Calusa Brewing marks its own milestone alongside the podcast's 50th episode: eight years since co-owner Vic Falck, his brother-in-law, and head brewer Jason Thompson opened a small production brewery in South Sarasota with a business plan Falck first sketched out as a capstone project during his USF master's program. Thompson, a Navy SEAL's childhood friend recruited from Ventura, California, is the self-described mad scientist behind the beer; Falck calls himself the numbers-and-marketing guy who, by his own admission, couldn't get the original tiny brew system to turn on.
From Zarazote to Zot
The brewery's flagship hazy IPA, Zot, wasn't the original name -- Calusa's early version was pulled after a trademark dispute with a national wine company, and rather than spend money fighting it, the team chose to redirect that cash into a canning line and grow instead. The replacement name traces to old Spanish maps that labeled the area "Zarazote"; Calusa itself is named for the Native Americans who inhabited Southwest Florida's coast before Spanish arrival, a name suggested by a family friend that stuck because it matched the founders' own aquatic, military backgrounds. The brewery still runs its original Derek Avenue site as a manufacturing hub with the canning line it bought in 2019, while its newer location -- the former White Buffalo space on McIntosh Road -- now houses the taproom and Pigfish, a separately operated sustainable-seafood-and-barbecue restaurant partnership known for its bacon-tartar Pigfish sandwich.
Calusa now supplies roughly 120 retail partners across Sarasota and Manatee counties, all on an allocation-only basis -- Falck explains that opening the taps to every restaurant that asks would leave the brewery unable to properly support the partnerships it already has. The company runs lean for its size, with about 20 total employees covering both facilities, distribution and the taproom combined.
Roundabouts, Beer Trades, and What's Next
General manager Bernie Dieseldorff, who started as a bartender before working his way up, calls himself a fan of roundabouts, but with a caveat: the simple single-lane versions on roads like Honore work fine, while the multi-lane downtown versions confuse even longtime locals -- a point underscored on camera when a near-miss plays out at the very intersection they're discussing. Falck jokes about wanting one built and named the Sarasota SpeaX roundabout. Both credit local, out-of-state fans who trade cases of Zot with friends outside Florida, since Calusa can't legally ship due to excise laws.
Looking ahead, they tease new labeling connecting Zot, Zot Imperial and the lighter Zot Breeze into one family, plus an anniversary celebration, and point to Origin's Rami, Compound's Jake, and the husband-and-wife team behind Mouth Hole as future guests Sarasota needs to hear from.
What you'll take away
- Calusa's flagship beer, now called Zot, had to be renamed after a trademark dispute with a national wine company
- The brewery name Calusa honors the Native Americans who lived along Southwest Florida's coast before Spanish arrival
- Calusa supplies about 120 retail partners on an allocation-only basis to keep quality and supply consistent
- Its newer McIntosh Road location houses the taproom and Pigfish, a separately run sustainable seafood and barbecue restaurant
- Both hosts of the brewery -- Falck and Dieseldorff -- call themselves fans of roundabouts but say the multi-lane downtown versions confuse drivers
“We make what we like to drink. We're already the demographic.”
“My quick answer is yes, I love them. But most people don't know what they're doing, especially downtown.”
Places mentioned: Derek Avenue, McIntosh Road, Siesta Key, Honore Avenue