8 LI brewers to produce Sandy relief ale
The owners and brewers of several Credit: Daniel BrennanLong Island microbreweries (including Port Jeff Brewing co., Blind Bat, Barrier Brewing co., Great South Bay Brewery, Long Ireland, and Greenport Harbor) gathered at Blue Point Brewery in Patchogue to brew a special edition superstorm Sandy relief beer. (Dec. 4, 2012)
Eight Long Island breweries came together Tuesday to participate in the creation of a special-edition beer as part of the relief effort after superstorm Sandy.
On a rainy morning, brewers from Barrier Brewing Co., Blind Bat Brewery, Great South Bay Brewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing, Long Ireland Beer Co., Port Jeff Brewing Co., and Spider Bite Brewing Co. trekked to Blue Point Brewing Co. in Patchogue for the project.
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Eight Long Island breweries came together Tuesday to participate in the creation of a special-edition beer as part of the relief effort after superstorm Sandy.
On a rainy morning, brewers from Barrier Brewing Co., Blind Bat Brewery, Great South Bay Brewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing, Long Ireland Beer Co., Port Jeff Brewing Co., and Spider Bite Brewing Co. trekked to Blue Point Brewing Co. in Patchogue for the project.
Profits from sale of the final product, to be named "Surge Protector, Sandy Relief IPA," will be donated to Long Island Cares and to microbrewery Barrier Brewing, said Curt Potter, a spokesman for Blue Point.
The recipe for the beer was a collaborative effort between the brewers. Blue Point hosted the event and offered its equipment for use. The malt barley that made up the base for the brew mix was a combination of eight different bags of grain -- one from each participating brewery -- symbolizing that there was " a little piece of each brewery being brewed," Potter said.
Barrier Brewing, located on New Street in Oceanside, suffered nearly $100,000 in damages after Sandy washed about three feet of seawater into the brewery's facility.
Evan Klein, the co-founder of Barrier, expressed gratitude for the help. "It's hard enough to run a brewery -- for them to take a hit and miss out on potential revenue to do this . . . it was very unexpected and generous," he said.
The brewers started grinding the malt barley for brewing around 8:30 in the morning. As the day wore on, the crowd of brewers stood around Blue Point's production facility, drinking beer out of paper cups and chatting about brewing techniques. The brewing process lasted the entire day. The fermentation process for the beer will take about two weeks.
The IPA, or India pale ale, will be available as a draft at local bars later this month, with a bottled version coming out early next year, Potter said. The collaboration will make 30 barrels of beer, or around 60 kegs.