Anarchy Ale Works leans into theme at new Alva brewpub

John Ford doesn’t trust the government — any government — and he leans into that philosophy at Anarchy Ale Works, a brewpub in Alva just west of the Lee-Hendry County line. 

Ford has a favorite among the 18 beers on draft he created: Mae Nak, an 11% ABV imperial stout made with peanuts, coconut, Manatee Winter Blend coffee, Thai chilis and cinnamon, named for a ghost legend in Thailand. 

The beer names tell stories, as do elements of the 2,700-square-foot taproom. 

There are stories of loyalty, reflected in hundreds of corks from bottles of wine John and his wife Tara drank over the years, now transformed into artwork in a corner featuring 12 varieties of wine. There are stories of friendship, including a corner bar named for Ray Bailey, a longtime Fort Myers pharmacy owner who donated his home bar and lent his name to the Belgian table beer “Ray’s the Bar.” A photograph of “Shirtless Ken,” both a friend of Ford’s and the namesake of a Chipotle porter, also hangs in that space. 

Most prominently, there are odes to anarchism, with posters and T-shirt slogans displayed and sold alongside the beer and wine. 

“I’m just a libertarian kind of guy,” Ford said. “Anarchy stands for the lack of government. So … I don’t like the government much.” 

Ford owns the brewery and leases the building at 21450 Palm Beach Blvd., at the corner of State Road 80 and Styles Road. Two food trucks — Chicken Mafia and Letecia’s Fil-Am Kitchen — are on-site, with a third rotating. A 65-space parking lot sits behind the building and is often full on Friday and Saturday evenings. 

After Hurricane Ian, increased scrutiny around Lee County from the Federal Emergency Management Agency led to additional upgrades to the building, which had been an abandoned QuickMart convenience store, Ford said. 

“The building was in really bad shape,” Ford said. “But the shell was fine. And the cooler was already here. I had everything I needed to build a nice brewery.” 

Ford said he invested about $800,000 in renovations, while the building’s owner spent about $1 million. Improvements included new bathrooms, hurricane-resilient windows and doors and new brewing equipment, as well as a $250,000, 18,000-gallon water tank installed outside to supply the indoor fire suppression system. 

The Ford family also commissioned muralist Summer DeSalvo to paint part of the water tower, creating a mural of Alva to establish a sense of place. 

“We decided to make it a statement piece,” said Tia Ford, John and Tara’s daughter, who manages a staff of five and helps run the business. A 2016 Riverdale High School graduate, she previously worked at Ro-Lin Rentals, where she gained business experience, and is studying business management and supervision at Florida SouthWestern State College.

“The anarchy name, it’s not rebellion,” Tia Ford said. “The true meaning of anarchy is ‘absence of government.’” 

She said her father includes sayings such as “Who is John Galt?” — a reference to Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged — to spark conversation. 

“His biggest thing is educating people,” Tia Ford said. “We want to be that community spot. We don’t want to franchise this place.” 

Movie posters from “Braveheart” and “V for Vendetta” hang on the walls alongside philosophical slogans and T-shirts for sale. 

John Ford grew up a Navy brat before becoming a Southwest Florida pharmacist. He began home brewing as a hobby and established the Anarchy Ale Works name in 2009. After losing and later reclaiming the name, he decided to pursue the brewery full time when the last pharmacy where he worked was sold. The brewpub opened March 1. 

A 16-ounce draft costs $6 to $7, depending on the beer. Higher-alcohol stouts are priced at $4 for a 5-ounce pour or $8 for a 10-ounce pour. 

Beer names include “Daisy,” “Vendetta,” “Alva Sunshine,” “Who is John Galt?,” “Patriot’s Blood,” “Death Stout,” “Melinda,” “F’in Melinda,” “Against the State” and “Invisible Hand,” each with its own backstory. 

“I started brewing just so I could brew some beers that were interesting,” John Ford said. “I just kept doing it because I enjoyed it.”