By Nicole Heubusch & Nicole Schoen
This month we visited ESB Brewing Company located at 333 N. Falkenburg Rd. Ste. D407. This local brewery has only been open since last November. Francis Booth, one of the three local owners, also owns Booth’s Brewing located right next door.
Booth’s Brewing sells home brewing supplies for both beer and wine, and the two businesses complement each other very well, offering recipe suggestions of favorite beers to clients.
Booth’s long term goal had always been to open his own brewery, and it was actually one of his home brewing customers that helped to make his goal a reality. That customer, Bobby Every, became another part owner, and got the final third of the team, Simon Swain, involved. The three owners, Every, Swain and Booth put their last initials together and came up with ESB Brewing.
ESB is also a type of beer, so it’s a clever play on initials. Booth lives in Valrico, Every lives in Riverview, Swain lives in 
FishHawk so when you stop by this bar, you’re definitely supporting local business.
ESB Brewing is located in an industrial parking lot right across the street from the Florida Cane Vodka Distillery.
If you’re not looking for it, you wouldn’t notice it just driving by, but this cozy pirate themed bar is worth seeking out.
Inside you will see the bar, a few tables, dart boards, and outside is a patio area that gets pretty crowded at night. The brewery is known to have local bands play outside as well as food trucks, perfect for those looking for a casual Friday night. They offer pints, growlers and beer tastings, and there is a Groupon out at the time of writing this article for a flight of four beers plus a take home growler. The chalkboard behind the bar offers a listing of what craft beers they currently have on tap, and we were given plenty of recommendations from our bartender.
Booth told us in the short time they have been open, they have brewed over 30 different recipes. There are many different styles offering something for every taste palette. They don’t have an industrial bottling system just yet, but they do sell two beers in bottles at the bar customers can take home: Pirate’s Hoard and Ruskala.
“We really enjoy experimenting with different ingredients to create a new beer,” Booth said. “My favorite right now is the Pieces of 8 IPA.”
Though they are a new business, they have a steady stream of regular customers, and rely heavily on word of mouth and support from the community.
They are not sold in stores yet, but a few local restaurants are already carrying their craft beer. Ciccio Cali in Brandon, World Of Beer in Brandon and O’Briens all have their beers on tap.
ESB Brewing is open Wednesday through Thursday from 4 p.m.-9 p.m., Fridays from 4 p.m.-11 p.m., Saturdays from 12 Noon- 12 Midnight and Sundays from 12 Noon-4 p.m. For more information, visit esbbrewing.com/index.php/ and find them on Facebook.
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