Barrage Brewing - first keg delivered

Nice, I would certainly love to try this, definitely ISO not to hijack here.

I am excited for Long Island brewing, just wanna put that out there, I am a Long Islander, Jones beach, Bay shore, Farmingdale, etc. all my old haunts. Heck I worked four summers at the beach and worked a Summer at the theater, then an off Broadway Musicals venue, with Guy Lombardo Orchestra, and the name of the party tent was the Schaefer (Beer) Dance Tent.

I hope Barrage and all the others who have stepped up their games make enough great beer I can try a bunch.

 

Brooklyn border too. I'll take the ferry and fool them all.

 

The color was definitely similar. Smell was pretty damn good, too.

 

So, of course I'm going to check this place out to support them but what was the overall opinion?

 

At this point it's basically Steve in a garage in a strip mall from 12-4 on Sundays. I went last Sunday and picked up a couple growlers. I thought the Fairy Tale Red was pretty solid, and the stout is definitely worth a try as well. I also got a taste of his Galaxy Pale Ale and would suggest giving it a try.

Pro Tip about finding the place: As your going down Allen Boulevard after turning off 110 there will be a chain link fence on the left side of the road with a small Barrage Brewing sign with an arrow. It's not the most noticeable sign (blue on black on a dark grey fence) and it's not that large. If you hit the intersection you've gone too far. The brewery is set way off from the road and I went past it a couple times before I got it all sorted out.

The growler station is set up for 4 different beers, and it definitely seemed like when it's gone it's gone. So if there's something on that you're interested in tasting, try getting there closer to 12 than 4.

 

The Famous Last Words is definitely a winner. The alcohol was hidden very well in that.

 

been to barrage the last 2 sundays and probably every sunday thereafter (as long as the lines keep offering new goodies) - although word on the street is that they might switch to saturday's instead of sundays - check facebook page for updates since that seems to be the hub for info.

here's my thoughts thus far:
week 1 (superbowl sunday) - walked into the "brewery" with baby in stroller and (sleeping) toddler daughter and wife waiting in the car - be right back honey, just gonna grab a growler...should take 3 minutes. BOY was i surprised to see about a dozen people inside there. steve was pouring samples of the 3 active lines (1 had some carb problems?) while everyone stood and watched a 64oz'er of galaxy pale ale get filled. that was the last growler steve filled - apparently took like 20 minutes or so to fill...so now we are down to 2 lines. everyone was waiting for fairy tale red (which is actually a pretty tasty red and i'm not a fan of that style). steve said they'd probably always have that up, so after an ounce or two taste of last words, i filled a 32oz with that one and off i went. got home and upon further inspection i dug it...but it had a coconut thing going on and i hate coconut. it wasn't big enough to make me dislike the beer, but definitely big enough to make it not as stellar to me as i had heard it was. none-the-less, beers that rival some of my favs from the local scene.

week 2 (this past sunday) - this time the fam was awake so we all came into the brewery...again several people hanging out and getting growler fills. i took tastes of the stuff i hadn't tried (fairy tale red and last words were still up but there was black spot - black rye and a citralization). one sip of citralization and i was sold. 32oz fill of that and boy did i rip through that puppy later. like others stated, i usually don't drink beers in the 5% range, but this was an uber hopped out session beer. citra all day...which i love. at first felt like a watered down IIPA, but wait, this is no IIPA, in fact, this is no IPA, this is an APA!!! really impressive beer!!!

in a nutshell, can't wait to get a new fill this weekend. i'm very enthused by this operation...mostly because the universal flavor to steve's beers comes in the feel and body. kind of like the way that every hill farmstead beer (and no, i am NOT comparing barrage to hill farmstead) has certain characteristics to the body that make you say...ooh, tastes like a HF brew...barrage has that going on. kind of like, the water that is used type of thing that makes pizza or a bagel on LI so tasty compared to other areas.

couldn't be happier to have this place a cool 10/15 minutes from my home. there is no doubt about it...LI brewers have been stepping up their game. they are listening to feedback and tweaking beer to appease our finicky taste buds. the one thing that seems so promising about barrage is the universal characteristics to steve's beers. there is a certain something about them despite which beer you try that you will pick up. a certain quality that works for what i look for in a beer. i eagerly look forward to more from barrage and hope that other LI brewers continue on their path of growth and refinement. cheers LI...we are no longer a 3rd world nation for beer...but still have a long way to go before we become MI or CA.

 

hey...i say we turn them into Bl Pt or somthing...what do you say?? who's w/ me??

 

hit the homebrew stores

 

The 32s at Bierkraft might work for you... if you ever find yourself in Brooklyn. It's not hard finding a beer to take home there.

 

I've hung out with Steve before, shared many bottles with him. All I can say is he's a huge hop head and expect some great ipas from him. I think he's proven himself already

 

Superstar Beverage places have a clear 32 oz with a wide mouth. Have run into the same problem at some places.