3rd Planet Brewing

3rd Planet Brewing holds the distinction of being Niceville’s first craft brewery, and its taproom on East John Sims Parkway has earned the nickname the Mothership among regulars. Two Air Force veterans, Tim McCool and Jason Doster, founded the operation in 2015, brewing on a one-barrel system starting in 2016 that produced only 100 to 150 barrels of beer a year. The modest scale of that first setup makes the brewery’s current footprint even more striking.

Co-owners Brian Detweiler and Francis Camosse later joined the operation and helped push it into its current home in 2018, the building locals now call the Mothership. Production jumped to nearly 2,000 barrels annually, and the Brewers Association named 3rd Planet one of its 50 Fastest Growing Breweries in 2019. The taproom now ranks among the twenty busiest in the state of Florida by volume, a notable feat for a brewery operating outside a major metro area.

The beer list runs wide. Dank Side of the Moon is a New England-style IPA, Mullet Lite is an easy-drinking American light lager, and Bluewater Hefeweizen brings a German-inspired wheat ale to the lineup alongside Bear Creek Brown, an American oatmeal brown ale, and Boggy Bayou Stout, a milk stout named for the waterway that runs through town. Hop-forward drinkers gravitate toward Luminous Cloud, a hazy pale ale, and West Coast Hipster, a West Coast-style IPA, while Beach Bohemian, a Czech pilsner, and NoWal Farmhouse, a saison, appeal to lager and farmhouse-ale fans. Fruit Sequence, a golden sour ale brewed in rotating fruited versions, and a Raspberry Yuzu hard seltzer round out the lighter end of the menu.

The brewery’s biggest bragging right arrived in 2023, when its Emulator, a German-style doppelbock, won gold at the World Beer Cup in Nashville, an event widely regarded as the most competitive beer judging competition in the world. Head brewer Brian Detweiler said at the time that to win a gold on the brewery’s first attempt to enter felt truly surreal, adding that Emulator got its name as a nod to the fact that the brewers were merely trying to emulate some of their favorite doppelbocks. The win beat out breweries from Colorado and Oregon in the same category.

Beyond the beer, 3rd Planet functions as one of Niceville’s default gathering spots. Food trucks rotate through regularly, live music and trivia nights fill the calendar, and the taproom also hosts music bingo, monthly yoga sessions, and monthly paint classes. The space is dog-friendly and family-friendly, and the brewery leans into its community role with charity events such as a fire truck pull and an annual bonfire fundraiser. Visitors can pick up crowlers, growlers, glassware, and apparel to take the visit home with them.

The taproom sits at 1400 East John Sims Parkway and keeps different hours through the week: noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, noon to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. Call 850-424-4257 to check on food truck schedules or live events before making the trip, since both change from week to week.