In the 1960s, the area known locally as Conway was an enchanted forest of citrus, the blossoms of which — potent, bright and sweet as honey — permeated its neighborhoods for much of the year.

It was the signature scent of Tom Moench’s childhood, one that his business partner, Brandy Gill, says stayed with him, eventually inspiring the company and flagship beer that would cement Moench’s legacy as a Florida craft beer pioneer.

Tom Moench, right, with business partner Brandy Gill at the 2024 Taste of Thornton Park event. Orange Blossom Pilsner was the recipient of the event’s “Best Beer” award on multiple occasions. The brewery was a regular participant. (Courtesy Brandy Gill)

Moench, the founder of Orange Blossom Brewing Company and creator of its eponymous — now locally ubiquitous — pilsner first brewed in his garage, died on Sept. 5, in the company of loved ones, following a valiant battle with cancer. He was 64 years old.

News of his passing came last weekend on the company’s social media feed, where by midweek, comments and condolences numbered in the high hundreds, long and short versions of the same story: that Moench, a legend in the industry whose hustle had grown his beer’s popularity so quickly he never had time to build a brewery, had embodied his very name.

“Tom just had good energy,” wrote one poster, a local bar/restaurant owner. “I never felt like he was trying to sell me anything. He just wanted to shoot the shit and let the rest come naturally. And when you’re as likable and smart as Tom, that’s a very good plan for life.”

“RIP Tom! What a legend and trailblazer for the Florida Craft Beer industry!” came a comment from someone at Crooked Can Brewing Company in Winter Garden.

Before cementing his legacy in craft beer, Tom Moench, left, spent 20 years as a theater arts professional and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) member. His son, Lonnie, right, and grandson Aizik, pictured here at the Dr. Phillips Center, followed in his footsteps. (Courtesy Moench family)

So, too, came condolences from his brothers and sisters in IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) as Moench spent 20 years in theatrical production before finding his way to craft beer.

“…He was always a creative problem solver and always thinking outside the box, We missed him when he left the IATSE Local 631 crew to pursue his dream of being a brewer and was truly one of the first people in Orlando to be a real craft brewer and make a brand that will be his legacy.”

Gill met Moench at a downtown bar called Central Station a little over 20 years ago. It was one of the first in town to carry Orange Blossom Pilsner. Though impressed with the beer, the young marketing professional found the poster and packaging lacking.

For 407 Day, Se7enbites, Orange Blossom Brewing team up for some seriously Orlando Suds

 

“I emailed Tom and said, ‘Your beer is great, but your advertising sucks,’” he says, with a laugh.

Friendship came easily, partnership soon after.

“He used to say that I was responsible for everything outside the can and he was responsible for everything inside the can,” says Gill, but long before Orange Blossom Pilsner became what Moench described as a “gateway craft beer,” there was Moench’s garage, which he converted into a brewery at age 25 and set out, literally, to learn how to make every beer style in the world.

“There were about 75 at the time,” Moench wrote in a bio he recently updated. “I read everything I could, studied hard and brewed until I could recreate them in my garage.”

Volunteer stints at Winter Park Brewing Company, where Moench did unglamorous work, cleaning kegs, emptying mashtuns, eventually paid off in knowledge as the brewmaster took him on as an apprentice, as his goals were set well beyond homebrewing.

At Orlando’s Lake Eola in 2021, Tom Moench, owner/founder of Orange Blossom Brewing, showcases a light-up tap handle made for the release of their City Beautiful IPA. (Courtesy Orange Blossom Brewing)

His invention of the Carbonator, a cap that allowed brewers to pressurize soda bottles to store their beer, put him on the map at a Craft Brewer’s Conference in 1994, and Moench began his slow, steady rise, eventually leading to the founding of Unique Beers, a distributorship that saw him bringing craft beers into Florida for the very first time.

“Brands that today are very well known — Dogfish Head, Left Hand, Avery Brewing — had their first visibility in Florida because of that company,” says Moench’s son, Lonnie Moench, head carpenter at the Dr. Phillips Center’s Steinmetz Hall, who followed his dad into theater production, as well as IATSE membership. So, too, did his grandson, Aizik Tripp, 19.

A photo taken last year of the three of them on stage at the Dr. Phillips Center was among Moench’s most prized.

“[My father] had a long career in the entertainment business and worked on a lot of TV and movies here in town when there was more of it in Orlando,” Lonnie says. “He was part of the touring Broadway production of ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ in charge of [rigging the actors] to fly by Foy … but he was interested in beer even as a child, always fascinated by the science of it.”

