When Joe and Justine Florence moved to Justine’s hometown of San Luis Obispo in 2022, they were fulfilling a long-held dream.
After two decades in Seattle—where Joe worked in the snowboarding apparel industry and at one point owned a screen-printing business, and Justine earned a registered-nurse degree—the couple was eager to turn Joe’s homebrewing hobby into a new career.
“Through my screen-printing business I started printing merchandise for local breweries in Seattle, and that was when I fell in love with the craft-brewing industry and became an avid home brewer,” Joe said. “As my love of brewing grew, I decided to get more serious and attended the American Brewer’s Guild (based in Vermont), where I received a diploma in craft brewing.”
Justine grew up in SLO, where her family still lives, he said, so they always envisioned moving to the Central Coast to open a brewery of their own.
Joe was accepted into an apprentice program at Firestone Walker Brewing Company in Paso Robles, then two years later the couple nabbed a 1,085-square-foot spot at beverage hub Duncan Alley just south of downtown SLO.
Shrine Brewing was born and will be open soon.
“We just loved the name Shrine,” Justine said. “[It] resonates with us because we feel it perfectly encapsulates our special space.”
That space is a combined brewery and tasting room for up to 40 guests.
The Shrine team is joined by Max Lachowyn, a lead brewer from Firestone Walker.
“[Max] is a great friend of ours and a partner in Shrine Brewing. He will be brewing alongside Joe, and we are so excited to have him be a part of the team,” Justine said. “Max will continue working full time at Firestone while assisting us along the way.”
While Joe is presently the company’s only full-time employee, Justine juggles responsibilities with her secondary job as an oncology nurse at Dignity Health in Arroyo Grande.
When not at the hospital, she helps with “designing the aesthetics of the tap room,” she said, “and I plan to be involved with the daily tap room operations, the creative direction of Shrine as a brand, and with our social media presence.”
“I’m striving for a welcoming, comfortable, and curated ambiance where people can enjoy great beer and good company,” she added. “We are big music lovers, so we’ll always have good tunes playing and the occasional DJ.”
The Florences also enlisted the help of Pasadena artist Brent Allen Spears, aka Shrine, to transform the walls of their establishment into a conversation piece.
“The artist … is somebody that I’ve followed on Instagram for a while,” Justine said, “and the name is just a wonderful coincidence.
“I love his art and am so happy we have the opportunity to display it in the brewery. The mural is something of Shrine’s own choosing as we gave him free rein to work his magic. He doesn’t generally take direction. He just shows up, gets inspiration, and starts painting. We gave him our color preferences, but other than that we trusted his creative expression.”
Aesthetics aside, the primary lure of Shrine will be its liquid lineup.
“All our brewing efforts will be meticulous, and quality will be our main priority,” Joe said. “The best American hops are going to come from the Pacific Northwest, specifically Yakima Valley, Washington, so we will source mainly from there. We’re also going to import some exciting varieties from New Zealand, Australia, and Germany.”
Lachowyn added that they’re “big fans of the recent evolutions of the West Coast IPA style, so we will continue to explore and innovate in that space.
“We’re also loving the resurgence of American craft lager brewing, especially on the West Coast, so expect to see some refreshing and aromatic lagers from us as well.”
Aside from that, Shrine plans to routinely brew traditional English and Belgian styles. But, Lachowyn said that one thing he doesn’t expect Shrine to brew are sour or wild beers.
The bottom line, he continued, is “if we don’t love it, we won’t serve it.”
During the soft opening, which has yet to be announced, the team will serve draft beer only, with packaged brews forthcoming. Snacks will be available as well.
“For nonalcoholic options, we’re planning on having sparkling water, Olipop, and kombucha,” Justine said. “We’ll also have Shrine merchandise for sale. Joe designed the logo, and we have various hat styles, shirts, and hoodies available. We’re hoping to have more merchandise available soon.”
As the planned February opening looms, the Florences are putting the finishing touches on their new enterprise.
“This is something we’ve been talking about for a very long time,” Justine said. “It’s really exciting and nerve-racking to see it come to fruition.”
And the icing on the cake is coming home.
“I am thrilled to be close to my family again and be back on the Central Coast,” she said. Δ
Flavor Writer Cherish Whyte can’t wait to sample Shrine’s debut lineup. Reach her at cwhyte@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Volunteers 2025.