{"id":17731,"date":"2010-11-12T08:30:30","date_gmt":"2010-11-12T13:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=17731"},"modified":"2019-03-31T07:50:26","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T11:50:26","slug":"beer-expertise-meets-business-expertise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/beer-expertise-meets-business-expertise\/","title":{"rendered":"Beer Expertise Meets Business Expertise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Moench, (pronounced Mench) the creator and owner of Orange Blossom Pilsner says he recently joined the UCF Business Incubation Program<\/a> because his beer expertise far exceeds his business acumen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know beer, and the craft beer movement,\u201d the Orlando native says emphatically. \u201cNow I have a team of MBAs to assist me in establishing my own brewery; which previously seemed like quite a daunting task.\u201d<\/p>\n

Site Manager Melissa Wasserman said Moench fits right in with other business owners at the incubator, bringing a laid-back kind of atmosphere to the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrange Blossom Pilsner is a great addition to the Incubation Program because Tom is passionate about the company and moving it forward here in Central Florida. His optimism and work ethic are contagious,\u201d said Wasserman.<\/p>\n

Moench fell in love with his first beer when he was only 12, and started brewing his own in his kitchen at the age of 18. \u201cI wasn\u2019t old enough to buy beer, but I was old enough to buy the ingredients to make beer,\u201d Moench says, recalling his most memorable \u2018aha\u2019 moment ever.<\/p>\n

After years of studying every book he could find on beer and brewing, visiting as many breweries as he could, and tasting lots and lots of beer, Moench began to experiment with making \u201cdifferent\u201d beers using everything from ginseng, spices and shitake mushrooms to oak, coconut and fresh fruit. But, it was the 2.3 teaspoons of fermented orange blossom honey per bottle that seemed to give his home brew exactly what he had been searching for: a clean, crisp, yet complex, flavor that appealed to almost everyone.<\/p>\n

Moench \u2013 a likable, quirky character with nearly 20 years of behind-the-scenes experience in the theater, film and television \u2013 started his first brewing company in 1994 with two intentions: to make better beer and run a beer distributorship that brought great craft beers like OBP to Florida.<\/p>\n

Since then, he has received a few patents on brewing devices and has sold the distributorship to focus on his own beers.<\/p>\n

The flavor combination has been a huge hit, making Moench realize that he knows quite a bit about business; at least the beer business. Orange Blossom Pilsner \u2013 a Central Florida-based craft-brewed beer company \u2013 currently is on tap at 50+ locations in Central Florida and is available in bottles at more than 600 locations throughout the state, including many Publix supermarkets and ABC Liquors. It\u2019s also been the number one selling beer at the Mellow Mushroom in Winter Park since they opened.<\/p>\n

And, the growing company \u2013 which already has distribution in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama \u2013 recently expanded it\u2019s coverage to include South Florida after receiving requests for it from bar and restaurant managers who sampled it at beer festivals.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy beer is sold on its merits,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s crisp and clean and there\u2019s no harsh bitter finish to it. People love it\u201d<\/p>\n

Word about OBP \u2013 as the nectar is known to those familiar with its smooth-not-sweet fermented orange blossom honey taste \u2013 has begun to spread as plans recently started taking shape to have Orange Blossom Pilsner start its own brewery right here in Central Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople get really excited about a local craft-brewed beer and they love the taste, but when they hear that it\u2019s actually brewed in Greenville, S.C. they are a little disappointed,\u201d Moench says. \u201cSo, we\u2019re doing the preliminary work to finally have our own brewery in Orlando, and I\u2019m delighted to have help from UCF\u2019s Business Incubation Program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moench \u2013 King Bee or the Tom the Beer Guy as his \u201cbeesiness\u201d cards identify him \u2013 says his idea always has been to have OBP brewed here, but he first wanted to build the brand up to justify the expense of a brewery. So, for the past three years, the brewer at the Thomas Creek Brewery in Greenville has done a great job brewing up about three batches of Orange Blossom Pilsner for Moench every month.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, its contract brewing,\u201d he says. \u201cI taught them how to brew my beer and I just pay them to make it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But clearly, many people know that OBP has its roots right here in Central Florida. That\u2019s evidenced by the sight of Moench cruising around in his brightly colored, Scion XB that sports a custom yellow design, complete with bees, a honey dipper and the OBP logo.<\/p>\n

Various websites about craft-brewed beers \u2013 which often feature exotic flavor combinations \u2013 talk about Orange Blossom Pilsner with comments like: not too sweet, refreshing, worth trying, and mention how nicely the malt melds with the honey.<\/p>\n

Comments like those make Moench happy that he achieved his beer brewing goal; at least for now. He and his beer also have become Internet sensations, turning up numerous hits that either mention them in word or feature Moench talking about it on video sites such as YouTube.<\/p>\n

In addition to bringing home numerous awards for OBP [2009 and 2008 People\u2019s Choice awards at the Tallahassee Beer Festival, 2009 Gold Medal for Best Beer at Festival Award at Hotoberfest in Atlanta, and 2004 Bronze Medal at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver] Moench also has become so recognized that he judges at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the only person from Florida to ever judge at the Great American Beer Festival,\u201d he says proudly of his seven times as a GABF judge.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also proud of two other Orange Blossom Pilsner products: OBP2, which uses the same recipe as OBP, but with half the water. OBP Squared clocks in at 11% abv\u00a0(alcohol by volume) and Toasted Coconut Porter or TCP, which Moench calls a smooth, light-bodied, dark beer with a subtle toasted and coconut flavor, is 5.25%\u00a0abv.<\/p>\n

Beer is his baby. It\u2019s his life. Moench not only creates beer, he truly loves beer. And, his passion increases when he talks to people about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople love my beer,\u201d Moench says. \u201cI know it! They tell me they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information please contact:<\/em><\/p>\n

  • Tom Moench, Owner, Orange Blossom Pilsner, 407-492-8682, Tom@OrangeBlossomPilsner.com<\/li>\n
  • Melissa Wasserman, Site Manager, UCF Business Incubator-Orlando, 321-281-8384, mwasserm@mail.ucf.edu<\/li>\n
  • Gordon Hogan, Director of Operations, UCF Business Incubation Program, 407-882-1157 ghogan@mail.ucf.edu<\/li>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Moench, (pronounced Mench) the creator and owner of Orange Blossom Pilsner says he recently joined the UCF Business Incubation Program because his beer expertise far exceeds his business acumen. \u201cI know beer, and the craft beer movement,\u201d the Orlando native says emphatically. \u201cNow I have a team of MBAs to assist me in establishing my own brewery; which previously…","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[658,3080],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-17731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-community","tag-business-incubation-program","tag-melissa-wasserman"],"yoast_head":"\nBeer Expertise Meets Business Expertise | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tom Moench, (pronounced Mench) the creator and owner of Orange Blossom Pilsner says he recently joined the UCF Business Incubation Program because his\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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