Fresh Beer, Incorporated

We formed Fresh Beer, in early 1999. Our original intention for the company was to be a manufacturer of local fresh micro or craft brewed beers designed particularly for the tastes of local Floridians. After researching the local market, we found that there had been several microbreweries that had tried to do the same thing and had failed. The overwhelming reason for failure had little to do with the quality of product but had more to do with poor planning.

Florida operates under a strict Three-tier system by which manufacturer, distributor, and retailer are three separate entities. Thus a manufacturer was unable to distribute, sell and promote their own products. This role was solely in the hands of distributors who had little or no interest in building brands. "The distributors in Florida didn't know how to handle craft brewed beers. The concept of building brands through a 'grass roots' type of marketing effort was foreign to them. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to educate the consumer and that is what was needed and still needs to be done in Florida to build the market."

It was at this time that we decided to take a different course of action with our business. By becoming a distributor we could control the aspects that had caused other micro's to fail. We have our recipes brewed to our specifications by professional brewers and then handle all aspects of the sales, marketing and distribution ourselves.

Our first products were tested in small five gallon batches in 1998. We brewed several different types of beer varying from dark to light and sweet to bitter. We bottled all the batches and simply numbered all the bottles to keep the anonymity of the test. We then gave as much of these beers away to friends and acquaintainces asking, them only to tell us which one they liked the most. Almost everyone came back with the same answer. They liked the beer that was bottled with the number 11. And thus "The Eleven - Brown Ale " was born.

With only one beer in hand and only on draft, it was a tough sell. Slowly though, the Eleven found its way into some of places around town. Eventually, it was time to develop a second product. Having developed a following for a dark beer we needed to work on its complement: a light beer. We had a concept of what style we wanted to brew but again we wanted to test this out in the public. This time we had a bigger test audience now.... bar patrons and owners who had an interest in our developments. After a few tries, we settled on the recipe for what is the Native Lager. Production began in mid 2000. Two more beers were developed in the same fashion. Thunderhead Red was introduced in early 2001 and Swamp Stout was not far behind.

Along the way, we realized that despite considering ourselves manufacturers we were really distributors. We began to pickup other microbrew brands around the same time that we had started brewing the Red.

It was in October 2000 that I first met Fred Forsley, the owner of the Shipyard Brewing Company. Shipyard had a brewery in the airport in Orlando and was already brewing our products for us. As October 2001 approached we had developed a strong relationship that was only to be cemented further by a change in the bottle law in Florida.

A law that dated back to the 1960's as a result of a feud between Miller and Budweiser had limited the bottle sizes that were legal in the state to 8,12,16 and 32 oz. The effects were wide ranging since most products from around the world and from other parts of the country do not come in these sizes. October 31, 2001 marked the repeal of the law. It was at this time that Fresh Beer, started bringing down Shipyard bottled products and developing the South Florida bottled product market. Shipyard is a brewer of fine English and Canadian style beers. They are the number one micro in Maine and its' surrounding states.

Most recently we have been bringing in several brands from some of the better known craft breweries in the US.

Dogfish Head brewing has been garnering a reputation for some of the "Most Adventurous Beers" being brewed. With brands such as the 60 minute and 90 minute IPA and some really unusual styles such as Raison D'etre and World Wide Stout, Sam Caglione has really begun to invent his own styles.

Avery Brewing out of Boulder, Co has been in the thick of craft - brewed world since the beginning. With beers such as the Avery IPA, Salvation, and the Reverend, it is easy to see why Adam Avery has established himself as one of the premier craft brewers in America.

Left Hand Brewing just down the street from Avery in Longmont has been pumping out some great lagers and ales as well. The Milk Stout is a wonderful creamy rich stout and the Sawtooth ESB and Jackman's Pale Ale are great session beers.

Check back for the latest brewery to be added soon !!

Currently, we continue to develop our line of products in the South Florida market. All of our products have enjoyed sustained success in the last couple of years. We began bottling the Native Lager in April of 2004 and the Eleven Brown in June of 2005. In 2004 we decided it was necessary to differentiate our products from the others that we carry. The brewing arm of Fresh Beer, is now known as the Native Brewing Company. We remain focused in our effort to bring the highest quality and freshest product available.

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