Persimmon Hollow to become West Volusia’s first microbrewery

By: Anthony DeFeo of the Daytona Beach News-journal

Andy Sistrunk and Robbie Carelli admit they’re living a beer lover’s dream.

After years of planning, the two friends — an insurance agent and a multimedia technician by day — are preparing to open the first microbrewery in western Volusia County. If all goes as planned, the Persimmon Hollow Brewing Co. will come alive sometime this summer in what is now a 5,000-square-foot garage at 111 W. Georgia Ave. in downtown DeLand.

The brewery — which will be near Artisan Alley — would be the fourth in Volusia County, after Ormond Brewing Co., New Smyrna Beach Brewing Co. and Tomoka Brewery.

Before DeLand was founded in 1876, the area where it sits was referred to as Persimmon Hollow. Sistrunk and Carelli said they chose the name because it reflects their connection with the DeLand area, along with the city’s history.

The new microbrewery will include a tasting room, offering patrons samples of the company’s own beers and one or two local “guest” craft beers.

The brewing itself will happen in the other half of the building. Sistrunk and Carelli said they intend to have a glass wall divide the two spaces, making the brewing process visible to tasting room patrons.

The staff will be limited, at least at first — just Sistrunk, his wife, Carelli and a mutual friend who they’ve enlisted to run the taproom, Sam Slaughter.

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