CALENDAR -CONTINUED FROM PG. 52- programs. For more information, call 1-718-497-2908. MIDDLE VILLAGE Adult Center, 69-10 75th St., will hold aerobics to music at 9 a.m., watercolor painting at 9 a.m. For more information, call 1-718- 894-3441. THE WOODSIDE CLINIC, 61- 20 Woodside Ave., provides support groups, human services, day activity program, food pantry, meals-on-wheels and senior assistance program. For more information, call 1-718- 779-1234. FOREST HILLS SENIOR CENTER, 108-25 62nd Dr., will hold various programs, plus hot lunch. For more information, call 1-718-699-1010. MASPETH SELF-HELP SENIOR CENTER, 69-61 Grand Ave., Maspeth will hold exercise and bingo. Hot lunch at noon. Transportation available. Call 1- 718-429-3636 for information. Maspeth Beermaker Ready To Launch Microbrewery In Ridgewood -CONTINUED FROM PG. 19- Castagna quickly realized his passion for brewing could evolve into a successful business endeavor. “I think I was always kind of following this path toward eventually doing this on a commercial scale,” he explained. Castagna spent three years building and perfecting a brewing system in a basement workshop in his mother’s home in Maspeth before successfully applying for a commercial license. The construction of the home brewery proved to be a valuable bonding experience for Castagna and his elderly mother. “The building process would remind her of the kind of projects that my father used to work on,” he explained. “She used to sit down there in the workroom while I was building out the kettles and just watch. It was quality time that we spent together.” Castagna credits the support and praise from his mother as motivation to keep working toward his dream. “My mom was older and I would say ‘Hey, how about me and you become partners in this?’ and she would say ‘Alright, I’ll be your partner,’” he explained. “She was very encouraging and wanted to see it continue.” After his mother died, Castagna and his family moved into his Maspeth childhood home and relocated the fully operational brewing system to the garage. Bridge and Tunnel Brewery became officially commercially licensed in September 2012. The brewery launched in November 2012 with a cask of Ol Gilmartin Milk and Oatmeal Stout, named in honor of Castagna’s mother. The cask was offered to the public at DBA in Brooklyn. It was so popular during its initial run that it sold out in its first week on tap. Castagna followed the success of his oatmeal milk stout with Tiger Eyes Hazelnut Brown Ale and the “Angry Amel” Dunkelweizen, aptly named for a grouchy boyhood neighbor. “The first handful of recipes were recipes I did as a home brewer,” he said, “They were recipes I enjoyed brewing for us and then I scaled them up.” Local pride Castagna deliberately chose Ridgewood as the home for Bridge and Tunnel not because of the area’s trendy new status, but because his own personal roots and community ties run deep. “My whole upbringing kept getting pulled back to Ridgewood,” he explained. “It feels good to be here.” Castagna was born in Wyckoff Hospital and raised near Fresh Pond Road on the Maspeth/Ridgewood border. He attended elementary and high school in Ridgewood and recalled summers spent playing little league in Farmers Oval or day camp at the Catalpa Avenue (Ridgewood) YMCA. As an adult, Castagna spent 10 years traveling abroad throughout Asia and other parts of the globe. Yet, he never forgot his personal ties to Queens. “No matter where I went, I was always the guy from New York,” he added. “When I came back, I realized that I was the same kid from Queens regardless of where I went. Now that I’m back, I feel more of a connection to the place.” Castagna’s pride in his Queens heritage is reflected in his choice of ingredients, as well as the stories behind his beer. He will often try to include locally sourced ingredients in his beer recipes, such as small batches of Maspeth-grown dry hops or honey from Glendale-based Wilk Apiary. Another aspect that sets Bridge and Tunnel apart from other breweries is Castagna’s use of unique names and back-stories behind each brew. “It always starts with a story,” he said. Each story acts as a way to capture a feeling of a bygone time while honoring the neighborhood’s rich and diverse past. “There’s so much history on a personal and historical level in this area that’s not necessarily being paid attention to anymore,” Castagna stated. “I feel like it’s my duty, being from this place, to retell those stories. I don’t want the old character to be lost.” A fine example of this is the story behind Bridge and Tunnel’s “1642 Mespeatches Colonial Ale” which launched last September for Honey Week in Long Island City. This honey spruce ale was inspired by the first colonists who ventured into Queens from Manhattan back in 1642. According to Castagna, the early Dutch settlers mistreated the Mespeatches tribe that resided in a village near Mount Zion Cemetery in Maspeth. The tribe sent the settlers back to Manhattan within the first year. Castagna’s told this story as he poured the beer itself at the Honey Week presentation. His choice of local ingredients added an extra layer of historical relevance to the tale. “I did some research and worked with ingredients the first colonists would have had access to,” he said. According to Castagna, the scarcity of hops would have prompted colonists to use spruce, birch or sassafras. Castagna used spruce tips as a bittering agent in place of the hops, and partnered with Wilk Apiary to incorporate honey harvested from a Maspeth beehive. “The ingredients were as locally and historically authentic as you can get,” he explained. Castagna wants the “1642” ale to be a permanent part of the rotating roster of brews on tap at the brewery and looks forward to retelling the story to future taproom patrons. Looking forward Bridge and Tunnel Brewery will be opening its doors during a very interesting time in Ridgewood. The neighborhood itself has recently received a lot of attention, both welcomed and unwanted. Many locals scoff at the comparisons to other trendy communities and media-created portmanteaus for the neighborhood such as “Quooklyn.” As a Ridgewood native, Castagna has a unique perspective on the neighborhood’s evolution and his role in these changes. “It’s cool to see it changing, but if it’s going to change, I want to be a part of that change,” he explained, “I want to help sculpt it in the right way.” Castagna welcomes newcomers to the neighborhood but also urges them to get to know the locals and their history. “Become part of the fabric,” he said. “There’s been a fabric here for a while.” All in all, Castagna is excited to be part of Ridgewood’s evolution and is looking forward to years of success in his hometown. “Any neighborhood can be something great, something to aspire to,” he added. “You just have to take interest in it.” Visit Our Archives At www.TimesNewsweekly.com 53 • TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2014
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