ORLANDO, Fla – Orlando Brewing — which is being forced to leave its current, long-time location — has now announced it will be setting up shop in the City Beautiful’s tourist district.
“Well folks, it’s official! Our new home will be located at 5368 International Drive. We will begin to initiate the move later this month with our final day of business being July 4,” the brewery said in a Facebook post Thursday.
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The business is moving as its current location, 1301 Atlanta Ave., is being bought up by Orlando Health. That deal is closing on July 5, according to John Cheek, the owner of the brewery.
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The brewery is asking for volunteers to help with the move.
“Our whole brewery was built upon volunteerism,” Cheek said in March. “We’ve had all kinds of people helping to either paint things — paint walls and floors — clean things, and so we’re kind of built upon that model. One of the things that I’ve always told people is that, ‘Yeah, we don’t have a whole lot of money, but we got a whole lot of beer. And it’s good beer. Darn good.”
Cheek had been planning to move the operations of Orlando Brewing for about three years, but when the pandemic hit, those plans were waylaid and the company’s savings were pushed toward staying afloat.
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Cheek explained that the majority of his product went to area theme parks, hotels, resorts and restaurants. When the pandemic hit, most of that business dried up.
Despite that, the company has survived and has once again become sustainable, according to Cheek.
The business has also been taking donations through a GoFundMe page, hoping to collect $200,000 to help with moving costs. As of this report, the fundraiser has pulled in $12,750.