Brooklyn Brewery

Last updated

Brooklyn Brewery
Brookylnbrewery.svg
WSTM Team Dustizeff 0007.jpg
Brooklyn Brewery
Location Brooklyn, New York
U.S.
Opened1988 (1988)
Annual production volume217,000 US beer barrels (255,000  hL) in 2013 [1]
Website www.brooklynbrewery.com
Active beers
NameType
Brooklyn Lager Vienna Lager
Brooklyn American Ale American Pale Ale
Brooklyn Brown Ale American Brown Ale
East India Pale Ale India Pale Ale
Brooklyn Pilsner Pilsner
Brooklyn Defender IPA India Pale Ale
Hecla Iron Ale Dark Ale
Brooklyn Blast! Double IPA
Brooklyn Greenmarket Wheat Weisse
Scorcher IPA Session IPA
Brooklyn Brewery 1/2 Ale - Saison
Local 1 Golden Ale
Local 2 Dark Abbey Ale
Sorachi Ace Farmhouse Saison
Brooklyn Shackmeister Ale Bitter
Special Effects 0.4 Low-alcohol beer

Brooklyn Brewery is a brewery in Brooklyn, New York, United States. It was started in 1988 by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter.

Contents

History

Hindy learned to brew beer during a six-year stay in various Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Upon his return to his home in Brooklyn in 1984, he and Potter, his downstairs neighbor from Park Slope, quit their jobs and founded the brewery. [2] The pair hired graphic designer Milton Glaser, best known as the creator of the logo for the I Love New York campaign, to create the company logo and identity. [3] [4] Glaser received a share in the company in return. [5]

Originally all their beer was brewed by contract by Matt Brewing Company, and the pair started their own distribution company and personally transported and marketed their beer to bars and retailers around New York City. [6] In 1996, they acquired a former matzo factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and converted it into a functional brewery. [2] [7]

Although the brewery looked to expand its brewing capacity in the City, originally most of the production, including all Brooklyn Lager and all bottled products, were brewed by contract in the city of Utica in upstate New York , due to the limited ability to meet demand at the Williamsburg brewery, its lack of a bottling line, and the cost benefits of contract brewing. The company later sought to expand its facilities in Brooklyn, but had difficulty finding a suitable site within the borough. [8] However, an economic recession allowed them to remain in Williamsburg and undertake a $6.5 million expansion of the brewery in 2009. [9]

Since 1994, Garrett Oliver has been the Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster. He had first been appointed brewmaster at the Manhattan Brewing Company of New York in 1993 where he began brewing professionally as an apprentice in 1989. In 2003 he published the book "The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food". Garrett has also been a judge at the Great American Beer Festival for eleven years. [10]

In 2016, they announced that they were looking to relocate their specialty brewing operation in Williamsburg after their landlord, Yoel Goldman, put the building up for sale as they would not be able to renew their lease for a reasonable price given escalating real estate prices. [11] They also planned to relocate their main brewery in Utica, New York, to a $70 million, 200,000-square-foot facility on Staten Island. [11]

Japanese corporation Kirin acquired a 24.5% stake in the brewery in October 2016. [12]

Distribution

Since December 30, 2016, the Carlsberg Group has an agreement with Brooklyn Brewery to distribute its beers in Europe, the UK, and Hong Kong. Carlsberg has opened a craft brewery in Lithuania to produce Brooklyn Lager under license. [13] Brooklyn Brewery has acquired London Fields Brewery in a joint venture with Carlsberg. [14]

Marketing

The brewery has taken a less conventional approach to marketing and advertising, relying more on word-of-mouth, brand visibility at bars as well as donations to, and sponsorship of, [[nonprofits including World Cares Center (www.worldcares.org)where staff volunteered during ]multiple relief efforts]. [15] Organizations sponsored by the brewery include Eat Drink Local Week, [16] Desertfest, [17] the Culinary Institute of America's Hyde Park campus, [18] New York Harbor Restoration, [19] the Brooklyn Museum [20] and The New York Poetry Festival. [21]

Beer School

Beer School: Bottling Success At The Brooklyn Brewery
Beerschoolbookcover.jpg
AuthorSteve Hindy and Tom Potter
LanguageEnglish
Genre Business
Publisher John Wiley & Sons
Publication date
September 21, 2005
Pages304
ISBN 0471735124

In 2005 Hindy and Potter published Beer School: Bottling Success At The Brooklyn Brewery through John Wiley & Sons. [6] The book is both a guide to entrepreneurship and beer brewing as well as a memoir of the authors' time together while building the Brooklyn Brewery. Beer School goes over topics such as building teams as well as guerrilla marketing and publicity, with each chapter being written around a theme in the brewery's history. The book is told through the perspectives of both Hindy and Potter, and received mostly positive reviews from critics. [22] [23]

Honors

Esquire magazine selected the Brooklyn Lager 16 ounce as one of the "Best Canned Beers to Drink Now" in a February 2012 article. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuengling</span> Brewery based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania

D. G. Yuengling & Son, established in 1829, is the oldest operating brewing company in the United States. In 2018, by volume of sales, it was the largest craft brewery, sixth largest overall brewery and largest wholly American-owned brewery in the United States. Its headquarters are in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. In 2015, Yuengling produced about 2.9 million barrels, operating two Pennsylvania facilities and a brewery in Tampa, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlsberg Group</span> Danish brewery group

Carlsberg A/S is a Danish multinational brewer. Founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen, the company's headquarters is in Copenhagen, Denmark. Since Jacobsen's death in 1887, the majority owner of the company has been the Carlsberg Foundation. The company's flagship brand is Carlsberg. The company employs around 41,000 people, primarily in Europe and Asia. Carlsberg is currently the 6th largest brewery in the world based on revenue.

