New brewery owner in Fort Myers has plenty to celebrate, with weekend party planned

Alex Tatko was well on his way to becoming a lawyer.

Instead, he’s entering his sixth month as the owner of Coastal Dayz Brewery near downtown Fort Myers.

“I was waiting on test results from the Florida Bar exam when I took a job as a bartender at Bury Me Brewing,” said Tatko, who attended the Ave Maria School of Law. “I had started keg washing and was about to learn how to brew beer when I got word Bury Me was closing.”

That was in September 2019. Tatko, a homebrewer who had won awards in competitions in Washington and Orlando, then took a job at Coastal Dayz, working for Gary and Lisa Bethune who opened the brewery in April 2018.

“It was a crash course on how to do stuff,” Tatko said. “Week by week I started taking on more responsibilities.”

The brewery expanded into double batching when he got there.

“Gary and I were learning it together,” said Tatko, who was brewing by himself six months later.

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The trio eventually began joking about Tatko one day taking over the brewery.

The hints became more serious “over eight or nine months” before talks became serious.

Then Hurricane Ian hit.

“I had planned to take over before that,” said Tatko, who was staying with the Bethunes during and right after the storm. “It took us a couple of days to get here to see if there was any damage. I saw it was OK and two days later signed the papers.

“The beer was still fine and I opened without power, working with just flashlights. I was telling people to go home because of the curfew.”

Since Tatko had been the head brewer for three-plus years, the transition has been smooth as far as that goes.

His biggest challenge has been the day-to-day business side.

“I had been working in the back of the house and needed to learn the front, which was what Lisa did,” he said.

Tatko is quick to credit assistants Caleb Jensen and Naomi Johnson with helping him the past several months.

“They’ve really been my right and left hand,” Tatko said. “They’ve been my core.”

Since taking over, there have been a few changes.

The 10 taps and four guest taps are now 16 taps. The seltzer is his own as opposed to having a guest one.

His core beers remain the same with the most popular being Seaz The Day — a hazy IPA that outsells all others two to one.

“Wannabe, the blonde, is second,” said Tatko.

With a three-barrel hot side and seven-barrel cold side, Tatko said he sells as much beer as he produces.

“I expanded the patio when I got here,” he said. “We are in this spot for another four years. Our distributor wants us to go to Naples but we just don’t have the ability for that now. Cooler space is our biggest issue. We need to walk before we can run.”

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In the meantime, Tatko and company are gearing up for the brewery’s two-day fifth-anniversary party on April 1-2.

There will be beer releases (12 timed ones on Saturday alone), food vendors, live music (Bill Beck Music, Nostaljah Band, Claire Liparulo) axe throwing, DJ, sip & shop, a beer for a year giveaway and more.

Can’t make it?

Pet-friendly Coastal Dayz offers plenty on any given day, including live music bingo on Sundays, special release small batch Tuesdays and trivia on Wednesdays.

A food vendor is usually on site 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays and 2-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Stay up-to-date at coastaldayzbrewery.com or through Instagram and Facebook.

Oh, and the Florida Bar exam results Tatko was waiting on?

“I failed,” he said with a smile on his face.

Coastal Dayz Brewery, 2161 McGregor Blvd. in Fort Myers, is open 3-9 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 1-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 1-7 p.m. Sunday. Call (239) 204-9665 or go to coastaldayzbrewery.com for more information.

Robyn George is a community content editor and food writer for The Fort Myers News-Press. Send scoops and news to [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers brewery weekend party planned to celebrate 5 years