photo by Lauren Jablonski
Several Long Island Breweries showcased their newest seasonal beers at Bay Fest for Long Island Craft Beer Week. Great South Bay Brewery had live music blasting and their tap room open, so festival attendees could enjoy their large selection of beers. My favorite is their Bloody Blonde, a combination of Blonde Ambition Summer Ale and their Blood Orange Pale Ale, light, crisp, and bittersweet. They also had Captain Hops serving up their Field 5 Golden IPA under the tent with the other breweries.
Port Jeff Brewing Company’s poured their White Beach Wit, a Belgian wheat brewed with orange peel and coriander. This beer is light bodied and easy to drink, perfect for summer.
Even though stouts can be considered more of a winter beer, Sand City Brewing created a stout you will want to drink all year around. The Southdown Breakfast Stout, is brewed with local coffee and is the perfect accompaniment for a Sunday Fun Day Brunch. Be sure to plan a day trip to Sand City’s tasting room this spring and summer, it is located close to the water in Northport.
There is a new kid on the block to the Long Island craft beer scene, the Long Beach Brewing Company. At Bay Fest, they were sampling their unfiltered Surfer Caster Keller. They are going to be the first farm brewery to open in Long Beach. Follow them on Facebook to find out when they will be opening.
Three Long Island home brew clubs each had their unique beers, cider and meads to taste at Bay Fest. However, Handgrenades Homebrew & Craft Beer Club had the best beers and ciders by far.
Cider lovers had two great options to try at the Handgrenades Homebrew & Craft Beer Club booth, Stella’s Apple Pie and Harvest Cider. Stella’s Apple Pie embodied the flavors of homemade apple pie, sweet with a little bit of spice. The Harvest cider had cranberry, apple and grape juice with 9.3% ABV. This cider was smooth, yet strong, everything that you could possibly want from a cider. Harvest cider and Stella’s Apple Pie were so popular that they were all tapped out before the festival was even over!
