New Long Island breweries to visit right now
Craft beer has entered its hot girl summer phase on Long Island, and these snazzy new breweries prove it. Tucked away by a train station in the South Shore town of Copiague, Root + Branch attracts beer lovers from as far as China and Japan. In the Hamptons, a flowery pink space takes the term "beer garden" to a new level. A home brewer is making feisty and deeply personal IPA's from a warehouse in West Hempstead. And a brewpub in Yaphank boasts a casino-style tap system that shoots beer from the bottom of the glass, with a light show.
Here are four breweries to hit up on your next Long Island beer tour, all opened in the past year or so. Just remember to pace yourself and/or take a designated pizza eater, because there's pepperoni involved too.
Root + Branch Brewing: Beer lover's destination
360 Marconi Blvd., Copiague
Surrounded by Latino delis and bachata music, bartenders inside the minimalist chic Root + Branch pour yuzu IPAs into wine glasses and discuss historical beer styles like the Polish grodziskie. Most of the staff commutes from Brooklyn to operate this beer geek's paradise by the Copiague train station. But that's not much of a trek compared to the Chinese and Japanese tourists who take the train out from Manhattan every weekend, said brewer and co-owner Anthony Sorice. Originally from Wantagh, Sorice is a beer industry buff who decided to open his first spot on Long Island because he wanted to come back to Long Island and thought there was "a void of super high quality beer out here." Root + Branch has some of the more nuanced Northeastern-style IPA's you'll taste, but it really differentiates itself in the sour beer department with its Ibidem ($7 for a 12-ounce pour), a fantastic Berliner Weisse brewed with fermented pinot noir grapes. Wine lovers should also enjoy it, as the texture is bubbly like a beer, but the flavor pops with lush red fruits.
More info: rootandbranchbrewing.com
Everyone Stands Beneath Their Own Dome Of Heaven, left, Ibidem, and Satanic Black Magic at Root + Branch Brewing in Copiague. Credit: Randee Daddona
Southpaw Brewing Company: solid brewpub with food
501 Boulevard E., Yaphank
Craft breweries are everywhere, but this Suffolk County newcomer is one of the few spots with a full restaurant menu and a fancy pizza oven. Southpaw is in a sprawling mixed use community next to a Walmart, but its proximity to the Long Island Expressway makes it a decent first stop in an East End brewery tour. Co-owner James Economou, a former arena football player, installed a Bottom's Up tap system that shoots beer up from a magnetic hole in the bottom of the glass, an effective wow-factor. It's pretty neat to watch, but also makes for good drinking as it minimizes extra carbonation and gives you "almost a hundred percent pure beer out of the keg," he said. Because of zoning, no brewing is done onsite, but Economou works with the brewers at Oyster Bay Brewing Company to make his own recipes. The blonde ale ($9 a pint) was super drinkable and well balanced, with a touch of organic honey from Sag Harbor. But you're probably here for a beer and some pizza, so why not go all-out with a Triple Meat ($21) that has creamy dollops of ricotta cheese?
More info: 631-504-6167, southpawbrewingco.com
Burrata and arugula brick oven pizza at Southpaw Brewing Company in Yaphank. Credit: Randee Daddona
Kidd Squid Brewing Co.: All the Hamptons vibes
11 Spring St., Sag Harbor
Bright pink and brimming with flower wallpaper, the historic taproom at Kidd Squid looks like a Barbie bomb went off. There's an outdoor garden where you can sip a passion fruit hazy IPA while surrounded by live hop vines and succulents, proof that serious craft beer can have a feminine look. The blackberry and thyme sour ($8 can), made in partnership with the boutique Sage & Madison, isn't a fruit fest like you'd think, but a restrained blend of tang and herbal flavors from the thyme. Masterfully brewed offsite by Rory McEvoy, the beer is one of several easy-drinking offerings that'll appeal to aficionados and also the more casual Hamptons crowd. But the partnership with the Sag Harbor Garden Center next door has to be the best thing going for it, aside from 3-D printed tap handles in the shape of squid tentacles. And the dogs, there are so many good-looking dogs here.
More info: 631-500-0533, kiddsquid.com
David Liszanckie of Shelter Island with Charlotte Moore, her son Robert, 3, and their dog Ramona inside the tasting room at Kidd Squid Brewing Co. in Sag Harbor. Credit: Randee Daddona
Somerset Brewing Company: Warehouse gem
94 Cherry Valley Ave., Unit C, West Hempstead
A former internal medicine doctor is brewing some of the iIsland's best IPAs from a small garage space tucked back into a West Hempstead parking lot. Garden City native and home brewer Manuel Fajardo shows an immense attention to detail at his first spot, Somerset, which is decked out with reclaimed wood tables and photographs showing how he built the space himself. Many of the beers are named after his friends and family, with little tasting notes like, "a beer of my own heart, named after my first dog Memphis," and a stout called Helen that's "brewed with love for the greatest woman I've ever met." A staff favorite is the Licitra, a citrusy hazy IPA that uses grains from Hudson Valley Malt. But I loved the Perceus, which had a bit more body but still tasted fresh with notes of pine that balanced the juiciness. The space is also dog-friendly with an outdoor patio and a rotating list of food vendors.
More info: 516-447-6983, somersetbrewing.com
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
