The Royal Palm Brewery opened on St. Patrick's Day and it was standing room only. Geoffrey, George and Pam Shetka have stepped away from their science and corporate lives and put their hearts into their new brewery which should do well being the only brewery in the western community of Royal Palm Beach, Florida. After being homebrewers for years the trio blazed a trail working with the town council to clear the way for zoning and permitting. Opening a brewery is a huge risky undertaking. Being the first brewery to open in a town is truly pioneering. We only had a moment to speak with Pam during the opening but we will be returning soon to talk about their plans for the business. In the mean time we're going to go on what we saw and experienced. From our assessment they are trail blazer and they want to introduce craft brew to the untapped crowd. Their approach may be like that of a university where freshmen come in all excited to learn something new and it will be a while until they are ready for the 3 and 4 level classes. All in due time. they will turn out new members of the craft brew movement.

We know lots of people who don't go to breweries, they don't like hoppy IPAs, and they would never try heavy dark stout. We might think this crowd is unenlightened but they like what they like and they only drink what they like. So many breweries want to introduce their craft brew to this crowd and grow their customer base. Royal Palm Brewery (RPB) may be on the path less taken. They were pouring four offerings from their four fermentors on opening day which was one of the busiest drinking days of the year. They had a Stout, an IPA, a Citra and a Wheat. They were all mild and nothing stood out. At first we were a little disappointed. But then we surveyed the crowd and thought about what it means to be a pioneer. Everyone was enjoying themselves, the place was packed and the line was out the door. RPB is drawing in a crowd that may be craving the craft brewery experience. I remember when I poured the first homebrew IPA for my mom. It was like walking into a gallery and seeing Picasso for the first time. We didn't try to start her with a Belgium Triple or a 90IBU IPA. She loved her first Bell's Two Hearted. Who knew she would eventually love Coffee Stouts and now she's even willing to try sours when we go out. Surprisingly RPB wasn't serving any green beer. On the day when the traditional drinking crowd ventures out RPB had people trying all four of their brews plus a few guest taps. The business looks promising. They also offer a kid friendly environment with a corner for the young ones to play while mom and dad relax at a table in close view. The room needs a few decorations to absorb the sound of the loud crowd but that will come in due time. We hope they slowly sneak a little more excitement into the fermentor but in the mean time they are growing their base, which is what every business wants to do. Cheers to Royal Palm Brewing Company. We will bring a few friends with us next time and introduce the craft brew scene to them.

facebook.com/royalpalmbrewingcompany State Road 7
Royal Palm Beach, FL