Take a tour of Biloxi’s newest craft brewery — now open. ‘We live and breathe beer.’
Dave and Kara Reese envision their new brewery in downtown Biloxi as a neighborhood taproom.
“We really designed the beers around that,” he said this week, as they prepared for the debut of their Fly Llama Brewing starting at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14.
The brewery at 186 Bohn St., in the former location of Biloxi Brewing Company, is just north of Howard Avenue and west of Caillavet Street in the city’s entertainment district.
In the future, he sees families stopping by on the way to the nearby MGM Park and the revitalized Saenger Theater and downtown.
For now, they have socially distant seating for about 40 people inside the taproom strung with market lights above the bar and tables.
They plan to add a patio with picnic table out front, where families and pets will be welcome, and a walkway will connect to the large parking area under the I-110 bridge.
A pandemic wasn’t in the plans when they began preparing to create a new brewery, but David Reese said everything fell in place.
“I think we need this now more than ever,” he said.
14 kinds of beer, 3 hard seltzers to start
Reese posted on Facebook that they would open the brewery once he had created 10 unique brews.
He has 14 ready to pour, he said, plus three flavors of hard seltzers.
“It was not easy,” he said. But he is the expert — the only Advanced Cicerone-certified beer professional in Mississippi. One of only 139 listed worldwide who have that level of “expert knowledge of beer and excellent tasting ability.”
What he’s created is a “dynamic lineup,” blending his need for creativity he said, with beers that will attract customers and keep the lights on.
There is no way to tell which of his beers people will like best. “I hope it’s our lager,” he said. “I think the world needs more lagers.”
Along with the classics, “We’ll do the weird beers,” he said, like his new Neapolitan beer with strawberries, cocoa and vanilla that he said just works and will bring people in. “We will have fun with it,” he said.
They also have fun with the name of the brewery.
“If you’re going to be a llama, be a fly llama,” Reese says.
‘So much more than a Miller Lite’
“We live and breathe beer,” said David’s wife, Kara. “There’s so much more than a Miller Lite.”
And each style of beer will be served in it’s own style of Fly Llama glass.
“Dave is very particular about what beer goes into what glass,” she said.
The dry stout is “outstanding,” he said. Bella, a Belgian Blonde, is “easy going, beautifully golden and mostly sweet with subtle balanced bitterness. “
The first sour beer in the opening lineup is Guava Pomegranate, which he said is bursting with tropical fruit flavors. He gets most of the juices from Florida, he said, and sources ingredients locally when possible.
The Reeses partnered with the nearby Jacked Up Coffee to offer “Play It Leo” coffee stout, made with French Truck Coffee and brewed with pale, chocolate and roasted malts.
He also created hard seltzer for the opening and Reese said, “It turned out great.” The first three flavors are muscadine — a flavor he’s never heard of in a seltzer before — strawberry basil and pineapple satsuma.
Craft sodas to come
People should enjoy beer, Reese said — “I enjoy making it.”
He modified the building, adding new equipment like a reverse osmosis system to start the brewing process with the right quality water.
He’s also doubling the speed of the canning line, and in two weeks will start canning their beer so area distributors can get it out to people across the Coast. Eventually they plan to expand north to Jackson, he said, but they want to limit distribution to Mississippi for at least the first year.
A pilot system allows him to experiment and brew smaller batches. If that recipe works, he moves up the 40-barrel size.
Eventually Reese will make craft soda, starting with root beer, ginger ale and sarsaparilla, he said.
Reese started in the beer business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “a brew town with a lot of history.” They got sick of winter, and started looking for opportunities in warmer climates. They moved to the Coast and he spent 6 years at Chandeleur Brewing.
Fly Llama will concentrate on beverages, but he said local food trucks will be on the site at times.
Fly Llama Brewing
Address: 186 Bohn St, Biloxi
Hours: 4-9 p.m. Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Phone: 228-207-7757
Website: https://flyllamabrewing.com
Facebook: facebook.com/flyllamabrewing
Instagram: @flyllamabrewing
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
