’ there’s now a GoFundMe to help Tampa brewery Deviant Libation

Tampa needs more independent places for music, art, and, well, beer. Deviant Libation has unwaveringly fostered all of that and then some since it opened in Ybor Heights in 2023—but now it needs some help.

Yesterday, Tampa songwriter and author Shae Krispinsky launched a GoFundMe page for the venue and community space at 3800 N Nebraska Ave., writing that owner-founder-and-brewer Tim Ogden hasn’t been able to pay himself in nearly six months.

“He’s running the business on love and fumes,” she wrote, adding that the brewery “has become an intersectional hub of community for many.”

The crowdfunding effort adds that inflation, plus the fallout from last fall’s back-to-back hurricanes, has Ogden—who had to renegotiate his rent after the brewery’s neighboring art complex never opened—on the ropes.

The GoFundMe blew past its goal of $4,000 dollars yesterday and has a new goal of $7,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. Deviant Libation went on social media to say that the eventual goal is $10,000. “Where the monies spent at the bar go toward staff first, then bills and operations, this fundraiser will help get Tim out of a pickle, with anything beyond that going back to making this place better suited to serve the community,” the venue wrote.

In a social media post, Ogden, who got the keys to his building in 2019, said that his operation has been received warmly and profusely thanked the community. He said he also needs to pay $7,000 in taxes to the federal government before incurring a fine.

“I thought it was a nice reminder that the class war in America begins with our own government. But after the warm and fuzzies wore off, I realized I’m basically fucked,” he wrote, adding links to his own Venmo, CashApp and PayPal.

Ogden did not want to have to launch a crowdfunding campaign, but desperately wants to keep Deviant Libation alive. He never had to start the effort since Krispinsky did.

This morning, Ogden returned to social media to say that he woke up on Tuesday in serious despair and ended the day being reminded of the beautiful community he has around him.

“Asking for help is one of the hardest things for me to do. I’ve wanted to be independent since I was a child and hate needing help. So many people lifted my spirits in so many ways, including encouraging words,” he wrote. “I put myself at risk and keep stepping deeper, because I believe in it, and me. Thank you all so much for helping me through this hiccup.”

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This article appears in Jan 2-8, 2025.