Frost Community Spotlight: Sarah Flora of Flora Brewing

Welcome to the Frost Community Spotlight! Have you ever thought about making your own beer…at home? Los Angeles-based Sarah Flora who goes by Flora Brewing on Instagram and YouTube has got you covered. By day she leads operations for an art gallery but before and after work she’s brewing at her home in the Valley. The digital creator and homebrewing educator also has a podcast about her adventures in homebrewing as well as chats with industry professionals called Brewing After Hours. She’s won numerous awards for her brews and now has almost 20K subscribers on YouTube for her brewing tutorials and beer reviews. Get to know Sarah and learn more about her journey in beer below!

Photo Credit: Adam Bartlett Photography

What’s your current profession?

I run operations for an art gallery in West Hollywood.

Where are you from and where do you reside now?

I’m originally from Florida and live in Panorama City where my husband and I just bought a house. We also own property in northern Washington where I hope to open up a brewery one day.

How did you get into homebrewing?

A few years ago, I actually bought a homebrewing kit for my husband. After a while since he hadn’t tried it out yet, I gave it a go. I’ve been in love ever since.

We’d love to hear about some of your recent brews.

Most recently I brewed a Coconut Lime Wheat Ale with a Piña Colada float! Quite the summer beer that’s for sure especially in the 100 degree heat in the San Fernando Valley. I also did a different take one of my favorite beers to brew a Cherry Saison, this time adding lavender. Earlier this spring, I brewed a Hibiscus Pale Ale, which is definitely going to be a recurring brew.

And you’ve received some well-deserved recognition for your brews and have taken home some medals from homebrewing competitions. Can you tell us more about that?

Yeah, I haven’t been submitting too much during the pandemic but previously I’ve submitted for SheBrew, Queen of Beer, and national and regional competitions. My Rosewater Lemon Gose received gold at the Romancing the Beer 2020 competition and the Doug King Memorial 2020 Competition. One of my first brews, which has gotten some really amazing attention is my Rosemary Cherry Saison, received Silver in the SheBrew 2019 competition.

For someone looking to start homebrewing which of your videos could potentially help then get going?

I actually have a whole Homebrew 101 series dedicated to those who are just starting out everything from picking the right equipment and setting it up to a step by step tutorial for your first brew day and how to bottle your beers. You can find these on my website under the Homebrew 101 tab and these videos are also on my YouTube as well.