USA, FL: Beardless Brewhaus preparing for opening in Milton

Nick Holmes and Dallas Cook are currently surrounded by dust, construction materials and the daunting task of building a business in Milton.

But soon, the young entrepreneurs hope to be spending a part of their professional lives up to their elbows in water, hops and malt while people mingle, play games and drink craft beer in their new brewery — only the second one in Milton, the Pensacola News Journal reported on September 21.

By late October, they want to open the Beardless Brewhaus at 6820 U.S. 90 in a building that once housed a restaurant called Main Street Cafe and Courtyard Bar. The new brewery will be right across the street from the Brew Angels, a restaurant and brew pub that opened in July 2017.

"Having two breweries is a huge draw because it's more of a destination," said Holmes, 30. "I think it's beneficial because it creates that atmosphere."

Holmes and Cook are considering opening the brewery three days a week — from 4 to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday. Sunday hours with beer yoga might come later.

"Beer yoga is a thing," Holmes said.

When Holmes and Cook officially roll up the two, new industrial-sized garage doors on the front of their building to open for business, they hope to have an establishment modeled after Perfect Plain Brewing Co. on Garden Street in Pensacola. At Beardless Brewhaus, the majority of the seating will be outside, both in front of the building and in the courtyard on the east side.

"I enjoy the outdoors and being able to have large amount of seating outside spoke to me," said Cook, 28. "It's not about going to a brewery to drink. It's having a peaceful atmosphere."

Perfect Plain looks to grow: Perfect Plain Brewery expanding to include outdoor beer garden and event space

Cook, a Valparaiso resident, is a full-time test engineer at Eglin Air Force Base. Holmes lives in Milton and his full-time job is at Pegasus Laboratories in Pensacola. Both men have science degrees, and they bonded over a love of brewing beer several years ago while living in the Lexington, Kentucky, area.

Both relocated to Florida in the last two years, and they decided to take the hobby and to fill a need.

"We talked about this while we were brewing 1-gallon batches in my garage," Holmes said. "We came here, and the brewing boom is just starting. It's taking off here."

Holmes said the name Beardless Brewhaus was chosen because it was unique — and meaningful. They didn't want a name that tied them a location, such as the Milton Brewery. They also wanted to stay away from the image Holmes has seen of craft brewers with "manly beards."

"We want to differentiate ourselves from that and I can't grow beard," Holmes said.

Cook and Holmes said their business will be classified as a nano-brewery because it will make its beer in small batches, 31 gallons at a time.

The difference between Beardless Brewhaus and Brew Angels across the street is the Beardless Brewhaus won't serve food. Cassandra Sharp, who ran Main Street Cafe and is an owner of the properties where Beardless Brewhaus and Brew Angels are located, said the businesses will complement each other.

"Their concepts are so different, they'll feed off each other," Sharp said. "Brew Angels, they're mostly indoors and a full-service restaurant. Across the street, their building is only so big and there will be a lot of outdoor activities. Of what's there, the majority is outside. You kind of have to go go each place for ambiance and flavor."

Holmes and Cook said they didn't want to get into food service. They want to concentrate on brewing beer without worrying about food.

"We don't want to be restaurateurs," Holmes said. "We want to focus on the beer."

Instead, Cook and Holmes are looking to have food trucks stationed outside the brewery — including Staggeringly Delicious, which moved into the city earlier this year.

The men said Beardless Brewhaus would not have been possible if Milton had not changed an ordinance earlier this year allowing free-standing bars and taverns — establishments that don't rely on food sales for the majority of its profits — in the downtown area.

"We couldn't do it, we couldn't do food sales," Cook said. "We didn't want to deal with the hassle of a kitchen. We didn't want that to overshadow the fact that we make good beer."

23 September, 2018