Steve Hindy of Brooklyn Brewery Talks Shop
On HamptonRoads.com, Steve Hindy of Brooklyn Brewery offers a first-person account of his transition from journalist to brewer. He talks about the Middle Eastern brewers that inspired him during his days as an AP reporter, the joys of homebrewing, and the hard times the Brooklyn Brewery faced, too: “We were robbed at gunpoint, we faced…
On HamptonRoads.com, Steve Hindy of Brooklyn Brewery offers a first-person account of his transition from journalist to brewer. He talks about the Middle Eastern brewers that inspired him during his days as an AP reporter, the joys of homebrewing, and the hard times the Brooklyn Brewery faced, too:
“We were robbed at gunpoint, we faced a challenge from shady guys who threatened to ‘hurt’ us if we did not include them in the construction of our brewery. We lost more than $1 million of our hard-earned cash on a Web-based plan to deliver our beer directly to the homes of our customers.”
But we can only imagine that there are a bunch of readers out there who aren’t interested in throwing Steve Hindy a pity party. As delicious as his beers may be, he’s got some enemies in the borough, due to his stance on the Atlantic Yards project…
Last year, Fans of Fairplay posted this scathing indictment:
“His Williamsburg brewery is something of a Mecca for microbrew aficionados, and he continues to name his beers after Brooklyn heritage and mythology, including the popular Dodgers tie-in Pennant Pale Ale ’55. And that’s why Hindy’s support of Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project is so misguided, opportunistic, cruel and pathetic. Everything that Ratner stands for ignores real Brooklyn history. Every Ratnerville ever built in America ignores small business, local flavor and the cool eccentricities of regional traditions. The slowly unraveling Atlantic Yards, if it manages to get built despite fever-pitched community opposition, lawsuits, statutes being written against it, and increasingly impatient investors, will ignore Brooklyn’s storied past.”
And, for whatever it’s worth, this “local” beer is brewed up in Utica. Has anyone out there been boycotting the stuff? If so, what are you drinking instead?
From bootleg suds to Brooklyn Brewery [Hampton Roads]
Think Before You Drink Brooklyn Lager [FFFP]
I tend not to drink Brooklyn beer because most of the beer is contract brewed, as you say, in Utica. Going on the tour at the brewery was depressing. They tell you that they had an office, logo, and investors before ever having BEER. The Brooklyn Lager recipe is from the guys at Matt Brewing in Utica, not even a Steve Hindy or Garrett Oliver creation, at least according to the tour guide. Why would they even tell people this? It is all image and no substance. The final reason for not drinking the beer, though, is that it is NOT GOOD.
i never understand why it’s merely called ’55 pennant ale…the dodgers won more than just the pennant in ’55!!!