OCTOBER 2017 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 39
FOOD & DRINK
Craft brewing’s other Adams
At St. James Brewery, proprietary yeast,
Belgian styling and plum-enhanced porter
By BERNIE KILKELLY
While craft beer’s popularity is
decidedly a national trend, Long
Island’s growth in the sector has
come in large part from the 2012
New York state law creating the
“farm brewery” license.
Under it, breweries that agree to
source at least 20 percent of their
hops and other ingredients from
New York farms can get special
privileges, including the right to
open as many as five tasting rooms
from which to sell beer by the pint
and to take away.
The Farm Brewery law was modeled
after a 1976 Farm Winery Act
that tripled the number of wineries
in New York State. What worked
for wine has also worked for beer,
with the number of craft breweries
in the state doubling to over 300,
with more than half of those farm
breweries. Our region is now home
to 20 farm breweries ranging from
Barrier Brewing in Oceanside to
Greenport Harbor Brewing on the
North Fork.
One of the first breweries on Long
Island to take advantage of the
farm brewery license was Saint
James Brewery, which produces
Belgian-style ales at its operation
in Holbrook. Its name comes from
Saint James the Greater, not the
north shore hamlet in Smithtown.
Brewmaster Jamie Adams, a Long
Island native, fell in love with Belgian
beers while attending Colby
College in Maine.
“I first tried Allagash White, a
delicious unfiltered Belgian-style
Witbier, at a pub in Portland,” said
Adams. “Around that time I was
starting to homebrew, so I decided
to try as many Belgian styles as I
could learn.”
Adams and his wife Rachel founded
Saint James Brewery in 2010
after Jamie’s homebrews got rave
reviews at the Blue Point Cask Ales
Fest and he was encouraged to go
professional. Jamie’s devotion to
Belgian-style ales includes following
traditional Belgian practices in
his brewing.
“All of our beers are made with our
own proprietary yeast strain,” he
said. “This ensures a unique flavor
profile across all Saint James beers.”
Among the brewery’s year-round
offerings are Rachelle Blanche, a
traditional witbier; Biere Des Chevaliers,
a dubbel ale; Belgian Style
Tripel; and a Quadrupel Holiday
Ale made at year end. Fruit ales are
made seasonally based on availability,
including Peche (peaches),
La Mure (blackberries), Pomme
(apples), Framboise (raspberries)
and Cherie, a blonde ale made
with local honey. For the fall, Saint
James is planning a seasonal beer
using plums to enhance a rich,
malty porter.
The lineup uses hops from Condzella
Farm in Wading River,
peaches and apples from Richter
Orchards in Northport and
strawberries from Sujecki Farms in
Calverton. The brewery also uses
malt from grains grown by New
York Craft Malt in upstate Batavia.
“While we’re only required to use
20 percent of our ingredients from
New York State, some of our beers
are 100 percent New York sourced,”
he noted.
In 2015, production moved to a
2,000-square-foot brewhouse in an
industrial park in Holbrook, from
which the couple have focused on
distribution to craft beer bars in
Manhattan, Brooklyn and across
Long Island, as well as selling
bottles and growlers at a number of
farmers markets across the Island.
With further growth in mind, the
brewery added new fermenting
tanks earlier this year to increase
the production capacity of its
six-barrel brewing system.
In May, Saint James opened a small
tasting room that sells bottles and
growlers to take away, and Adams
is exploring sites to open additional
tasting rooms in more heavily
trafficked locations. Potential spots
include Manhattan, Brooklyn and
Huntington.
Kilkelly is the editor and publisher
of the authoritative LIBeerGuide.
com and a frequent contributor to
national beer publications. Reach
him at libeerguide@gmail.com.
Rachel and Jamie Adams of St. James Brewery. Which is in Holbrook. (Press photo Bob Giglione.)
