Dec. 19, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
A local bar is looking to have its own brewery up and running by next spring.
Alewife NYC at 5-14 51st Avenue recently applied for a license with Community Board 2 to brew its own beer, and is looking to begin producing under its new Alewife Brewing Company label by late next spring, said General Manager Niall Costello.
“Hopefully we will be a shining star in the area, and having both a license to brew our own beer and a full kitchen will make us stand out,” said Costello.
The Alewife Brewing Company will kick off by brewing two signature beers, a session IPA and a witbier, which is a Belgian-style wheat ale, though Costello said the selection would likely expand from there once the system got going.
The brewery will be on the premises, with a 10-barrel brewing system that will be delivered in April.
The homemade brews will be served in Alewife, as well as distributed locally. Costello said that the company would start by distributing the beer themselves, and then hopefully would get picked up by a larger distributor once its beers became more established.
The Beerly Legal group, which owns the bar, announced its plans to begin brewing their own beer in October 2015 by tweeting a photo of their pilot brewing system with a caption reading, “New Brewery Alert!!! Pilot system at @AlewifeNYC Let the games begin!!”
Since then, they have been experimenting with brewing different types of beers and perfecting their recipes, according to Costello.
Costello said that opening a brewery fulfills a longtime dream of owners Patrick and Roz Donagher, who own three craft bars throughout the city but have always wanted to have their own brewery.
In addition to Alewife, the Donaghers also own Fool’s Gold on the Lower East Side and the Jeffery on East 60th Street.
“The other two bars in Manhattan do more business, but hopefully this will put us over the top,” Costello said.
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2 Comments
Alewife is a fantastic bar. Good luck to them.
these guys are the best