Tripping Animals founders Ignacio Montenegro, Iker Elorriaga, Juan Torres, Francisco Arocha, and head brewer Daniel Chocron in 2016 announced their plans to open a brewery after securing an 15,000-square-foot industrial space in Doral. Montenegro says the partners will announce the opening date soon, but the taproom could debut as early as next week.
Tripping Animals has roots in Venezuela, where Chocron and Torres founded the nano-brewery Casa Coronarías in 2012. Montenegro attended college in St. Louis and worked closely with dozens of local craft breweries; he later landed a position at O'Fallon Brewery in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The team moved stateside in early 2014 to found Tripping Animals Brewing. The name pays homage to the fauna native to Florida and Latin America. Each animal takes drinkers on a trip to a certain part of the world.
"The idea is to create great craft beer and promote a unique atmosphere, as well as spread the craft beer lifestyle," Chocron says. "In Venezuela, the culture of craft beer just wasn't there. People were trying to innovate, but not much. Here, we're in love with all the styles — from fruited sours and barrel-aged stouts to lagers and IPAs. It's amazing the styles and ingredients we have to experiment with."
The team will brew using a 15-barrel system. The building's 2,400-square-foot taproom will house an arcade, lounge area, and 15-seat bar that will pour Tripping Animals beer from 20 taps, as well as homemade sangria, guest beer, wines, and cider.
The Tripping Animals taproom will offer 20 taps and a food menu including tacos and bao buns.
Photo by Nicole Danna
"The menu will offer a nice mix of salty, savory, and delicious items," Chocron says. "It's food that will pair perfectly with our beer."
As for the suds, Tripping Animals describes its brews as very hop-forward. Chocron says he will concentrate heavily on IPAs and stouts, as well as easy-drinking styles such as lagers and pilsners.
The brewery has promoted a number of signature recipes during local festivals — including the Belgian dubbel Wild Duck, which won second place at the 2016 and 2017 U.S. Open Beer Championships — but the team says it won't be concentrating on brewing any core styles just yet.
Instead, the goal is to brew as many new beers as possible for a rotating selection, Montenegro says. "We eventually want to get to a point where we're offering a few core beers, but for now, we'd like to have the freedom to see what does the best for our patrons," he says. "We want to offer a little bit of everything."
There are quite a few other breweries in the area including MIA Beer Company, Biscayne Bay Brewing, and the Tank.
Tripping Animals Brewing. 2685 NW 105th Ave., Doral; trippinganimals.com.
Correction: This story originally misstated how many breweries there are in Doral.
