Author: Niko Krommydas

Over the last year, New Jersey’s Magnify Brewing Company has emerged as one in a small but growing group of beer makers across the country producing IPAs, particularly in the New England style, that enthusiasts will queue up for hours to acquire.

Located below a red awning advertising fine foods and craft beer in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, the low-slung basement space that is home to Mekelburg’s is far from a traditional bar and restaurant.

When Gun Hill Brewing Co. opened in February 2014, it was the Bronx’s first production brewery in over 50 years—since the Rheingold facility closed in the 1960s.

Queens has developed a strong beer scene in recent years, a feat largely propelled by an impressive group of new breweries to open in New York City’s largest borough.

Michael Kane started making beer in college. The summer after his sophomore year, he traveled throughout Europe and became enamored with cask-conditioned ESBs, Lambics, Hefeweizens. Back in the US, weekend pilgrimages to newly opened breweries cemented his career aspirations.

The distance between Peekskill’s old and new homes is only two-tenths of a mile, but their differences are dramatic. The latter features a 15-barrel brewhouse and a 16-draft taproom on the first floor, with a 65-seat restaurant and another 16 drafts pouring on the second floor.