The Grayton Beer Company likes to say that its “innately in tune” to the agricultural product and what it produces. It’s a way to make sure that the liquid is something the consumer will buy. Testing and development of what eventually makes it to mass production is key to the Florida brewery.
“Each beer that makes it onto our taproom wall or out into the market for consumers to enjoy is tested time and again to ensure we are putting out a product of true substance,” said head brewer Tyler White.
When it comes to developing its beers, the Grayton team likes to let the beers speak to the team, she noted.
“We will collaborate on what style or taste we want to accomplish and then reverse engineer the beer from there,” White said. “We taste it throughout the brew process and multiple times while it’s in its final stage. If we do not feel it’s ready for release we’ll start all over.
“It goes back to our substance.”
While tasting and critiquing the beers throughout the brew process, when it comes to determining how a beer will perform in the marketplace, White said they are lucky enough to have within its 30,000-square foot facility a taproom that is open weekly.
“We will put our seasonal, limited release and small batch beers on the tap wall for the general public to enjoy,” he said. “Through conversing with our patrons we can get input on edits they’d like to see made or their love for the beer. Once the beer has made its rounds and been met requirements we then bottle, keg or can the beer. Dependent on the style and quantity we will then launch the beer within our southeast footprint.”
And it’s the brew team that keeps innovation at the top of mind throughout the year.
“By keeping an ear to the ground on what is going on beyond the craft industry, specifically in wine and spirits, we have recently created two beers that will elevate our brewery,” White noted.
Seeing the consumers affection for craft cocktails and dark spirits, Grayton recently worked collaboratively with Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery in Nashville to craft a Bourbon barrel-aged brew.
Inspired by White’s passion for Belgian-style ales and Old Fashioned cocktails, Dubbel Barrel combines the rich malty character and dark fruit aromas of a dubbel with the trademark rye spice of Belle Meade Bourbon — putting an Old Fashioned twist on a Belgian-Style classic.
“Innovations such as this allow our brewer’s creativity to flow and we plan to continue to work within that mindset,” he said.
Most recently, Grayton crafted its 2017 harvest ale, coined CentenniAle after the Centennial hops from which is was brewed.
White worked closely with Hop Head Farms in Hickory Corners, Michigan to pick a fresh hop that would travel from bine to brewery in under 24 hours.
“The fresh, wet Centennial hop provided flavors and aromas not normally available to our brew team,” White said.
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