Big Rock Brewery is a Canadian public company and the largest brewery that is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As of March 2020, it was also Canada's largest craft brewery. Additional brewing operations are located in Vancouver, British Columbia; Etobicoke, Ontario; and Liberty Village in Toronto, Ontario. Big Rock distributes a variety of beers and ciders throughout Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India pale ale</span> Beer with high hop content

India pale ale (IPA) is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in Canada</span>

Beer was introduced to Canada by European settlers in the seventeenth century. The first commercial brewery was La Brasseries du Roy started by New France Intendant Jean Talon, in Québec City in 1668. Many commercial brewers thrived until prohibition in Canada. The provincial and federal governments' attempt to eliminate "intoxicating" beverages led to the closing of nearly three quarters of breweries between 1878 and 1928. It was only in the second half of the twentieth century that a significant number of new breweries opened up. The Canadian beer industry now plays an important role in Canadian identity, although globalization of the brewing industry has seen the major players in Canada acquired by or merged with foreign companies, notably its three largest beer producers: Labatt, Molson and Sleeman. The result is that Moosehead, with an estimated 3.8 percent share of the domestic market in 2016, has become the largest fully Canadian-owned brewer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full Sail Brewing Company</span> Craft brewery in Oregon, US

Full Sail Brewing Company is a craft brewery in Hood River, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1987, Full Sail was the first commercially successful craft brewery to bottle beer in the Pacific Northwest for retail sale, and one of Oregon's early microbreweries. The first beer packaged was Full Sail Golden Ale, followed in 1988 by Full Sail Imperial Porter, Full Sail Amber Ale, and Wassail Winter Ale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoetzl Brewery</span> Craft brewery located in Shiner, Texas

Spoetzl Brewery is a brewery located in Shiner, Texas, United States. It produces a diverse line of Shiner beers, including their flagship Shiner Bock, a dark lager that is now distributed throughout the US. The brewery is owned by the Gambrinus Company, a family-owned company based in San Antonio, which also owns Trumer Brewery in Berkeley, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in the United States</span>

In the United States, beer is manufactured in breweries which range in size from industry giants to brew pubs and microbreweries. The United States produced 196 million barrels (23.0 GL) of beer in 2012, and consumes roughly 28 US gallons (110 L) of beer per capita annually. In 2011, the United States was ranked fifteenth in the world in per capita consumption, while total consumption was second only to China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granville Island Brewing</span> Brewery on Granville Island in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Granville Island Brewing Company (GIB) is a brewery originally based on Granville Island in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1984 and calls itself "Canada's first microbrewery". In 1989, it was sold to the wine conglomerate Andrew Peller Ltd. In 2009, it was bought by Creemore Springs, a subsidiary of Molson Coors, which in 2016, became the third largest beer corporation in the world. Of brewers with locations in British Columbia, Granville is the seventh largest based on sales to the BC Liquor Distribution Branch.

Beer in Africa, especially lager, is produced commercially in most African countries, and indigenous people also make varieties of beer. Beer is served in various locales, from neighbourhood shebeens to upscale bars. Many countries have standardized beer bottle sizes, which are cleaned and re-used, so when buying beer at a store, people often must pay a deposit on the bottle and the price of the beer. An alternative to glass-bottle beers is local beer sold in tetra-pak style paper cartons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genesee Brewing Company</span> Brewery in Rochester, New York, U.S.

Genesee Brewing Company is an American brewery located along the Genesee River in Rochester, New York. From 2000 to 2009, the company was known as the High Falls Brewing Company. In 2009, High Falls was acquired by the capital investment firm KPS Capital. Together with newly acquired Labatt USA, KPS merged the two companies as North American Breweries. Along with this change, High Falls Brewery changed its name back to the original "Genesee Brewing Company" operating under the North American Breweries name. In October 2012, North American Breweries was purchased by FIFCO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in Thailand</span>

Beer in Thailand was first brewed in 1933 when a licence was granted to the Boon Rawd Brewery, which still produces Thailand's best-known lager, Singha, sold in standard, light, and draught versions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterloo Brewing Company</span> Canadian Brewing Company

Waterloo Brewing LTD. is a brewery based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, with several divisions. The company is reportedly the largest Canadian-owned brewer in the province, and it was also Ontario's first modern craft brewery.

