Brewery owner bets on kombucha
There’s a new type of brewery in town and it’s a little different from those already doing business in Boynton Beach — Due South, Copperpoint, NOBO.
Chris Montelius has opened Non-Prophet Brewing Company, which offers kombucha — fermented tea filled with natural probiotics — and ginger beer. The store is at 2910 Northwest Commerce Park Drive. He’s been there about a month.
“The kombucha market has been growing like crazy,” Montelius told The Palm Beach Post.
As of now, Non-Prophet sells wholesale. He hopes customers can eventually sit and taste his drinks. He applied to the city for a maximum of $27,000 in grants for rent reimbursement and interior build-out, and on Tuesday it was approved. He says with the grants he thinks he can hire help to achieve the sit-down atmosphere.
Montelius’ business has been in operation since 2014, but only recently in Boynton. Montelius was in the beer industry for about a decade, and wanted to start Alexandra Seltzer a brewery but didn’t have the money. Then he found out about kombucha and fell in love.
“I did some research and figured out how to do my own kombucha,” he said.
And it continued from there.
Montelius hopes to saturate the South Florida market with his products and then go statewide. He thinks it’s the right time. In 2015, the kombucha market was about $500 million. By 2020, it is supposed to hit $1.5 billion, he said.
Non-Prophet’s products are delivered in kegs to bars and restaurants, and community events. Montelius also bottles the products.
The flagship kombucha flavors are Blueberry Mint, Pas-