The world continues to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, and New York and Long Island have been hit especially hard. Our prayers go out to everyone who has lost loved ones and those dealing with illness. Our hearts also go out to everyone dealing with the stress of job losses, school closings and all the disruptions to our normal routines of life that are needed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. We salute all of the health care workers and first responders who are keeping us safe, and thanks the front-line heroes at supermarkets and beer stores who are keeping us supplied with our essential food and beverages.
The craft beer industry on Long Island, along with bars, restaurants and so many other businesses, continues to face unprecedented challenges. LI craft breweries have risen to the occasion and are continuing to brew and find ways to get their beer to customers, by offering curbside pick-up and delivery services.
A complete list of brewery pick-up and delivery services is available at libeerguide.com/brewery-to-go-delivery. Among the breweries offering pickup and delivery services is HopWin's Brewery in Bay Shore, which had to postpone the grand opening of its taproom on March 21. Check out our recent profile of HopWin's in the Long Island Press at this link. Another brewery doing pickup and delivery of beer before it was able to open its taproom is Long Beach Brewing Company, operating from its brewery in Oceanside. We encourage you to support your local breweries, who are making amazingly good beers in these difficult times!
LIBeerGuide was very glad to see that BrickHouse Brewery in Patchogue has resumed sales of beer for pickup and delivery after a short pause. BrickHouse is Long Island's oldest craft brewery and the pioneering brewpub is the heart of Patchogue's and Long Island's brewing renaissance. I talked about this back in 2016 when I was interviewed at the bar of BrickHouse in a segment with Rich Barrabi of News12 Long Island (which also featured the brand new DUBCO).
Several LI craft breweries have been busy doing more than making beer during the pandemic. One is helping to make critically-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and first responders, and others are providing support for local food banks and community groups. A few of their stories are below, and we salute them for doing their part to help Long Island come through this together! LI Homebrewers Join Virtual Big Brew Day
In 1998, the U.S. Congress named May 7 as National Homebrewers Day, and to celebrate that day the American Homebrewers Association created Big Brew Day to be held on the first Saturday in May. This year's event will be a virtual Big Brew and already more than 3,500 AHA members and other brewers have pledged to join in. Homebrewers will be brewing more than 23,000 gallons of beer in all 50 states, six U.S. territories and 63 other countries.
For anyone who wants to take advantage of this stay-at-home time to try homebrewing, there are plenty of resources at LIBeerGuide.com's Homebrew Section. Homebrew supply shops on Long Island are open for pickup to get equipment and ingredients, and Long Island's homebrew clubs are welcoming and always eager to help new homebrewers.
Greenport Harbor Brewing Leads Face Shield Project
Greenport Harbor Brewing Company, along with other members of the Village of Greenport Business Improvement District, formed a team that developed and produced over 8,000 face shields. Led by Greenport Harbor co-founder Richard Vandenburgh, the team donated the crtically-needed face shields to hospitals on the East End, including Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital, Southampton Hospital and Peconic Bay Medical Center. Face shields were also been donated to local fire departments. paramedics, pharmacies and supermarkets.
In addition to the brewery, the Operation COVID-19 Defense team included William J. Mills & Co. Sailmakers and Awnings, Mark Miller of Miller Environmental, Bob Gammon who is co-lead advisor for the Southold/Greenport Schools Robotics Club, and Reflective Image Manufacturing in Greenport. The clear vinyl glass for the face shields was cut on machinery at Mills Awnings and the face shields were assembled by teams of volunteers at Greenport Harbor’s Peconic brewery.
To cover the costs of materials for the face shields, Operation COVID-19 Defense started a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $25,000, which was reached in three days and ended up raising more than $47,000.
To celebrate the completion of the face shield project and honor front-line workers and hospital heroes, Greenport Harbor introduced a new Strong IPA that is available for curbside pickup at the Peconic brewery. Customers can buy a 4-pack of Strong IPA at half price to give to a front-line worker when buying a case of other beers.
Breweries Raise Funds for Food Banks and Community Groups
Other breweries on Long Island are raising funds for food banks and local communities. Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore is raising funds to benefit the Island Harvest Food Bank and help feed hungry families on Long Island during the COVID-19 crisis.
Lithology Brewing in Farmingdale is raising funds to support the Farmingdale Community Summit Family Assistance Fund, a group formed to provide emergency funds to Farmingdale residents in need during the crisis. Lithology is donating a portion of proceeds from pick-up and delivery orders, and total proceeds from t-shirts and other merchandise, to the charity.
Lifting Spirits in Stressful Times
Blue Point Brewing in Patchogue is recognizing and rewarding health care workers and first responders with its Toast Your Hero initiative. Long Islanders can nominate neighbors who are doing great things by creating a post about them on social media, tagging @bluepointbrewing and #TOASTYOURHERO. Blue Point is selecting one hero per week to receive a free meal from the brewpub, a card to redeem a free pint for every brewpub visit during 2020, and a whole lot of beer. The gifts are dropped off by a special retrofitted Blue Point Brewing Fire Truck.
The owners of Six Harbors Brewing Company, Mark and Karen Heuwetter, are lifting spirits in Huntington by using their family dogs to help with beer delivery. Buddy and Barley, known as the Brew Dogs, have become St. Bernard dogs providing rescue liquids to grateful customers. The Brew Dogs were recently featured in a segment on CBS News, which can be viewed at this link.
Stay safe everyone!
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RESTAURANTS
BY ORDERING FOOD FOR PICKUP AND DELIVERY
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