The first brewery in Hobe Sound is opening soon.
Sound Brewing Co. on Bridge Road is more than halfway built, and founder Reinhard “Reiny” Knieriemen hopes to open by the end of September, he said Tuesday.
It will be the third brewery in Martin County, after Ocean Republic Brewing Co. opened in 2019 and Frazier Creek Brewing & Distilling opened in 2023, both in Stuart.
Knieriemen, 52, who lives in North Palm Beach, was the head brewer at Twisted Trunk Brewing Co. in Palm Beach Gardens for the past nine years.
“I always thought it would be fun to open my own place,” Knieriemen said.
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Originally from upstate New York, he was a Boynton Beach high school teacher for 10 years at Santaluces Community High School. He wanted to learn how to brew beer, so he volunteered at the now-closed Brewzzi City Place in West Palm Beach during his time off.
He eventually left teaching and became Brewzzi’s head brewer under Fran Andrewlevich, cofounder of Twisted Trunk. He followed Andrewlevich to become a head brewer at Twisted Trunk when it opened in 2015.
“I was just trying to immerse myself in as much brewing as I could,” Knieriemen said.
He and his wife, Ashley — with whom he has three sons, ages 8, 11 and 12 — are friends with Chris and Elizabeth Taylor, who previously owned Taylor Farmhouse in Jupiter Farms and currently own Taylor Beach House Cafe in Hobe Sound, formerly the Flash Beach Grille.
In 2021, Knieriemen planned to open a brewery at Taylor Farmhouse, bought brewing equipment and created Sound Brewing Co. — but it didn’t work out in the end with zoning, parking and the size of the property.
Instead, Knieriemen turned to the vacant lot next to Taylor Beach House Cafe, which sat empty for decades because of a Florida Power & Light transformer in the middle of the property. The process to move it took longer than expected; he had hoped to open over a year ago.
Knieriemen said he wouldn’t have been able to do it without the Hobe Sound Neighborhood Advisory Committee and the Martin County Community Redevelopment Agency working with his father-in-law, Wayne “Chip” Withers, who is part-owner of Sound Brewing Co.
Withers is a former Coral Gables city commissioner and owns Withers Transportation Systems, a Miami-based logistics and transportation company. He also owns both pieces of property with the cafe and the new brewery.
It will be a microbrewery with a tasting room and a small bar menu available to be delivered from the cafe next door, Knieriemen said. The building is about 3,000 square feet, split 50-50 between the brewhouse and taproom.
His brewery’s tagline: “Tastes as good as it sounds.”
The brewery has only a few parking spaces, not a parking lot, so customers will have to use on-street parking. He said the Winn-Dixie parking lot is a just few minutes’ walk away.
Knieriemen hopes to encourage foot traffic in the area. Since the new brewery will be just over a mile away from the beach, he also hopes people riding their bicycles will stop by.
He plans to keep the theme light, airy and beachy, where nostalgic Old Florida meets the Florida Keys. The brewery will have outdoor seating and a glass garage door in the back that can open when the weather is nice.
“We have a ton of windows in the place,” Knieriemen said, “so I really love to try to bring the outside in.”
He plans to install a seven-barrel brewing system by the end of July. His goal is to keep his product rotating.
He wants to have something for everyone on tap, including sours, IPAs and even light craft beers. He’ll decide what his house beers will be after getting feedback from customers.
“I want it to be their brewery,” Knieriemen said. “That’s why we called it Sound Brewing. Hobe Sound has its own brewery.”
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
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