Mermaid Juice And My Buddy Daneaux

I met Daneaux circa the winter of 2006. I had just opened Abbey a few months prior and was going to Eustis to check out some bands that we wanted to look at hiring for live music. We stumbled into a few places, watched a couple of bands and decided to end our night at a pretty lively bar that was attached to a steak restaurant known as T-Bones. The night was bitter cold and there was nowhere to sit. That sucked. The bar was crowded and there was only ONE bartender on duty. We looked at the draft beer selection and it wasn't bad for the time (keep in mind this was 2006 in Central Florida). By my recollection they had Blue Moon, Newcastle, Guinness, and Amstel Light on draft. It stuck out to me that I didn't see any Bud, Miller, or Coors on draft so I figured I'd ask if they had anything interesting in the bottle - specifically anything from Dogfish. The bartender, who I would later know as Daneaux, said that they didn't but he wishes they did and that he was a homebrewer and loved some good beer. I ordered a Black and Blue (Guinness and Blue Moon) and a Diet Coke on the side. The rest of my party ordered and we sat at some tables outside. As I said before, it was cold as all get-out outside - we weren't sure how long we would stay.

This is the part of the story that I will never be able to forget. As we were sitting there talking, Daneaux somehow managed to see past the crowd, outside the bar, and notice that my Diet Coke was empty. He shows up outside with a fresh Diet Coke for me and asked if we wanted re-fills of our beers. If you consider that (1) a Diet Coke has free re-fills, (2)that there are no mathematical advantages for a bartender to see past a full bar where he is working alone, and (3) it was freezing outside and noone in their right mind would voluntarily walk outside for no good reason; it actually makes no practical sense to bring me a Diet Coke.

My party and I discussed this level of service and decided to have another round and wit til the bar cleared out a little and get to know Daneaux a little better.

After a good portion of the bar patrons left, we sat at the bar, had one last round, and spoke to Daneuax. We chatted about T-Bones, what we were up to in DeLand, his adventures in homebrewing, and that he should come see us some time at Abbey. I left a card and we went on our way.

A week or so later, Daneaux shows up at Abbey with some homebrew. This was at a time where Abbey had not quite caught on yet, so we had plenty of time to talk and dream about a day when Central Florida would love beer. As it turns out, he had worked at a winery for some time and that is where he fell in love with beer. A strange coincidence, because I was entrenched in the wine world when I fell in love with beer. As time went by, Daneaux joined our team at Abbey and his brews have since become legendary. The people of DeLand have fallen in love with him (proven by the fact that a great many drive to Mount Dora to visit his new venture), and I am forever indebted to fate for allowing us to find such a great friend and co-worker.

And now on to Mermaid Juice, Daneaux's new venture.

Set in an antique shop in Mount Dora, Daneuax has created a hybrid antique shop/beer lounge where you can shop, relax, and have a great beer or glass of wine. The atmosphere is both calming and inspiring and on my visits I have found myself not wanting to leave. He's there 7 days a week and the shop is operated by Daneux alone. It is my feeling that his success will be guaranteed by this fact. Daneaux is a very nice, charismatic, and intelligent fella. His personality alone will win people over and as long as he stays the face of this organization, he's bound to flourish.

In his own words, Daneuax describes his business and mission for Mermaid Juice:

Mermaid Juice Antiques, Craft Beer, Luscious Wines, and Uniques is Lake County's first one-of-a-kind and only antique store that is excited to serve craft beers and wines that stays open later than 6PM.

Our Clientele is down to earth antique-rs and collectors with
passionate wine and craft beer enthusiasts.

Our goal is to fund an off premise naneaux brewery and use this
location as an Antique Tasting Pub.

On my recent visit, Daneaux was kind enough to open a 3 year old bottle of Ommegang's Abbey Ale, which just happens to be my favorite beer. I have always loved the earthiness of this beer with a few years age on it and this bottle certainly didn't disappoint. His draft list at the time was well-appointed including Old Rasputin, Bell's Amber, Saison du Buff, Merry Monks, and Boulder Brewing's Hazed and Infused. He also carries a nice and ever-growing bottle collection and promises to have more drafts here in the near future.

Most revealing though, was the bottle of wine he opened for us - a Riesling from Dr. Peter Poontinger. That name alone tells you all you need to know about Daneaux. Cheers!