Tag Archives: Swamp Head

A Brewery Update with Swamp Head Brewery

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Swamp Head Brewery, one of the original Florida breweries to splash into the craft beer scene, has grown into quite a gem.

Founded in 2008 on the idea of providing Floridians with world-class craft beer and becoming Florida’s brewery, their style and mantra has always reflected the unique culture and natural beauty of the Sunshine State that they call home.

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Since their inception in 2008, Swamp Head has grown up quite a bit. The brewery started out on a 10-barrel system, brewing just 700 barrels their first year. With the installation of a four vessel 30bbl system, they are now looking to increase capacity to over 20,000 barrels in their new brewery, says Brandon Nappy, Marketing Director at Swamp Head.

With this increase in capacity they are beginning to increase focus in new Florida markets such as Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine.

The brewery’s award winning year round beers include Wild Night Honey Cream Ale, Cottonmouth Belgian Witbier, Stump Knocker Pale Ale, Midnight Oil Oatmeal Coffee Stout and Big Nose IPA. All of these core offerings are known throughout Florida by craft beer lovers as some of the most consistent, bold and balanced beer coming out of the state.

Since moving into their new brewery in early 2015 Swamp Head has been able to increase focus on the sustainability efforts that they have had their eyes on for years. Working with Solar Impact of Florida, Swamp Head became Florida’s first brewery to harness the power of the Florida Sun via a solar power grid on the roof of the brewery.

“We installed an expandable solar grid, starting with over 50 panels, we plan on adding more in the future,” said Nappy.

Far beyond the use of solar power, Swamp Head does not take sustainability lightly.  From day to day operations to large scale environmentally focused events, Swamp Head works to protect natural Florida and want to do everything they can to preserve it. From reclaiming energy from the brewing process to feeding the spent grain from each brew to local cattle, Swamp Head does whatever they can to reduce their impact.

With an ever growing demand for craft beer throughout Florida, there is one main question that is plaguing craft beer drinkers everywhere.

“When can we take a can of this delicious liquid beachside, poolside or tailgating with us?”

The answer is, not just yet, but hang in there. Swamp Head wants to do it right. “We are taking the can roll out slowly. Focusing on introducing our draft beer to other markets is a main concern at this time, and keeping up with the demand is of utmost importance. We will be there, we promise,” said Nappy.

You can already find cans of Wild Night, Stump Knocker and Big Nose at the brewery and in their home market of Gainesville, but don’t expect six packs to hit the rest of the state in the immediate future.

In the meantime you can expect some seriously tasty draft beer to hit the market over the next few months(see release calendar).

Along with all the new, great things happening out and about throughout the state, they are also always keeping it fresh at the brewery. Keep an eye out for these, and many other, great events coming up!

Taco Tuesdays: Every Glorious Tuesday

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Swamp Head has also started celebrating Taco Tuesdays. Every Tuesday from 4-8 PM and enjoy some tacos and burritos from Burrito Brother Taco Co.

There are lots of exciting things happening already with Swamp Head in 2016, and we cannot wait to see what the rest of the year brings. One thing always remains the same, and that is they are Inherently Floridian, and their beer is inherently delicious.

 

Five Facts About Craft Beer Northeast Florida

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By: PATRICK DONGES of WJCT News

With news that a national craft brewing organization chose Jacksonville for it’s next annual convention, we’ve compiled this list of five little known facts about the region’s burgeoning craft beer scene.

1. Jacksonville’s Intuition Ale Works was the first craft brewery in the state to can its beer

Credit Intuition Ale Works
“They beat out Tampa Brewing Company by a few days and Cigar City by a few weeks,” said Gerard Walen, author of Florida Breweries and Florida beer blogger.

This means Intuition was also the first craft brewery in Florida to use the recycled plastic packaging that is becoming popular with craft brewers across the country.

2. Jacksonville master brewers produce 15,000 barrels of beer per year

That’s according to an estimate from city tourism agency Visit Jacksonville, which is currently working with local breweries to launch a self-guided “Jax Ale Trail” tour to help promote craft beer in the city.

Each barrel is equal to 31 gallons, which means Jacksonville’s craft breweries put out about 465,000 gallons of beer per year. That’s enough beer to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool and still have 5,000 gallons to spare.

3. Jacksonville’s Bold City Brewery will pour your first flight for free

That’s right — Jacksonville’s Bold City Brewery will let you sample anything they have on tap totally on the house if it is your first time there. For the uninitiated, a flight is a selection of sample pours, usually between 3 and 5 ounces and presented in order of increasing flavor.

Gerard Walen says the bold move comes from Bold City’s philosophy that the taproom should be both a sales generator and a marketing tool, and that it’s the only brewery in the state he knows of offering a free flight.

FOR FULL ARTICLE: http://news.wjct.org/post/five-facts-about-craft-beer-northeast-florida

Swamp Head Brewery Breaks Ground on New Brewery

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Gainesville, FL • July 11th, 2014 — Swamp Head has broken ground on their new 13,000 sq. ft. facility that will be located at 3650 SW 42nd Ave, Gainesville, FL. Scherer Construction of Gainesville is managing the ground up design/build project.

The new brewery and tasting room will feature an increased production area and an expansion of the brewery’s tasting room, “The Wetlands.”

With the expansion, Swamp Head will be able to more than triple its beer production, allowing for more packaged product, including cans. A new four-vessel 30-barrel (930 gallons) brew system and all associated tanks are currently being constructed in Oregon and will be installed at the new location. The new equipment will triple the size of each of Swamp Head’s brews on their current two-vessel 10-barrel (310 gallon) brew system. All of Swamp Head’s tanks and brew system will be sourced in the U.S.A.

The new tasting room, “The Wetlands,” will grow in size and have significant improvements from the current location, featuring a larger bar, more taps, more bathrooms, outside seating and a growler filling station separate from the main bar.

Swamp Head will continue operation at its current location at 3140 SW 42nd Way until the new facility is complete; announcements will be made when the new location is open for business.

Earlier this year, Swamp Head was awarded a gold at the World Beer Cup in the Smoke Beer style category for Smoke Signal, a robust smoked porter that uses alder wood smoked malt to obtain a soft, smoky flavor. The World Beer Cup is considered “The Olympics of Beer” and is a global beer competition that evaluates beers from around the world and recognizes the most outstanding brewers and their beers.

Swamp Head Brewery was founded in 2008 in Gainesville, FL and has been striving to follow their mission of brewing world-class beer and establishing themselves as Florida’s Brewery. In 2009, Swamp Head started selling Wild Night Honey Cream Ale, Cottonmouth Belgian Witbier, Stump Knocker Pale Ale, Midnight Oil Oatmeal Coffee Stout and Big Nose IPA. These five beers remain as their year round portfolio today.

Please direct any questions or media inquiries to Brandon Nappy at Brandon@swamphead.com.