Beer is a popular alcoholic beverage in Turkey, mostly lager type beers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Brewing Company</span> New York based brewing company

F.X. Matt Brewing Company is a family-owned brewery in Utica, New York. It is the fourth oldest family-owned brewery in the United States, having brewed beer since 1888. Its most popular product is the Saranac line of beers. It also sells soft drinks such as root beer and ginger beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in Asia</span>

Beer in Asia began when beer was produced in Sumer, Mesopotamia circa 6000 years ago. It was introduced by Europeans in the 19th century, with modern breweries established in British India, the Dutch East Indies, China, and Japan. Asia's first modern brewery was established in 1830 in India entirely using European brewing technology.

Founded by entrepreneurs Richard Wrigley and Robert D'Addona, the Manhattan Brewing Company was one of the earliest brewpub concept on the East Coast of the US. The first working brewery in New York City for decades, operations started as a large on-premises multi-tap brewpub in 1984. It was located in a former Consolidated Edison substation on the corner of Thompson Street and Broome/Watts in SoHo. The international style ales and beers combined with beer cellar style tables and copper kettles were popular with New Yorkers; distribution was then expanded, via draft horses and antique dray, into the New York marketplace with medal winning brands Manhattan Amber and Manhattan Gold Lager. The business struggled however, with a large overhead, the raising of the NY drinking age and the Black Monday crash of October 19, 1987. The doors finally closed in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brewery</span> Business that makes and sells beer

A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of beer has taken place since at least 2500 BC; in ancient Mesopotamia, brewers derived social sanction and divine protection from the goddess Ninkasi. Brewing was initially a cottage industry, with production taking place at home; by the ninth century, monasteries and farms would produce beer on a larger scale, selling the excess; and by the eleventh and twelfth centuries larger, dedicated breweries with eight to ten workers were being built.

Evil Twin Brewing is a gypsy brewery originating in Denmark. Founded in 2010 by Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø. Evil Twin Brewing started as a gypsy brewery, in that the company does not operate an official brewery but instead collaborates with other brewers to produce their limited-edition and one-off beers, as well as a series of seasonal and year-round beers available internationally. In January 2019 Evil Twin Brewing opened their first brick and mortar brewery in Ridgewood, Queens, New York City. A tap room opened at the same location on October 2, 2019.

References

  1. "Ottaway Brothers Assume Leadership Roles at Brooklyn Brewery". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Williams, Lena (June 2, 1996). "Could the Dodgers Follow? Brewing Returns to Brooklyn". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  3. Foltz, Kim (November 13, 1990). "Lotas Minard Swaps Work for Equity Stake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 5, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  4. "Case Studies: Brooklyn Brewery". Milton Glaser Inc. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
  5. Acitelli, Tom (2013). The Audacity of Hops: The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. p.  158. ISBN   9781613743881. OCLC   828193572.
  6. 1 2 Hindy, Steve; Potter, Tom (2005). Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN   0-471-73512-4.
  7. Furman, Phyllis (April 16, 2007). "Brooklyn's King of Beers". Daily News. New York. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  8. McGeehan, Patrick (July 20, 2008). "Double Edge to Brooklyn's Success". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  9. McGeehan, Patrick (November 1, 2009). "Soft Real Estate Market Is a Key Ingredient at Brooklyn Brewery". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  10. Smagalski, Carolyn. "Garrett Oliver – Brooklyn Brewmaster of Beer and Food". BellaOnline.com. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  11. 1 2 The Real Deal: "Brooklyn Brewery looking for 60K sf for brewing operation – The well-known beer brand is checking out Navy Yard, Industry City for space" Archived September 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine February 23, 2016
  12. "Here's why Brooklyn Brewery sold a 24% stake to Japan's Kirin". Fortune. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  13. "Newsroom » Carlsberg and Brooklyn open new craft brewery in Lithuania « Carlsberg Group". Carlsberg Group. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  14. +AmericanCraftBeer.com (July 4, 2017). "Carlsberg UK Buys London Fields Brewery And Brooklyn Brewery's In The Mix!". American Craft Beer. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  15. "How Brooklyn Brewery Tripled Sales In 5 Years Without Traditional Advertising". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  16. "Meet our Eat Drink Local Week Sponsors: Brooklyn Brewery". Edible Manhattan. June 18, 2012. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  17. "Brooklyn Brewery to Sponsor Desertfest and Host Free Show". Desertfest. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  18. "Brooklyn Brewery to Open at CIA Hyde Park in 2015". Eater. January 16, 2014. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  19. "Brooklyn Brewery Promotes New York Harbor Restoration with Billion Oyster Saison". Brewbound. May 12, 2016. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  20. "Brooklyn Museum Corporate Sponsorships". Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  21. "Prepare ye for the New York Poetry Festival". Literary Manhattan. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
  22. "Nonfiction Review: Beer School". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  23. "Book Report – Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery". Seattle PI. Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  24. "Best Canned Beers to Drink Now". Esquire magazine via Yahoo news website. February 22, 2012. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.

40°43′18″N73°57′28″W / 40.72167°N 73.95778°W / 40.72167; -73.95778