Fourth of July weekend is here and thankfully Long Island has made significant progress in battling the Covid-19 pandemic! Happy Summer to all of our subscribers and welcome to our many new subscribers who joined in the past few months -- you all deserve a toast and we hope you enjoy a brewery, beach, boating, or BBQ this weekend -- all while staying safe of course!!
Craft Aid Festival Raises Funds for North Fork Breweries
Eight craft breweries on the North Fork have teamed up to hold a virtual live music festival, Craft Aid, on Thursday July 2 and Friday July 3. Like the Farm Aid festival that has been helping family farmers since 1985, Craft Aid will support local craft breweries and musicians who have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Craft Aid is being co-produced by Main Street Productions, the event producer of Alive on 25 in Riverhead, with video production by Deville Films and audio courtesy of Old Main Road Recording Studio.
The live broadcasts will stream from 8-10 pm each night from Jamesport Farm Brewery, with music from bands including 70's Rock Parade (formerly Billboard Live), Jan Hanna Band, Who Are Those Guys, Shephard the Breeze, Barbados Slim, and Slingshot. The livestream will be available on the Craft Aid website at CraftAid.org and on YouTube Live and Facebook. Viewers are encouraged to support the breweries by donating through GoFundMe.com/f/Craft-Aid-LTD, PayPal at paypal.me/CraftAid or Venmo at www.venmo.com/CraftAid.
In addition to donations, craft beer lovers can support the breweries by purchasing Craft Aid merchandise and best of all, by buying beer! Each brewery will be releasing its own unique Craft Aid beer and passports will be distributed so you can keep track of which participating breweries you've been to. A completed passport can be redeeemed at Moustache Brewing for a free Craft Aid pin. In addition to Jamesport Farm Brewery and Moustache Brewing, the participating breweries are Eastern Front Brewing, Greenport Harbor Brewing, Long Ireland Beer Co., North Fork Brewing, Twin Fork Beer Co., and the new Tradewinds Brewing (see below). New Craft Brewery Opens in Riverhead, Another Coming Soon
Long Island's craft brewery taprooms opened outdoor spaces on June 10 for Phase 2 of New York State's reopening plan, followed by limited indoor seating on June 24 as part of Phase 3. One of the taprooms that opened for Phase 3 was Tradewinds Brewing Company, a new craft brewery located on West Main Street in Riverhead in the space that previously housed Crooked Ladder Brewing Company.
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The director of operations at Tradewinds is Duffy Griffiths, a veteran Long Island brewer who was the original brewer at John Harvard's brewpub in Lake Grove (now closed) from 1997 to 2001. Griffiths was a partner and the original brewer at Crooked Ladder when it opened in 2013, then left in 2015 to join Greenport Harbor Brewing at director of brewing operations. He is looking forward to going back to his roots at a smaller brewery where he can make high quality craft beers in a wide range of styles. The taproom at Tradewinds is currently open Thursdays to Sundays.
Riverhead is expected to have another new brewery later this year with the planned opening of Peconic County Brewing (PCB) on East Main Street, on the ground level of the new Riverview Lofts building that is being built overlooking the Peconic River. PCB's founder, Jeff Schaeffer, took the name in tribute to the idea proposed by East Enders over 50 years ago to form a new county from the five East End towns. The new brewery space will have 6,500 sq. ft. indoors for the brewhouse and taproom with a full kitchen, and a 2,000 sq. ft. outdoor deck with space for live music.
More Craft Brewery Openings Planned for Long Island
The craft beer movement on Long Island continues to grow and several more new breweries are expected to open later this year. This will bring the number of craft brewery taprooms to more than 50, compared to just one brewery and four brewpubs 15 years ago.
HopWin's Brewery in Bay Shore, which had to postpone the Grand Opening of its taproom in April, is now open for outdoor seating and continuing to sell beer for take-out.
Long Beach Brewing Company recently celebrated the second anniversary of commercial brewing from its location in Oceanside and hopes to finish construction of its taproom and hold an opening this summer. Also on tap at Long Beach Brewing's taproom will be beers from a tenant brewer, Flying Belgian Brewery.
Patchogue Beer Project has rebranded as Darling Brewing Co. and is planning to reopen this month with a new beer lineup from new head brewer Chris Dougherty, formerly with Barrier Brewing. The brewery's new name is a reference to a common piece of advice given to writers about getting rid of favorite characters ("kill your darlings") in order to improve the overall story.
Moriches Field Brewing Co. is making progress on construction of its new brewery and taproom in Center Moriches and hopes to open this summer.
Bellport Brewing Co., which had rebranded as Sunrise Ales & Lagers and relocated to Bohemia, decided to return to its roots in Bellport. The brewery, led by head brewer Brian Baker, has returned to its original name and is building out a brewery and taproom in the village of Bellport, with plans to open by the end of the year.
LIBeerGuide, North Fork Brewing Win Gold Crushie Awards
The awards ceremony for the first annual Craft Beer Marketing Awards, originally scheduled to be held in April at the Craft Brewers Conference in San Antonio, were streamed live virtually on the CBMA Facebook page on June 16. The awards were founded and sponsored by EGC Group, one of Long Island's leading digital marketing agencies and a leading branding and marketing agency in the craft beverage industry.
Hosted by Jim McCune, EGC’s executive director of craft beverage, and Jackie DiBella, EGC account manager, the awards presentation was viewed by thousands of industry executives, marketers and brewers. Over 100 "Crushie" awards, named for the distinctive trophy of an upright arm crushing a beer can, were announced in 30 categories. .
LIBeerGuide was proud to win a Gold Crushie award in the Best Use of Social Media category (if you don't already, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). North Fork Brewing Co. in Riverhead was the winner of two Gold Crushie awards -- in the Best Can Design category for Butternut the Hutt, designed by co-owner Peter Barraud and Michael Everitt of Everitt Design, and in the Most Creative Signage category for "Run the Juice" Signage designed by Ricky Saetta of Estd1981.
Congrats to North Fork Brewing and all the winners -- you crushed it!!
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