ORLANDO, Fla. — Many breweries have opened up across Central Florida in recent years and are thriving, but the oldest independent craft brewery in Orlando is in a race against the clock just to survive.

What You Need To Know

  • Orlando Brewing has been a staple in Orlando for 16 years

  • The warehouse it operates in is being sold, requiring the brewery to relocate

  • To move to another location, it will cost around $200,000

Over the years, Orlando Brewing President John Cheek has helped the city of Orlando to encourage more breweries to open up around town, and that effort has been successful.

“They wanted a lot of breweries in the city, and I’m all for that,” said Cheek.

When he opened Orlando Brewing 16 years ago, Cheek said breweries were restricted to operate in warehouse buildings in industrial areas. The owner of the warehouse he’s operating in is selling it to Orlando Health in July as the hospital’s main campus expands.

Cheek says to stay in business he’ll have to move, which is going to cost about $200,000.

“It’s not only the moving, but the unhooking of everything, taking it to the new place and then re-hooking it up,” said Cheek. 

Cheek pours beer in the brewery’s taproom, but Orlando Brewing does much of its business by supplying beer to several of the major parks, including Disney.  When the parks shut down at the beginning of the pandemic, Cheek said he had to tap into a lot of the money he had saved up just to stay in business.

“We had a distributor cancel an order that was $30,000 right before we were shut down,” said Cheek. “A lot of it was just the uncertainty, because nobody really knew what was going on.”

Cheek said the pandemic ate up most of the money he began saving up four years ago when he found out he’d eventually have to move locations. The brewery has now set up an online fundraising campaign called “Keep Orlando Brewing.” 

Cheek said his doctor told him worrying will make health problems he has worse, so he’s trying not to worry and is hoping for the best.

“Well, God willing, everything works out for those that want it to work out and have the intention or the ability to make it work out,” said Cheek.

Cheek said he’s looking at new locations to move to and is hoping that along with the public, investors and other businesses will help chip in to make the move possible.

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