Meet Alan Espino | Cofounder and President of Beat Culture Brewery

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alan Espino and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alan, how do you think about risk?
Unfortunately business to me isn’t quite like pressing an elevator button where you know what the outcome is going to be. Risk is a thought process that is constant. Sometimes it’s ignored. Some times the gambles are worth it while some times unfortunately its not. One risk was dropping out of a doctoral degree in hopes to pursue a brewery. Mortgaging my house to buy brewing equipment. A risk that allowed me to follow a dream. Finding partners that you’ll be teaming up with and on the same page…a risk in itself knowing the reason why so many businesses fold is because of partner disagreement. We take the risk in creating new styles of beer in hopes of people licking them. New food items, new and different events. Risks of entering new markets to sell our beer. We are constantly pushing “elevator buttons” not knowing exactly how it will work out. And I’m very fortunate to be able to do so.

What should our readers know about your business?
It all started in undergrad at FIU…pre-veterinary. Microbiology class to be exact. We were covering the metabolic lifecycle of yeast and I found it simply captivating. The complexity was brilliant with a byproduct of alcohol. Amazing and almost alien at the time. My professor advised that I should consider going to grad school instead of going to Vet school as according to him I was a curious person and I would get incredibly bored mean while I had that beer itch building up. I took his advise. I continued my academic career and also started working in pathology and infectious disease research. There was something missing. This beer idea simply didnt go away. It built up until it was down right obsession. I spent every spare second I had researching, studying, formulating business plans, understanding construction and buildout, and so on. Until I was able to make the jump 8 years later. Quit my job, mortgaged my house, started the brewery.

Was it easy? No. It was not. Quite the opposite. At least for me. I am a product of immigrants. Fortunate enough to be able to be born a citizen, to be able to go to school and allowed to learn and study. But I did not come from a wealthy linage. Money isnt everything but it sure might help with friction. Otherwise making chicken salad out of chicken shit.

If not, how did you overcome the challenges? Theres a fine line between passionate/obsession and stubbornness. But risking everything I had, the only option I had was to keep going. Don’t make it easy to quit.

Some lessons i’ve learned… good people around you is the most important thing, you can never know too much, it’s ok to be wrong, if you mess up make sure to do it quickly, risk and danger are welcome when its tied to obsession, contracts are always the way to go.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story? In a world where everything is mass produced overseas and created without soul, we are the opposite. Miami made… brewing is the science of a million details and we don’t skip details.
When people think beer, they associate it with the light fizzy commoditized stuff you find in gas stations. When people think Miami, they think South Beach and flamingos. Our goal is to change the perception of both beer and Miami. Beer can be an impressive, fun and communal thing. And Miami is well more than beach and flamingos…in which I have never seen down here.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We still start at my brewery as its right by the airport. Take them to Lincoln road just so that they can scratch that off the list and not have to go back to the area. Now to move on to what the real Miami is… minutica sandwiches at la camaronera in little havana, coffee at House of Perla in Coral Gables, people watching and beers at Baracudas at Coconut Grove, avoiding $25 cocktails signs and making it to Gramps for a random event and slice of pizza.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In my story, that person is Barry Cohen. Barry is our landlord. He also owns the hotel next door to the brewery. He took a risk by allowing a bunch of amateurs rent his property to open a brewery. One year later covid came. He helped us out an incredible amount in order to make sure we kept kicking. He not only is a successful businessman, author, husband and father, he has practically become family. I aspire to be if only a fraction of his success and generosity. A diamond in the rough.

Website: beatculture.com

Instagram: beatcultureco

Facebook: Beat Culture Brewery

Yelp: Beat Culture Brewery

Image Credits
@inertiamediahouse – Giafranco Cuevas