AUGUST 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 81
MAIN DISH
ÜBERGEEK BREWING COMPANY
RIVERHEAD’S NEW BREWS
BY DAVID TAYLOR
A month after Moustache Brewing Company
closed the doors of its Riverhead
tasting room, the space reopened as the
home base of Long Island brewmaster
Rob Raffa’s popular, nomadic brewing
company übergeek.
From being home brewer to Moustache’s
head brewer to founder of übergeek
Brewing Company in under a decade,
Raffa has quickly cemented himself in
the Long Island beer scene, with a loyal
fanbase and many connections both
up-island and on the East End.
“We übergeek were able to build our
entire network, so to speak, from word
of mouth from selling wholesale,” Raffa
says, noting that many of his customers
hail from the Islip-Lindenhurst area. “I
had a slight reputation myself before
even starting, just from making quality
beer at Moustache, and I have a lot of
friends, brewers and beer distributor
owners who were willing to try my
product and push it out to market.”
After a year and a half of brewing
übergeek at local breweries such as
North Fork Brewing Company, Raffa
reached out to Matthew and Lauri Spitz,
owners of Moustache Brewing Company,
where he had worked for six years,
in search of a more permanent physical
space. With a Chapter 11 bankruptcy
filed last summer, the Spitzes jumped
at the offer, deciding to have their beer
crafted elsewhere moving forward,
while Raffa takes over the Moustache
tasting room.
“It’s a very unique situation, because it’s
a turnkey coming in, which is a huge
help,” Raffa explains. “But the main thing
is that I’ve used that brewing system for
years, so I was able to walk in and just
immediately start brewing...and I think
that’s a huge advantage and why we’re
able to flip and rebrand the space, get
beer brewed and be open in a month.”
As for the beer itself, the tasting room will
offer a total of 10 beers on tap, cans of the
brewery’s popular portfolio, as well as
mead, cider and wine from fellow Long
Island businesses. The Eat Me, Drink Me
Food Truck will also be on the premises,
offering incredible food to be enjoyed in
the indoor or outdoor seating areas.
Raffa expresses a great deal of excitement
at the thought of connecting with
his community in Riverhead—from the
up-island übergeek fans of his nomadic
days to the East Enders who remember
his Moustache days fondly to the new
friends who are sure to fall in love with
his unique, eccentric brews.
To learn more about übergeek Brewing
Company, visit ubergeekbrewing.
com. This story first appeared in Dan’s
Papers.
Rob Raffa, owner of übergeek Brewing Company (Courtesy übergeek Brewing Company)
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njlakefront@gmail.com
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