Ep. 50: Danielle Vergnaud-McKinnon of Sky Puppy Brewing talks about bats, walls, and community building a brewery

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A crumbling Ybor firehouse. Three brick walls and a floor of dirt. A bronze bat that sparked a movement. We sit down with Danielle Vergnaud-McKinnon of Sky Puppy Brewing for a vivid look at how design, community, and patience turned near-ruins into one of Tampa’s most thoughtful taprooms.

Danielle shares how her retail and visual design background shaped the brewery’s “brewhouse vista,” a mezzanined stage that lets guests see stainless, follow the process, and connect the dots from mash to pint. We dig into Sky Puppy’s rotating gallery wall—where 100% of sales go back to local artists—and the monthly nonprofit partnerships that make the space more than a bar. From a wildlife photographer’s owl showcase with Owl’s Nest Sanctuary to a year-long artist reunion, the taproom doubles as a welcoming gallery that lowers the barrier to both art and craft beer.

We explore the brand story behind the bat, inspired by sculptor Copper Tritchiller’s humanized forms and a serendipitous act of generosity that pushed the brewery dream forward. Danielle walks us through the naming ethos, sky-and-bat label art, and the curated 13-tap lineup at 1313 E 8th Ave. Expect crisp lagers, pilsners, and West Coast IPAs alongside Scotch ales and side-by-side American and English barleywines—served with education-first hospitality: samples, aroma coaching, and palate mapping that build trust. We also get into the gritty build: excavating 21 inches of earth, bracing historic brick, and the hilariously stubborn reality of moving grain upstairs before the stairs existed.

If you care about brewery design, Ybor City history, community-building, and style education, this conversation is loaded with insights. We talk growth without distribution, why Sky Puppy remains direct-to-guest, and how a neighborhood brewery can become a civic gallery where curiosity thrives and culture compounds. Subscribe, share with a beer-loving friend, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.