Valley Stream native opens brewery in Freeport

A Valley Stream native is bringing two popular movements to Freeport: micro-brewed beer and charity for U.S. troops. In July, a microbrewery will open on the Nautical Mile.

It’s called BrewSA, (pronounced Brew, S.A.] an all-American beer, right down to the bottles and labels. It will manufacture, distribute and sell its product from its facility at 180 Woodcleft Avenue. BrewSA will also donate 25 percent of its profits each year to military and veterans’ charities.

“We’re American and our beer is 100 percent American,” said Tom Limerick, one of the founding partners of BrewSA. He and two partners, Steve Walley and Billy McLaughlin, came up with the idea in 2011. They were sitting in St. Andrew’s Pub, in Manhattan, when they realized that the most popular lagers — Bud, Miller and Coors — are all foreign beers. “That’s when we decided to make a 100 percent American beer product,” Limerick explained. “Everything comes from U.S. soil. We also wanted to give back to veterans.”

While most microbreweries focus on craft beers and the local market, Limerick and his partners took a different approach. “Most microbreweries create craft beers, which are about 13 percent of the market and are hoppier,” Limerick said. “Lagers are smoother in my opinion.”

They came up with a formula and in early 2012, produced a sample product at Smoky Mountain Brewery in Tennessee. “People liked it,” Limerick said.

By 2013, BrewSA was on its way. The lager is created through the yeast fermentation of malted cereal grains, to which hops and water have been added. BrewSA’s all-American product includes yeast from California, hops from Washington state and barley malt from North Dakota. The product was made at the Minhas Brewery in Monroe, Wisconsin. The company sold 7,500 cases that were distributed in 150 locations in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties. They also did beer tastings at Stew Leonard’s in Yonkers, New York where they sold 1,200 cases last year. “That’s when we thought about opening a brewery on Long Island to provide additional sales opportunities, both locally and nationally,” Limerick said.