Greenport Brewery Owner Hopes to Be Making Beer in Peconic by July

You might see the Greenport Harbor Brewing Company banner hanging from an upper corner of the former Lucas Ford dealership on the corner of Route 25 and Peconic Lane in Peconic — but with small steps in the town’s approval process and construction slow, Greenport beer will not be brewed in Peconic until at least July, said the brewery’s founder Rich Vandenburg.

But well over one year after announcing plans to expanding the Greenport Village operation to the much larger and visible space in Peconic, Vandenburg said he remains optimistic about the venture, which will breathe life back into the former Lucas Ford dealership’s buildings that have been vacant for years across from the Southold Town Highway Department and First Class Auto Body.

Vandenburg said the latest step in the approvals process is a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing this week on the construction of a new cold room. 

“Hopefully that all goes well,” he told Patch on Monday. “John and I are still hoping that we will be in a position to brew beer there by the end of July and provided the weather cooperates and my back holds out, we should make it. I have my tool belt on and shovel in hand and we are continuing to move forward with this expansion.”

Since 2009, Greenport Harbor Brewing Company has been operating out of a renovated firehouse on Carpenter Street in Greenport, which Vandenburgh recently renovated again to increase production due to demand for the craft beer. But that expansion was not enough.

Vandenburg said that he is also excited to create additional jobs on the North Fork.

“As far as we can tell the local community is very supportive of what we are doing at the old Lucas site, and I am very, very proud of the fact that we are going to take what was becoming an eyesore on the Main Road and transform that location into a beautiful and environmentally friendly spot that will continue to drive dollars to the East End.”

Take a look at the latest rendering of the new brewery attached to this article.

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