Cheers to conservation and craft beer

Views of Chris Gutierrez adding in grain to the pot for boiling and mixing, the first steps to brewing a beer. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY

When you order a pint at Swamp Cat Brewing Company, you’re tasting weeks of planning, patience and precision. Every beer begins with a recipe, a handful of carefully selected ingredients and a brew day that can stretch for hours before the waiting even begins.

For one brew day this summer, the team at Florida Weekly traded keyboards for mash paddles, joining owner and brewmaster Chris Gutierrez and brewer Anthony Valenzano to create a beer that readers can try for themselves when it hits the tap on September 11 at 2:00 p.m.

“Florida Weekly’s Breaking Brews” is a crisp, easy drinking “table beer” with a low ABV brewed with Florida summers in mind. Even better, every pint sold will do some good beyond the taproom, with $1 from each pour benefiting the Coastal Conservation Association Florida (CCA Florida).

Julie Ferneau, Anthony Valenzano and Owner Chris Gutierrez. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Before a single grain found its way into the mash tun, however, there was another story worth telling.

Swamp Cat Brewing Company has taken a winding path to opening its doors.

Chris and Jennie Gutierrez purchased the former First Assembly of God Church just outside downtown Fort Myers in 2022, only weeks before Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida. The storm delayed construction for more than a year, and just as the project regained momentum, Hurricanes Helene and Milton delivered another setback in 2024. After years of rebuilding, planning and persistence, Swamp Cat finally welcomed its first customers in March 2025.

Today, traces of the building’s past remain. High vaulted ceilings and elegant chandeliers hint at its former life, while gleaming stainless-steel brewing vessels now occupy the space behind the taproom. Outside, vibrant murals celebrating Florida wildlife, including a striking Florida panther, set the tone before visitors even step through the door.

Inside, the unmistakable aroma of warm grain and malt drifts from the brewhouse, where science and creativity work hand in hand.

Swamp Cat Brewer Anthony Valenzano sitting atop the mash tun. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Gutierrez is joined by brewer Anthony Valenzano, whose background includes a biochemistry degree from Florida Gulf Coast University. The pair first crossed paths at Crazy Dingo Brewing Co., where Gutierrez would bring in some of his earliest homebrews for feedback. Those conversations eventually helped inspire the brewery that now bears the Swamp Cat name.

For Florida Weekly’s collaboration, the team gathered around a much smaller brewing system on the brewhouse’s back patio. While Swamp Cat’s flagship beers are produced on its larger commercial equipment, this pilot system, which was actually purchased from Crazy Dingo, allows Gutierrez and Valenzano to experiment with new recipes and small-batch creations.

That made it the perfect place to build a beer from the ground up.

The afternoon began with measuring and milling grain before hot water transformed the crushed malt into a sweet mash. Throughout the process, Gutierrez explained each step, from monitoring temperatures to timing hop additions, while emphasizing that brewing is equal parts chemistry, craftsmanship and patience, with some interesting history lessons woven in.

Owner of Swamp Cat Brewery Chris Gutierrez seen explaining the process of cooling the beer before fermentation. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Brewer Anthony Valenzano stirs the mixture ensuring there are no clumps of grain in the mixture. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY

Every decision, from the grain bill to the hop variety, shapes the finished beer. Even after the brew day ends, fermentation, conditioning and carbonation will continue for weeks before the first pint is poured.

For a few hours, Florida Weekly became part of that process, stirring the mash, adding ingredients at just the right moment and seeing firsthand how much work goes into a single glass of craft beer.

Now readers can taste the finished product themselves.

When the collaboration beer debuts at Swamp Cat Brewing Company on September 11 at 2:00 p.m., every pint will celebrate not only a day spent brewing alongside the Swamp Cat team but also Southwest Florida’s craft beer community. And with $1 from every beer sold supporting CCA Florida, enjoying a pint will help protect the waters that make this region, and its wildlife, so unique.

The Swamp Cat Brewery team and Florida Weekly Staff pose for a picture. -DAVID WISHTISCHIN / FLORIDA WEEKLY

IN THE KNOW:

Where: Swamp Cat Brewing Company
What: Florida Weekly’s Breaking Brews
Release: September 11 at 2:00 p.m.
Address: Entry at 1943 Fowler Street at Hough Street, Fort Myers
Hours: 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday
Online: swampcatbrewco.com
Contact: 239-887-3223
Socials: @SwampCatBrewCo, www.facebook.com/SwampCatBrewCo