Ben Davis was a busy, sweaty guy Saturday afternoon.
The Intuition Ale Works owner and brewer spent most of the muggy day Downtown helping put the final pieces on the tap room that’s opening today.
He wasn’t by himself, as about a dozen friends and employees were hustling, moving barrels, hanging signs, tidying the place up for the grand opening.
“Madness,” said Davis, describing what the past week was like.
Hurricane Hermine could have made it a lot more maddening.
Davis received his temporary certificate of occupancy Thursday, which allowed him and others into the place.
Had there been other delays, today would have been a lot different — city offices were closed Friday because of the storm and Monday for the holiday.
“We would have been in really bad shape,” he said.
Luckily, that didn’t happen. And after a lot of weekend work, Downtown’s newest destination was ready for the public, just in time for a key U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team match tonight and a fall full of football games in the Sports Complex.
The lack of options in that area was one of the drivers for Davis, who said he always has wanted to move Downtown.
The empty building at Bay Street and A. Philip Randolph Boulevard offered the right mix of space and possibilities to make it worth his investment, which is in excess of $1 million.
Go to Wrigley Field in Chicago to see a Cubs game or Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., to see a Patriots game, he said, and look around. There are dining and drinking options within walking distance.
“Here, it’s like you come down to tailgate or just go into the game,” he said. “There are no other options.”
Now there is one near EverBank Field and the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Davis closed his Riverside tap room in anticipation of the Downtown opening. It’s a location that when fully built out can host almost 400 people.
The tap room and rooftop bar overlooking the St. Johns River and surrounding venues both can seat about 100. The yet-finished brewery will add a couple of hundred more.
Food service won’t be ready for the opening, but it should be soon. Intuition is partnering with Black Sheep for food, which Davis said he expects to be available in October.
Intuition in its Riverside locale brews about 8,000 barrels of beer a year. When fully up and operating, the Downtown location could reach as many as 25,000 barrels.
The brewery has come a long way since Davis founded it in 2010. Jacksonville’s craft beer scene wasn’t as crowded back then and it was more of a struggle to get area bars and restaurants to carry local products.
Now, Jacksonville is a booming beer scene and several local brewers have established themselves.
Just down Bay Street, another longtime local craft staple is planning an expansion, too.
Bold City Brewery has partnered with the developers of the Cowford Chophouse for a tap room that’s been delayed because of the neighboring restaurant’s construction.
Susan Miller, Bold City co-founder, said delays with the Chophouse associated with the change in contractors has impacted Bold City’s opening.
However, working with its ownership has been “great” and she remains patient.
Once she is able to pull permits for the work, build-out should take about eight weeks.
Davis said now the challenge is the big, national beer companies that purchase smaller companies and can “squash the legitimate craft breweries."
To fight that, Davis said it’s just a matter of marketing oneself to show people your company is local, authentic and independent.
The new Downtown spot is a way to do just that.
The building’s use is a stark difference from what once was planned. It once housed a plumbing and air conditioning distributor before it eventually was sold more than a decade ago to a Miami developer who wanted to construct a five-star hotel and condominium tower at the site.
Those plans fell through and the building sat vacant until a Jacksonville-based LLC purchased it last year and leased some of the space to Intuition.
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