Blue Point Brewing Co. held a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 27 for its forthcoming new brewery West Main Street in downtown Patchogue village at a site was formerly the long-time home of a lace factory and most recently housed the now-closed Briarcliffe College.
The 54,000-square-foot building will now be transformed into a state-of-the-art brewery, featuring a second floor restaurant and tasting room overlooking the brewing operations, along with an outdoor beer garden. The new brewery is expected to open in the summer of 2018, just in time for the 20th anniversary of Blue Point’s founding in Patchogue.
“We’re proud to break ground on our new brewery right here where it all began,” said Mark Burford, co-founder and brewmaster emeritus, who added that the new brewery will enable Blue Point’s talented team of brewers to focus on what’s most important to them: the beer. “We will have the equipment and technology to help us bring to life the innovative ideas and recipes we come up for great beers.”
The new brewery is expected to have an annual capacity of 60,000 barrels, substantially higher than Blue Point’s original brewery on River Avenue, just a half mile away.
Blue Point, which was purchased by Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2014, is also committed to remaining an active part of the Patchogue community. Many county and local officials, including Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri, were on hand for the groundbreaking and spoke highly of Blue Point’s role in helping to spur economic development in Patchogue.
“Maybe now it is time for us to stop talking about the revitalization of Patchogue and recognize that Patchogue has arrived,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said to Mayor Pontieri.