Building the distribution company, says Orange Blossom Brewing Ops manager Mike Russo, required ridiculous hustle.

Makers Tom Moench of Orange Blossom Brewing and Trina Gregory-Propst of Se7enbites toast collaboration on 407 Day in 2022. (Courtesy Orange Blossom Brewing)

“He sold beer on Mondays and Wednesdays, delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays and did office work on Fridays,” Russo said. “He worked hard, but he enjoyed life very much. He was the sort of guy who’d say, ‘Hey, wanna go on the boat for the day?’ And we’d just take off and hit Lake Conway.”

Never a gatekeeper, Moench, an avid music lover, was renowned for his interest in sharing knowledge, whether beer, business or life.

“Back when the Supervillains were beginning the ride,” says the Florida ska-punk band’s drummer and singer Dominic Maresco, OBP came forward with a sponsorship, as Moench was a huge fan of the music. He remembers spending time at Moench’s house, drinking beer, playing foosball, and says Moench was a wonderful mentor and friend, counseling him during rough patches over the years.

Supervillains’ guitarist and singer Skart Suldo showcases just how beloved Orange Blossom Brewing’s beers were. Moench was a longtime friend, supporter and sponsor of the Florida-spawned ska-punk outfit. (Courtesy Skart Suldo)

“He was an all-around music fan and enjoyed all the genres. He loved Primus. He loved jam bands,” says Maresco, who is also talent manager at the West End Trading Co. in Sanford. “And his home was a really relaxing place. If you went there to have a beer, you’d end up saying a few hours because the conversation was so good.”

Once off the ground, Orange Blossom Brewing became a victim of its own success, says Gill. Now in more than 2,000 locations across Florida, including some in Georgia and Alabama, the company leapfrogged over building its own brewery, moving to a contract brewing model, where brewing facilities would create the beers to spec.

It’s an expensive model, made more so when orange blossom honey is a key ingredient.

“Brewers would sometimes mention using different ingredients to save money, but Tom would never do it,” says Russo. “He would never sacrifice the integrity of the Orange Blossom Pilsner.”

There are 2.3 ounces of honey in every can of OBP.

Russo laughs, recounting part of Moench’s signature sales spiel.

“It always ended with, ‘that’s why the beer’s so good, and that’s why I’m not a rich man.’”

They made ends meet. They paid all the salaries. They’re in just about every Publix in Orlando and hundreds of cases and taps, 664 in the city at the moment. “If we had that kind of saturation in every state, he’d have been a multimillionaire,” says Russo, noting that Moench’s beer palate, which served the Great American Beer Festival many times as a judge, was superb.

But supporting local — farmers, businesses, neighborhoods — was most important.

“Tom wasn’t just a fierce advocate for our community; he was my friend and mentor,” says Angie Folks, executive director of The Milk District, one of several meaningful neighborhoods in Moench’s life. “He had a way of cheering people on, from local businesses to those he believed in. He was a motivator, a supporter and a self-proclaimed ‘beer dork’ who built an empire out of everything that made him uniquely Tom.”

Orlando native Tom Moench (pictured here outside Pom Pom’s with close friend, Amber Snyder, in 2023) grew up in Conway but lived in both Thornton Park and the Milk District in later years. (Courtesy Amber Snyder)

Amber Snyder, Moench’s best friend for the past two decades, says much the same.

The two met when she was a server and bartender at Wildside BBQ Bar & Grille in Thornton Park.

She eventually joined the team at Unique Beers, but later, while studying to become a nurse, Moench was her biggest cheerleader.

“He always rooted me on … saw the potential in me, wanted to see me better my life. And he was like that with everyone.”

Snyder says Moench, a fan of the outdoors, likened people to campsites.

“He believed you were supposed to leave them better than you found them,” she says. “That most people just need a hand up and someone to believe in them, and they can do incredible things.”

Tom Moench is survived by his sister, Jennifer Moench, sons, Lonnie and Nicholas Moench, and grandsons Khali Mapp, Aizik Tripp, Emery Moench and Hayden Moench. He was preceded in death by his son, Ryan Moench.

Funeral services will be private, but plans are underway for a celebration of life event, perhaps a block party, says Snyder, featuring beer, live music and support of local businesses. Follow Orange Blossom Brewing on Facebook (facebook.com/orangeblossombrewingcompany) and Instagram (instagram.com/obpbuzz) for details as they develop.

 amthompson@orlandosentinel.com

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/09/10/tom-moench-founder-orange-blossom-brewing-obituary/