In the 1800’s Brooklyn along with other cities with large German populations such as St. Louis and Milwaukee became America’s foremost brewing centers. This was due to their large German populations that brought with them a taste for good beer and the tradition of brewing beer by the Reinheitsgebot, the German purity law that since the 1500’s has legally forbidden the use of any ingredients other than hops, malted barley, wheat, yeast and water.

 

One hundred years ago there were no fewer than 48 breweries in Brooklyn, and taverns were community civic centers where important issues of the day were discussed and the Brewers themselves were civic and social leaders. Then in 1976 the last of the great brewing families, Schaefer and Liebmann (Rheingold) closed its doors. Unable to compete with the larger Midwest breweries that produced vast volumes of beer, and were able to advertise nationally through television and other media, the company finally closed its doors, and closed an era in Brooklyn’s brewing history. By this time the light pilsner beers made with corn and rice as well as malted barley, made by the larger Midwestern brewers had become more popular, and had little in common with the full-flavored robust lagers and ales brewed before prohibition.  

 

In 1984 after his return from a six-year stint in the Middle East, Associated Press correspondent Steve Hindy, who had settled into Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood, and had caught the homebrewing bug from diplomats stationed in Islamic Countries where alcoholic beverages were forbidden, decided along with Tom Potter a former lending officer at Chemical Bank to create The Brooklyn Brewery. Their initial goal with the company was to bring good beer back to New York City. With limited resources they had no other choice but to have their first beer, Brooklyn Lager contract brewed in Utica, New York. Hindy and Potter commissioned a fourth-generation German-American brewmaster, William M. Moeller to develop a recipe for Brooklyn Lager. Moeller’s grandfather had brewed beer in Brooklyn, and willed his notebooks and brewing records to his sons. For the label design and company identity, they hired the world renowned designer Milton Glaser, who is best known for the “I Love NY” logo.

 

However, it wasn’t immediate glory for Hindy and Potter in the first few years, as they found that most New York distributors were controlled by the big breweries that were uninterested in small local brands that had little marketing money. Their Brooklyn neighbor, Soho Natural Soda founder Sofia Collier advised them to distribute their own brands with their own trucks. So that’s exactly what they did. They bought a van and a small beverage truck, painted their logo on the side and began selling Brooklyn Lager store to store on their own. During this time crime was rampant in New York City and Hindy and Potter faced burglars, armed robbers and mob-connected characters who wanted a piece of the brewery. They also faced hard-boiled New York tavern owners who were skeptical of a full-flavored beer that cost as much as the leading imports and had no recognition or advertising in the market. With partners Mike Vitale, Ed Ravn, and Jim Munson Hindy and Potter struggled to establish the Brooklyn Brand in New York City.

 

In 1994 Hindy and Potter hired the highly respected New York brewmaster Garrett Oliver to design their planned Brooklyn plant and oversee production at the Utica facility. Oliver then developed a number of new Brooklyn beers including Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, and Brooklyn Pennant Ale ’55, along with a long list of seasonal and special beers. His beers have won many national and international awards, and his book, The Brewmaster’s Table, has become a favorite among beer connoisseurs and food enthusiasts alike. On May 28, 1996, Mayor Rudy Giuliani cut the ribbon to open the new Brooklyn Brewery, and he poured the first official glasses of the first beer Brooklyner Weisse, a Bavarian style wheat beer.  

 

In 2003 the partners decided they now had the volume to be a player in a big distributors house, and the company sold its distribution to two of the big New York City wholesalers who had spurned Tom and Steve 15 years before.

 

Today the company is working hard to expand Brooklyn’s presence in New York and beyond. In 2004 the company extended its U.S. distribution to South Carolina and Georgia which were the first expansions in a decade. In 2006 the company began selling beer in Michigan as well as shipping beer to Denmark, Sweden, and Finland as well as their existing export markets in Hong Kong, Japan and Great Britain. Brooklyn was picked-up by Try-It Distributing Co., Inc. in the summer of 2008, and has been an incredible addition to the Try-It portfolio.

 

The name “Brooklyn” is recognized all over the world, and slowly but surely, so is Brooklyn Brewery.