Florida Beer Pairings: Proof Brewing Company and Tallahassee

You’ve heard about pairing food and beer. How about beer paired with authentic Florida experiences? Join us as we explore the state through the flavors of Florida’s craft beer culture.
 

By Stephen Kubiak

There's something brewing in Tallahassee, tucked just south of the Florida State Capitol. And, beyond the city’s edge is a historic jewel, a country store linked to a time gone by. Two businesses, old and new, separated by time and product, but both driven by passion.

In a short time, Proof Brewing Company has transformed itself from a bottle shop on the “college side of town” to a production brewery and tap room just south of the Capital. 

Craft beer doesn’t have an age barrier here; families and college kids mingle freely. The cozy beer garden has the casual atmosphere of a backyard party,  a neighborhood get-together, with laughter and chatter for the soundtrack. (The talk is about FSU sports and politics, of course, because this is Tallahassee.). The backyard grill is replaced by Proper, an on-site brewpub serving up brat burgers topped with IPA mustard and potato chips soaked in beer. It’s a community brought together by good taste.

As the largest brewery in Florida's Capital City, Proof Brewing Co. is making a name for itself around the Sunshine. From the great brews marked with Proof’s distinctive, stark black hexagonal logo to its ever-expanding brewing operation, Proof founder Byron Burroughs is well on his way to exporting something locals can be proud of.

“We saw a need in this town for local craft beer,” Byron said. “Once we opened, it really blew up.”

Said Angela Burroughs, Proof cofounder and Byron’s spouse: “We’ve always been passionate about craft beer and it’s something we’ve always enjoyed personally.”

“We’d love to one day be an international brand, but we are taking care to focus on the local market right now,” Byron said.

The local market keeps Proof busy and growing. Through large windows in the tasting room, patrons can see the brewery with its rows of shiny fermentation tanks and large pallets of cans waiting to be filled.

“Florida, I wholeheartedly think, will be the next big state in brewing,” Byron said of the Florida’s fast-growing craft beer scene.

“It’s not just the quantity of breweries, but the quality of beer they are producing,” Angela said. “We can compete with Colorado breweries, we can compete with California breweries. As a state, we’re making some really great beer.”

Proof’s core beers include standard styles like porters, pale ales, and lagers, but each has something unique about it.

“We tend to brew bolder,” Byron said. “We are trying to brew specifically to style, but with larger and more robust flavors.”

They even have a few surprises on tap. Mango Wit, a Belgian Wit, is flavored with organic mango. (That counts as a serving of fruit, right?)

Sweet mango hits your nose first, yet the beer becomes more balanced with each sip. Each sip begs another taste.

“Mango Wit is one of our most popular beers, but it was also something of a fluke,” Angela said. “We cannot deny its popularity. If we stopped making it, people would go nuts.” It’s since become one of their core beers. Mango Wit can sometimes be found on nitro (nitrogen), giving the brew a lighter, creamy texture, or treated with ingredients like Thai chili, with adds a "sweet heat" quality.

Need proof that Byron, Angela, and staff are serious about beer? Try this: They alter the local water to match the mineral content of other famous brewing cities.

“We use a unique RO (reverse osmosis) system that allows us to rebuild the water we use in our beer to any profile we’d like,” Byron said. “Say we are doing a Munich style beer. We can change the mineral content of our local water here to fit the water profile of Munich’s water supply. This method allows us to have better consistency in our beers. Brewing is all science.”

Brewing as a science makes Proof the best chemistry class I’ve ever had.

Of Proof Brewing’s many offerings, one of their darkest brews really stood out. Creatures in the Dark, a chocolate sweet stout noted on the Proof website as an “incredibly balanced sinister delight,” is a potent beast. With 8 percent ABV (Alcohol by Volume), this Florida Best Beer Championships Gold Medal Winner will have you seeing creatures if you’re not careful about your consumption. Made with cocoa nibs and vanilla beans, Byron recommends pairing Creatures with dessert.

And that’s when it came to me - this rich stout reminded me of the cool, shady back roads twisting throughout Tallahassee and into the countryside beyond.