A Community Rebuilt with Beer Culture
St. Petersburg — Once a city on the decline, St. Petersburg now thrives, and the culture brought by the beer industry is largely to blame.
The city is currently home to 17 craft breweries. That door was opened in 2012 when the St. Pete Brewing Company secured the first permit to brew within the city limits, although Green Bench Brewing Company was the first to open their doors. And the city has been growing quickly since. But prior to the appearance of the breweries, from 2000 to 2010 the city’s population was shrinking according to the United States Census Bureau.
The population of St. Petersburg had risen an estimated 20,582 people by 2019 after the addition of breweries. But numbers alone don’t tell the whole story of the impact breweries have had on the city. Vinny Alleva, a long-time bartender at the St. Pete Brewing Company, said the breweries have served to inspire a “localvour” community. According to Alleva, the locals don’t want a national type brand experience, and that the appreciate what their own community has to offer.
“Every brewery creates little community centers of beer drinking,” said Alleva. “It’s made here, it’s idealized here, and when you get one that hits, it becomes part of the culture.”
According to Sam Lewis, bartender for Pinellas Ale Works, the local breweries have helped to change the consumer focus to local business. And he’s seen large numbers of people from across the country travel to St. Petersburg specifically for the local beer. Michelle Appleyard, the taproom manager at Pinellas Ale Works agreed that the push by the community to support local business has been strong.
“There’s a community that surrounds craft beer,” said Appleyard. “If the brewery across the street does well, we do well.”
In the 2019 economic impact report released by the Brewers Association, craft breweries contributed $82.9 billion to the national economy. And Florida was the fifth largest contributor on the list at $3.8 billion.
But the breweries haven’t been immune to the effects of the pandemic and have faced hard times recently. Restrictions and regulations from local and state governments saw their business drastically reduced. Appleyard said Pinellas Ale Works closed its doors two separate times while it struggled to figure out how to work within the stricter rules. But with the restrictions now loosened and the foot traffic returning, both the breweries and the sense of community have begun to rebound.
“It’s bringing people together,” said Appleyard.
