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Brewlando: Orlando’s Leading Brewery and now UCF’s Official Craft Beer
Published July 1, 2025
Brewlando, a prime spot for craft beer throughout Orlando, has made some big strides in the first half of 2025. In addition to opening two new locations, they were named University of Central Florida Athletics’ Official Craft Beer. Brewlando founder Shara Pathak and CEO James Webb collaborate to keep things running smoothly as the company expands.
“Growth is great," Shara told The Orlando Life, "but if you don’t know how to manage the growth, then you can stumble and you can crumble even faster than it took you to grow."
Brewlando has done anything but crumble under the pressure.
Building a Business
Before Shara opened Brewlando in 2022, she had no prior experience in brewing. Shara’s background is in manufacturing and software development: she has been the president of Price Chopper Wrist Bands since 1997, the director of Medical ID Solutions since 2006, and the president of TapNGo since 2020.
In 2018, Shara took on a construction project, and ended up keeping one of the buildings, a brewery, as a tenet. In December of 2021, when the brewery’s operations were coming to a halt, Shara took over. Only three weeks after the brewery closed their doors, Shara reopened them under a new name: Brewlando. She quickly brought James Webb on board as CEO.
With James’ help, Shara built the business up to four locations. Their main production facility is a 10,000 square foot chic brew house and tap room. Brewlando also has a boutique wine tasting room located on IDrive, as well as two restaurants with full bars.
When Brewlando took over Sanford Brewing in March 2025, they essentially doubled their footprint. Shara saw the Sanford expansion as a “win-win-win situation”, allowing Brewlando to open a fourth location, the original owners of the building to keep the company name, and the workers to stay employed.
“Our CEO James Webb had all the confidence that this was something we could undertake, that, you know, this actually could help us to position the brand on a completely different level in a much shorter space of time,” Shara said.
Alongside regular restaurant operations, the Sanford location is used as an “innovation hub” to experiment with new recipes. They are currently concocting the “Creepy Porcelain Pilsner” for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios and a Fuji Apple IPA draft beer for the Japan pavilion at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.
The acquisition of both the Sanford and the Maitland restaurants has been a massive undertaking for Brewlando. In addition to their wide variety of drinks, the restaurants also offer a food menu. As the company takes on new challenges, Shara is committed to keeping things up to “Brewlando standards”.
“If I had to summarize the standards of Brewlando in one word, the one word that I would use is ‘exceptional’, because brewing is a science, it's an art, and just as well, when you take a brewery and you're adding food, it's not just a brew pub. To me, what it is is an experience.”
Shara hopes that the feeling of community and creativity will keep customers coming back.
“I loved the vibes of the brewery,” first-time customer Sarah Soyer said. “They seem to put a lot of thought behind all of their items and add special touches like making homemade hummus. I will definitely come here again.”
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UCF Partnership
Shara’s hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. In May, Brewlando signed a partnership agreement with UCF, establishing them as the school’s official craft beer. UCF was first drawn to Brewlando because Shara is an alumnus. Getting recognition from her alma mater was a full circle moment for Shara, but she wanted to make sure that UCF was not only excited about the brand, but the beer itself.
“So I said to them, tell you what, the partnership isn't just about the story. It's about the liquid. Come and try it and see if you like it. And they did.”
Brewlando is actively brainstorming recipes for the upcoming fall sports season. The current plan is to make a line from their Golden Knight Beer and create custom tap handles for both Brewlando and UCF. Burger U on UCF’s campus is set to put four Brewlando taps inside their restaurant. Shara believes this will help the brands overall visibility in the area. In addition, at all of UCF’s football games, Brewlando will be donating beer samples for alumni tailgates. This will help the company promote sales in the stadium.
Brewlando will use their Sanford location to produce all the beer that goes out to UCF. According to Shara, the company’s partnership with UCF came at an unexpectedly perfect time. With their recent expansion, Brewlando acquired infrastructure at two manufacturing locations and additional brewing staff.
“I'm a huge believer in the universe and the fact that things happen just as they should. And in a very serendipitous occurrence, these other things came after that.”
