Props Brewery is a true beer lover’s haven. If you are fortunate enough to visit on brew day, the thick, tantalizing aroma mimicking fresh bread will greet you at the front door. Simply follow your nose and you’ll be ecstatic to witness a fresh batch of beer being crafted in the brewery just beyond the bar.

This 4 year old brew pub was the brainchild of owners and active military servicemen, Michael Kee and Nate Vannatter. The pair researched, planned, and put their plan into action with general manager and owner Brian O’Neill at the helm. The addition of owner, Travis Peterson, rounded out this dynamic team that Brian describes as “the perfect combination of gas and brake”. Together, they are breaking down walls, literally and figuratively, in the craft brew industry with an expansion to their brewery on the horizon.

Following the “Dogfish Model”, they continually expand on their food and beverage menus in a constant rotation; building on one then enhancing the other.  After “crushing their 5 year plan” of merely talking about distribution, they are well into canning and selling their most popular craft brew, the Blonde Bomber Ale.

You can witness the canning process from the bar!

Dubbed Bud Light’s pretty sister, she packs quite a punch when it comes to overall flavor, body, and quality.

We sampled 8 of their 12 signature craft beers available on tap including, The Blonde Bomber Ale, the seasonal INARA Strawberry Blonde, 4 Kings Brown Ale, Lucky O’Neill Vienna Lager, Prop Oil Porter, Flying Coffin IPA, Twin Props Double IPA, and the Black Widow IPA.

Our favorites were the Blondes-both light and crisp with delectable strawberry notes in the INARA. The 4 Kings-smooth and flavorful with a subtle caramely flavor. The Flying Coffin-surprisingly smooth for an IPA (a great choice for IPA newbies), it’s subtle bitter taste was complimented by its pleasant floral notes. True Hop heads will appreciate the Double IPA and the Black Widow as they were very hoppy with plenty of bitter to chase.

Each of these handcrafted brews has a meal to compliment it’s complex flavors and some meals are even prepared with them! Their extensive menu has suggested beer pairings for each item and if that isn’t good enough, just ask one of their Cicerone Certified Servers, they’ll be happy to make a knowledgeable suggestion for you.

The menu items that we paired with our flights were the Fried Pickles (The dipping sauce was incredible!) and their signature Buffalo Mac and Cheese. A staff recommendation is any one of their 5 burger options.

Why Support Local?

We’ll give you a few reasons why Props has already become one of our favorite locales. Not only does their head chef try to do farm to table as much as possible, but they donate their spent grains to a local pig farmer.

Here’s an added bonus, if you haven’t already guessed by the pictures above, the decor and several beer names are tributes to Michael and Nate’s fellow servicemen and women.

Another plus, you can find the Props crew handing out samples of their craft brews off site at many local events spanning across Florida’s Panhandle, catering to beer geeks 21 and older!

On the Horizon

The expansion to their business will introduce an impressive distribution brewery. Equipped with a 30 barrel brew kettle, 6-60 and 4-15 barrel fermentors, they will be primed and ready to release each of their craft brews to a wider, very appreciative, audience. What does this mean for the original brewery situated in their brew pub? Props plans to keep the 2-5 barrel fermentors to brew small batches of their fan favorites and possibly, new additions to the Props Craft Brew family that will eventually find it’s place onto a beer shelf near you.