E-Malt.com News article: USA, FL: Partners hope to open Persimmon Hollow Brewing Co. in downtown DeLand in August

Partners Joe Evens and Leon Merrow are preparing to open their new business, Persimmon Hollow Brewing Co., in downtown DeLand later this summer. It will be Volusia County’s fourth microbrewery to open in recent years and the only one in operation on the county’s west side, The Daytona Beach News Journal reported on June 27.

“It’s incredible. It’s a dream,” said Carelli, of the transformation of the space. “Actually seeing it happen is incredible.”

Come August, the brewery hopes to start production on four or five different varieties of beer and invite the public into its tasting room for a drink or two.

“All the equipment to brew is already set, we’re doing the plumbing right now,” he said. “The tasting room is getting close. Then, we’ve just got to make some beer.”

Persimmon Hollow will be located along West Georgia Avenue, near popular bar and music venue Cafe DaVinci as well as Artisan Alley’s eclectic mix of shops and restaurants.

Area business leaders say they hope the brewery will bring life to a lesser-developed section of downtown DeLand.

Known to some as the SoNY district — short for “South of New York (Avenue),” the city’s main east-west thoroughfare — the area in recent years has been attracting a quirky mix of artists, artisans and other small businesses.

The nickname for the area is a nod to New York’s famous SoHo district.

“I think it’s going to be great. I’m excited, I’m waiting for them to open the door,” said Nick Conte Jr., executive director of the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce, referring to the planned Persimmon Hollow Brewing Co.

“(The owners) purposefully created it as like the community is itself. If you’re tasting it, you feel like you’re in Florida, you’re in the south. It’s fun,” Conte said.

Carelli said many of the brewery’s ingredients are locally sourced, including citrus from Vo-LaSalle Farms in DeLeon Springs.

According to a recent University of Florida study conducted on behalf of the Florida Brewers Guild, while Florida’s craft beer industry is relatively young, its growth has been rapid, with the number of breweries increasing from just six in 2007 to more than 50 last year.

“Florida’s population could support almost 550 craft breweries, roughly 10 times the current number,” according to the study. “At that level, the total output contribution of craft brewing in the state could reach $2.5 billion and more than 40,000 jobs.”

Persimmon Hollow follows the recent openings of three microbreweries in east Volusia County: Ormond Brewing Co., New Smyrna Beach Brewing Co. and Tomoka Brewery.

West Volusia previously had a microbrewery, but only briefly. A brewpub known as Big Guys Bistro opened in 1998, but folded less than a year later.


02 July, 2014