Q&A: El Primer Cumpleaños of VEZA SUR Brewing Co.
Miami, FL – August 18, 2018 – Everything good starts with a fresh beer… El primer cumpleaños of Veza Sur Brewing Co. was celebrated this past Saturday, with a proper pachanga! Beer lovers celebrated the Wynwood breweries first birthday with an afternoon of live acts, a special birthday beer release, bites by Baja Bao, and lots of prizes and beer giveaways.
In order to celebrate the breweries first year, we grabbed a beer with Veza Sur ‘s Co-Founder and Head of Operations, Marshall Hendrickson.“It’s been an exciting year at Veza Sur with so much worth celebrating, throughout all the amazing beers we released and the major fiestas we’ve thrown at the Taproom, it’s so exciting to see that more and more Miamian’s are thirsty for delicious, fresh beer. If there’s one thing we learned from our first year of being open, it’s that nothing is better than celebrating life with a cold beer in-hand” said Hendrickson. Grab a cold cerveza and read all about the best brewery in Miami!
WRE: How did you come up with the name Veza Sur?
MH: Our inspiration for Veza Sur came from our own roots. Our Founders have roots in Latin America as well as in the US. As we started developing the brand and coming up with names for our beers and brewery we always wanted it to represent who we are. What better than Beer + South? The name derives from ‘cerveza’ which means beer and ‘sur’, which means south. Our reference point is south; we are in Miami, South of America, South of Florida… and some might call Miami the Capital of Latin America. We embrace our Latin American roots and wanted to celebrate and fuse them with our American roots.
WRE: Congratulations on your first year! You crafted special birthday beer, La Super Pachanga, how does this beer represent Veza Sur’s first year anniversary?
MH: When we started talking about our Cumpleaños Beer as a team, we knew we wanted something exciting, refreshing, and easy drinking that would keep you wanting more. Short story is, we wanted a beer to celebrate with all day and all night. La Super Pachanga is simply perfect. It was released at 3PM and sold out by 10pm on the Saturday night of our Birthday Party… that says a lot! A refreshing Blonde Ale with our favorite fruit: albaricoque, a birthday beer to remember.
WRE: Why did you choose Wynwood?
MH: Wynwood is one of the most vibrant and ever developing neighborhoods of Miami. The city has so much ritmo, flair, and energy, and we felt strongly about putting our roots down in a neighborhood that embraces the diversity and dynamic energy of Miami and our brand. It felt natural and we could not be more humbled and grateful for the support and embrace we’ve received from everyone in Wynwood and Miami in just a short year.
WRE: How is your beer connected to the local Miami area?
MH: Our beer is Miami-made and brewed right here at Veza Sur. Just as Miami is a melting pot and extremely welcoming, we always want to make sure our beer reflects the same, and embraces our Latin American roots. Our Lulo Sour is a great example, as Lulo is a fruit well known in Colombia and Ecuador. Flavorful and sessionable beers is our focus, perfect for Miami’s hot summers and mild winters. From Craft Lagers and IPAs to Sours, we stay true to Cerveza Artesanal. We also love to embrace our community and collaborate with other locals to brew our fresh beers. For example, we recently partnered with Miami Smokers to create our, Gaucho Raucho Rauchbier. In this unexpected collaboration, we had our malt smoked over their candied bacon that resulted in this tasty beer with attitude, as it literally is candied bacon in a pint!
WRE: Tell us about the brewing process? What different types of beer do you offer?
MH: We focus on sessionable beers, perfect for Miami’s hot and humid weather. We are Lager driven while also leaning heavily into introducing other styles such as Sours, IPAs and Fruit Beers. We also like to stay fresh and innovate with high alcohol percentage beers, Nitros, Stouts, Porters, and even barrel aging. We stay true to Cerveza Artesanal by combining flavors and ingredients inspired by the Miami melting pot. Beyond our brewed beers we also take pride in our Beer Cocktails that help us to show how creative and dynamic beer can be.
WRE: Looking ahead, does Veza Sur have any plans to open a second location?
MH:Currently, we are excited that our fresh and sessionable beers are now available on draught in over 250+ restaurants and bars throughout South Florida and The Keys. We opened our doors to the public one year ago, and it’s been amazing to see how our beers continue to be well received and grow throughout South Florida. We are building strong relationships and are excited about what is to come! Never say never!