Daniel Chocrón

Where it all started

About 10–12 years ago, Daniel and his partners began brewing beer as a hobby in Venezuela. They started as home brewers, experimenting with recipes because they genuinely loved craft beer. As demand grew, they realized they wanted to turn their passion into a real business.

They chose to move to the United States because it has one of the largest craft beer markets in the world, they had family already in Miami, and they believed they could build something much bigger there.

Building Tripping Animals in Miami

Moving to Miami wasn't easy. For nearly two years, they struggled through finding a location, city permits, construction plans, parking regulations, taxes, accounting, water and sewer permits — and understanding an entirely new legal and business system. Every day brought another problem to solve.

When they finally rented a 15,000-square-foot warehouse, Daniel remembers opening the door and thinking: "Now this is real." That was the moment the dream became a huge financial responsibility.

Studying while building a company

While Tripping Animals was getting off the ground, Daniel enrolled in the MBA at Atlantis University. Unlike many students, he already owned a business — so instead of creating fictional class projects, every assignment became real work for the brewery:

• Market analyses
• Marketing plans
• Financial projections
• Cash flow analyses
• Business plans
• Supply chain studies

His professors reviewed ideas that he later implemented in the brewery, and his classmates became a valuable source of fresh perspectives he could immediately test. Learning while actively running a company made every lesson much more meaningful.

Creating a unique brand

The name Tripping Animals represents animals having a good time. Every beer features an animal, the artwork is colorful and playful, and the brewery itself feels welcoming — with games, food, and events. Their Venezuelan roots are reflected throughout the business, from the atmosphere to menu items like tequeños.

COVID became an opportunity

When COVID-19 forced bars and breweries to close, almost all of Tripping Animals' revenue disappeared overnight. Instead of giving up, they pivoted quickly — canning all their beer, launching curbside pickup, delivering directly to customers and expanding into distribution. Community support was incredible, with customers lining up outside just to take beer home.

The pandemic ended up accelerating their growth. Today, Tripping Animals distributes across approximately 20 U.S. states, focusing on specialty craft beer bars, restaurants and markets.

Commitment to quality

Daniel attributes much of their success to consistency, attention to detail, high-quality ingredients and passionate employees. The team even travels to Yakima Valley to personally select the hops for future beers, and uses real fruit in many of their fruit beers instead of artificial flavorings.

Building the right team

As the company grew from a handful of founders to roughly 35–40 employees, Daniel focused on hiring people who cared deeply about the business. Skills can be taught — passion is much harder to find. He wanted everyone, from production to marketing to accounting, to feel ownership over the company's success.

Growth and expansion

Over the years, Tripping Animals has:

• Expanded distribution across multiple states
• Partnered with renowned craft breweries
• Collaborated with restaurants and community organizations
• Hosted comedy nights, festivals and food events
• Opened a second taproom in Oakland Park
• Reached retailers like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Total Wine and ABC Fine Wine & Spirits

His advice to entrepreneurs

Daniel's biggest lessons are simple: take risks, be consistent, be patient, enjoy the process. Success doesn't happen overnight — it took over a decade of hard work, setbacks and persistence to build Tripping Animals into what it is today.

His favorite message: the biggest mistake isn't failing, it's never trying. If you stay in your comfort zone, you'll never know what could have happened.