The brewery aesthetic is familiar almost everywhere you go, an industrial jumble of metal and brick, rough woods and dark walls sometimes interrupted by splashes of graffiti or a mural. The Cove Brewery went another way when it opened a year ago, the first brewery in Deerfield Beach. Located just across the Intracoastal Waterway from the Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier, a hub for the local surf-culture community for years, The Cove is bright and airy, with blond woods, surfing iconography and a relaxing palette that draws from the sea, sand and sky.
Likewise, the beers made at The Cove tend to be light and bright with tropical impulses. A new one is called Toes in Sand, an IPA that dances with blood orange, tangerine and gooseberries. The brewery’s owners, siblings Kristy Hartofilis and Jay Whelchel, say it was just natural to lean into the family-oriented “old coastal Florida” vibe they grew up with.
“Deerfield Beach is such a coastal lifestyle. There’s so many fishermen, surfers, volleyball players, paddle boarders, you name it,” says Whelchel, raised with his sister in neighboring Boca Raton. “We grew up going to the Deerfield Beach pier and Island Water Sports, which has anchored that beach for a long time.
We went to camps when we were kids, hung out there.” On Saturday, The Cove Brewery, located in the city’s iconic Cove Shopping Center, will celebrate its first anniversary with Covechella, a free block party that will take place from 1 to 1.
