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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Queens to Get its First Brewery in Decades

SingleCut brewery is scheduled to open in Astoria this fall.
SingleCut brewery is scheduled to open in Astoria this fall.
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SingleCut Beersmiths

ASTORIA — Watch out Brooklyn Brewery — Queens is getting a brew house of its own for the first time since the 1950s, sources said.

SingleCut Beersmiths, scheduled to open this fall at 19-33 37th St., will be the first brewery in Queens for decades, said Rich Buceta, the company’s president and head brewer, bringing hoppy goodness back to the borough.

Several breweries dotted Ridgewood and College Point before Prohibition, which lasted from 1920 until 1933, when a constitutional amendment reversed the ban, according to Richard Hourahan, the collections manager at the Queens Historical Society.

"There were at least half a dozen breweries in Ridgewood and some in College Point where there were large German populations," he said.

The brewery plans to produce lots of lagers and all kinds of seasonal beers.
The brewery plans to produce lots of lagers and all kinds of seasonal beers.
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SingleCut Beersmiths

After Prohibition, Burke Brewery opened in Long Island City, producing its own beer and later Guinness until 1954, according to the New York Times.

SingleCut will feature beer tastings as well as a stage for live music performances at the 5,000-square-foot space, near 20th Avenue.

The name of the brewery, Bruceta said, is taken from the body style of an electric guitar, which he says he has played for much of his life.

"We will be a NYC-oriented brewery and our beer will be brewed in our Astoria brewery only," Buceta wrote on the brewery’s website.

Buceta told DNAinfo New York that he wants to produce "a lot of lagers and all kinds of seasonal beers," and plans to begin distribution in August or September.

Thirsty patrons will be able to come and sample the suds at the tap room of the brewery, which is under construction. Beer enthusiasts will also be able to buy half-gallon growlers to go.

Buceta said he does not rule out the possibility of opening a bar within the premises at some point, but for now, he says, he wants to focus on the mastery of the brewing process.

The Upper East Sider worked in advertising for many years, but he said "his whole life was really revolving around beer."

Five years ago, Buceta, who has been brewing beer at home for many years, quit his advertising job and went to work for Greenpoint Beer Works.

"When I felt I had enough experience, I decided to open my own brewery," he said.

Queens was a natural choice for Buceta, who was born in Jamaica, Queens. "And there was no brewery here," he said.

SingleCut beers will be brewed entirely on site. "So when we say we are 'a local brewery,' there won’t be any fine print as to where our beer really comes from," Buceta wrote.