Black-Owned Breweries in Florida: The Real, Updated List
Florida has nearly 500 craft breweries. The number that are Black-owned can be counted on one hand. Here’s who’s pouring, where to find them, and why every visit matters.
Let’s be honest about the state of craft beer in Florida — and in America. The industry is overwhelmingly white. Not because Black people don’t love beer (we do), and not because Black entrepreneurs lack the talent or the vision (they have both). The barriers to entry are real: access to capital, industry networks, the uninviting culture that exists in many taprooms, and the simple exhausting math of being the only person who looks like you in a room that is supposed to be for everyone.
Florida has roughly 500 craft breweries. The number that are Black-owned sits at fewer than five — and that number has actually gotten smaller in the past couple of years. Bastet Brewing in Tampa, one of the state’s most celebrated Black-owned taprooms, closed its doors in August 2024 after four years of fighting through some genuinely brutal conditions.
This guide is the most current, accurate list of Black-owned breweries in Florida available. We researched every entry, confirmed current operating status, and included real addresses, hours, and contact details. If you’re planning a visit, this is where to start. If you know of a Black-owned brewery we should add — please reach out and we will update this immediately.
St. Petersburg: Home of Florida’s First Black Brewery Owner
St. Petersburg is the epicenter of Black-owned craft brewing in Florida — and the story here is genuinely world-class. Khris Johnson, co-owner and head brewer of Green Bench Brewing Co., is recognized as Florida’s first Black brewery owner. What he and his team have built over the past twelve years is not just impressive for a Black-owned brewery. It is impressive, full stop.
Green Bench opened in 2013 as St. Petersburg’s first production brewery — and Khris Johnson had to change local ordinance laws to make it happen. That sentence alone tells you a lot about who he is. More than a decade later, Green Bench is one of the most respected craft breweries in the entire Southeast, known for an almost absurdly wide range of styles executed at the highest level: lagers, IPAs, mixed-fermentation sours, ciders, meads.
Khris’s philosophy is simple and he says it directly: “Brew Quality. Build Community.” It is not a slogan. Every decision at Green Bench — from the beers they brew to the events they host to the organizations Khris personally sits on the board of (Beer Kulture, the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling, the National Black Brewers Association) — runs through those four words.
The beer garden at Green Bench is one of the best outdoor drinking spaces in the state of Florida. If you are in St. Pete and you have not been, that needs to change. Bring someone who does not think they like craft beer. They will leave converted.
If Green Bench is where you go to drink great beer in a beautiful outdoor setting, Webb’s City Cellar is where you go when you want to be changed by something you didn’t know beer could taste like. Opened in 2019 on the same campus as Green Bench, Webb’s is a two-story industrial-chic cellar filled with hundreds of wine barrels where wild ales, sours, meads, and ciders age for months before making it to your glass.
In 2024, Webb’s City Cellar was named a James Beard Award semifinalist in the Outstanding Bar category — the only Florida bar to receive that distinction. To put that in perspective: they were competing against some of the most celebrated cocktail bars in New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. And they were recognized as being in that tier.
The name is an homage to Webb’s City Drug Store, a St. Petersburg landmark from the 1920s that stretched across seven city blocks. The history matters to Khris — and you feel it in how Webb’s operates, as a space that is genuinely for everyone, built with care, and committed to quality at every level.
Orlando: Broken Strings Is Open — And It’s Doing Something Different
If you heard that Broken Strings Brewery in Downtown Orlando closed — you heard half the story. It did close briefly in January 2025 after years of fighting through difficult conditions. But within weeks, it reopened under new local ownership — and the new owner who stepped in as head brewer is Black.
Broken Strings reopened on February 20, 2025 under new ownership — Darryl Richardson, Brad Pascarella, and Clint Oldenburg, all Central Florida locals who also operate Three Odd Guys Brewing in Longwood. Richardson, who serves as the head brewer, describes the goal simply: beer that “tastes like joy in a glass.”
The location is genuinely interesting. Sitting in Orlando’s Parramore District between two major stadiums, Broken Strings is positioned to be a neighborhood gathering place for sports fans, local residents, and Orlando’s nightlife community. Richardson is also a DJ (known as DJ Drizzy) and his love of music has made its way into the taproom — including open deck nights where other DJs can come in and take over the equipment.
The previous Broken Strings had deep roots as a community institution in Parramore. The new ownership has made it clear they intend to honor that history while building something new — community-forward, family-friendly, and welcoming to everyone who walks through the door.
Note to editor before publishing: Our research identifies Darryl Richardson as head brewer and co-owner of Broken Strings under the new ownership. Please verify Black ownership directly with the brewery before publishing to ensure accuracy.
A Tribute to Bastet Brewing — Tampa’s Black-Owned Craft Beer Pioneer
We cannot write about Black-owned breweries in Florida without talking about Bastet Brewing. For nearly four years, Tom Ross and Huston Lett built something genuinely special at 1951 E. Adamo Drive on the edge of Tampa’s Ybor City — a nano-brewery with a philosophy rooted in ancient fermentation traditions, global culture, and an unwillingness to compromise on quality.
Bastet Brewing — Tampa, FL
Co-founded by Huston Lett and Tom Ross, Bastet Brewing operated from late 2020 to August 6, 2024. Named after the Egyptian lioness warrior goddess, the brewery crafted beers inspired by fermentation traditions from around the world — from German-style pilsners to ube and Meyer lemon sours to watermelon sours and imperial stouts. It was one of the few Black-owned breweries in Florida and earned a loyal following across Tampa Bay.
The closure came after four years of fighting through “adverse socio-economic conditions” — the owners’ own words. They were honest about it. And that honesty is worth sitting with, because Bastet is not an isolated story. The barriers facing Black small business owners in capital-intensive industries like craft brewing are real, structural, and persistent. Bastet closed. Green Bench survived and thrived. Both outcomes tell us something about what is possible and what still needs to change.
The craft beer community in Tampa Bay genuinely mourned Bastet’s closure — which tells you something about the relationships they built and the community they cultivated in four short years. That legacy matters.
Why These Breweries Matter More Than Your Average Pint Stop
Here is the number that should bother everyone who loves craft beer: fewer than one percent of the roughly 9,500 craft breweries in the United States are Black-owned. In Florida, that number is even more stark against a backdrop of nearly 500 breweries statewide.
This is not about the quality of Black brewing. Khris Johnson at Green Bench is routinely cited among the best brewers in the country. The James Beard nomination for Webb’s City Cellar puts him in the same tier as the people running the most celebrated bars in New York and San Francisco. The talent is there. The passion is there. The community support is building.
What is missing — and what your visits, purchases, reviews, and referrals directly address — is the economic infrastructure. A Black-owned brewery needs the same things every small business needs: consistent customers, positive word of mouth, and enough revenue to survive the slow months and the hard years. Bastet was deeply loved. That love was not enough to keep the doors open.
So show up. Bring your friends. Leave the review. Tag the brewery when you post your photo. Refer them specifically by name when someone asks you for a brewery recommendation. These are not small things. They are the things that add up to whether a Black-owned business makes it to year five.
Know a Black-Owned Brewery We Missed?
This list is as current and accurate as our research allows — but Florida’s craft beer scene moves fast. If you know of a Black-owned brewery or taproom that should be on here, please tell us at blackownedflorida.com. We update this post as the community grows and changes.
Questions About Black Breweries in Florida
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These Breweries Need Your Support — Not Just Once
The best thing you can do for any of these businesses is become a regular. Show up, bring someone new, leave the review, share the post. That is what sustains a small business.
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