NOW OPEN!

I've been fortunate enough to get to know Peter & Jen, the duo behind Tomoka Brewery, over the last year or so and was able to get them to share a little about their plans up in Ormond Beach.

As many of us know, Tomoka Brewing is a husband and wife team. Tell us a little about Tomoka and yourselves.
Jenny is a native Floridian and Peter is originally from Hungary. We've been together 12 years and literally fuel one another's passion for great food. When we first met we were foodie wine snobs and both loved import beers, and that has evolved into a tremendous love of craft beer and great food. At Tomoka Brewery, we plan to showcase and present what we are passionate about to our customers.

How did each of you become so interested in beer & brewing? Did one influence the other to start?
We've both always loved beer, but discovered craft beer a few years back. Originally we had the idea of opening a craft beer bar, so as a learning experience, we wanted to learn how to brew beer so we could understand it and talk about it with our customers. But once we brewed that first batch, we were hooked. We've brewed obsessively in the last two years, and it commingles perfectly our "foodie mentality" of loving to cook and eat and drink.

Tell us about your first batches brewed...
Haha, oh no. The first two batches were partial mash , and right after that we graduated to all grain. The first was a bass ale clone and the 2nd a DFH 90 minute IPA clone (man that was an expensive extract brew!) They were both pretty good so it was encouraging and we felt we would be able to handle all grain. The rest is history.

Are you guys mainly self-taught or were you mentored by anyone? If so, what did they teach you that stands out in what you do today?
Mainly self-taught. We both love to read and have devoured countless books on brewing. We've learned from fellow homebrewers in our club, the Hogtown Brewers in Gainesville, FL, and have shadowed at Swamp Head brewery in Gainesville (whom we will be collaborating with soon), and Ron Raike when he was still at Shipyard.

Selling your home, quitting your jobs and moving across the state in order to open a brewery takes a big pair of stones. What was your inspiration? Why the Ormond Beach area?
We considered other areas, including our hometown Ocala, but really Ormond Beach, aside from the fact it's beautiful and already feels like home, was just ripe for the picking. There are many events in Daytona we plan to cater to, and the area is just starving for their own craft beer source.

Due to the closeness to Daytona’s and it being a tourist destination, will your focus be on trying to cater towards the tourists, the locals or just be a place that anyone would want to go to?
Where we are on Oceanside near the corner of A1A and Hwy 40 we'll definitely be convenient for tourist and local alike. We look forward to serving regulars and meeting people from all over the US enthusiastic about motorcycles (as we are!) and racing.

Where will Tomaka Brewing be located? What’s your projected opening date? Will you be open 7 days a week?
188 E Granada Blvd about one block from the beach. We're hoping to be open by June 15, we should know the exact date for our "soft opening" by the end of May. We'll be open 6 days a week (hey, we need a day to soak up the sun on the beach and enjoy some brews ourselves!) Tuesday we'll be closed.

What can we expect when we visit Tomoka? Will you be starting as a brewpub?
Florida brews and our own brews on tap, others in bottles. California style pizza made with beer-crust and hand breaded fried fare, salads...a focus on local, fresh, seasonal with a touch of southern flair.

Food? If so, typical pub fare or a particular style? Who is going to be the one who oversees that area?
"Pub fare" at it's core, but we're sourcing fresh local ingredients, hand making everything including anything that goes into the fryer, we'll have fresh California style pizza, and our beer featured in many of our menu items. You can expect seasonal menu items to showcase what's currently in season in Florida (that goes for our beers, too).
It's a joint effort, but mostly Jenny will be running the kitchen. She has former experience owning and running a 5 Star Pizza in Ocala, FL and Peter received a culinary degree as a pastry chef in Hungary.

What is your tap list going to look like? You once mentioned that you would like to only feature Florida brewed beers as guest taps. Is that still on the table? Yes, absolutely. Planning to have five of our own and 5 guest taps with a focus on the amazing brews being brewed in our state.

Do you have a list of beers that you plan on making your regulars? What?
Sidecar chocolate milk stout, orange blossom special hefeweizen brewed with orange blossom honey, and whale pale ale. What we're shooting for is to have many of the major styles represented either on our own line-up or our guest taps. Nothing worse than craving a stout and the bar you're in isn't currently carrying one.

Should we expect to see more tradition beers, off-the-wall beers or a mixture of both?
We want to have a good representation of varying styles, so we'll be brewing and maintaining on tap traditional brews, but we love to brainstorm and create off the wall, unique brews, too.

How about sours? Is that an area that you’ll be tinkering with?
Definitely. We are both huge Berliner Weisse fans! (In fact, it's the collab brew we'll be doing with Swamp head brewery). A hint: it has mint and agave in it:-)

Having sampled several of your beers, I know that they can range in styles. Can we expect to see the Elvis PB&B regularly or will this only be available for special events?
The reception of that beer has been incredible, but still it's probably one of those novelty beers we'll rotate and have available for special events.

What about your “Florida” series? Without asking you to give away any special product secrets, you had allowed me to try an ale that was infused with ingredients found in Florida. Was that a one-time brew for fun or can we expect to see it in production as well as others?
The " La Florida Series" will be an annually released (every Aug), high-gravity brew always featuring Florida ingredients. The first one you tried, brewed in August 2012 was a braggot with Payne's Prairie honey and FL fruits (mangoes and key limes) soaked in St Augustine rum. We plan to release it this August, and at that time we'll be brewing for the 2014 release. Our recent obsession is with watermelon...hmm, maybe that'll make it's way in there!

Is it safe to assume that you plan on having at least one rotating tap for special in-house brews?
Probably more than one, but definitely at least one crazy original brew!

If we were to open your fridges at home, what beers might we find?
We experiment a lot, but on any given day you may find CCB Jai-Alai, Terrapin Wake n Bake, bottles we got thru beer mail trading (we love 3F's brews), and of course some of our own goodies.