Pictured (l-r): Brittney Barrie, Charlie Meers, Devon Kreps
The owners of three of Florida’s best breweries discussed the past, present and future of craft beer and the challenges women have faced in the male-dominated industry.
Devon Kreps, owner of 7venth Sun Brewing in Dunedin and Tampa; Charlie Meers, co-owner of Magnanimous Brewing in Tampa and Bradenton; and Brittney Barrie, co-owner of BarrieHaus Beer Co., have been making waves in the Tampa Bay craft beer scene for years.
When Kreps opened her first brewery in Dunedin, only about a half-dozen breweries were operating around Tampa Bay. Elven years later, 10 times as many breweries are up and running. A few have come and gone. But one thing that hasn’t changed, she said, is the collaboration that exists among the breweries. New breweries learn from the old, and the old feed off the energy and excitement the new breweries bring.
Only a handful of brewery owners in the Tampa Bay region are women, but they are a growing group, and more and more women are working as brewers.
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