Tomoka Brewery

About Us:

Brewer Pete Szunyogh and his wife, Brewster Jen Hawkins, began their career in brewing as homebrewers with professional culinary arts backgrounds. Pete, a trained pastry chef from Budapest, Hungary, and Jen, the former owner of a local pizza chain in Ocala, Florida, became quickly obsessed with brewing small-batch beer on their porch and immersed themselves in the culture and craft of brewing with the intention of opening a brewpub one day. They saw the concept of a brewpub as the perfect platform for intertwining and expressing their passions for good food and good beer, whether pairing a beer with a meal or actually using their thorough understanding of food ingredients to integrate them directly into the process of brewing beer. They consider themselves "foodies" with a passion for creating flavor combinations to give to people a truly unique, enjoyable experience. Szunyogh and Hawkins opened their brewpub doors to the Ormond Beach public on July 5, 2013, proud to be the very first brewery in Volusia County! On tap that first day was their collaboration brew with Swamp Head Brewery in Gainesville, Florida. It marked the first of 4 more collabs to come in 2013... Brewing on premises commenced in December 2013, after a long wait for their federal brewing license, an already lengthly process made more complicated by a government shutdown and a typo error on the government's part. But the wait was well worth it. Pete and Jen immediately received recognition for their unique and delicious brews just two months later when they won two medals at the Best Florida Beer Championship in Tampa, Florida: a gold medal for Elvis Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich Brown Ale, and a bronze for Pumpernickel Porter!