Beer on Long Island through the years

George Clancy, bartender at T.J. Markham's in Kings Park, serves up a Guinness at the bar on April 3, 1980.

Light beer cans on display on June 9, 1983, at a Pathmark supermarket in Huntington.

Gerald Regan, president of the Martlet Importing Co., is flanked by a giant bottle of Molson beer on Nov. 16, 1983, in his Great Neck office.

Beer memorabilia collector Ernest Oest holds a circa 1919 beer tray from the Welz and Zerweck Brewery in Brooklyn in this photo from Nov. 8, 1974.

Jay Linehan pours beer for patrons as co-owner Mike Epstein looks on behind the bar at My Father's Place in Roslyn on Wednesday, June 2, 1971.

Julie Maxian, of Bayport, holds a can of Schaefer beer while Dick Gaetjens, of Shirley, holds the "5:14" club's sign at their annual Christmas party aboard an LIRR train from Jamaica on Dec. 19, 1962.

Bartender Patricia Hart serves a beer to a student at the Hofstra U.S.A. bar on Nov. 11, 1988.

Long Island Rail Road commuters share beer and other refreshments aboard the Ronkonkoma line in June 1989.

Rick Holowchak and Rob Corapi of Massapequa, and Brian Byrne of Amityville, are served beer by bartender Tom Sanders at Muffins Pub in Farmingdale on Nov. 9, 1982.

Stony Brook University student are served beer at the student nightclub, Tokyo Joe's, on Nov. 22, 1985, in advance of a change in the legal drinking age.

Students and visitors enjoy beer at the Rathskeller at C.W. Post in Brookville on Feb. 4, 1971. From left is Bob Derenthal of Ozone Park (pouring the beer) and students Karen Brusich, Bob Vehmeier, Laurie Kaiser and Harold Ellison.

A group of workers at Liebmann Breweries in Hicksville officially begin their strike after finishing their shift on June 24, 1958.

Trucks sit idle in the lot at Liebmann Breweries in Hicksville on June 24, 1958. The brewery was closed due to a strike.

Trucks sit in the parking lot at Liebmann Breweries in Hicksville on June 24, 1958. The plant was closed due to a strike by brewery workers.

Pete O'Malley of Levittown, Thomas O'Malley of Ronkonkoma, Thomas Looran of Wantagh and Tom Daly of Hicksville, all members of Local 1059, walk outside the Schaefer Brewery in Melville on June 26, 1958, after a company lockout.

Frank Rabinowitz of Hicksville stocks up on Rheingold on June 26, 1958, in advance of a possible beer shortage expected after five major area breweries shut down in disputes with unions.

Ernest Oest shows off his beer can collection at his Sound Beach Beverage Store on Nov. 4, 1971. Oest was an avid collector of all things beer, from bottles and cans, to beer trays, mugs, and even fly swatters. He claimed to have the world's largest beer collection. Oest, a former Sperry Gyroscope machinist, owned his beverage store for seven years. He later put his collection to use when he opened a beer museum and saloon in Port Jefferson Station.

Vintage beer trays adorn the ceiling at Ernest Oest's Sound Beach Beverage Store on Nov. 4, 1971.

Walter Robbins of Mt. Sinai looks at a wall of beer cans at Memories of Beer and Brewing in Port Jefferson Station on Nov. 8, 1974. The establishment served as both a saloon and a museum which showcased the extensive beer memorabilia of collector Ernest Oest.

Ernest Oest, a collector of beer memorabilia, holds two beer trays from defunct New York City breweries in this photo taken on Jan. 22, 1976.

Ernest Oest's beer memorabilia collection includes vintage bottles of Trommer's beer, pictured on Jan. 22, 1976.

Vintage Rheingold bottles on display on Jan. 22, 1976.

Vintage Rheingold beer bottles on display at Memories of Beer and Brewing in Port Jefferson Station on Jan. 22, 1976.

Beer bottles on display at Memories of Beer and Brewing in Port Jefferson Station on Jan. 22, 1976. Many of the breweries that produced these beers are defunct.

