NOVEMBER 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 67
BREWSA:
BREWS FOR VETS By BERNIE KILKELLY
Freeport’s famed Nautical Mile has
become a craft beer destination with
the additions of The Craft House, The
Beer Garden, the Nautical Mile Craft
Brew Fest and a craft brewery, BrewSA
Brewing Company.
Long Islanders Tom Limerick, Steve
Walley and Billy McLaughlin — who
met while working on Wall Street and
bonded over their love of beer — opened
the brewery and taproom in 2017.
“We realized that the most popular
lagers in the U.S. are all foreign owned,”
says Limerick. “We decided to make a lager
with 100-percent American-grown
ingredients.”
The founders also wanted to support
veterans, so they donate 25 percent of
BrewSA’s profits to veterans’ charities and
donate beer to fundraisers for such groups.
BrewSA typically has 12 beers on
tap, according to Head Brewer Peter
Tripp, who joined the brewery in July
after having run Homebrews & Handgrenades,
a homebrew supply shop in
Baldwin, for the past five years.
The core beers include American
Pilsner and Pilsner Light, Wheat and
Cherry Wheat, and American Pale
Ale and Double IPA. Tripp has begun
to introduce his own recipes, such as a
New England IPA and a Pumpkin Ale.
BrewSA will soon be installing two
seven-barrel Unitanks, which allow
brewers to ferment, carbonate and
filter a brew all out of the same tank.
“With the Unitanks we’ll be able to
do one-off seasonal beers,” says Tripp,
“like a Gingerbread Cookie Brown Ale
for the holidays.”
American Pilsner was their first.
After perfecting the recipe and contract
brewing the beer in Wisconsin, Brew-
SA looked to build a brewery on Long
Island and quickly settled on Freeport.
BrewSA took over a large building
that housed a boat repair company
and installed a 15-barrel brewing system
with capacity to produce 10,000
barrels a year. The spacious taproom
looks out on Woodcleft Avenue and
the canal, with the brewhouse visible
behind the bar. Patrons can order food
from local restaurants to be delivered
to the brewery.
“I knew the Nautical Mile would be
perfect for us,” says Limerick. “There
are so many great restaurants and
people can stop at our taproom before
or after a meal.”
BrewSA Brewing Company is
located at 180 Woodcleft Ave., Freeport.
They can be reached at 516-721-
9332 or BrewSA.com.
Bernie Kilkelly is the editor and
publisher of LIBeerGuide.com.
MAIN DISH
Head brewer Peter Tripp fills a growler at BrewSA.