USA, FL: Civil Society Brewing Company launching in Jupiter

Beers from Jupiter, Florida’s first brewery will start being served on Nov. 20, MyPalmBeachPost reported.

After all the permits, the licenses, the inspections, the work — it’s finally going to happen,” said Karl Volstad, 33, as he drew a Jupiter Rising, a brown ale with coffee, from the tap at the bar in Abacoa Town Center.

Customers to Civil Society Brewing Company will find a 5,400-square-foot industrial looking place that is half brew house and half tap room.

Civil Society joins several others in Palm Beach County, including Due South Brewing Co., in Boynton Beach, Funky Buddha Brewery, founded in Boca Raton with its main brewery in Oakland Park and Tequesta Brewing Co. in Tequesta. Whole Foods on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard has a beer bar.

Camaraderie — not competition — is the relationship among the county’s microbreweries, said Volstad, a graduate of Jupiter Christian School and one of the three owners from north county.

“We’re all the underdogs. The macrobrews like Coors, Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch, they control most of the beer market. I’ve talked to the other local brewmasters. They’ve been a great help,” Volstad said.

The other two owners of Civil Society are Volstad’s cousin, Chris Volstad, 29, a Palm Beach Gardens High School graduate and major league pitcher who has played for the Marlins, Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies, and Evan Miller, 33, a Jupiter Christian graduate and Jupiter resident who has been a lifelong friend of the Volstad family.

One of the toughest parts of getting to opening day was jumping over bureaucratic hurdles, the owners said.

Approval for a town regulation change from Jupiter took a few months. So did approval for a special exception. Then there was the manufacturing license from Florida, and retail license from Florida. Then the brewer’s license from the federal government.

The owners also had to overcome some public resistance to bringing another bar to Abacoa. Responding to complaints of rowdiness in Abacoa, the town council in recent years approved requiring Abacoa Town Center bars/restaurants to lower noise levels and shorten their hours.

20 November, 2015