Business

Twin Fork Beer Company applies for new Riverhead brewery, tasting room

After two years of planning, Twin Fork Beer Company has applied to construct a new brewery and tasting room on an undeveloped lot on Raynor Avenue in Riverhead.

The company, run by Riverhead natives and twin brothers Pete and Dan Chekijian, is hoping to add to the area’s craft brewing boom, Pete Chekijian said.

“We live out here, we believe in the area and we believe that we can contribute with jobs and the burgeoning tourism industry,” Mr. Chekijian said after the Riverhead Town Planning Board discussed the application Thursday.

The brothers have been brewing on a contract basis at another local brewery and will continue to do so throughout the planning process, he said.

The early site plan calls for an 11,480-square-foot brewery, featuring a farm-style silo, on the west side of Raynor Avenue, about 400 feet south of Osborn Avenue. A tasting room would take up about 10 percent of the space.

The plan is to open the tasting room to the public on weekends and possibly on Thursdays, the brewers told the Planning Board. The latest they intend the tasting room to stay open is 7 p.m. and special events are not in their immediate plans.

Riverhead planning aide Greg Bergman suggested the building be pushed back to allow for a few more parking spaces, in addition to the proposed 32 spots, to avoid parking spilling onto the street at peak times during the busy summer season.

“The popularity of these facilities is growing exponentially,” Planning Board member Joseph Baier said, noting there are some homes across the street.

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