History

Spanish Marie Brewery was born in 2013, debuting with a gold medal at a local homebrew competition for the Colada Porter. The team poured their latest brews and pairings at every event from Brew at the Zoo in Miami to Hogtown in Gainesville. After a year of searching, a home was established in The Hammocks, Florida in 2015, and the journey continued. With the support of local commissioners, ordinances in Unincorporated Miami Dade were changed to allow breweries to sell alcohol in their taprooms. A vintage “frankenbrew” system was then purchased from a closed brewpub in Salina, Kansas and retrieved from an abandoned WWII military barracks. After 3 years, of hard work Spanish Marie finally opened its doors in 2018 and now serves some of Miami's best brews using a 1955 dairy tank as a mash tun. So, come on by and join the family for a cold one and a few stories of the journey.

Meet the Owners

Spanish Marie is 100% independently owned and operated by Alby & Jaime, two long-time friends and craft beer fanatics.

Jaime got his start at Titanic Brewery, Miami's longest running brewpub, and has over 12 years’ experience working in the industry. He was fortunate to be involved in many areas of the business, from the kitchen to the bar, management, helping in the brewhouse and even building the website. His father has always said “make yourself invaluable.” Jaime has honed his craft over the past 2 years operating our entire brewhouse by himself but his passion for craft beer is highlighted by the 11 years of home brewing ingenuity. Starting off on his stove top with a brewing kit purchased online, he quickly grew obsessed and built a half barrel brewing system from the ground up inside a friend’s garage. Tinkering came naturally, as a child Jaime would take apart broken appliances and used the parts to make RC cars and boats. Our head brewer not only makes darn good beer, but has also built every piece of machinery in the brewhouse by hand, like our homemade keg washer to our glycol loops, there's nothing he can't build. You do not have to try hard to find him, whether he’s in the brewhouse creating a new beer, operating our canning line or high up on a ladder repairing a projector, he’ll be around, likely talking to himself.

The other half of Spanish Marie is Alby, a jack of all trades. Alby is a self-taught serial entrepreneur starting at just 9 years old, when he established a dog walking & baby-sitting service for his neighborhood. As an enterprising individual, doing it all from lemonade stands & a car wash service in elementary to providing web services & web hosting after college, he's learned everything he knows about business & marketing along the way. At 7, his first memories of fine dining in his family's Italian restaurant instilled in him an affinity for great service and quality ingredients. At Spanish Marie, he now assists the brewhouse with recipes, treatments, and his personal favorite: quality control. He also jumps behind the bar or kitchen whenever he gets a chance. Prior to founding Spanish Marie, Alby built a multi-million dollar passport & visa expediting service with just $800. Realizing he would be happier doing what he loved, he left it all for Spanish Marie. He now combines his business savvy with his love for food & craft beer, a passion he cultivated in college at the Leon Pub in Tallahassee circa '04. He personally handles the numbers, construction, compliance, operations, sales & marketing, social media, photography, copywriting, web design, SEM... the list goes on. But he's not all business, he's also an artist. He's created every beer can label released so far and has designed & decorated the Speakeasy & Beer Garden. "You have to be creative & unwavering in this industry", says Alby who has stopped at nothing to open Kendall's 1st brewery. He changed the legal landscape with the help of his commissioners, easing location restrictions for all breweries in Miami Dade and clearing the path for future breweries to come. Although Spanish Marie is now open, he remains committed to developing the craft beer industry in Florida.

These two have built Spanish Marie from the ground up, literally and figuratively, handling everything from demolition and pouring concrete to putting up dry wall and light fixtures. Over the years they have fostered a growing community of passionate craft beer drinkers, feeling fortunate to be able to share their beers with the world. They're always around so say "Hi" whenever you see them walking around.