New Brewery Alert: Tripping Animals

For a 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, it is hard to find a chair at the bar at Tripping Animals Brewery. With its mismatched furniture, warehouse atmosphere, and colorful decorations, it is hard not to suddenly feel comfortable in this quirky yet homey brewery in this corner of Doral.

Although just opened on November 16, 2018, Tripping Animals Brewery is just as cool as the name infers. However, everything that led up to its opening has been a winding road, to say the least.

Before becoming investors, Ignacio Montenegro, Daniel Chocron, Juan Manuel Torres, and Iker Elorriaga were just childhood friends in Venezuela. As they got older, Chocron and Torres went on to start their own brewery six years ago and Montenegro interned at a different brewery for two years. Due to the country’s lack of resources, they all moved to Miami and with them, they brought their dreams.

In 2015, the idea of working together to create a brewery began. A year later, the lease was signed and in 2018, its doors finally opened. It took them so long because, being new to the United States of America, they didn’t know how to handle the paperwork and legalities of opening a new place.

Order the Lick Me next time you go, its a sour that's perfectly sweet.

Along with learning the ropes in a new country, they still kept their Venezuelan upbringing close to the brewery’s foundation. It even made its way into the name.

“Every time we drink beer in Venezuela, we say ‘tripiar’ which means we’re having fun.” laughs Montenegro. “So technically, we love to trip, but not in the way you think.”

Even a jar on the counter says “Tipping is Tripping,” true to the name of the brewery.

And while the name suggests something more psychedelic, it really is just a group of friends doing what they do best: create great beer and to “create a way of living, different experience,” says Montenegro.

“We’re a young brewery managed by young people, we’re all about 26 and 27 years old,” he explains. “We really want to support Miami, help put Florida out there as a craft beer state, and make you feel at home here - that’s why there’s a living room.”

When I took this at 4:10 PM, by 4:20 PM there were already people enjoying the area.

Although their main focus is to create “high-quality liquid” the brewery wants to also just be more than that. It wants to make a positive impact on nonprofits in the community that help both humans and animals, a homage to the species that gives it its name.

For now, they’re already making an impact with their in-house beers that have the bar crowded the second everyone gets off of work. They are also learning from other breweries and partnering together to continue to give Miami its growing reputation for being a craft beer city.

With only two months in existence, Montenegro can only describe the brewery’s opening and positive feedback it has received.

“We don’t even believe we’re open,” he said. “Hopefully this journey is long for us.”

Fun Fact: the logo for Tripping Brewery Animals is an eye! This eye can be seen in every animal used in their artwork. Can't unsee it now, can you?

2685 NW 105th Ave, Doral, FL 33172