Our Story
BEER FOR THE SUNSHINE STATE
Woman owned and brewed and just a half block off the Pinellas Trail in charming downtown Dunedin, 7venth Sun is a beloved and eclectic local hangout and must-visit beer destination. Inside, you’ll find a 3.5-barrel brew-system fueling ten taps, each pouring innovative and flavorful creations. Known for its sours and hoppy selections, you can also expect a changing list of lagers, barleywines, saisons, stouts, gluten free sours and hand crafted hard seltzers in addition to its flagship beer, a creamsicle wheat called Graffiti Orange.
History in the Making...
7venth Sun founder, owner and brewer, Devon Kreps, followed in the footsteps of women brewery greats before she even knew their history.
Growing up in beer-centric Michigan, a chance encounter with Bells Oberon (then Solson) sparked a new fascination, and her curiosity only grew with continued beerxploration: Bell’s Cherry Stout, Best Brown, J.W. Dundees Honey Brown, Sammy Smith’s Oatmeal Stout and Pete’s Wicked Ale among them.
After a year of college (don’t do that drinking-age math), beer again resurfaced on a spring-break trip when she learned of the Fermentation Science program at Oregon State University, or “a beer brewing degree,” as she was told. A quick call to her parents sealed the deal: Devon wanted to own a brewery one day and make beer for a living. She realized this was the perfect combination of math, science and art, which were all subjects of interest, and why she was struggling to find her path. The only other possibility being something in anthropology (the study not the store), which plays a part later in her story.
A change in plans
She expected to start at the bottom, post-graduation, making minimum-wage washing kegs until earning her shot at brewing and then fate intervened. Upon learning some important individuals from the Anheuser-Busch (AB) Brewery would be in the area, Oregon State’s Pilot Brewery Plant Manager requested they conduct interviews with the brewery program’s freshly minted grads. And despite her preference to work in craft beer, Devon signed up for an interview and realized the benefits and experience were too good to pass up. This, she decided, would be her next step to eventually owning her own brewery.
She was flown out to Saint Louis for an entire day of interviews and landed a special gig at AB’s research pilot brewery (RPB) buried right in the heart of the iconic campus. This was a rare opportunity: a yearlong stint, working with a team of ~10 recently graduated peers, brewing, cellaring and running the entire 15-barrel pilot system hands-on (skipping that whole keg washing gig). She was uniquely the only Food Science grad in the program – most being engineers of one sort or another. There she honed both her brewing and sensory skills.
When her year was up, Devon was promoted to manager at AB’s Cartersville Georgia plant, a smaller facility (at 8 million barrels annually) known for a diverse selection of brands including Tequiza, Bud Dry and King Cobra in addition to the staples. This position was very different from her prior role; the physical work was only done by union employees (non-management), so she honed her leadership, problem-solving and planning skills. Three years later, it was time to return to her dream.
Back to Business
Despite her initial misgivings about working in big-beer, the experience was pivotal in landing the Production Manager position at SweetWater Brewing Company in Atlanta. The craft brewery was growing fast and leapt from 25K barrels annually before she began, to 65K barrels when she left in the span of 3 years. It was a cultural 180 from the corporate rigidity of her previous position and a welcome change: this ragtag bunch of shirtless guys (at the time she was the only woman in production) quickly became her second family. There she managed everything production: brewing and staff schedules, packaging plan and splits, shipping and logistics, final and raw material inventory management and occasionally stepping in as arm-chair psychologist. The work was hard but rewarding; there were pizza parties every Friday and lifelong friendships built. It was her final step before the real goal: brewery ownership.
In 2009, she moved to Tampa Bay to make the dream happen. At the time, the region was still behind in the craft beer boom but very thirsty for more craft breweries. The plan was to open a large production facility in Tampa, but funding was hard to come by with the housing crisis fresh on the minds of bankers. It turned out to be just-as-well; Devon fell in love with the quaint beer-loving hidden gem that was Dunedin. The new plan involved a 600-square-foot unit in a small plaza on the northeast end of downtown, with a 3.5-barrel brew system and rolling Latina fermenters that were temperature controlled with a portable air-conditioner. (Side note, when then, Sweetwater owner, popped in for a visit, he fell in love with 7venth’s IPAs; only after, did he discover the method of fermentation – he was blown away by the quality of the beer created that way and said he never would have guessed it).
