In the two years since its opening, the Oyster Bay Brewing Company has been well received in the community and its popularity has allowed owners Gabe Haim and Ryan Schlotter to relocate to a much larger, more recognizable storefront spot on Audrey Avenue—the former location of Buckingham variety store. The renovations are coming along, though the new space will not be open in time for the Oyster Festival, which is only two weeks away.
“We’re in the build out phase; we have plans in with the town and the tanks are starting to arrive,” said Haim. “The building is intact, it’s just mostly aesthetics that are being worked on.”
Haim said the goal was to be open in time for Oyster Festival, but the architectural side took longer than expected. He said that each tank weighs 10,000 pounds when filled with beer and they have about a dozen tanks.
“So, it was important to make sure the floor is structurally sound enough to support all that weight,” said Haim.
During the Oyster Festival on Oct. 17 and 18, they will have a booth in front of their new location, offering information and letting people peek into the windows to see the tanks. Since the festival itself is alcohol free, they’ll be directing people to the current location at 76 South St. for tastings or to fill a growler.
He said they are anxious to open up, however, since they are paying rent on both locations. The current space opened in 2013 and they have quickly outgrown it. Haim, of Bayville, and Schlotter, of Centerport, are simply beer connoisseurs who had a dream of opening a microbrewery after experimenting with home brews.
“We chose Oyster Bay because we are both really into history and Oyster Bay is one of the more historical and recognizable towns on Long Island,” said Haim. “When you’re trying to market, it helps to have brand recognition. Plus, there was nothing like this on the North Shore.”
Haim said it took a solid year for the company to take off since the inception of the idea and even over the past two years, he feels it has been experimental.
“We are constantly tweaking recipes to get a more consistent product,” Haim said. “I’m never completely satisfied, so I tinker with it, and we try to cater to what people like and don’t like.”
When they started, Haim and Schlotter were doing it all, on top of their full-time jobs at Rallye BMW in Westbury. Now, they are each there about three to four nights a week, but they have grown and expanded enough to support nine paid staff positions, including one for head brewmaster Michael Bank, who was hired in July. Bank came from Ithaca Beer Company, where he worked for nearly five years. He was at Long Trail Brewing Company prior.
“Mike does all the recipe formation,” said Haim. “He holds a tasting panel every week where we compare older brews with newer ones and we discuss what we like and what we want to improve upon. That’s the fun part.”
That dedication to quality control of the product has no doubt helped the growth of the brewing company.
“The industry is growing so fast; we knew that if we had a good business model and a good product, we would be on that trajectory,” said Haim. “But now that we are designing the new space, it feels like a real business. It’s actually growing the way we thought. And it’s refreshing; we feel like we’re doing something good because we are bringing people in to town, and the are spending ‘tourism money’ by visiting restaurants and shops. We have more than 1,000 names on our guest book, with people from all over the country.”
Also, with the new space, he said they will be able to give people a real tour.
“In our current space, people ask for a tour and I say, okay, turn around,” said Haim. “It’s exciting to know we will be able to show people how it works. I see it every day and still find it fascinating.”
With the popularity of microbreweries and brew pubs growing, he said a lot of people come in expecting food, which they don’t have and have not decided whether they will include it in the new location.
“We haven’t decided what we’re going to do about food yet,” said Haim. “It presents a whole different business. Plus, there are so many great restaurants in town that we always steer people to and the pizza places deliver or we encourage people to bring in sandwiches. Our main goal is to get in and get operating.”
