Craft Beer Cellar is a welcome and unique addition to Port Washington’s Main Street. It had its grand opening on Sept. 19, fittingly, the same day as Pride in Port. The store was bustling with customers enjoying free samples of beer and nuts and choosing from the hundreds of different kinds of beers that lined the shelves.
Craft Beer Cellar, located at 24 Main St., is owned by Erin and Trish Molyneux. Molyneux is excited to finally be open after months of renovations and obtaining the necessary licenses and permits.
“My wife grew up in Port and we knew we wanted to open this business here,” said Molyneux. “We used other local businesses for the work we did: Chief Graphix, Anthony’s World of Floors, Salem Electric and architect Robert Walton.”
Craft Beer Cellar sells craft beer in growlers and “Crowlers” and of course bottles and cans. “We are only the third place in New York to have a Crowler canning machine. A Crowler is filled from a tab and sealed with a pop top. It’s two pints of beer, 32 ounces, and can be taken on a boat or to the beach.”
Molyneux continued, “Growlers are 64-ounce glass containers. We also have growlettes, which are 32-ounce, but the glass doesn’t travel as well on a boat as the Crowler.”
Craft Beer Cellar has 12 keg taps, said Molyneux, with one dedicated to soda and another for CO₂. The CO₂ purges air from the container prior to filling with beer, prolonging the freshness of the beer inside. The remaining 10 taps rotate different beer styles, and always feature a couple of local breweries.
They have one tap for Syrinac soda, from New York’s oldest brewery. “Syrinac survived Prohibition by selling soda,” said Molyneux. “We use different levels of carbonation for different types of beer. We want the beer to leave here as close to how it left the brewery as possible. We maintain that quality.”
Molyneux will rotate the beers on tap on a regular basis, varying with the seasons. “We rotate different breweries. We’ll always have a Belgian and an IPA.”
Molyneux will also have 800 to 900 different labels on the shelves at any given time. “We have a big, robust selection.”
Craft Beer Cellars is a chain, although this is only the second in all of New York, said Molyneux. “The other one is in Warwick. Craft Beer Cellars started in Boston.”
The Greater Port Washington Business Improvement District’s (BID) New Tenant Bonus Program recently awarded Craft Beer Cellar $3,000. “This money was used to purchase a Crowler machine,” said Molyneux. “The Crowler will enable us to seal 32-ounce cans of beer filled fresh from one of our several taps.”
“The purpose of the New Tenant Bonus Program is to allow our organization to help start a business within the BID district. We are excited that Craft Beer Cellar has decided to open in Port Washington and we will look forward to helping them in their endeavors,” said Mariann Dalimonte, executive director of BID.
Molyneux’s business card states that he is a “master craftsman and eternal hoptimist.” Molyneux said that his top priority is service. “We are beer geeks, not beer snobs. We are ready to serve the town.”
For more information about Craft Beer Cellars, go to www.portwashington@craftbeercellar.com/portwashington.
