Tapping out: Oviedo Brewing Company readies to say goodbye

It’s a Tuesday night at the Oviedo Mall as more than 30 runners gather together for their final meetup at Oviedo Brewing Company. Some could pass for 20, others with gray hair. A few wear lights to be more visible in the dark. A couple even brought dogs. The club has been meeting weekly at Oviedo Brewing Company since things reopened after the coronavirus pandemic. 

Oviedo resident Tom Brino, 55, was among them. His favorite brew? Red Bug Red.

“Great beer. I bought a bunch last week when they were available,” Brino said. “I have them at home, opening them one at a time. Savor the moment.”

In a few days it will be the final pour of the tap for Oviedo Brewing Company. The family brewpub staple in the mall is scheduled to close Friday, Feb. 28. Brino, a pharmacist, said he hopes the owners open another business and do well. 

It’s “a little disappointing that a local business is going out,” Brino said. “Pulls the heart strings a bit.”

The owner of Oviedo Brewing Company didn’t want to be quoted in the story, but said the issues are economic: Inflation is cutting into people’s spending money, and they aren’t going out as much as they once were. 

The problems have been brewing for more than a year. Management is open to finding a buyer for the equipment.

“We have fought tirelessly to keep our doors open, but the financial and emotional toll has been overwhelming,” The Oviedo Brewing Company wrote on Facebook. “The effort to push forward has mentally drained us, and despite our best attempts, we have reached the difficult decision to close.”

The post got more than 150 comments, including many lamenting the loss of the brewery. Irish 31, another pub and eatery that did not brew its own beer, also recently closed. Red Cypress Brewery in Winter Springs also closed in 2019.

But is there an industry trend? Could more breweries be in trouble?

Could a craft beer decline be on the horizon

Trevor Brewer is an attorney in BrewerLong in Longwood that specializes in helping craft breweries. Since 2014, he’s been collecting and analyzing tax data published by the Florida Division of Alcohol, Beverages and Tobacco. There are caveats: Brewer said he’s not an economist, and he doesn’t clean up the data in any way. 

But according to his data, there is a decline in the number of breweries. In his October 2023 report, the total number of active brewery licenses in Florida in the last 12 months stood at 442. Of those, 405 reported paying taxes in the last month. 

Then in his October 2024 report, the total number of active brewery licenses had dropped to 436, with just 379 that reported paying sales taxes – down by 17 from October 2023. 

The per-brewery amount of taxes paid, which would be a proxy for taproom sales, is also down. And the separate taxes paid by beer distributors is also down, indicating it’s a broader trend than just limited to taproom sales.

“So what I see in the data is that the high point for Florida breweries on an average monthly sale per brewery was February 2018,” Brewer said. “That was the highwater mark on the per- brewery basis.”

You can visit here for a breakdown of all the files kept. And his data keeps with national reporting that, for the first time in 20 years, nationwide, more breweries closed than opened. 

So what’s happening? Brewer said there’s still a COVID-19 hangover. Brewer said there are a lot of factors at play: Younger generations not drinking as much, more people drinking at home, and other “intoxicants” in the market, like CBD drinks or kratom. 

And the market maybe got oversaturated. 

“My sense is its not gonna be a total collapse,” Brewer said. “I don’t think we’ll return anytime soon to 2012 and 80 breweries (in Florida). Some of them do really quite well. It’s like any industry; it’s affected by where we are in Florida.”

Oviedo Brewing Company was a member of the Florida Brewers Guild. Paloma Mejila, executive director of the Florida Brewers Guild, said she’s trying to be optimistic. 

“We believe it’s a mix of everything,” Mejila said. “Inflation, the cost of living is getting higher, so people have less money to spend on going out.”

She plans to visit Tallahassee to lobby lawmakers on changes to Florida’s distribution laws, which has a three-tiered system requiring the makers of beer to sell to a distributor. Currently, if a beer brewer wants to sell to a restaurant, for example, that has to be sold to a distributor first. 

House Bill 499 would allow craft breweries to sell up to 5,000 barrels of beer without a distributor. 

“We’re hoping that the tariffs [proposed by the Trump administration] on aluminum don’t happen because it would raise the cost of cans and it would hurt the businesses,” Mejila added. 

What’s next for Oviedo Brewing Company

Oviedo Brewing Company will be open through Friday, Feb. 28, the owners said. 

And there are other craft brewers in Seminole County: Hourglass Brewing in Longwood, for example, and Bowigens Beer Company in Casselberry.  

Meanwhile, the run club was one event that tried to bring people to Oviedo Brewing Company during the week.

Sharyar Soltani, better known as Shar, has been organizing the run club for years. The members get discounts at the establishment where they meet, and the businesses get a supply of patrons.  

He says he’s going to miss Oviedo Brewing Company. He thinks part of the problem is that they did great business on the weekend, but weekday traffic was slow, and the brewery is big.

“Now I feel like the market is a little saturated, and it’s a tough industry,” Soltani said. “Here, you don’t really have that much foot traffic because there’s not a lot of anchor stores left in the mall to bring people in. It’s the theater, some restaurants and some other stores.”

Solatani’s running group is moving to the Oviedo Townhouse Restaurant starting next Tuesday, and his group is also looking for other locations. Irish 31 Oviedo also had a run club that was looking for a new home after the closure.

“We’re trying to grow the group, and maintain the group, and not let it fade away after this place closes,” Soltani said. “It’s sad. It just seems like we need more places like this, and not chain restaurants. All the mom and pop places like this are disappearing.”

In the evening Tuesday, Oviedo resident Juan Mejia stopped by the brewery. He was shopping at the nearby Italian market, and decided to stop in for a beer – his first time. 

He was sad to learn it was shutting down. 

“I’ve been kind of sad to see the entire mall just coming down. Now the brewery as well,” Mejia said. “I hope there’s something new that comes up and flourishes in this area. We do need places for entertainment and shopping and things like that. Oviedo doesn’t have much.”