APRIL 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 63
TWIN FORK BEER COMPANY
PITCH-PERFECT BREWS
BY BERNIE KILKELLY
Visitors to craft breweries may sometimes
see double, especially after a few
pints. But at Twin Fork Beer Company,
which opened in Riverhead in October
2020, customers would not be mistaken
if they ran into the founders, identical
twin brothers Dan and Peter Chekijian.
The brewery’s name is a triple homage
to the Twin Forks region, the twin
brothers, and to tuning forks used to
tune musical instruments, because
their father was a classical pianist.
“We use the tuning fork in our logo
and in our distinctive tap handles to
show our love and respect for music,”
says Peter, whose younger brother is a
professional musician.
After pursuing a variety of jobs in manufacturing,
sales, and wine importing,
Peter started homebrewing in 2008 and
joined the Brewers East End Revival
homebrew club. He then interned at
Long Ireland Beer Company in Riverhead
to deepen his brewing skills, and
his brother joined him in the dream of
starting their own brewery.
The brothers took the leap in 2014 and
founded Twin Fork Beer Co., contract
brewing their beers at local breweries.
They wanted to be part of the craft beer
boom that has now resulted in Riverhead
having the most craft breweries
of any town on Long Island.
In 2018 on an undeveloped lot on Raynor
Avenue, they broke ground on
an 11,480-square-foot facility with a
20-barrel brewhouse, cold storage for
distribution, and a tasting room. The
expanded production capacity of their
new brewery will enable Twin Fork to
continue expanding self-distribution
of cans and kegs across the New York
Metro area.
Twin Fork’s beers have names that also
pay tribute to musical
terms, including the
flagship Chromatic
Pale Ale, Crescendo
IPA, Minuet Session
IPA and Sonata, a
Kölsch-style Lager
Ale. Seasonal beers
include rich Legato
Stout in the winter,
Harvest Notes amber
ale in the fall, and the
soon-to-be-released
Summer Notes ale.
Before opening, the
brewery received
approval to expand
its tasting room to
provide more space
for social distancing
during the pandemic.
Savannah Kurz, tasting
room manager, said the
brewery’s priority is the health and
safety of its customers and employees.
“We have an outdoor
area with picnic tables
that was great to use
on warmer days,” said
Kurz, “and we look
forward to opening
that up again this
spring.”
Twin Fork will soon
have its own permanent
food truck at the
brewery, serving food
in perfect harmony
with its beers.
Twin Fork Beer
Company is located
at 807 Raynor Avenue
in Riverhead.
For more info visit
twinforkbeer.com.
Bernie Kilkelly
is the editor and publisher of LIBeer-
Guide.com.
MAIN DISH
Twin Fork’s logo made out of beer
cans in its tasting room.
PROHIBITION KITCHEN QUEEN BEE BUZZES
BY CJ ARLOTTA
The return of spring brings with it
bees, bee stings, and, of course, their
sweet honey.
To celebrate spring’s return, adding
the right amount of honey syrup to a
cocktail can make all the difference,
even in the case of a classic, which
the mixologists at Prohibition Kitchen
in Port Jefferson have created.
“The queen bee is the perfect spring
cocktail to sip on a warm spring night,”
says Andrew Bromm, bar manager at
Prohibition Kitchen, which opened
its doors in early 2019. “We wanted to
create a perfect whiskey sour for the
springtime.”
As with the ingredients in its meals,
Prohibition Kitchen prefers to use local
or regional ingredients in its cocktails
whenever possible. The restaurant
prides itself on serving the products of
local vineyards, dairy farms, vegetable
farmers, breweries, and, of course,
distilleries.
“Here at Prohibition, we love the
brands we use to be close to home,
and using All Points West Distillery’s
award-winning Malt and Grain Pot
Still Whiskey, we knew we couldn’t go
wrong,” he says.
In addition to whiskey, the queen bee
cocktail includes honey syrup, lemon,
lavender bitters, and egg foam.
“With a beautiful blend of malted barley
and honey on the palate, this was
a perfect choice for our floral riff on
this classic of classics,” Bromm says.
“We kicked the sweetness up a notch
with some of our own local Long
Island honey, added some dashes of
lavender bitters, and then, following
tradition, shook with an egg white for a
well-balanced, delicate and disarming
cocktail.”
“Perf
e c t
for any
coc k ta i l
novice who’s
ready to take the
next step,” he says.
Prohibition Kitchen is located
at 115 Main St. in Port Jefferson.
It can be reached
at 631-473-0613 or
prohibitionpj.com
The queen bee
uses honey for
the perfect spring
cocktail.
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