After some encouragement from our longtime friends, we were inspired to move to Sanford. Originally from Winter Park, we fell in love with the charming atmosphere of the downtown district. We adored the tiny shops, the old homes, and the marina. We bought an astonishing historic home.
While exploring our new hometown, we discovered a homebrew shop on the periphery of Magnolia Square Market. While inside, we perused the displays, where we noticed advertisements for home brewing classes. We took a class, enjoyed the experience tremendously, and left with a full starter kit, plus extras and an extract to brew. We brewed our first batch the very next evening.
Our dream caught fire, quite literally. We cooled our experimental concoction by setting the boil kettle on our pool steps. We managed to catch my shoe on fire, the rubber cover on the ball valve, and possibly my jeans. We brewed again the following night.
Chris decided that he wanted to start all-grain brewing a.s.a.p. He was addicted. He started reading everything he could about beer making, including the YEAST book, yes, cover to cover. Enthusiastically. Chris brewed with professional brewers, had friends over to brew, and like others with this particular addiction, life became beer-centric. So, as goes the brewer, there goes the conversation, to beer, grain, conversion ratios, ABV, IBU, mouth feel, and the newest hop varieties.
Time passed, and Chris casually mentioned his dream business plan, of starting a brewery, to our stepbrother, Bo. Bo, we learned, was anxious for an opportunity to work for himself, while leveraging his leadership experience in the service industry. The business plan discussion soon transformed into a tangible reality. Now we were THREE. Fast forward a few months, we located and negotiated a lease on 400 South Sanford Avenue.
Shortly after, one fateful fall evening, fortune smiled upon us, when we met our fourth partner, Allan Jackson at the Home Brew Club of Seminole County meeting. The clouds parted, the sun beamed down and all was good. It was providence, karma, the magic “wah lah”, pixie dust, good fortune cookie, and all that stuff. Allan brought years of business strategy, operation expertise AND was an experienced brewer. Ironically, Allan and Chris realized they’d worked together 20 years ago. Now we were FOUR. Together, we formed the perfect team. We’ve adopted DBAD as our our corporate motto, feel free to ask about it.
