The Art Of Craft:
5 questions with Brandon Nappy, marketing director of Swamp Head Brewery
Since 2008, Swamp Head Brewery has turned out some of the highest quality craft beer in the state of Florida. Their attention to detail, both in their ingredients and their process, is just part of what makes them so special. Brandon talked with Ocala Style about all things craft beer creation and their dedication to their home state. How did Swamp Head get started?
Luke Kemper is our owner and founder. Luke went to school in Colorado, and a big part of the lifestyle is craft beer. People go on hikes with cans of beer in their backpack, and it’s about being outdoors and enjoying a beer. When he left Colorado, he finished up school at UF, and while he was in his final year, he said the biggest thing he missed was the craft beer scene. Gainesville didn’t have a brewery at the time, but being the community that it is, he thought a brewery would work.
If someone has never been to a craft brewery before, what do you recommend?
I’m a huge fan of Stump Knocker, but they’re all my babies—I can’t choose a favorite. What we’ll usually do is walk them through a flight of our five year-round beers. It’s going to give them a broad, overall explanation of the wide range of styles (and that’s every beer they’ll see at other bars and retail outlets). We’ll walk them through each style, the flavors they’re tasting and what they like and then walk them through a few other beers as well.
analyzing something we don’t have that we want to produce or just an idea that comes up. The way craft beer is these days, it could be something as simple as “we don’t have a brown ale, let’s brew one” or something as intricate as “hey, what if we brew a beer that tastes a little bit like a mojito?” Then, we come up with branding from there. A lot of times ideas come from having a beer and chitchatting.
What do you think a craft brewery offers a community and its customers?
For us, our passion is beer and our company and how we can grow our company in a responsible manner. From a community standpoint, we really appreciate how people have supported us. We didn’t intend this to be, but from what people have told us, every town needs a brewery and we’ve filled that gap. It’s a place for people to come socialize where there’s not going to be a TV on and you can have a beer with your friends or family and know it was brewed feet away from you.
What makes Swamp Head unique? In a blind taste test published on The Huffington Post, three out of four subjects preferred the canned beer to the bottled. Turns out once beer is poured into glasses, the aluminum smell of the can doesn’t tamper with your taste buds anymore.
Walk us through the conceptual creation of a new beer.
That can happen a few different ways. There’s a ton of collaboration in our company—a beer idea can come from a guy or girl in the tasting room or Luke, our owner. A lot of times it will be
It’s inherently Floridian. Most breweries will get to a point where they’re selling as much beer as they can in their market and they expand, but we’ve taken the stance that we’re only going to sell our beer in Florida. We want to support our state and our local market.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Alligator Brewing Co.
10 SE 2nd Ave., Gainesville (taproom is called Tall Paul’s Brew House)
alligatorbrewing.com They keep some staple brews on tap but are constantly rotating— check their website before going for the latest taps.
Mount Dora Brewing Co.
405 S Highland St., Mount Dora mountdorabrewing.com On top of being brewed on-site and boasting namesakes for sites around Mount Dora, these brews are also made with organic ingredients.
Brooksville Brewing Co.
1320 Commercial Way, Spring Hill brooksvillebrewing.com They have a beer for every palate, but Lucy’s Milk Stout sounds like a perfect drink for this time of year.
Copp Brewery & Winery
11 NE 4th Ave., Crystal River coppbrewery.com Taste one of their signature pale ales, called True Southern Grit, which is made with corn grits for a refreshing flavor.
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