Fresh Beer, Incorporated

When 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 microbreweries 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 acquaintances 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.

Along the way, we realized that despite considering ourselves manufacturers we were really distributors. We had met many other small brewers in the industry who had faced a similar obstacle on bringing their brands to Florida…lack of a distribution channel to work with small brands.

It was in October 2000 that our founder, Adam Fine, first met Fred Forsley, the owner of the Shipyard Brewing Company. Shipyard had a brewery in the airport in Orlando and was already brewing Fresh Beer’s products. 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.

In 2004 Adam Fine decided it was necessary to differentiate his products from the others that we carry and since that decision, The Native Brewing Company, originally the brewing arm of Fresh Beer, has continued to grow into a completely different company and is still an integral part of our portfolio. They continue to offer a variety of Florida local products and experiment with new, exciting recipes.

Fast forward to 2009 and Fresh Beer has grown to become the premier source for craft beer in the South Florida market. What began as a small portfolio of quality craft beers had continued to grow to over 45 breweries including a wide variety of American Craft Breweries, Local Craft Breweries and Specialty Imports and even small Micro-Distilleries and Non-Alcoholic companies. The large distributors who had largely ignored craft beer were suddenly knocking at our door dying to get the brands that we had in our portfolio. Many offers were made to buy brands, territories, and the company. However, as an advocate and innovator of the craft beer movement in South Florida Adam Fine was reluctant to let a big distributor who really had no knowledge or interest in craft to buy us out.

Brown Distributing had approached Fresh Beer several times. As a larger beer distributor in business since 1919, their appreciation for the industry and quality products was evident. A plan came to light that allowed the Fresh Beer team to remain involved in the continued evolution of the market in South Florida while leveraging the resources of a large distributor. In 2009, Fresh Beer became the craft beer segment of Brown Distributing which has allowed us to expand our territory further South all the way down to Key West. With the combination of Brown’s resources in warehouse, delivery and personnel all expectations were exceeded and it has allowed Fresh Beer to grow at a faster rate than ever before. This revitalization of our company has allowed use to extend the reach craft beer further than we ever thought possible.

Our goals remain the same, simply put, we love craft beer. We love artisan products, whether it’s a small local microbrewery, a tiny up-and-coming distillery or a soda company who started from an old family recipe. Our focus is craft and the success of the craft market. We continue to educate, encourage and bring craft products to the forefront.

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