Business & Tech

Two Births: One a Baby, the Other a Brewery

Port Jefferson Brewery owner welcomed his new baby into the world the same day as his grand opening.

It's a good year for Mike Philbrick. Or perhaps it was just a good day last Saturday. First, it was the day of the long-awaited and eagerly-anticipated grand opening of Port Jefferson Brewing Company.

It was also the day the Philbricks put another entry into the family legacy book. At 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, they welcomed little Hampton Porter Philbrick to the world.

Nine hours (and ten minutes) later Philbrick was hosting the grand opening of his new brewery.

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Examiner.com reported on the events, noting Philbrick's tardiness:

The first glimpse of the new microbrewery was set for 10 a.m. at its charming Chandler Square location, but actually took place about 10 minutes late. The reason? Proprietor Mike Philbrick had another little arrival that morning – his newborn son, who came into the world at about 1 a.m. Talk about competing priorities!

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After months of planning (for both events) the day finally arrived on Saturday and people packed into the brewery for a taste of what was on tap. Philbrick said it was a lot to deal with but both were happy occassions, if a little stressful.

"It was definitely a little overwhelming but it augmented each event to have them linked to one another," he said. "Stress and exhaustion also come to mind."

Philbrick got a total of two and a half hours of sleep that night.

"After putting the finishing touches on the tasting room at 3:45 a.m. and heading back to the hospital at 7:30 a.m. to visit the little guy and his Mom before staff roll call," he said.

And how did Mom feel about Dad having to rush off from the birth of their baby to go open the new brewery?

"My wife is incredibly supportive and was extremely excited for me to go," he said. "I think she was more concerned about her missing the event and not being there to support me through it."

Philbrick told her they would throw a big one year anniversary bash to make up for her missing the grand opening. While he was pouring beer and giving tours of the new facility, he had his mind on the family.

"I was torn by not being able to assist her in the hospital with the little one but I broke away from the event for about an hour midday to introduce my other two children to their new little brother," he said. "I left again right when we wrapped up to get there to see the both of them at 8 p.m."

According to Philbrick's estimates about 1,000 people went through the brewery on Saturday "without a single incident."

"We're extremely excited about their response to the beer," he said of the crowd. "They have been waiting a long time so it was nice to finally give them a taste of what we do."

In addition to the tasting room, people can head out to bars and beverage centers to get a bit of the Port Jefferson brew.

"By this weekend we will be poured in 15 bars throughout the Island," he said. "In addition we are available on growler bars at seven beverage centers."


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