We Visited the Blue Point Brewery to Find Out What Makes It So Beloved

Second only to their erotic love of Billy Joel , Long Islanders loveBlue Point Brewery . When it first opened in 1998 , it was the only production brewery on LI . While that is n’t the event anymore , there ’s a understanding why almost all of Patchogue squeeze their cars into the parking lot and tailgates with oysters and beer there on Saturdays … even though Long Island does n’t even have a sports squad any longer . So , we travel to Blue Point ourselves to see what all the fuss was about , and this is what we learned :

It’s an important piece of Patchogue history

Patchogue ’s a tiny town on Long Island that ’s technically moot a village , and it certainly feels that way . The brewery is located in a boatyard on a Patchogue River , and was once used as an glass factory . fisherman would pull up by sauceboat to bribe methamphetamine , which they needed for pack their catch in , before head out to the Great South Bay , and it sit down abandoned for decades before founders Mark Burford and Pete Cotter opened Blue Point nearly two decades ago with pieces of brewery equipment they scrape up together from auctions . Now , even though there ’s several production breweries on LI , Blue Point is the oldest , and the only one left over from the mini craft beer boom of the ‘ 90s . But that does n’t mean this brewery does n’t have a lot of new conjuration .

They’re always experimenting with small-batch brews

Sort of like a beer version of Willy Wonka ’s Chocolate Factory , Blue Point ’s original brewery is now where “ innovation beers ” are produced , and you could only taste them in the Patchogue tasting room . Brewmaster Dan Jansen and his team have created about a twelve plus beers that are only useable there , and any one of them could become the next big recording label for Blue Point . These beers , like their Strawberry Berliner Weisse ( a sour snowy beer style develop in , you guess it , Berlin ) , Vanilla Cream Ale , and Mexican Lager , which is infuse with lime and salt , are so fresh they are only available on dab and ca n’t be sold outside the tasting room , and do n’t even have labels – alternatively , they ’re all equip with a black-market and livid recording label that plainly says “ TEST BEER . ”

They’re using unexpected local ingredients, like East Coast seaweed

Alright , before you spit out the sushi you had for lunch , learn us out . One of the most vital persona of Blue Point ’s data-based small batches is their ability to try out brews with dissimilar ingredients , including four different case of East Coast seaweed in their “ Prop Stopper ” Seaweed IPA . ( For those of you unfamiliar , they are making a boat joke there . ) The seaweed give the IPA a subtle , salty finish . There ’s also a Beach Plum Gose , made from a humble , tart fruit you could normally nibble right from the dunes on Long Island beaches and salt decent from LI ’s Great South Bay , as well as an Oyster Stout , brewed with local oyster shell to give the stout a tinge of full - flavored salt .

They’re barrel-aging beers

If you cerebrate that barrel - ripening was only near for grapeshot juice and bourbon , you ’d be misguided . Now , craft breweries around the country , include Blue Point , are cask aging their beer , too . At the brewery , Jansen and his beer maker are contract some of the brand ’s ducky , like RastafaRye Ale and White IPA and age them in tequila , bourbon , sherry , rummy , whiskey and Scotch whiskey barrels to impregnate the flavour of the John Barleycorn , as well as some vanilla extract , drinking chocolate , and tobacco notes from the wood barrel , into your favorite brewage . And while none were ready for us to have a sip yet , we were capable to sneak a peek as the gang start the process of moving one “ observational ” brew into a kegful .

They are firkin enthusiasts

A firkin is just another word for a cask , which is the steel or woodwind watercraft that cask ale ( or “ literal ale ” if you ’re British ) are fermented in . They ’re called that because it ’s how Britain has been brew beer for centuries , and are hold “ actual ” ales because they are n’t filtered or pasteurized , and are carbonate naturally . caskful ale has been a pillar of Blue Point for the past 15 years , and because of it ’s fermented in the same watercraft it ’s served from , these beer maintain all the flavor the beer maker intended on you to taste . That flavour is n’t a overshadowed by a super bubbly carbonation and , because it ’s normally serve at 52 degrees , is n’t so cold that you ca n’t taste the relish . Here ’s how headland brewer Eric Ahlberg explains it : “ The beer is at its most cherished shape in the cask . It ’s what beer savour like straight out of the fermenter . No filtering , no forcefulness carbing [ when they force CO2 into a beer to make it bubbly ] . Just beer in its natural variety . ” A firkin is a quarter of the size of a barrel of beer ( 10.8 gal ) and that flyspeck size of it ca-ca it double-dyed for testing super little batches of wacky brewage too – constitute them ideal for even more experiment . Also , every Friday , the brewery taps one of these firkin , giving prosperous tasting way patrons a gustatory sensation of one of their favourite beers in a new fashion .

They host a Cask Ale Festival that is basically a beer flavor showdown

All of that experimentation come to a showdown when Blue Point host its one-year Cask Ales Festival , where more than 60 breweries from all over come and show off what “ veridical beer ” they ’ve been wangle up . It ’s formally the largest Cask Ales festival in the country , so to gear up for it , Blue Point makes over 200 casks , some with some unusual flavour profiles , like earl grey tea and cucumber vine . Most of the brewery wackiest beer start out this way , are taste tested at the fete , then perfect in the tasting room .

Only true Patchogue locals know about the secret menu , until now , we judge . Behind the Tasting Room bar are Anne Marie Meisen - Buck and Jess Labriola , who both have 15 years deserving of beer knowledge from pouring brews at Blue Point . All that insider knowledge , along with the creativeness of Patchogue local , has led to the creation of Blue Point ’s own “ secret ” carte . With every newfangled beer that come into the try out way , beer “ cocktail ” are devised by the local to spice up things up , especially those who believe the relishing way one of their regular haunt . The latest secluded token is the Beach Plum Gose mixed with a mo of Blue Point ’s Blueberry Tonic , which is like a blueberry seltzer , but with alcohol . Its bubbly , tart , and fruity mix is complete for the summer passion , or sauceboat hinge upon down the Patchogue River . Some of the regulars also like to mix up the few stock brews for multifariousness to , like the “ Rastical ” which is a commixture of Hoptical Illusion and Rastafarye Ale . While these are n’t specifically on the menu , those “ in the know ” can ask for one of these mixes and have a taste .

They’ve always got home in mind

plausibly one of the most important reason why Long Island jazz Blue Point is that it still feels like the local brewery , even though you may find their Toasted Lager across the United States and a few place internationally , and they brew thousands of barrel of beer a yr . The strike room , even on a Thursday at 3 post-mortem , is fill with topical anaesthetic , looking to try whatever ’s new on draft . And Blue Point is always round off up financial backing for local causes , like sell bridge player painted buoys to help Operation Splash , which keep Long Island waterways blank , and also afford to Island Rescue , a local animal shelter . Right down to the buoy on the label , the stuff and nonsense in the bottle , or their new commercial aboutwhat makes Patchogue great , they ’re pay homage to their hometown , too .