When guests step into Jacksonville Beach, Florida’s Green Room Brewing they can almost feel sand beneath their feet. Perhaps in this case, it’s because the beach is only a few of blocks away. Or, maybe it’s not actually sand, but sawdust left over from the do-it-yourself work ethic of brewery owners Mark Stillman and Eric Luman.
A Bootstraps Story
The uncle and nephew team opened Green Room in 2011 the old-fashioned way—through hard work. The duo possessed industry knowledge, combined with a hands-on mentality that is required for new breweries to compete.
“Both of us brought skills to the table to start the business,” says Stillman. “But it wasn’t until we opened that we realized how important all of those skills would become. Making great beer is hard enough but making sure your profits aren’t being poured down the drain or given away is just as important.”
Prior to opening Green Room, Stillman spent time getting his hands dirty flipping homes. Before that, he worked in Anheuser-Busch’s accounting department where he learned the business side of running a brewery. Meanwhile, Luman brought a strong brewing background. He made a name for himself as a brewer at both Southend Brewery in downtown Jacksonville and Seven Bridges Grille and Brewery on the Southside.
Together, they built the brewery themselves. “We were underfunded so we deferred everything we could and strapped on a tool belt for the rest in an effort to save money,” says Stillman. “For example, when it came to installing glycol lines, we know they can be expensive, so I looked for a cheaper alternative. The solution was a 1 ½-inch PVC pipe inside a 3-inch PVC pipe with a poured in marine foam as an insulating barrier. It’s not as good of an answer as the commercial products, but it worked, and at a fraction of the cost.”
Jacksonville Beach’s First Craft Brewery
While popular chain brew pubs existed throughout the region, and a couple of craft breweries operated further inland in Jacksonville, Mark and Eric were the first to pioneer a standalone craft brewery in the more tourist-driven city of Jacksonville Beach.
According to Stillman, “We chose Jacksonville Beach because no one else had opened there yet. The beach has a small community feel and people here identify and support local businesses that they like. We felt that the beach would be a great place to open, and so far we have not regretted that decision.”
The biggest challenge was finding the right spot given the high cost of real estate near the beach, lack of parking and proximity from schools, churches and daycare facilities. Finally, they found an abandoned building in a high-trafficked spot on 3rd Street. While it was in need of some love, the 4,000-square-foot building was exactly what they were looking for.
Surfer-Inspired Beer
For Luman, the chance to step away from corporate brewing into his own brewery was the creative break he’d been looking for. “After many years of brewing for a corporate location, the freedom to brew what I want, when I want is very liberating. It can also be exhausting. We set a goal of tapping a new beer every week of the year. This leads to a constant push to write recipes and formulate new ideas that has no foreseeable end.”
His creative freedom is unleashed in what Green Room describes as surfer-inspired beer (Green Room is named after the surfer’s perfect spot in a wave). Taproom patrons can expect 16 beers on tap—eight year-round offerings and eight seasonal or experimental beers—all of which are supported by the local craft beer community.
I was at the brewery on a Tuesday evening in the deep of tourist offseason, and the bohemian surfer-themed taproom was packed. Jacksonville Beach residents were happily sipping everything from the West Coast-leaning IPAs to Quetzalcoatl, an imperial red ale brewed with chocolate, cassava root, serrano and poblano peppers.
In fact, locals enjoy the surfer-inspired craft beer from Green Room so much that the brewery has an expansion in the works. Soon, capacity will increase from 1,500 barrels to 3,500 barrels annually.
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