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Bay Shore is about to get itself another micro brewery and tasting room.
The comrades behind The Brewers Collective Beer Company are getting set to open their doors later this month.
The brewery at 1460 North Clinton Avenue has been over two years in the making, but The Brewers Collective itself debuted its work to the public at Blue Point’s 2012 Cask Ale Festival.
“People went bananas for the beer,” recalled Sarah Rich-Dougherty of Ronkonkoma, one of six Collective members. “And it was so inspiring, I don’t think we ever looked back.”
After making the jump from basement hobby to business endeavor, the brewers found shared space in Farmingdale in 2014 before settling on the Bay Shore spot about a year later.
They have built the brewery and tasting room in the former nondescript location of a motorcycle club at Unit C of the 1460 industrial block, at the northern end. (Right side of the building.)
“We signed a lease in October 2015 and started construction soon after,” Rich-Dougherty said.
Her husband, Tim Dougherty, is the head brewer at The Brewers Collective. The team is rounded out by Jason Weingarten of East Islip, Terry Gillen of Lindenhurst, Mike Depietto of West Islip and Mike Stetson of Shirley.
Each member brings skills has varied as construction to marketing to the effort, and they all helped build out the space in Bay Shore.
“I spray-painted the whole ceiling,” said Weingarten, pointing to the all-black overhead in the tasting room. “That was a lot.”
Despite their different backgrounds, each has a keen taste for beer and helps guide the creative process.
Dougherty said The Brewers Collective doesn’t have a flagship beer — such as Blue Point’s Toasted Lager.
“Flagships are almost becoming unfashionable; people are always looking for something different,” he said. “But we were the first commercial brewery on Long Island to do herbal beers. All of our gruits use herbs from local farms, out east mainly.”
He also mentioned Useful Idiot IPA, Proletariat Pale Ale and Schweet, a white IPA, as fan favorites.
The brew club formed in 2007, incorporated in 2012, and got its state license in 2014.
Most of The Brewers Collective members have backgrounds in IT or construction, and though a few members are no longer with the team since the club days, the current six make up the company’s partners. At least one partner will always be on hand in the tasting room.
The Collective brews using a three-barrel electric system. The tasting room features a bar and 12 tap lines, as well as a cask ale, with plenty of room for standing and sipping.
They expect to have eight beers ready for the soft opening — which will be for friends and family sometime soon — before their expected grand opening toward the end of February.
Tim Dougherty called the entire company “a reaction to our day jobs.”
“Here we’re all working with somebody, rather than working for somebody,” he said.
Not that it’s all snapping towels at The Collective.
“We have an incredible respect for the history of beer, and we like to incorporate the old traditions,” said Rich-Dougherty. “Nothing is willy nilly or trying to latch onto a trend.”
“We all love beer, local and international, so it is fun to grab inspiration from everywhere.”
The tasting room hours will be Thursday 5-8, Friday 4-9, Saturday 12-8 Sunday 1-5, to start.
Photo: (L-R) Terry Gillen, Jason Weingarten, Tim Dougherty, Sarah Rich-Dougherty, Mike Stetson and Mike Depietto at the tasting room bar in Bay Shore last week. (Credit: Michael White)
