Here for the Cheap Boos
Here for the Cheap Boos
Greenpoint Beer & Ale announces closing date and a Bay Shore brewery impresses
Happy Halloween. You know what’s scary? The current state of the beer industry. You know what’s not scary? The fact that people are still getting excited when new breweries open. I saw it first hand at a packed house on opening day for Lunchbox Brewing Company, a new spot in Bellmore on Long Island that launched last weekend. The demand for beer was strong, and while plenty of friends and family were in the house, a lot of people I talked to at the taproom were local beer fans who were excited about a new brewery opening in their backyard. The place was hopping and the vibes were good.
One point I’ve made about the seeming bust in the beer industry in recent months is that there’s a silver lining: the actual startup costs when it comes to opening are coming down because of a glut of used equipment available from breweries that have closed. On the other hand, the inherent risk of opening a brewery in the current industry environment has made funding an issue, but it’s still possible to thrive in this market. When one door closes, another door opens. Speaking of doors closing…
Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co. closes this weekend
Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co., a mainstay in the neighborhood since 2014, will close its doors on its Manhattan Avenue location after a farewell party this Sunday. The brewery opened in its current location on the northern end of Greenpoint in 2020, less than a month before Covid-related shutdowns began. It had previously operated at Dirck the Norseman off Kent Avenue on the Greenpoint/Williamsburg line from 2014 to 2019.
The farewell party will be held on Sunday evening from 5pm till late, and the brewery will be open today, Friday, and Saturday until the beer is gone. There will be drink discounts and plenty of teary eyes as Greenpoint says goodbye to the community. Greenpointers profiled the closure in a feature this week, for those who want to learn more about the people that made the brewery what it was.
Greenpoint is at least the fifth brewery to close in New York City this year. LIC Beer Project, Gun Hill Brewery’s Bronx location, Torch & Crown Brewing’s Bronx location, and Manhattan’s That Witch Ales You have all closed, and Bronx Brewery has announced that production will end in their home borough as a result of their merger with Captain Lawrence in Westchester County.
Beer Events of Note This Week
Queens: A Fifth Hammer Caskoween, Thursday 10/31 through Saturday 11/2, free entry
Long Island: Blue Point Cask Ales Festival, Saturday 11/2 from 2pm to 6pm, tickets start at $75
Brooklyn: Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co. Farewell Party, Sunday 11/3 from 5pm, free entry
Manhattan: Torch & Crown Union Square Kick the Keg Party, Tuesday 11/5 from noon to 9pm, free entry
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,554
Total breweries visited in 2024: 270
Total breweries visited in England: 203
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #3552, Take Two Brewery, Bay Shore, New York (Visited 26-Oct-2024)
As part of a little brewery crawl I made across Long Island last Saturday, I finally got to visit Take Two, which is conveniently just across the street from the Bay Shore Long Island Railroad station. The brewery opened last fall in a stately brick building that opens into a bar with a cozy fireplace seating area and plenty of TVs for sports-viewing. It was founded by cousins David Cristelot and Brendan Byrne, longtime award-winning homebrewers on Long Island’s scene who finally made the jump to brew professionally — and bartend, too, as they both were behind the bar on Saturday afternoon to happily offer up beer suggestions.
The beer at Take Two these days is no homebrew by any stretch. The I Wanna Bock Right Now was a delight, with a snappy hop character and a smooth malty backbone. The Wickedness, a West Coast IPA, was flawless, and the Cascades of Darkness Black IPA whisked me back to an age when this style was en vogue. The Hurricane Ridge Lager, clearly made to introduce fizzy yellow beer drinkers to the brewery, is far from an afterthought and drinks exceptionally clean.
If you’ve got a weekend afternoon free on your calendar soon, hop on the LIRR and head out to Bay Shore. On a rail line that’s full of great breweries (Root & Branch, Secatogue, Sand City South), this is yet another worthy visit if you’re on a whistle-stop tour of the South Shore.
The Doom and Gloom Tracker
At least 3 breweries I’ve visited closed or announced their closure this week:
Brewery #985, Fargo Brewing Company, Fargo, North Dakota (Visited 11-Nov-2017)
Brewery #1898, Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co., Brooklyn, New York (Visited 22-Feb-2020)
Brewery #2234, Mobcraft Beer, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Visited 31-May-2021)
The Weekly Reader
A turnkey brewery is available in downtown Rochester [Will Cleveland, Cleveland Prost]
What’s it like aboard a sinking craft beer ship? [Will Ziebell, Crafty Pint]
What even is craft beer anymore? [Katie Mather, The Guardian]
On criticism in beer writing [Matthew Curtis, Total Ales]
One Last Thing
A heads up that next week’s newsletter will likely be an abbreviated edition, unless I have a good story to tell from my first few days in Asia. I’ll be back with a full newsletter in two weeks, provided the world is still around. Stay safe!
Cheers,
Chris
I can confirm from a summer visit hopping from Lindenhurst to Riverhead that Take Two is worthy of a visit.