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Get familiar with some of New York's most exciting breweries.
While New York City breweries tend to get the most attention from the city’s powerful media outlets, beer drinkers in the know look to Long Island to discover the region’s most exciting new crop of producers.
After a decade-plus of repping Long Island alone, Blue Point Brewing Company and Southampton Publick House are now joined by a vibrant community of upstarts—11 have opened since 2008, and four more are expected to start pouring in 2013—that are pushing creativity and establishing the two-county stretch as a destination for drinkers seeking high-quality liquids.
While each brewery on the island has a unique story, from farm-inspired ales brewed in a residential garage, to a self-distributing duo rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy, all are connected by the commitment to provide the local area with top-notch suds.
Here, we take a look at the eight essential Long Island breweries that are driving the scene. Some distributes their wares to NYC bars, but others will require a trek to the source if you want a taste—trust us, it’s worth it.
Located: Oceanside, NY Founded: 2009 Website: barrierbrewing.com Barrier Brewing Company is officially back. The westernmost beer-maker on Long Island was temporarily shuttered for three months by Hurricane Sandy, which severely damaged its new 30-barrel brewery in Oceanside with four feet of water. Evan Klein and Craig Frymark proved resilient, however, and have returned to their quality-over-quantity brand brewing with the funds raised from two local relief beers: Brewery Ommegang's Barrier Relief Belgian IPA and the Long Island super-collaboration, Surge Protector IPA. The self-distributing duo, who previously brewed together at Brooklyn's Sixpoint Craft Ales, ignore conventional industry procedures and refrain from establishing flagships and seasonal releases. A visit to any bar serving Barrier may lead to the discovery of Lights Out Stout, Cycle Saison, or any of more than 47 different brews in rotation. That’s a lot of surprise. Drink this: The latest batch of Morticia Imperial Stout, which received bottle-conditioning with maple syrup. It’s chocolately, semi-hoppy, and darker than Morticia Addams.
Located: Centerport, NY Founded: 2008 Website: blindbatbrewery.com Though Paul Dlugokencky makes beer in his 350-square-foot garage, Blind Bat Brewery is not a homebrewing hobby for the full-time supervisor at the American Institute of Physics. Despite having a day job, he never takes the easy route. An advocate for sustainable agriculture, Dlugokencky brews small, creative batches of agrarian-inspired and wood-smoked ales with ingredients grown by his wife, Regina, including coriander for Hell Gate Golden Ale and organic potatoes for Long Island Potato Stout. While spatial constraints often limit Blind Bat's availability, Dlugokencky is currently searching for commercial spaces to transition the business to full-time in 2013. He recently launched a subscription-based club—featuring five membership levels of tasting discounts and quarterly beer allotments—to help fund the expansion. Drink this: Vlad the Inhaler, a modern resurrection of a grodziskie (a forgotten beer style originated in Poland) brewed with oak-smoked wheat and barley.
Located: Bay Shore, NY Founded: 2010 Website: greatsouthbaybrewery.com As an anesthesiologist, Rick Sobotka provides patients with perioperative care and the administration of anesthetics. As brewmaster of Great South Bay Brewery, Sobotka cures thirst with doses of Hoppocratic Oath, an imperial-strength ode to the Humulus lupulus plant, and Snaggletooth Stout, brewed with flaked oats, cinnamon, licorice root, and Long Island-grown apples. (Whether one of the latter a day keeps the doctor away is yet to be seen.) After three years of contracting with Brooklyn’s Greenpoint Beer Works, Great South Bay received its final batch of outsourced liquid in May and has started brewing on a 30-barrel system. Expect the first Bay Shore-brewed Blonde Ambition Ale, and other liquid medications, in June. Drink this: Massive IPA, a piney, medium-bodied medal winner at TAP New York in 2010.
Located: Greenport, NY Founded: 2009 Website: harborbrewing.com John Liegey and Richard Vanderburgh may honor Greenport's whaling heritage with their brewery's brand, but the beer consistently demonstrates progression. Whether creating a spicy house beer—Devil’s Plaything IPA—with guajillo and Thai bird chiles for New York's Salvation Taco, or experimenting with hand-picked sauvignon grapes from Martha Clara Vineyards for a forthcoming Belgian-style golden ale, Greenport Harbor embraces creativity without sacrificing quality. That’s a difficult balance. The brewery will soon be expanding and shifting daily production from an old firehouse to a defunct 13,000-square-foot Ford dealership in Peconic—even the locations are creative. Drink this: Triton, a sweet and deceptively drinkable barleywine.
