USA, FL: Dog Rose Brewing Co. to become St. Augustine’s first brewery soon

Downtown St. Augustine will soon see its first brewery open at 77 Bridge St. The 5,000-square-foot space, previously an airy, high-ceilinged art gallery, will host a brewery and taproom called Dog Rose Brewing Co. with about 40 seats, the Jacksonville Business Journal reported on July 12.

The plan fell into place when owner and co-founder Doug Muur, who worked for A1A ale works for nearly 15 years, was laid off when the company stopped brewing. A nice severance package and a fair deal on the company’s brewing equipment led him to open his own shop.

“I’m really excited to be part of this neighborhood,” Muur said. “It’s been so tourist heavy. You can have a bar you think is yours but then you walk in and you don’t know a soul. What the locals want is a place that’s theirs. That’s a big part of my focus: making sure we are here for Lincolnville.”

Much of Dog Rose’s trajectory will be decided by the clientele, Muur said. If the customers want music, they will get music. If they want a certain kind of beer, the team can make that happen.

Muur said that if all continues as planned with the construction, the brewery should be finished by the end of July and open to the public by the third week of August. He plans to be open seven days a week and will hire staff as needed.

The bar will feature a “somewhat refined, somewhat sophisticated open space” with some games, parking behind the building and 10 beers on tap. There’s no plans to distribute right now – Muur wants to focus on the actual taproom first – but is keeping tabs on next year’s self-distribution bill to see what happens.

The craft beer industry, Muur said, has grown by leaps since he got into it.

“Keep in mind I’ve been doing this since 2002,” he said. “I used to have to arm wrestle people to try our beer instead of Budweiser. Now, they’ve grown into craft beer monsters.”

Muur said he enjoys playing with different adjuncts, but that he thinks it’s being overused, making it difficult to find “just a plain beer without cherry or something in it.” Dog Rose, he said, will keep pretty straightforward beers, but play with some flavors, too.

13 July, 2017