Positioned just 23 miles northwest of its home base in St. Petersburg, Florida, 3 Daughters Brewing opened its first satellite location this month with the opening of its Clearwater Beach location.
Boasting a 220-degree view overlooking Pier 60 and the intercoastal waterways of Clearwater Harbor, the new tasting room was created to expand in the area while also servicing a whole new clientele explained VP of Sales & Marketing, Brian Horne.
”The biggest difference is this one is going to be a much more transient focus,” he told Brewer. “Right now we probably get 35-40% of people coming to our location in St. Pete are from out of town. That number could be 85% in Clearwater Beach, just because of the nature of the area. That’s going to be an interesting thing to see.
“So the marketing, the layout, the focus, we made it a little bit more focused towards transients than locals. And that’s just because of the traffic that we expect to see here on a day in and day out basis.”
Horne said the biggest thing that the brewery has learned through this whole process of opening a new location is they want to stay true to what got them to this point.
”At the brewery in St. Pete, we really focus on family, beer, and community. That’s kind of our mantra,” he said, pointing out that there are no TVs with table games available and different activities going along throughout the entire week.
”There’s live music, there are events, it’s really more of a gathering place,” he said. ”That’s kind of the focal point, and then there’s beer, seltzer, and cider. I think from our standpoint, that’s what we’ve really learned through this, keep with that focus, and make sure that the location that you’re selecting, allows you to be able to be who you are.”
Staying close to home was important in the first expansion, he noted.
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“We want it to be within an hour, so that way, we could support it easier,” he said. “The funny thing about building restaurants like this, the first one’s really, really hard. Going from four to five is a lot easier, right? Because you get the first one out of the way and you understand all the little things that come along with having a different brewery.
“So for us, just kind of figuring out how to make it all work, you want one that’s close and easy.”
He said for this first location to happen, the existing leaseholders had a previous relationship with the brewery and the spot wasn’t being utilized.
“We’re looking to do something different with it,” Horne said. “It just kind of all fell into our lap.”
From a sales standpoint, Horne said the brewery is experiencing record growth with February 2022 ending up its second busiest month ever while distro sales are up 65%.
This won’t be the end of locations for 3 Daughters as Horne said the brand will look to expand into Tampa and the Bradenton and Sarasota markets as well. All the markets that 3 Daughters already distributes to already have favorites compared to the Blonde Ale that is the flagship at the original location and Horne expects sales to look different in Clearwater Beach as the space progresses due to a different consumer base.
“We really focus on brewing beers, in mass, that people like,” he said. “Being statewide and having beers that are very popular in Jacksonville and Key West versus the Panhandle, every area in Florida has a different taste profile.
“In the Keys, our Key Lime Cider is hugely popular down there. When you get up into the Panhandle, our seltzers are very popular. If you go over to Orlando, our IPA does very, very well there.
”[A Clearwater flagship] will change.”
The new tasting room will feature an on-site brewing system as well as an exclusive “Beach Bites” menu. Utilizing a 30-barrel system for production needs, the original location already has a three-barrel pilot system and a new three-barrel system has been added in Clearwater Beach as well.
“Our head brewer was joking, it’s been eight and a half years since actually how to set up a new brew system,” Horne said when asked about some challenges in opening the new space. “The food menu is pretty simple. Everything else is pretty straightforward. Making sure that because we brew seltzers, ciders, and beer, our brewing needs are just a little different than I think than others that just focus on just beer or something else.”
With more temperate conditions, the ability to be wide open with garage doors and lots of open spaces is one small change that Clearwater will have versus the original location. More two- and four-top tables that are spaced out will accommodate consumers.
“I think what we really learned through the whole pandemic is that people want to be able to go out. They want to feel safe, but being in something with a lot of open-air and open space, it lets them do that,” Horne said. “So we can open up the garage doors and essentially make the whole thing you know, feel like you’re outside which obviously gets the wind blowing through and breathes and I think that’s where people’s comfort zone is these days.”
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