This fall, the Children’s Museum of the East is delighted to host its first ever Octoberfest. Held at the historic Hedges Inn located in the heart of East Hampton village, the evening will feature beer-friendly bites and a selection of suds from the recently launched Springs Brewery. We recently spoke via e-mail with the brewery’s co-founders, Lindsay Reichart and Gunnar Burke, about their efforts to produce “modern ales and traditional lagers that are accessible, flavorful, delightful, and true to place.”
How’d you get in to brewing beer?
We had been craft beer lovers for years before starting to brew. Discovering the amazing American craft beers being made in Vermont, California and then living in Brooklyn as the craft beer scene exploded was a huge influence to us. We always appreciated craft in general, and began experimenting with brewing in 2015. We produced many mediocre beers but stuck with it and things eventually started to click! We have a background in design and community organizing and envision our beer and brewery as a social condenser that can bring people accross backgrounds and experiences together and connect them with the land and the people that care for it. This goal has really shaped our vision and pushed us forward.
What made you decide to start Springs Brewery? How do you hope to stand out?
We decided to start Springs Brewery because we felt we had something to say about this place with our beer. Lindsay was born and raised here and there is such a strong history of craft and making in Springs, and we consider our beer as a part of that lineage and dialogue. We hope to stand out by producing exceptional small-batch craft beer that is unique and iterative. We treat each brew as though its its own unique manifestation and not simply a product on the shelf. We brew with ingredients that are raw and affected by the climate and crop, and we celebrate the fact that fermentation is a living, breathing process and that no two batches will ever be exactly the same. It is the evolving approach to process, ingredients, and the way we think about our beers that ties them together and keeps them interesting!
We noticed that your labels are created by local artists? Do you have any favorites that you’d like to feature on future cans?
There are many amazing local artists that we hope to work with on future labels. We have so far featured the work of Charles Ly and Emma Turner, both artists we deeply respect and appreciate their work. We hope the art is able to evoke a feeling that provides a lens through which the beer is perceived, and we think Charles and Emma have been hugely successful at providing that, and in a way, we are all seeing the beer through their eyes.
What’s your favorite beer that you’re brewing right now?
We love all of our beers! With each one we try to let the process speak to us and there is certainly a vast amount of the process that is “natural” or “automatic” that is out of our control; and that is part of what we love most about it—letting the final beer surprise us to some degree. We have many beers that we want to brew and are always excited for the next brew, whether it’s an old favorite, or something different we are trying for the first time. We are always excited by incorporating local ingredients which always teach us and present surprises but also evoke a sense of place that can only be created through them. For Sandy Loam, we used hops from The Hoppy Acre, that we helped harvest along with farmers at Amber Waves and Quail Hill. They have classic Cascade citrus notes but also a briney flavor that is unique to the East End. For the Walking Dune kolsch, we used New York state malt and green yuzu and mango orange zest from Bhumi Growers, a small family-owned citrus farm in New Jersey, that we hand zested before adding to the beer. Its really special to bring a level of craft into the beer from the farm that plants the barley and fruit, to the maltsters, and the artists that give a visual understanding of the beer. As we start to release larger batches of beer, there is also a really nice sense of synergy between the beers. We love an IPA, like Arethusa, but its so well balanced by a lager, like the Walking Dune kolsch, which is lighter but equally complex.
Name your top five things to do on the East End during the school year.
We love doing the same things we do during the summer time (just with fewer people around!)—hiking and going to the beach with our dog Quincy, visiting with family and friends, going to the movies at Sag Harbor Cinema, and patronizing our favorite local restaurants, bars and museums. We are always seeking and finding inspiration for new beers and this often happens on a hike, after seeing artwork, or hanging with friends.