BeachFly Brewing Company is bringing a Colorado brewing style to the beach.
Craft beer is sweeping the nation. With over 7,000 craft breweries across the country, it is obvious that people want something different than the draft beers with which they grew up. Craft breweries also offer a different atmosphere than your local bar. Because these breweries are typically where the beer is made, guests can feel like they’re a part of the experience.
BeachFly Brewing Company understands that both taste and experience are important when operating a craft brewery. So, its owners and head brewer are going above and beyond to bring a true craft experience to the Space Coast.
BeachFly is owned and operated by Mother-Son team Zach Featherstone and Lisa Freismuth. The two opened BeachFly on Thanksgiving Day in 2018, an interesting business move to say the least.
“We opened for four-six hours,” says Featherstone. “We didn’t do any advertising; we just posted on Facebook that we were open, and people came in after their Thanksgiving dinners.”
Neither Featherstone nor his mother Freismuth are from the Space Coast originally. Freismuth moved to the Space Coast seven years ago, Featherstone following suit five years later. Featherstone shares that he was raised in Indiana but moved to Colorado after graduation. And it was during this time in Colorado that his love for craft beer began to blossom.
However, he also had a job that he admits bored him. So as he struggled with that to do, his uncle — who owned his own microbrewery in Colorado — asked him, “You know how to home brew, so why don’t you try brewing for a bit? Your mom’s area is dying for another brewery.”
Featherstone did like the Space Coast, so he followed his uncle’s advice and, after four years of hard work, BeachFly was born.
Six months before opening, Featherstone and Freismuth brought head brewer William Brant on board. Unlike the owners, Brant is a Satellite Beach native. His love for craft beer began when he was a college student in Tampa, so after graduation, he also decided to head to Colorado — Denver, to be exact. But, he and Featherstone would not meet until both were living in Brevard. Like Featherstone, he moved (back) to the area two years ago. Written in the stars? Definitely.
“I was excited for the prospect of craft beer in this area because I know it didn’t have it,” said Brant. While there are a number of places beachside that offer a variety of beers, BeachFly is the only real craft brewery on the beach.
“People say all the time, ‘We’re so thankful there’s [a craft brewery] on the beach, we don’t want to go over the bridge,’” shares Freismuth.
“Going over the bridge is not a very long distance, but it’s a principal,” jokes Brant. “If we don’t have to, we don’t want to.”
With the brewery, the goal of the owners was to bring a Colorado style craft beer to the area. Featherstone admits that this is what helps he and Brant to work well together — Brant has a deep understanding of Colorado style brews.
“Colorado craft beer is a little more adventurous, and it’s a little truer to beer roots,” says Featherstone. “In Florida, people are playing with citrus, which is a cool thing, but we want to do beer the way beer should be, while also playing with what makes the different styles the different styles.”
“Florida has never necessarily been a beer-centric area like maybe California, Oregon, Colorado, New York .. places like those,” continues Brant. He jokes, “But all those influences have Winter homes here, so the possibility of [craft beer knowledge] exists, but we do a lot of educating and a lot of explaining to people why we approach [craft beer] the way we do.”
Brant brews beers between two and six times a month, depending on the batch. BeachFly has six core beers that remain on the menu year-round. These brews pay homage to the history and beauty of the area, one called Purple Porpoise — named after the popular bar that previously occupied their space — and Canova Sunrise Ale. There are also six beers that are kept on a seasonal rotation, and BeachFly releases a new small-batch beer each week, so be sure to check up on the changing weekly menu.
“There was definitely a foundation here from the breweries before us,” shares Featherstone. “We’re just adding something to that.”
1080 E Eau Gallie Blvd., Indian Harbour Beach, FL 32937
Phone: (321) 610- 3653
Website: beachflybrewing.com
Sara Santora
As a Space Coast native, Sara enjoys using her love of writing to speak directly to the community that raised her. She graduated from Florida State University with a B.A. in English, and has written for a variety of magazines; however, her love for publishing and writing developed as a young girl, when she received her first copy of Teen Vogue. When she isn't writing or at work, she is traveling around the state with friends, visiting coffee shops, going to live shows and brushing up on her photography skills. Follow her on Instagram or connect with her on LinkedIn.
