Long Island Restaurant ReviewsBrick House Brewery: A Place With Ties to the Community
The brick building on West Main Street was constructed in the 1850s. “It used to be a general store,” said Ryan Murray, Brick House Brewery’s assistant general manager. A menu provided to Patchogue-Medford News by Murray offers a unique history of the building. John S. Havens was the building’s first owner, according to the menu’s history. In 1914, the building was sold to James G. Shand. In 1990, the family closed down the business, and the building sat vacant until 1995. During the renovation process, many of the remnants from the Shand store remained as a form of nostalgia. The current owners used a “reduce, reuse, recycle” approach to when they built the bar. “The bar top is made of floor boards, and we sanded it down,” Murray said. He pointed out that the wooden sign bearing the Shand name behind the bar, and showed slots in the sides of the walls. “Those holes in the wall used to be [where] the beams [were],” he said, meaning the floor used to be a lot higher than what it is now. When Murray was 15, he started working at Brick House Brewery when it first opened, as a busboy. During that time, he also heard that the building was used during the Civil War as part of The Underground Railroad. Legend has it that the original owners were abolitionists who aided runaway slaves from the South make their way into Canada. “The rumor is that it was a stop for The Underground Railroad,” he said. “That’s never been corroborated, but I met some of the offspring [of James Shand] and they said, ‘Is it true?’ I said, ‘That’s what I’ve been told. ... [This building] has a lot of history. … It’s the oldest community building in Patchogue. It’s a landmark.” Aside from the bottled and tap beers, Brick House Brewery brews and serves its own beers. The flagship beers include the Street Light, which is a light beer; the Nitro Boom Stout, a creamy dark beer; Hurricane Kitty, made with hops from the Brick House Brewery’s own hops garden; and Boys Red, which, according to the restaurant, was voted best red beer on Long Island. “We always have these four mainstays on tap,” he said. In addition, Brick House Brewery offers seasonal beers such as Pumpkin Stout for Halloween, Summer Buzz for the summertime, and the Oktoberfest for this month. The Honey Wheat Ale, which is offered in the month of July, is “awesome,” Murray said. Some of the recommended beers include the Belgian White Ale ($3.00) with its smooth, creamy taste; the Nitro Stout that is dark but not heavy; and the guest beer, Keegan Ale’s Old Capitol ($5.00), best described as full and crisp. Murray called the Belgian White Ale “my favorite,” and the Nitro Stout “my favorite in the colder months.” Beers are $3 during happy hour 4-7 p.m.; otherwise, they are $5 each, All the beers are brewed under the supervision of Jim Richards that undergoes a nine-step process. The Brick House brews an average of 300-600 gallons of beer a week. According to Murray, it takes “three weeks, from start to finish,” he said. For those who want to nosh on the appetizers while watching the big game on any of the large flat screen TVs in the bar area, the beer-battered shrimp ($9.00) glazed in Brick House Brewery’s own Street Light tempura and tangy cocktail sauce hits the spot. The Brewmaster Wings ($9.00), are well seasoned, covered in garlic and parmesan cheese and tasty ranch sauce. The menu also offers dinners, sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads, as well as weekly specials. If you’re lucky, you might be able to order the chicken cordon bleu ($17.00) that week. The breaded chicken breast is stuffed with ham and cheese, and topped off with a zesty sauce and garnished with scallions for flavor, and served with yellow rice and leafy spinach sautéed in olive oil and garlic. With a staff of 45 people, the Brick House can also handle the pre-theater dinner crowd who grab a bite to eat before going to a show at the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts. Depending on the size of the crowd, there are two to four servers available. “Most of the staff has been here at least two years,” Murray said. There is both an upstairs and downstairs dining area that can accommodate more than 150 people. “Technically, we are a brew pub,” Murray said. “People come in because they hear about our food, then they try one of our pints, or vice versa. People stop in for a pint, then get hungry, so that really complements each other.” But there’s more. “We’re the only brewery to offer pizza, burgers, steaks and a raw bar,” Murray said, adding they offer weekly specials. “We try to have something for everyone.” The food is provided by local suppliers such as Capricorn Fish Market, Majestic Meats and Karl Ehmer. “We use a lot of the local suppliers,” Murray said. “We try to stay within [the community].” Community is a top priority for Brick House Brewery, according to Murray. The restaurant has been opened up for Kiwanis Club fundraisers, Stop The Violence (to benefit domestic violence programs), the Toast to Our Troops and Friends of Shorefront Park concert featuring local musicians such as Jay Scott. Other fundraisers include the Chili Cook-Off, the Graveyard Blues Jam and the Alive After Five series. “The nice thing is we do give a lot back to the community because the community has been so great to us,” Murray said. Besides live music nightly, Brick House Brewery holds fun events such as Fifties Night, in which customers who dress up get a free pint of beer; Pajama Night, which is held every couple of months, with music by The Bedbugs, the annual Halloween Party and the Mid-Winter Luau. The most interesting characteristic about the Brick House Brewery, Murray said, is the chance to meet the local residents who are the restaurant’s constant clientele. “You can go to any brewery and get a light ale or a red,” he said. “When you come in here, it’s more like an experience and you get to meet the locals. We definitely have a lot of regulars and new customers who feel like it’s such a close-knit group.” Brick House Brewery is available for private parties and catering. For more information, call (631) 447-2337, or visit www.brickhousebrewery.com. Brick House Brewery & Restaurant |
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The Brick House Brewery & Restaurant is another restaurant/pub to the out-of-towner, but to those lifelong residents of the Patchogue area, it is a place whose structure has a long, rich history — way before the restaurant opened up 12 years ago.
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