Bronx Brewery forges ahead in the most hoppin’ borough

For a long time, Brooklyn was the only borough boasting a name that could be used to order a cold one.

As of Sept. 8, the Dodgers are once again competing against the Boogie Down.
At the Bronx Brewery’s launch party at the Bronx Ale House all a drinker had to do to get a beer was say, “I’ll have a Bronx.”

About 150 people showed up to try Bronx Pale Ale, an American-style beer that brewmaster Damian Brown describes as “balanced, something that a novice could enjoy.”

“This is a recipe that I designed from scratch, selecting malts and hops that I like to work with,” Mr. Brown said. “The first thing you get is a big assertive hop aroma, a citrusy aroma, which transitions into a malt aroma.”
Working out of the brewery’s Mott Haven headquarters, Mr. Brown said he made six or seven batches over the course of the last year before settling on a recipe he liked. 

“I think most indie pale ales on the market try to make their niche by being extremely strong, so they’re bitter and not terribly balanced,” Mr. Brown said.
Riverdale resident Steve O’Sullivan, along with partners Niall Henry and Mr. Brown, formed the Bronx Brewery in 2009 with promises of craft beer just a short wait away. But delays for fund raising, testing and re-testing batches of brew kept their first beer from filling kegs until recently.

They don’t yet have a brewery to call their own, but they bought their own fermentation tank at the Cottrell Brewing Company in Connecticut and Mr. Brown said he oversaw the beer’s brewing from start to finish.

Purchasing or renting space in another brewery is a common solution for small brewers who are still perfecting their recipes and building their businesses. The Jonas Bronck’s Beer Company and the Harlem Brewing Company, among others, make their beer with their assistance of already-established breweries.

Both Bronx Brewery and the Jonas Bronck’s Beer Company, another Bronx-based operation that premiered its first beer in July, are looking to set up permanent breweries in the borough.