Business & Tech

Surge Protector IPA Hits Shelves, Bars Next Week

Port Jeff Brewing Co. among the collaborators on Sandy-relief beer Surge Protector, which debuts next week.

After getting together in early December to brew up a 60-barrel batch of beer to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy, eight Long Island breweries – including Port Jefferson's own Port Jeff Brewing Co. – will soon be ready to pour the first glass of the aptly named Surge Protector IPA.

The sales will be donated to Long Island Cares and an Oceanside microbrewery wiped out by the October storm.

The ale, brewed at Blue Point Brewing Company in Patchogue, will be available at Patchogue’s Tap Room – as well as five other bars – starting Tuesday. On Wednesday, it hits the shelves in retail beer distributors at $16.99 for a 22-ounce bottle, and will be sold at bars across Long Island, according to a Newsday report. Just 2,000 bottles were made, according to the brewery.

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As Patch reported last December, the brewing effort included Spider Bite, Blind Bat Brewery, Barrier Brewing, Great South Bay Brewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing Company, Long Ireland Beer Company, Port Jeff Brewing Company, and Blue Point Brewery. Clare Rose Distributors signed on to pump out the product for the cause as well.

The effort to create a collaborative beer amongst numerous Long Island breweries actually started before Hurricane Sandy hit. Long Island-based beer writer Niko Krommydas and photographer Matt Furman wanted to gather a bunch of breweries together for a video project, with the end result being a new beer released by Long Island Craft Beer Week this spring.

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But Sandy changed those plans.

"Three weeks later, Sandy happened," said Krommydas. "Barrier basically got destroyed, so this shifted from a creative project we would do in March or April to, 'OK, let's do this now because they are in serious need and temporarily closed.'"


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