You can find 50 homemade sausage flavors at this new Gainesville shop

Adam Fehrenbacher grew up appreciating a good sausage.

The 37-year-old opened Fehrenbacher’s Artisan Sausages on Saturday with 50 homemade sausage and cured meat flavors to choose from, and he plans on adding more every day. The sausage spot, located on 411 SW 4th Ave., seeks to fill the niche market for artisan meats.

“We want people to feel like we’re welcoming them into our home for dinner,” he said.

The opening night menu included Pate en Bleu, which is green peppercorn pate with Siembra farms arugula and Danish blue cheese. There was also Bavarian Bratwurst served on a pretzel bun with Dijon mustard and a Lamb Sausage Gyro.

Within an hour and a half of opening, the bratwurst and gyro were entirely sold out. Prices for the sausages vary, but usually range from $8-12.

Michael Helsinki, 36, Thomas Reed, 29, and Kevin Choate, 38, came in for a meal for the first time Wednesday. They ate two Filipino Longaniza Sausages and a Salt and Pepper Smoky Sausage on the open-air back porch.

“It was very good,” Choate said. “I always eat local.”

Fehrenbacher grew up on a farm in southern Illinois, the son of German immigrants. He and his father would spend the winters making about 100 pounds of sausage, which would last until the next winter when they would start the process all over again.

As a teenager, he enrolled in Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Illinois, where he received his associate degree in culinary arts. He then went on to earn a bachelor’s in culinary arts at Johnson and Wales University, located in north Miami.

After working in Europe and south Florida for years, he eventually found himself in Gainesville, where he’s now been for five years.

At the Gainesville restaurants he’s working in, he’s made his sausages as part of his dishes, but customers loved them so much they would specially ask to take extras home.

In January 2017, he resigned to pursue his dream of becoming a unique sausage producer, making and selling only high-quality sausages and cured meats.

With the help of his wife Tatania Fehrenbacher, who has more than 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry, he said he felt he is ready to open his own storefront.

And after a year of preparation, they were ready to open their doors.

Adam Fehrenbacher, 37, owner of Fehrenbacher’s Artisan Sausages, showcases one of his favorite sausage plates to prepare, the Filipino longaniza. Fehrenbacher’s store had its grand opening Saturday.