E-Malt.com News article: USA, FL: A second craft brewery to open in Palm Beach County

Boynton Beach paves the way for the second craft brewery in the whole county, Wptv.com reported on September, 7.

When Palm Beach County brewer Mike Halker approached the city last year to apply for the right to build a brewery, they told him their zoning didn't allow for it.

Like any artist, Halker says he experiments.

"Four or five times a week, in really small batches, so we can try this and try that," said Halker.

For now, his laboratory is nothing more than a backyard with some gear for beer. Kettles, strainers and a few taps flowing from a fridge.

"The more I explored these things, the more I thought I could do it better," said Halker.

Soon, the size of his tanks multiplied - by a hundred, and he needed more than paper labels that said Due South Brewing.

He is planning to move his brewery, Due South, into a warehouse near Gateway Blvd.

But he says that part's easy.

The hard part was getting permission from the city to put an outfit that will both sell and ship beer on land that is zoned as industrial.

With commercial space too small and too expensive for a brewery, the city is expected to make an exception for what it's calling tasting rooms, saying it wants to fill a void in the burgeoning microbrew industry.

"There were some municipalities that we went to that we couldn't understand or figure out a way to make it work. When we approached Boynton, they welcomed us in," said Halker.

"There's a lot of craft beer coming in from throughout the country. Why not make them here?" said Fran Andrewlevich, the organizer of the Field of Beer festival held every year in Jupiter.


07 September, 2011