E-Malt.com News article: USA, FL: Persimmon Hollow Brewing to become West Volusia County’s first microbrewery

Andy Sistrunk and Robbie Carelli admit they’re living a beer lover’s dream.

After years of planning, the two friends — an insurance agent and a multimedia technician by day — are preparing to open the first microbrewery in western Volusia County. If all goes as planned, the Persimmon Hollow Brewing Co. will come alive sometime this summer in what is now a 5,000-square-foot garage in downtown DeLand, Daytona Beach News Journal reported on February 17.

The brewery would be the fourth in Volusia County, after Ormond Brewing Co., New Smyrna Beach Brewing Co. and Tomoka Brewery.

Before DeLand was founded in 1876, the area where it sits was referred to as Persimmon Hollow. Sistrunk and Carelli said they chose the name because it reflects their connection with the DeLand area, along with the city’s history.

The new microbrewery will include a tasting room, offering patrons samples of the company’s own beers and one or two local “guest” craft beers.

The brewing itself will happen in the other half of the building. Sistrunk and Carelli said they intend to have a glass wall divide the two spaces, making the brewing process visible to tasting room patrons.

The staff will be limited, at least at first — just Sistrunk, his wife, Carelli and a mutual friend who they’ve enlisted to run the taproom, Sam Slaughter.

“A lot of people think that making beer would be awesome. It is, but it’s a lot of hard work, too,” Sistrunk said. “One of the great things about it is we’re going to be able to create a local space where local people can come gather and drink something that was created locally with locally-sourced ingredients. A place the community can call its own.”

“That’s really what we want to do for DeLand,” he said. “We love it here — we wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

The duo have already been in talks with distribution companies to get their brews into bars across central Florida.

After an early attempt a few years ago at home brewing with a “Mr. Beer” kit from Bed Bath & Beyond went poorly, both men got involved with Volusia County Home Brewers Guild. Their skills improved and, eventually, their brews became popular among friends.
Then, in 2011, they entered what is now their flagship beer — the “Dee-Land White Boy,” a Belgian wit, or white ale, into the Sanford Brew-Ha-Ha beer contest and took home top honors.

“We weren’t even there (at the event). We got a phone call that we won and they were bringing us our gold medal,” said Sistrunk.

When their brews found similar popularity at the 2012 DeLand Craft Beer Festival, they decided to make the leap into commercial brewing.

The duo’s project took a major step forward when, in January, the city awarded the company $20,000 in grants to convert the parking garage into a new location for their business. Converting the garage will cost nearly $200,000, according to the grant application.

Nick Conte Jr., executive director of the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce, said he had been talking with Sistrunk since last year about his plans for the company.

“I’m excited not only because of the fact that I’ve known Andy (Sistrunk) for a while, but I like it because it’s got the best blend of both a little quasi-manufacturing in the back and a retail element in the front,” said Conte. “We like anything people are making and sending places. I think he’s got a really good plan.”

Conte said he hopes other craft brewers follow Persimmon Hollow’s lead and open up shop in the DeLand area.



21 February, 2014