Those who know Brian Davis know he’s a big Jimmy Buffett fan.

So, it’d come as no surprise that the co-owner of a new brewery opening in downtown Austin named it after one of Buffet’s songs: Gravity Storm Brewery Cooperative.

“You would have to be a serious fan to know that,” Davis joked. “I’ve seen him in concert many times. The whole place is a tropical theme. All my beers are named and influenced by Jimmy Buffett songs. That’s kind of our theme.”

A small business that’s housed at 309 Main St. N, Gravity Storm will be able to seat about 49 people and will have eight of Davis’ own brews on tap. He and co-owner/ wife, Joed Davis, anticipate having soft openings starting next weekend, and will have a grand opening for the brewery in early August.

Tentative operating hours are Mondays and Wednesdays from 4 to 9 p.m.; Fridays from 4 to 11 p.m.; and Saturdays from noon to 11 p.m. The couple just has one more hurdle with their last state inspection on Monday.

“This is the only place I would even think about it,” Davis explained. “Downtown Austin is a nice area, but it needs more things to draw people to it. I like the location, and I don’t have to worry about food here with so many great places nearby. It’s a plus being close to the Spam Museum.”

It’s been “a long process” Davis said about finally having a storefront in downtown Austin. While he and Joed had toyed with the idea of opening up a brewery in the downtown area, the golden opportunity finally came.

“To tell you the truth, the location found me,” he said. “Randy Fett owns a building, and I taught all his kids. He knew I was into brewing and had the idea.”

Gravity Storm doesn’t plan to have growlers, but will allow patrons to come and fill their own at the cooperative and will sell crowler cans. There’s no menu items planned to be served, but the brewery will allow people to bring in their own food, Davis said, while preferably supporting some of the local restaurants around Austin.

“We are certainly gonna allow carry-ins,” he said. “We’re a couple doors down from Piggy Blues and Mariachis. We plan to keep menus in the taproom so people can just order right from here. This should be a good relationship with the food places all around because it’s going to be good for us too.”

‘I was pretty much instantly hooked’

Davis, who was born in Wisconsin and has resided in Lyle since 2000, had an affinity with home brewing his own beer for 20 years. Every Saturday, he’d go out into his garage and would create his beers. Those around the Lyle area may be familiar with Davis’ work, seeing as he’s done beer tastings at the Lyle Cancer Auction for the last eight years.

“I’ve never been a fan of Miller’s or Budweisers or that kind of beer,” he admitted. “But, Christmas of ‘97, my mother bought me a home brew kit. It’s all been downhill from there. I was pretty much instantly hooked.”

His first attempted concoction was an amber ale, which Davis recalled was “OK.” He explained that back when he first started brewing, there wasn’t as much access to information or even ingredients as there is today. Davis also noted that “the big hoppy beers” weren’t as popular.

“They’re nowhere as popular as they are today,” he said. “It was a while before I started doing those. Usually the case is that the first brew is decent, and the second was awful. You learn over time and you get better.”

When Davis first started creating beer, he used to bottle his creations. However, as soon as he started using kegs, Davis found the transition to be much easier for efficiency and cleaning his equipment.

“I don’t really want to think about how much money I’ve invested,” he chuckled. “Like most hobbies, it takes a hold of you, and you keep improving your stuff and your process.”

Others probably knew Davis aside from beer brewing because of his former position as a Lyle Public School math teacher for 14 years, from 2000 until 2014. He also was an educator at Lourdes Catholic School in Rochester for two years and served as a substitute teacher for Austin Public Schools last year.

However, it was brewing beer where Davis mostly found his passion, whether it be German lagers, IPAs, or even a Saison, which Davis plans to brew and serve with a higher alcohol content.

“I’ve kind of had it in the back of my mind,” he admitted. “I’ve been a teacher for many years, but I just got to the point where teaching wasn’t a whole lot of fun anymore. I wanted to pursue my dream, well, opening a business.”