Four National Medals and Big Plans Ahead for Fly Llama
David Reese knows beer.
As a Master Cicerone and founder of Fly Llama Brewing in Biloxi, he has the credentials to prove it. But five years after opening the brewery, Reese is still learning—and lately, his studies have taken him beyond beer and into bourbon.
“I never want to stop learning,” Reese said. “So, I keep rolling.”
There’s certainly plenty to keep him moving.
Fly Llama recently brought home four medals from the 2026 U.S. Open Hard Seltzer Championship, including gold for its Pawpaw seltzer, silver medals for Blackberry and Honeydew, and bronze for Muscadine.
For Reese, those flavors are distinctly Fly Llama—and distinctly South Mississippi.
“We wanted to make a taste profile for here,” he said. “You get outside of South Mississippi, and a lot of people don’t know what muscadine is. We wanted to stick with our roots.”
The strategy is working. The four-medal haul ranked Fly Llama among the top hard seltzer producers in the country.
But Reese isn’t spending much time admiring the hardware.
“Winning these medals was absolutely great, and it was an awesome shot in the arm, but we want to win more,” he said. “I want to win some beer medals.”
His sights are currently set on lagers—an area Reese has spent the past two years refining.
“We’ve really dialed in our lager production,” Reese said. “I’m pretty proud of that.”
And then there’s the llama across the street.
Copper Llama, a separate distillery taking shape directly across from Fly Llama, wasn’t part of Reese’s original plan. When the building became available, however, the opportunity made sense. The two operations will be able to share some staff, and mash produced at Fly Llama can be distilled across the street.
Reese expects Copper Llama vodka to hit the market by the end of this year, with the distillery hopefully opening its doors sometime in 2027. Bourbon is also in the plans.
Which explains why a man who already holds one of the highest credentials in the beer world is back to studying—this time to become a Bourbon Steward.
For Reese, there’s always something else to learn.
