Riverside Market, Native Brewing launch Craft Beer Cartel

As the craft beer industry booms, competition for shelf space continues to be an issue for craft brewers. Florida-based Native Brewing Co. has found a unique solution to give itself a leg up in the craft beer competition. Enter the Craft Beer Cartel, a joint venture from Lisa and Julian Siegel, founders of Riverside Market, and Adam and Jill Fine, Owners of Native Brewing Co., which boasts the largest selection of craft beer in South Florida.

In addition to the wide array of craft beers, Craft Beer Cartel also features a nano brewery where Native Brewing Co. tests new recipes and supplies for homebrewers including kettles, paddles, hops and barley.

“Native Brewing founder, Adam Fine, will be brewing, advising and always available to talk shop,” said Julian Siegel. “We will be offering everything one would need to brew beer, and every beer one would want to buy. Hard to find kegs will be common, an eight-line growler fill station, glassware, T-shirts and advice will abound. The decor is reuse/recycle. The floor of over 300,000 bottle caps, reclaimed wood bar, and as many reused materials were used as possible. This was truly a communal and local effort and vision. This will be like the Disney World for beer, but the only lines we’ll have will be running beer!”

Craft Beer Cartel’s pièce de résistance is its bottlecap floor that was hand assembled by Riverside regulars, beer geeks, homebrewers, friends, family and beer reps over the last three months. The floor, made up of approximately 300,000 bottlecaps that have been collected over the last five years, is a glossy arrangement of craft beer brands, college logos, mantras, company tags and abstract art.

In addition to beer, Craft Beer Cartel brews coffee and offers grab-and-go pastries for neighborhood residents and visitors.