THE ABL
Brewing By The Books
GARY S. HATRICK
When people think of a bar, they often think of some variation of the place featured in the sitcom “Cheers”.
Some are certainly less sophisticated, but most of them have the quality of people knowing your name, perhaps even shouting it when you come through the door, because you are mighty glad you came.
The ABL in Dade City has some of those qualities as well. They are certainly mighty glad you came, but the names you hear might not be all regular customers, but rather dreamers, poets, prophets, and masters of imagination, both romantic and horror-filled. Names like King, Dickens, Twain, Vonnegut or Zanetti. Because The ABL is not just a craft brew lounge, it is a book lounge.
The lounge’s motto is “Beer + Books. What More Do You Need?”
Founded by wife and husband Andria and Chris Roscart and friend brewer Simon Brooks, The ABL has carved a unique niche out of the Main Street of Dade City.
The ABL stands for Athenaeum Brew Lounge. “Athenaeum is a synonym for a library from the Greek,” said Andria, the majority owner and chief server and bottle washer at the lounge. “The definition breaks down to an institution for scientific or literary living,” she continued. “And with brewing in the back using all kinds of scientific tools, and knowing that we were doing bookish in the front, I thought it kind of captured our entire space.”
Andria and Chris live in Wesley Chapel. They have two children, one in the Navy and one in high school. They met Simon, the “chief cook” at a local beer-tasting event in Land O’ Lakes, FL. According to the website, Simon “has been practicing the art of brewing for more than 10 years. In those years, his passion for brewing has grown considerably, and he has been looking to transition his hobby into a profession.” The couple always gravitated toward his craft beers at the local events, and a friendship grew that has become a business partnership.
“I started getting into craft beer several years ago, a couple of years ahead of my husband.” Andria recalled. I’d always dreamed of owning a bar, ever since I can remember. When I got into craft beer, I kind of switched over and thought maybe a brewery would be cool. It’s not as crazy an environment, and we could make the space anything that we wanted it to be.”
The concept began to crystallize when Andria visited with her sister in Los Angeles in 2020. They visited a variety of breweries and talked about what kind of places they wished were available for a casual hangout.
“I love to read,” Andria explained. “I had been a reader, I married into readers, and our kids love to read. The idea was always wine and books, but not everybody drinks wine. The library theme was born from that.”
While working on their business plan, the property in Dade City became available. The uncovering of the flooring during the remodel played a large part in the Roscarts coming to Dade City.
“The floor to me is very reminiscent of M.C. Escher, which is my favorite artist. One look at it and we fell in love,” Andria said.
Knowing there was already a brewhouse in Dade City that they used to frequent, they visited them and received their blessing
to start their business. The ABL has been open for just over a year now, and business is going well.
“The feedback that we get the most is that we’re a warm and inviting space,” Andria said. “It’s a place that you just want to sit and hang out for a while and spend more time.
We don’t have TVs or anything like that. During the weekdays, we keep the music pretty low-key chill. We have one area where there is a couch, coffee tables, where people can sit back and read their books.”
“We have authors and workers that will come in and sit with their laptops, plug-in and work or read or do whatever they need,” Andria continued. “We have a large selection of board games, trivia decks, and stuff like that. I wanted to create a space where you kind of feel like you’re hanging out with your friends, like when you gather at the dining table, having some beers playing some games. It’s very different environment from the typical bar.”
They currently have 13 original crafted beers, and they are all named after books or associated with a book, Andria said. It’s kind of like a coffee house with beer, but there is no coffee.
In contrast to another local coffee shop, they do not serve coffee, but will send you there for a cup if that is what you really want.
They also carry a selection of craft sodas and non-alcoholic beers, and wines.
“We do book clubs, book launches for local authors, and book signings,” Andria said. They also have two book clubs that meet there - one centered on Spicy Romance and another focused on the horror genre. Other book clubs are welcome to come and reserve a time.
In addition, they have special nights for trivia, Dungeons & Dragons, music, bingo, and painting. They try to bring a food truck in on Friday and Saturday nights.
“We recently created our own unflavored seltzers,” Andria added. “I teamed-up with another female-owned local business (Maggie’s Snow Shoppe) and she makes flavors for us that are all natural, fresh-fruit, sugar water. She makes the flavor juices for us so that people can style their seltzers however they want. That changes every few weeks depending on which fruits are in season.”
The ABL is located at 14135 7th St, Dade City, FL 33525. You can find The ABL on Facebook and Instagram or e-mail the lounge at