7venth held a soft opening on December 2nd, 2011, with only guest brewery taps and it almost didn’t happen. The project was completely out of money when the business hit a snag that Dunedin Brewery owner and General Contractor Michael Bryant Senior’s quick thinking and creativity solved. He was kind enough to offer his services for 7venth Sun’s build-out and saved the brewery from going under before it began. Thanks to him, a line of credit, and a bunch of credit cards, 7venth Sun was born and celebrated its official opening date with 10 beers on tap January 7th, 2012. One year later, the brewery expanded into the unit next-door and upgraded to 7-barrel double-walled fermenters, but it still rocks the little Stout brew system it began with all those years ago, to this day.
Award Winning, Culture Building
From the start, the brewery was known for its donut porter, Berliner Weisse (aka sours, which were relatively unknown at the time) and the now-iconic Graffiti Orange Creamsicle Wheat named via customer contest, paying homage to Steven Spathelf’s icon oranges painted across the town. From there, the brewery experimented with Saisons, from hoppy or fruited, to traditional and barrel-aged, as well as wild-fermented barrel-aged sours and spirit-barrel aged Belgian beers and stouts. The second brewery to open in Dunedin quickly earned a name for itself and attended events and festivals all over the world – from Boston to Indiana, Pennsylvania to Denmark. They also earned two world beer cup awards, dozens of Best Florida Beer medals, in addition to Best Small Brewery in Florida.
To continue not-so-humble-bragging…
Devon served on the Florida Brewers Guild Board during a pivotal time, helping to usher in much needed change to some of Florida’s antiquated beer laws, and the effort was herculean. Better known as the “growler bill”, its passing did so much more than legalize 64-ounce growlers (previous illegal due to a leftover portion of eradicated bottle size laws), it made brewery taprooms officially legal (at the time operating only through a questionable tourism loophole), and it also allowed breweries of like-ownership to transfer beer between locations without having to pay a distributor to do so. 7venth Sun also served as a launching pad for many brewers’ careers and Devon led many burgeoning, optimistic, future brewery owners through the complicated realities of launching their own dreams. And in 2022 she received special recognition from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation for her achievements in the Florida Craft Brewing Industry.
Enough bragging – back to business…
With increased demand, in 2017 Devon realized her dream of a Tampa production facility located in Seminole Heights. The 18,000 square-foot building became home to a 15-barrel system that was nearly two years in the making due to funding delays and design changes. By the time it opened, the Tampa craft beer scene had exploded and taproom competition was fierce. Slowly but surely, amidst major trials and tribulations, the growth started to happen as the end of 2019 approached.
Then we all know what happened next…
In 2020 the COVID pandemic eviscerated the taproom business and despite the team’s efforts, the Tampa location never recovered. It closed in June 2023, five years after opening. But every dark cloud has a silver lining, and Magnanimous Brewing was able to take over the space and continues to contract-brew a few of 7venth Sun’s signature brands — poetically, by some former 7venth Sun staff.
Devon got off her computer (gratefully) and returned full-time to Dunedin where she continues to create unique small-batch beers only available in the cozy little coastal taproom.
Come See the Dream
7venth Sun is now a tight-knit crew of five—over half have been with the company for more than a decade. Jokingly referred to as the coastal version of Cheers, brewery regulars often frequent the business daily, and everyone most definitely knows their names.
A tiny spot where friendships, romances and even families have formed, the brewery has seen loves, losses and even a pair of the cutest twins you ever saw, ushered into this world. This is the best part of 7venth Sun. Devon loves making beer, but in pursuit of this dream, she is truly fulfilled by the magic of the community created in its taproom.
(She did get to sprinkle in a little anthropology after all)
Come have a beer, meet a friend, or start your next Dunedin adventure—we’ll point you in the right direction.