Ocean Sun Brewing hoping to open in late February

A new brewery will be opening up on the East side of town, right next to Rogue Pub [GMap].

Ocean Sun Brewing (website pending – oceansunbrewing.com) will be located in the former Southern Moon Smokehouse space and will be open for business sometime in February of next year, according to part-owner Mark Wilkerson.

According to a post by Scott Joseph on Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide (HERE), La Fiesta Mexican Grill will be moving into the brewery and taking over half of the space.

Pending operating hours will be Monday-Tuesday 3-11 p.m., Wednesday-Thursday noon-11 p.m., and Sunday noon-11 p.m.

Ocean Sun will be at the Orlando Beer Festival on November 14 if you’d like to sample their new brews.

We had a chance to ask Wilkerson some questions about his upcoming brewery, which we’ve attached below.

Bungalower – So, Ocean Sun Brewing makes me think beach, obviously – is that the feel you’re going for with the space and the beers? What sort of labels/flavors do people have to look forward to?

Mark Wilkerson – Our name is born from our passion for the sun, beaches and Florida laid back life style., Our space is being built out with a very open look into the brewery itself. We want our beer lovers to see us at work and feel free to walk up and chat with our Brew Master. We have plenty of seating in the tap room with high tops, community tables and two separate areas with lounge seating to relax and just forget about your day. We will also have some outdoor seating for those who want to relax and get a little sun. Our beer styles will be a wide range of favorites, but also we are leave a few taps open for our Brew Master to develop one off great beer for the beer lover looking for that next new trend.

B – I saw that you were hiring a brew master back in July, did you find someone? Who are they and what’s their history with beer?

MW – Yes, we are currently finalizing our Brew Master selection and have found an Award winning Brew Master from North Carolina that will be joining our team soon. He’s still employed at his old brewery and it wouldn’t be professional to share his name yet. But I can say that he is the real deal and a real cool guy that has a passion second-to-none for making great beer.

B – Will you be serving food? Any tie-ins with local businesses?

MW – Yes, we are working with several locally-owned restaurants to have food for our guests. Our commitment to work hand-in-hand with our local businesses is core to our vision of our brewery.

B – What’s one thing that you really want people to know about your brewery?

MW – Well, from the start of our quest to get involved in the craft beer business we wanted to get people involved with our brewery on a level that you don’t find in other local breweries. Most of us beer lovers want to know about the beer, the brewer, what’s coming next, and how’s it all done. So with all of that in mind, we are embarking on setting the bar high with service in our tap room so every question can be answered, our staff will be able to answer every question, take you for a peek around the brewery even if you’re just by yourself.

We will have several cool programs to really get people involved, a Guest Brewer program where guests are selected and get the chance to make beer with our Brew Master and have their name on the tap handle when we start pouring it. That’s pretty cool, but we’ll also have a Home Brewers Club with monthly meetings to share ideas and test out some new stuff, expand knowledge and make some new friends. We will have several special event nights also, along with live entertainment on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sundays.