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There are 10 beers on tap -- and two more...

There are 10 beers on tap -- and two more on the way -- at 1940's Brewing Co. in Holbrook. Credit: 1940’s Brewing Co.

The one-time home to Fresh Ice Cream Co. has given way to 1940’s Brewing Co., the latest craft brewer to join Long Island’s burgeoning nano brewing boom.

The 4,000-square-foot space in Holbrook, which originally housed an Italian ice operation, opened late last year with six beers and has since grown to 10 brews, with two more on the way, co-owner Charlie Becker said.

To Becker, 65, beer is in his blood.

Becker’s grandfather was a brewer, and his father, Walter, went even further, graduating from the U.S. Brewers Academy before spending a career in Brooklyn crafting the working-class lager Rheingold. He rose through the ranks to become assistant brewmaster.

So after retiring in 2009 as an executive at March of Dimes, Charlie Becker turned to home brewing.

“When you grow up on beer, it’s not much of a switch,” he said.

In 2013, he joined an incubator in Farmingdale where he received a state license to sell his beers. A few years later, he had outgrown the space.

Becker has three five-barrel fermenters, with a fourth ready to come online. Becker says he doesn’t specialize in a specific style and has a current arsenal that includes a milk stout, an East Coast IPA and an English Pale Ale.

The 1940’s tasting room is open Thursday and Friday from 3 to 9 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. Or you can find Becker’s brews at a few stores and bars on the Island, including Country Corner in East Setauket, The Good Life in Massapequa Park, Port Jeff Beverage in Port Jefferson Station and T.J. McBrews in Sound Beach.

There’s no food at 1940’s, but on many days a truck from Old Thyme BBQ can be found parked outside.

1337 Lincoln Ave., Holbrook; 631-533-4838, 1940sbrewingcompany.com

 

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