LIBeerGuide Brewsletter -- January 2020

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We hope that 2020 is off to a good start for all of our readers! If you are reading the LIBeerGuide Brewsletter for the first time, welcome, and thank you to all of our subscribers and advertisers for your support!

We also send a special thanks to our subscribers who made $10 donations at the end of 2019 to LI Cares - The Harry Chapin Food Bank, which LIBeerGuide.com was happy to match. We appreciate your support of this great organization, which helps provide vital assistance to thousands of our fellow Long Islanders.

Auld Lang Syne for Barrage Brewing

2020 started off with bittersweet news that Barrage Brewing in Farmingdale was shutting down after 10 years of producing some of Long Island's best craft beers. Barrage was founded in 2010 by Steve Pominski, a homebrewer for 20 years who served his brews to friends at a bar he built in his Merrick garage, which became know as the "barrage." Steve and his wife Diana launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2013 that raised $18,000 to build a brewery and small taproom, which opened in early 2014 in an industrial park in East Farmingdale.

Barrage Brewing quickly became known for a wide range of inventive beers, often given clever names inspired by the Seinfeld show, such as Yada Yada Yada, a brown ale made with Snickers bars, The Restivus made with chocolate babka, and Hootchie Mama made with Bosco chocolate syrup. The quality of Barrage's beers was demonstrated by awards at major competitions, including a Bronze Medal at the 2018 World Beer Cup for Assault N. Fudgery in the Chocolate Beer category, and a Silver medal at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival for Conquer Then Divide strong ale in the Other Belgian Style Ale category.

Hundreds of Barrage fans from across Long Island came to the brewery on January 11 to help drain the tanks and to say thanks to Steve and his crew for many years of great beers and fun. LIBeerGuide wishes Steve and Diana, and the entire Barrage team, all the best in their future endeavors and we know Steve will remain a beloved member of the Long Island homebrewing and craft beer community.

More Brewery Openings Planned for 2020

Despite the closing of Barrage, the craft beer industry on Long Island is poised for continued expansion in 2020, with new taprooms coming from established breweries opening second locations as well as new breweries opening their first taprooms.

In February, new taprooms are expected in Long Beach with Bright Eye Beer Co. opening on Park Avenue across from the LIRR station, and in St. James with Saint James Brewery opening its first off-site taproom. Other breweries planning to open taprooms in the next few months include HopWin’s Brewery in Bay Shore and Motion Craft Brewed in Massapequa

For a complete guide to Brewery Taprooms & Brewpubs on Long Island please check out our listings.

LI Homebrew Clubs Prepare for National Competition

Long Island's three homebrew clubs -- Brewers East End Revival (B.E.E.R.), Handgrenades Homebrew Club and Long Island Beer & Malt Enthusiasts (LIBME) -- teamed up in 2018 to form an umbrella group, Association of Long Island Homebrew Clubs (affectionately known as AssLIHC). The purpose of teaming up was to compete as a group at the National Homebrew Competition (NHC), the world's largest homebrew competition sponsored annually by the American Homebrewers Association. In 2019, there were over 9,000 entries in the NHC from 3,500 homebrewers in 21 countries.

The competition is judged in regions across the country beginning in February and culminates with final round winners being revealed at HomebrewCon, which is being held this year in Nashville on June 18-20. In the past few years, more than a dozen Long Island homebrewers competing under the AssLIHC banner have won awards in the first round of judging, and in 2018 won awards in the final round. This year the clubs teamed up to hold feedback sessions where members who are beer judges gave homebrewers feedback on their brews and advice on what categories to enter.

We wish good luck to all of the participating homebrewers from Long Island and look forward to celebrating not only individual awards but also the collective recognition that will come from the teamwork of AssLIHC.

Upcoming Beer Festivals

Feb. 8 -- Hops & Props Craft Beer Festival at Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City -- VIP 6-7 pm, General Admission 7-10 pm

Feb. 15 - TBC Indie Cask Fest at The Brewers Collective Beer Co. in Bay Shore -- 1-5 pm

Feb. 22 -- T.J. Finley's Winter Bourbon & Beer Fest, Bay Shore -- 7th annual festival featuring bourbon, whiskies and barrel-aged beers, 3:30 - 7 pm

Feb. 29 & Mar. 1 -- Newsday Craft Beer Showcase at Nassau Coliseum -- Sat. noon-2:30 pm, 3:30-6 pm. Sun. noon-2:30 pm

Upcoming Beer Events

Feb. 9 - Mardi Gras Run to the Great South Bay Brewery -- 7.1 mile race begins at 9:15 am at the brewery in Bay Shore, followed by a post-race party indoors featuring live music, food and GSB beers. Volunteers are needed by the race organizer, Greater Long Island Running Club, and volunteers can attend the post-race party for free.

Feb. 16 - Tapped Enterprises Valentine's Day Be Mine -- bus tour to the North Fork, visiting North Fork Brewing Co. in Riverhead and the Riverhead Ciderhouse

For more LI beer festivals and other events check out our Events page.

Follow LIBeerGuide on Social Media

LIBeerGuide has more info on our social media feeds, so like our page on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. We look forward to connecting with you!

Cheers,
LIBeerGuide

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