Keith Mellish, co-owner of Matinecock Beverage Center in Plainview, holds one of his favorite beer cans on Aug. 4, 1976. At the time, he and his brother Bruce had one of the largest beer can collections on Long Island.

Bill Cicio of Centerport holds a circa 1930s Krueger beer can on Aug. 4, 1976. This was one of the oldest cans in his collection of 2,000 beer cans.

Bill Cicio of Centerport enjoys a stein of beer on Aug. 4, 1976, as he sits among his collection of more than 2,000 domestic and foreign beer cans.

Port Jefferson Station tavern owner Ernest Oest shows a 1930s beer tray to customer Wayne Thompson of Middle Island on Nov. 8, 1974.

George Stallman of Sound Beach and Pat Wasson of Levittown have a couple of beers at Memories of Beer and Brewing in Port Jefferson Station on Nov. 8, 1974.

Bill Green, bartender at the Spouter Inn in Freeport, serves a customer a Lowenbrau beer on Nov. 21, 1975.

Ernest Oest of Port Jefferson shows one of his vintage Rheingold posters on Jan. 22, 1976.

Denise Ganci and Karen Adams, both 18, drink one last beer at the Adelphi University Student Center on Dec. 3, 1982, before the minimum legal drinking age in New York State raises to 19 at midnight.

Ron Stoll, manager of Thrify Beverage Center in Huntington, at the store on Dec. 5, 1983. A case of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer used to cost $5.99 a case, but after the New York State bottle bill went into effect that September the price rose to $6.99 to cover bottle deposits and handling fees.

Alicia Welch and Carrie Jividen enjoy a drink at the James Bay Brewery in Port Jefferson on Oct. 28, 1994.

A World War l-era beer bottle was found in June 1985 by construction workers working on an old house at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow. The bottle, with beer still in it, was said to be worth about $200 to $300.

Rick Rose of beer distributor Clare Rose stands among 250,000 cases of beer in his Patchogue warehouse on May 4, 1990. This is roughly a two- to three-week supply for Suffolk County.

Allen T. Smith, owner of McCluskey's Steak House in Bellmore, is seen on May 5, 1990. Smith cut off business relations with Anheuser-Busch to protest the beer company putting a local distributor out of business.

Beer distributors Mark Rose and brother Rick Rose pose by cases of beer in their Patchogue warehouse on May 30, 1990.

Mike Zisser, president of Old Peconic Brewing Co., with a sample of his Hampton Ale on Feb. 12, 1992.

Jeff Smith, co-owner of Jamesbay Brewery and Restaurant in Port Jefferson, stirs his brew with a paddle on July 9, 1994.

John Black and John Byers pose with cases of the new Montauk Light beer on May 3, 1989.

John A. Black, president of Long Island Brewery Co., holds a six-pack of Motauk Light beer on Nov. 27, 2009.

Blues and jazz buff Richard Azzarello plays saxophone behind his 1940s refrigerator painted to look like a beer bottle on Oct. 12, 1996.

Shawn Cavanaugh of East Islip poses with a giant mustache in the tasting room of Moustache Brewing Co. in Riverhead on April 26, 2015.

It was time for a toast for, from left, Bob Pickwick, Brian Mandel and Lori Meeks on Sept. 20, 2007, during Oktoberfest celebrations at the Black Forest Brew House in Melville.

The Tasting Room at Blue Point Brewing Co. in Patchogue is busy on Jan. 27, 2010.

A group of friends visits the tasting room of Greenport Harbor Brewing Co on April 16, 2011.

Chief brewing partner Duffy Griffiths shows ingredients that go into his Crooked Ladder Brewing Co. beer at the Riverhead brewery on Sept. 18, 2014.

Friends enjoy Oktoberfest on Sept. 21, 2014, at Plattduetsche Park restaurant in Franklin Square.

The crowd enjoys Das Biergarten's Oktoberfest celebration on Sept. 26, 2015, in Long Beach.

Moustache Brewing Co. owners Matthew and Lauri Spitz sip one of their products on Sept. 16, 2014, at their Riverhead facility.