LauderAle Brewery

LauderAle didn’t start in a warehouse near the port, it started on a stovetop. According to the founders, two Fort Lauderdale natives named Kyle and Joey, the whole thing began with a conversation at a local craft beer bar that turned into a decision to try brewing at home. Kyle, who was working in residential real estate at the time, and Joey, a naval architect by training, started with a small stovetop setup in Kyle’s apartment before graduating to a custom 15-gallon system in Joey’s garage. Eventually that hobby grew into something that needed real space, which is how they ended up in their current spot, a warehouse tucked into the industrial district near Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale’s airport, not exactly the kind of location you’d stumble across by accident.

That out-of-the-way setting is part of what makes LauderAle feel like a discovery rather than just another stop on a bar crawl. Once you’re inside, the brewery leans hard into its self-described role as, in their words, the Cheers of Fort Lauderdale: a place built around the motto Localize Yourself, where the goal is less about impressing beer enthusiasts and more about giving locals a comfortable, dog-friendly spot to post up. Beyond the beer brewed onsite, the taproom offers wine, ciders, vodka seltzers, non-alcoholic options, craft sodas, and juices, so it’s not exclusively a beer-only crowd. Food comes from rotating food trucks rather than an in-house kitchen, and the schedule usually includes live music, trivia nights, yoga classes, and casual games like cornhole and ping pong, all of which contribute to the clubhouse feel the founders were apparently going for from the start.

Because it’s independently owned and run by people who grew up in the area, LauderAle carries a different energy than some of the newer, more polished breweries that have opened around Fort Lauderdale in recent years. It reads as a project built by two friends who liked beer enough to keep leveling up their equipment until they had a real brewery, which tracks with how they describe their own origin story. Staff talk about having walked in the door years ago and stuck around, which says something about the culture built here.

Hours run daily, starting at 4pm on weekdays and stretching into the evening, with Friday opening earlier at 3pm and running past midnight, and Saturday keeping the doors open from noon until midnight. Sunday is more relaxed, open from 11am to 9pm, making it a solid spot for an afternoon pint. Because it’s tucked into an industrial pocket of the city rather than a walkable retail strip, driving is the easiest way to get there, and it’s worth checking the event calendar ahead of time if trivia or live music is the draw for your visit.