When Hayley Whitman walked into 81Bay Brewing to apply for a position just over three years ago, she had ambitions and an agenda beyond snagging a job as a bartender at the then brand-new South Tampa craft beer joint. A devoted home brewer, she had her eye on a more hands-on position in the back of the house.
“I saw an article for a new brewery opening up and applied for a bartending position in hopes to get my foot in the door,” she says. “When I went in for the interview I started talking with the brewer about home brewing and it just so happened that he needed help getting ready for opening, and asked if I could start in the back right away.”
81Bay Brewing Co.
465 W. Gandy Blvd., Tampa
4 p.m.-11 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 3 p.m.-midnight Fri., noon-midnight Sat. and noon to 11 p.m. Sun. Adults only after 8 p.m.
81baybrewco.com
Six months later, Whitman achieved the position of assistant brewer; this past November, as 81Bay Master Brewer Jay Jones announced he was stepping down, she took on the role of head brewer.
“I guess you could say it was meant to be,” she says.
In her new position, Whitman will continue 81Bay’s mission of delivering its delicious, high-quality flagship beers like the Lightning Lager and Coffee Porter, while expanding on that core lineup. The popular brewery continues its pledge to keep supplying the Bay area with fresh, new and eminently drinkable offerings, and she’s playing a pivotal role in that game plan. Whitman—herself a fan of the sessionable “crispy boy” lagered styles whose popularity has endured through summer, fall and winter into the new year—wants to keep building on the brewery’s young, successful barrel-aging and stout programs, for instance, and is currently working on collaboration brews with other accomplished brewers from such acclaimed local enterprises as St. Petersburg’s Flying Boat and 3 Daughters.
“I’ve also got a grapefruit and ginger gose in the works that I’m excited about,” says Whitman. “It was actually one of our [Tampa Bay Beer Week event] Ultimate Brewer beers that came out really good, so I’m looking forward to scaling it up.”
Whitman is one of a small handful of women working at the upper echelons of Tampa Bay craft beer. The area boasts plenty of talented female home brewers, but the industry itself remains curiously lopsided in terms of gender. That’s starting to change, and Whitman and 81Bay are symbolic of that marvelous evolution. And as someone with beer in her blood who worked her way up her brewery’s top spot, she has some sage advice for anyone—male or female—who might be thinking of a career in local craft beer:
“It’s a very passion-driven industry so don’t be afraid to show it, or to get your hands dirty,” she says. “And don’t cheap out on boots!”
81Bay Brewing is at 4465 W. Gandy Blvd. in Tampa and its hours are 4 p.m.-11 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 3 p.m.-midnight Fri., noon-midnight Sat. and noon to 11 p.m. Sun. Adults only after 8 p.m. More information is at 81baybrewco.com.
