Bowigens Beer Company Is Headed to The Marketplace at Avalon Park
Bowigens Beer Company is an American craft brewery based out of Central Florida. Pronounced Boh-Wee-Ghens, the brewery’s name is a portmanteau of its two owners, Bobby Bowen and Kevin Wigen. Long-time Central Florida friends, the pair met as band members in the Orlando music scene and quickly bonded over their shared love of craft brewing. Bowen had begun his brewing journey in his tiny NYC apartment before moving back to Florida where he perfected his craft at home with eight refrigerators while also working at an Orlando brewery to learn how to brew on a larger scale.
With his wife encouraging him to move his homebrewery into a facility, Bowen partnered with Wigen to turn their garage-based hobby into a new business venture, establishing Bowigens in 2014.
In 2015, they opened their first 3-BBL (Beer Barrels) brewery/taproom in Casselberry, FL before expanding in 2019 to open a 7-BBL production facility in Longwood, FL. Currently, Bowigens is preparing to open their second taproom and third overall location at the Marketplace at Avalon Park.
Ahead of the new taproom’s summer 2021 opening, co-owner Bobby Bowen shares some of his insight and passion that inspires Bowigens’ award-winning beers.
“At Bowigens we consider ourselves artistic brewers,” he says. “We specialize in creative, innovative, and full-flavored beers. We believe in creating a product free from limitations. A product made with flavor quality in mind, not cost. Quality is of utmost importance to us, so we will never put out anything that we don’t stand behind 100 percent. We are not interested in creating a beer unless we feel we’re making something that we are truly passionate about.”
Bowen’s passion and love for cooking played a role in inspiring recipes and has driven him to brewing multiple award-winning beers such as:
- 407 Pils (German Style Pilsner) – Medals: Bronze 2019 US Beer Open, Silver 2020 Best of Florida
- Avalon Park Amber (Amber Ale) – Medals: Gold 2020 Great American Beer Festival
- 7 Layer Stout (Milk Stout) – Medals: Gold 2017 Best of Florida, Silver 2018 Best of Craft Beer Awards, Gold 2018 US Beer Open, Silver 2019 Best of Craft Beer Awards
