Watch: Long Ireland bottling first North Fork ‘local’ brew

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Long Ireland co-owner Dan Burke (left) removes spent grain from the mash tank used in the making of the company’s ‘Black Friday’ beer. Brewery assistant Fred Keller bottles Wet Hopped Pale Ale.

Long Ireland Beer Company bottled the first 1,500 22-ounce bottles of its much-anticipated Wet Hopped Pale Ale on Wednesday.

Co-owner Dan Burke said the product will be for sale at the brewery and in select local stores by today, Friday.

The pale ale was made at the Pulaski Street brewery in Riverhead using fresh hops from Condzella Farms in Wading River, picked more than a month ago by the Long Ireland team.

This marks the first batch of beer brewed using North Fork hops, making it the most local beer that’s been produced in recent memory, though a truly local beer is impossible without locally-grown malted barley.

The 22-ounce bottles are available in the brewery’s tasting room, as well as at Riverhead Beverage on Osborn Avenue, Thrifty Beverage on the Circle in Riverside and Village Beverage in Wading River where routes 25 and 25A meet, among other beer distributors.

The Wet Hopped Pale Ale is a limited release that will only be brewed once this year.

See the video below