- December 13, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
Upon first entering the bar area inside Big Top Brewing Co. at Fruitville Commons, there’s a large window to the right that’s completely blacked out — but not for long.
“When this curtain comes down, people are going to see a wall of stainless steel,” CEO Mike Bisaha said.
The wall of stainless steel will be made of giant beer tanks.
Big Top is getting ready to unveil its new brew house, which will “drastically ramp up production.”
The brewery doesn’t can all of its beer, but if it did, Bisaha estimates the new four-vessel brewing system could fill about 3.5 million cans a year.
The system will be up and running within a few weeks, so Big Top will be producing more than triple the beer it is now by replacing a 13-year-old system.
The technology is so advanced that a batch of beer can be brewed using a phone app. Bisaha kept the total cost to himself, but just one stainless steel tank costs $50,000.
Once the kinks are worked out and production is back up to pace, customers will be able to tour the brew house.
Insider tip from Bisaha: Tour on a day the beer’s being canned, and you might get a freebie.
The canning equipment uses automatic sensors, so it’ll kick a beer off the line for a “short fill.” Those cans don’t meet the quality control standards, but there’s nothing wrong with the beer inside.
“Handing a can to people on the tour — they’ve never had a beer this fresh,” Bisaha said. “People love that.”
Large-scale equipment all in one place makes brewing beer more efficient, and it also provides experiences that can’t be canned.
Guests can order a beer, and for the next 15 minutes, see how that beer was made.
Bisaha is also looking forward to bringing back weekly beer releases because the whole staff gets involved. Service staff members pick some of the beers and brew them with the brewers.
The excitement and knowledge a bartender has for a beer they brewed themselves is automatically passed onto the patrons.
When the Fruitville Commons location was purchased in 2021, Big Top moved out of its original Sarasota location on Porter Way into Big Top Live on Cattleman Road and the Big Top Brewers Collective in Lakewood Ranch.
The Lakewood Ranch location was formerly known as the Naughty Monk Brewery. That location closed at the end of October, but in 2021, it was a place they could instantly start brewing beer.
There was just one problem: 13-foot ceilings.
“We couldn’t fit the tanks,” Bisaha said. “There were tanks laying down over at Cattleman. There were tanks laying down at farmers' properties out east.”
To get beer to Fruitville Commons, the grain had to be picked up from the silo on Cattleman and transported to Lakewood Ranch. Once the beer was brewed, it had to be transported from Lakewood Ranch to Fruitville Commons.
Bisaha described it as a juggling act. The plan was always to have it all in one place at Fruitville Commons.
"The pilot system is currently operational, and we're working on getting the tanks in place," he said. "We're just excited to keep people coming through here."
Big Top will continue to have people coming through its Fruitville Commons location after navigating some financial issues in the past month.
Big Top Brewing sold the Fruitville Commons building in November for $7.2 million, in a deal with an Arizona real estate firm where it leased back the property. Big Top used the proceeds from that sale to pay back $4 million to two creditors, which had sued Big Top for delinquent payments. Big Top also turned over operations of another location in Sarasota, Big Top Live, last month to the owners of The Parrot Patio Bar & Grill.
