Two Breweries To Come To The Bronx

By Selena Ricks-Good

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Following in the steps of Brooklyn's craft beer movement, the Bronx is the next borough to sell local suds, as two start-up breweries plan to build facilities within the next year.

Before Prohibition, the Bronx was home to several German Breweries, but today, the borough is not known as a craft beer destination.

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Jonas Bronck's Beer Company, named for the Swedish settler who gave the Bronx its name, launched in July with the release of Pelham Bay IPA and Woodlawn Weiss. Founded by Steve Nallen of Woodlawn, the beers are brewed at a brewery in upstate New York while plans for a Bronx microbrewery are in the works.

Meanwhile, The Bronx Brewery began production in March and has its Manhattan launch party Thur at Amity Hall in Greenwich Village from 6 to 11 p.m. The beer hall will pour Bronx Pale Ale while Slantshack Jerky will pair their grass-fed beef jerky with the beer.

Currently made at Cottrell Brewing Company in Connecticut, The Bronx Brewery also intends to open its own production brewery in the Bronx sometime next year, said co-founder and head brewer Damian Brown. While Brown and co-founder Chris Gallant do not live in the Bronx, a third partner, Steve O'Sullivan, was born and raised in the borough.

"The idea was to bring brewing back to the Bronx, a borough rich in brewing tradition, and to give the Bronx and New York City a flagship ale to call their own," said Brown.

Brown, who began homebrewing 10 years ago while living in Nashville, attended the Master Brewers' Program at the University of California, Davis and earned his brewing certification from the Institute of Brewing & Distilling before moving to New York.

Brown said it took him at least six months to create the Bronx Pale Ale recipe, which he describes as a deep amber, American-style pale ale.

"It is brewed with five different barley malts, generous additions of Cascade and Centennial hops, and a unique strain of yeast," he said. "The British, German and American malts used provide a blend of caramel, biscuit, and nutty malt flavors. The hops provide a gentle, pleasant bitterness with an intense floral and citrus aroma. It is dry-hopped, unfiltered and unpasteurized."

Brown said the company is already working on their second beer, which they hope to release in the spring.