Brewery opens — this time for good
Shelter Island Craft Brewery owner James Hull (right) and friend Frankie Venezia were hard at working replenishing the beer supply that had been exhausted over the July 4 holiday weekend.
The umbrellas are up outside over the picnic tables — to stay this time — as Shelter Island Craft Brewery finally opened its doors Friday on North Ferry Road with the blessing of both state and federal agencies.As the holiday weekend was about to begin Friday, owner James Hull was still in limbo while his friend Frankie Venezia worked the phone and computer fast and furiously to get the last piece of paper work approved by the New York State Liquor Authority.
It seems one piece of paper the state required wasn’t signed correctly and Mr. Venezia had Mr. Hull sign a corrected form that could be scanned and sent directly to the SLA.
He got in just under the wire since state employees were being dismissed at 12:30 p.m. Friday for the holiday weekend. The paper work was completed at 12:15 p.m. and within minutes, Shelter Island Craft Brewery’s licensing went from pending to approved.
Just two weeks earlier, the brewery that had opened but was closed down by federal authorities who said certain paper work wasn’tin order. It took intervention by Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) to cut through the red tape and obtain federal permission, only to have the state balk.
But Friday beer flowed freely and on Saturday it was a banner day in which Mr. Hull said he was challenged to keep up with the demand for his special suds.
“Those are my dead soldiers,” he said, pointing to empty kegs in the corner, left from Saturday’s onslaught of customers.
His beers are made with products from Shelter Island, including salt and spices that come from various parts of the place he calls home.
“I’m extremely proud of that,” he said.
The Corbett family and friends — (left to right) Cookie Corbett, Joe Smith, Alan Ballantin, Lisa Marie Corbett and Brian Corbett — enjoyed Shelter Island Craft Brewery beers on a steamy Monday.
On Monday afternoon, members of Shelter Island’s Corbett family and their friends parked themselves under an umbrella outside the brewery where they pronounced the business a success.
