Greg the server gave a confused smile for a split second when a customer pointed at the menu and asked, “Tell me a story about the beer here.”
But only for a split second.
“Well, nobody’s asked me that before,” said Greg, then he leaned forward and pointed out the third-floor window behind us. “But right over there, across the street, Al Capone was arrested in the penthouse. He was selling beer and running gambling games in the 1920s.”
(Grant Balfour for Biscayne Times)
Miam’s old U.S. Post Office building has a serious exterior, but Biscayne Bay Brewing has livened up its once-staid third floor.
Greg didn’t have to say we would have had the same view back then; the Old U.S. Post Office building proudly shows its age, from century-old brass fittings and neoclassical stone archways to new art nouveau murals welcoming visitors.
The story is not one that leads us much closer to choosing a beer … but for the Biscayne Tippler, the roundabout path is generally the more joyful one. And at Biscayne Bay Brewing Company’s brand new digs in a dignified old structure, sitting for a while to soak in the ambience is a joyful experience indeed.
“Everything here has some history to it,” said Greg.
But the place is anything but a museum.
Full of Life
When we visited, a live band was playing fusion jazz (probably a smidge too loud for the standard poodle who sat attentively at a table near the stage), there was some kind of sports education happening at the foosball table and an energetic toddler was bouncing in a booth beside parents enjoying a warm flatbread pizza. Behind the bar, sunlight streamed in through the windows and glinted off the gleaming steel of a row of fermentation and storage vats.
(Jeannie Balfour for Biscayne Times)
Small elevators mean smaller vats, which means more variety for beer fans to choose from.
This is a workspace, recreation room, restaurant, bar and venue. It just happens to be on the third floor of a historic city building.
The food menu includes Colorado wagyu burgers, a charcuterie board, Mediterranean dips and bao buns. It’s bar food with a little something extra. The plan, we were told, is to eventually have a pairing menu of dishes matched with the perfect beer accompaniment – something made possible by brewers focusing on small batches as well as top sellers.
The beer selection features a blood-orange shandy called Sunset Vibes, a Tropical Bay IPA brewed with three kinds of hops and something called a Lemon Squeeze – “the flavor is quite surprisingly not as lemony as the aroma,” the menu assured us.
We ordered an Alhambra Reserva 1925, part of the “rotating craft beers on tap” selection, and a La Colada, which is a porter made with chocolate, roasted malt and cold-brewed Cuban coffee. The Alhambra is a velvety-smooth pale lager with a flavor not too far from a Flat Tire. La Colada, however, is a very Miami experience: It’s a rich and bittersweet thing that makes you wonder if it should be served cold in a pint glass or hot in a demitasse with some Demerara sugar handy.
(Grant Balfour for Biscayne Times)
Art nouveau murals greet Biscayne Bay Brewing Company visitors.
Either way, it’s very much of this place. Which time? That doesn’t really seem to matter – just that it’s a good one.
A Long Road
Building a bar inside a historic building is not an easy task. Building a working brewery inside one is even more challenging. All that shiny equipment behind the bar had to be custom designed. And not only did it have to meet the weight regulations for the upstairs location, but the building was constructed before 1917 – it doesn’t have any loading facilities you might find by peeking behind the “service only” doors in a new hotel. All the vats had to be constructed to fit into the same art deco elevator guests use to ride up.
The payoff is that the bar also serves as a tasting room for the brewery. With a dozen beers on tap, two are planned to be seasonal, and sometimes there will also be a chance to sample something before the general public even knows it exists.
Brewery founders and Miamians Jose Mallea and Nick Bonfiglio got the lease for the space four years ago. It took that long to build it out to specifications. Both thought it was important not just to have a place in downtown Miami for people to gather, but also to be a living, respectful part of the city’s history. And also to serve great beer, of course.
Since opening in July, the taproom has started delivering on its plans to host seasonal beer launch events, weekly live music performances, sports nights featuring basketball, football, soccer and baseball, and more.
Growing With Miami
(Jeannie Balfour for Biscayne Times)
A Biscayne Bay Brewing La Colada porter alongside an Alhambra Reserva 1925 from the “rotating craft beers on tap” selection.
The team’s long experience shows. Biscayne Bay Brewing’s original digs were not quite so close to the bay itself. They set up shop in 2014 in a small warehouse space in Doral. The beers they made were good … good enough to build a local following, and eventually good enough to land a partnership with local sports teams. The Marlins Lager is the official craft beer of the Miami Marlins, and Biscayne Brewing is the official independent brewery of the Miami Heat. In the new location, framed uniforms from both teams adorn the walls between the 12 TVs that broadcast their games.
The old taproom closed during the COVID pandemic in 2020, but behind the scenes, Mallea and Bonfiglio kept working on their space in the Post Office Building, knowing that a Miami renaissance was on its way.
Not everyone shared their belief. But bars like Lost Boy Dry Goods opened its doors. Niu Wine got named one of the best bars in the country by Esquire magazine. The Lasseter started serving on the top level of the new Julia & Henry’s food hall, with the listening room Jolene opening in that building’s basement soon after, and a rooftop restaurant – Torno Subito by Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura – should join them by the end of the year.
A downtown development plan has seen Flagler Street begin a transition into a pedestrian-only zone like Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road, at least on weekends.
And now, there’s a brewery and taproom, the neighborhood’s first. History is here to be enjoyed … but also made.
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(Jeannie Balfour for Biscayne Times)
The servers at Biscayne Bay Brewing can also serve up a slice of Miami history.
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(Jeannie Balfour for Biscayne Times)
A typical weekend at downtown’s first brewery and taproom.
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(Jeannie Balfour for Biscayne Times)
The historic space has been rebuilt for all-day fun.