Why downtown St. Pete’s first brewery is closing

Doug Dozark was at the center of a craft brewery explosion that helped fuel St. Petersburg’s renaissance. He believes the industry’s heyday has since faded into a condominium tower-obscured sunset. 

Dozark recently announced Cycle Brewing’s imminent closure in a video posted to social media. However, details surrounding why he would close the city’s oldest craft brewery – and his next steps – have remained scarce. 

Dozark said he and his staff are in “purgatory.” Cycle awaits approval to sell its lease at 534 Central Ave., which ends May 31, 2026, to a new concept. The deal includes the taproom’s brewing equipment and bar. 

“As far as I’m concerned, this was all set in motion four or five years ago,” Dozark told the Catalyst. “There’s been no future for craft beer, at least the way we do craft beer. The writing’s been on the wall for years now.” 

One thing is clear – Cycle will close by the end of the month, just before its 12th anniversary. British-themed Green Turtle Brewery and Public House has announced it will fill the void. If the deal falls through, Cycle will reopen in the fall as a retail-focused shop with limited hours. 

“Today was supposed to be the closing,” Dozark said Monday. “That was the plan as of three weeks ago.”

The Dozark family poses in front of limited-edition 10th Anniversary bottles in August 2023. From left: Adeline (11), Doug, Tara, Heidi (7) and Ty (23). Photo by Mark Parker.

Dozark signed a contract with Green Turtle in February. He quietly worked behind the scenes to finalize Cycle’s exit for the past three months. 

His previously unaware staff began receiving packages for Green Turtle. Dozark said he was waiting for clarity from the building’s owners to announce the closure. 

He subsequently decided to “just pick a date and be done.” Cycle will remain open through the weekend, at least. Dozark has a new bottle he “packaged a couple of months ago, waiting for this event” to release. 

He will sell most of his inventory rather than move it to a warehouse at 2135 5th Ave. S. Cycle will focus on out-of-state distribution this fall. 

The bootstrapped, family-owned brewery opened Aug. 15, 2013. Dozark has long wondered if St. Petersburg’s evolution would price out the small businesses and people who make it unique. 

“It’s bittersweet – there’s no doubt,” he said. “But the end was years ago. This is just wrapping it up, slightly.” 

Cycle Brewing only features Doug Dozark’s personally brewed beer. Photo by Mark Parker.

A lack of parking downtown, which should improve with new projects, and rent hikes have hurt businesses. Dozark noted that many residents now prefer to spend their free time in the Grand Central District. 

He initially thought a wave of new, mixed-use developments would benefit surrounding businesses. Dozark now believes the influx of condominium towers, often purchased as investments, lack the full-time population to support accompanying street-level retail space. 

However, Dozark remains optimistic about the city and Green Turtle’s future. He believes breweries with additional options can find success. “People just aren’t there for the beer,” he added. “And if you look at our space, all we had to offer was beer.” 

Green Turtle will utilize Cycle’s seven-barrel brewing system. It will also install a small kitchen and serve additional beverages. 

While Dozark lacks the new owners’ confidence in the deal closing, he said they are “lovely folks” with “some good ideas for what would work in that space.” He credited them for not trying to repeat Cycle’s business model.

Dozark said Cycle would “look like posers” if the focus shifted away from a tap room providing house-made beer. “We could blow all of our life savings on it and stay open and ride it out to the bitter end or whatever, but I’d rather not do that.” 

He plans to open a retail shop at his warehouse on the weekends after resolving some zoning and permitting issues. Another taproom is an unlikely yet potential long-term consideration. 

Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a “huge tap room facility and music venue with playgrounds and mini-golf” to attract a new demographic is out of the question. Like many colleagues nationwide, Dozark is not “banking on people coming to breweries anytime soon.” 

Dozark has time to establish his next move. While he hasn’t brewed as much since agreeing to sell his lease and equipment to Green Turtle, he has enough barrel-aged beer to distribute for about two years.

“I don’t think anybody will ever do the business we did out of that little space – it was just tremendous,” Dozark said. “But its time has come and gone. So, next.”