Located: Riverhead, NY Founded: 2009 Website: longirelandbrewing.com Long Ireland Beer Company won't garner attention for ostentatious names or label designs (though the pun is pretty catchy), but Greg Martin and Dan Burke have established a solid rep in the local beer scene since leaving behind uninspiring careers as oil servicemen. After starting as contract-only, the blue-collar duo renovated an 8,800-square-foot building in Riverhead and continue to expand production with equipment additions and increased bottling (Celtic Ale, their malty amber flagship, was just released as the brewery's first 12-ounce bottles). They are advancing as brewers, too, as is evidenced by their recent whiskey barrel-aging experiments with three core beers: Celtic Ale, Breakfast Stout, and ESB. For those who think Irish beer is all about Guinness and Harp, the mashup of American craft beer styles with Emerald Isle sensibilities is well worth exploring. Drink this: Black Friday Imperial Stout, a silky, chocolate-rich stout brewed to combat the holiday's retail hoopla. It’s available only in late-November and December, so sip the easygoing Celtic Ale in the meantime.
Located: Port Jefferson, NY Founded: 2009 Website: portjeffbrewing.com Once a Christmas-themed retail store in Port Jefferson, 22 Mill Creek Road now contains beer produced by Michael Philbrick, a seasoned homebrewer for 11 years prior to opening Port Jeff Brewing Company in 2011. The bootstrapping brewery, adjacent to the village's picturesque harbor and ferry to Bridgeport, CT is versatile and offers a style for any preference, from the summer-friendly White's Beach Wit, brewed with coriander and orange peel, to Barrel-Aged Porter, a limited version of Port Jeff Porter aged for three months in Heaven Hill Distilleries whiskey barrels. Port Jeff Brewing Company self-distributes with two vans and has recently entered bars and restaurants in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Drink this: Party Boat IPA, a bitter, citrus-stuffed vessel brewed with 10 hop varieties and porbably capable of eliciting a “HOPS ON A BOAT!” cry from Andy Samberg.
Located: Rocky Point, NY Founded: 2012 Website: beer.donavanhall.net/rpab Rocky Point Artisan Brewers are combating the industry’s constant emphasis on ales with a focus on German-style lagers, and its credentials for completing the bottom-fermenting task are legitimate. As co-founders of Long Island's largest homebrewing group, Long Island Beer & Malt Enthusiasts, Donavan Hall and Mike Voigt are considered forefathers of beer in the area. The duo, with Yuri Janssen, operate Rocky Point Artisan Brewers with a similar community-oriented ethos, crafting small batches in a residential space for friends and 15-ish local businesses. The ingredients often differ for each 40.3-gallon batch, too, so a Pilsner may possess whole-leaf Cascade hops from Wading River's Condzella's Farm, or feature a lighter body for summer. Each release is, essentially, a brand-new beer. Drink this: Doppel Schwarz, a midnight-hued lager with chocolate and coffee flavors.
Located: Southampton, NY Founded: 1996 Website: publick.com Southampton Publick House is the longest-active brewery on Long Island, and Phil Markowski, award-winning brewmaster and author (he wrote the book on American farmhouse ales), was a pivotal component. After eight years as assistant brewer, however, Evan Addario has replaced Markowski, who recently moved on to open Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford, CT, and he is upholding Southampton's stellar heritage by reviving Big Brown Ale and ESB and creating a creamier version of Espresso Stout with pre-blended gas. While Addario regularly travels to two contracted locations to brew various seasonal and year-round releases for distribution in 20+ states, his primary focus is the lineup of exclusive drafts and large-format bottles at the Southampton brewpub. The latter includes Imperial Russian Stout 2013, which was even richer and more chocolate-y than the previous year’s batch. Drink this: A malty-sweet, semi-boozy pour of Scotch Ale.
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