“This is going to be the next Florida brewery to take off.”
“Seventh Sun is going to explode and hit the craft beer scene from out of nowhere.”
“These flavors are ridiculous!”
“They are really raising the bar for Florida craft beer.”
In the span of about an hour, I heard all of these remarks — and many more like them — at the Seventh Sun release party. From the moment I stepped in and tasted the Key Lime Berliner Sublime, I knew something special was happening.
On Jan. 7 of this year, Seventh Sun Brewing in Dunedin poured its first beers and joined the rapidly growing family of Florida craft breweries. The creation of co-owners Justin Stange and Devon Kreps, Seventh Sun is located in a small downtown strip mall right around the corner from Dunedin Brewing Company. Stange most recently brewed at Cigar City, and before that at Sweetwater Brewing Company in Atlanta. He and girlfriend/business partner Krepps have been working for a while on opening a brewery in Tampa Bay, first under the name Swell Beer, then changing course after some obstacles to bring Seventh Sun to fruition.
Technically Seventh Sun opened in December, serving other breweries’ craft beers while waiting for the licensing to serve their own beer. Their first pour was auctioned off on eBay for $202.50, the winning bid placed by a trio well-known in the beer community: Joey Redner and Justin Clarke of Cigar City Brewing, and Zach Schuster from Brown Distributing. The three toasted with the fan-favorite Donut Porter to kick off the afternoon. The doors opened at 2 p.m., and according to Stange, they had gone through 400 wristbands by 4 p.m. The profits from the auction went to local charity Homeless Emergency Project (HEP) in Pinellas County.
Ten Seventh Sun beers were on tap that day: Midnight Midnight (Berliner Weiss); Overhead IPA (Simcoe & Amarillo Dry Hop); FYA (Single Hopped Extra Pale Ale); Belgian IPA (American-Euro Hop Hybrid); Saison in Paradise (French style with Grains of Paradise); Noix de Cocoa (French Saison & herbal coconut); Donut Porter (Chocolate Porter with glazed donuts); Key Lime Berliner Sublime (Berliner with Key lime herbal blend); Kiwi-Cherry Coconut Berliner; and Pearvocative FYA (FYA with an herbal blend).
While I would have loved to sample all 10 taps, I had to limit myself to two for the afternoon. I chose the Overhead IPA and the Donut Porter, both of which were incredible. The Overhead rivals any of the best IPAs I’ve had, and the Donut Porter is a sweet chocolate porter with — you guessed it — the flavor of glazed donuts throughout. Ridiculously good.
I had a few samples of some of the others as well: the Key Lime Berliner Sublime is tart and delicious, and the FYA is an extremely good, hoppy pale. I am very excited to try the rest of their lineup soon.
Seventh Sun is just the first new Tampa Bay craft brewery of 2012 to start offering its beers to a thirsty public. With the impending opening of Green Bench Brewing in St. Petersburg, Rapp Brewing in Seminole, and Barley Mow Brewing in Largo (open, but only pouring guest taps for now), we seem to be in the midst of a surge in locally owned and operated breweries.
The growth and interest in craft beer has boosted the more “established” brands as well, with Cigar City Brewing expanding capacity and planning to have several of its beers available in cans this year, and Tampa Bay Brewing Company finally available in locations other than their own and planning to can in 2012 as well.
It’s great news for craft beer drinkers all the way around the bay.
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2012.