Other Half Brewing Company

Similar tasting, often bitter lagers and ales with only a variation of the ABV made the beer scene pretty flat until a few years back when craft beer became prominent.

Earlier, private brewers were only allowed to sell their merchandise to licensed liquor stores or companies dealing in alcohol. But the 2014 Craft Beer Act changed everything; brewers were allowed to sell their drinks directly to customers, along with giving them a tour of the processing plant if they wanted to.

The Other Half Brewing Company is one of the many brewpubs that benefited from this Act but is one of the few that managed to grab attention almost immediately on a national scale.

The brewery is not even a decade old but is one of the most preferred beer places for people in New York or visitors from other states. Other Half, or OH as it’s also known, has a strong fan base. How else would you explain people waiting up to 11 hours in a line so they can get their hands on the brewery’s limited-edition weekend beer cans?

The Origin

OH was co-founded by three friends who loved drinking beer but wanted to create their own drinks and enjoy them at a place that they conceptualized. This led to the birth of OH in Brooklyn, New York, where it continues to operate its brewery, including a tasting room and bar.

Sam Richardson, co-founder and chief brewer, along with his friends Andrew Burman and Matt Monahan, was passionate about showcasing the “other half” of the beer industry full of inventive drinks containing flavors that most wouldn’t have ever thought of mixing with traditional ingredients, such as hops, oats, barley, and yeast.

OH started on a small scale but, since the beginning, has valued collaborations with other breweries a lot. They prefer putting customer demands before the industrial competition, which is why they have collaborated with several popular breweries, such as Monkish, Cloudwater, Trillium, and Great Notion. And there’s a good reason why other hot spots are interested in partnering with OH.

OH brings creativity and mass appeal to the table, unlike most other breweries. A perfect example of this is their trendy and extremely user-friendly website. There, you can find details about the origin of the brewery, their brews, and a link to their online store.

What makes the website extra-special is its look; a good combination of basic grays and blacks, with a pop of color in some pages, it will appeal to both the Instagramming youth of today and serious beer lovers who just want to know what to expect in their growlers.

The website also lists the beers that OH has to offer. When you taste their beer, you will realize that they put in as much effort in making their drinks delicious as they put in creating eye-catching beer cans.

OH shot to fame thanks to their still popular signature drink – All Green Everything, which is a combination of wheat, oats, and a medley of hops such as Amarillo, Mosaic, Motueka, and Citra. It falls in the hazy Indian IPA category and, despite a unique blend of fresh flavors, packs a punch with high alcohol content. In fact, OH is mainly known for its hazy IPAs, along with stout beers. They also have a limited selection of sour beers too.

Expansion

OH opened a branch in Rochester, NY. Initially, they planned to buy a space where they could expand their brewing capacity, store their merchandise, and try their hand at more experimental beers, mainly in the sours and wild ale categories.

They had even hired Eric Salazar, an expert in such brews, but had to shelve the plan since they were so busy focusing their booming business in their two centers. The space they bought in Rochester was so picturesque that they ended up making it a brewpub along the lines of their Brooklyn outlet.

OH has also teamed up with HBO to create a unique drink to commemorate the finale of their series Silicon Valley. Dubbed the “Conjoined Triangle of Success,” OH, along with Monkish and Cellarmaker Brewing, created special triple IPAs, all at 10% ABV.

The trio of beers was made available in each of their local centers in 16 ounce cans and was a big hit. OH opted to create a fruity, hoppy beer containing hops like different types of Citra, Galaxy, Cashmere, and Motueka. The fruity flavor was achieved by adding essences of candied lime, not-fully-ripe guava, mango, and pineapple juice, among other things.

Customer Reviews

People have been appreciative of both OH centers. They have enjoyed the wide variety of hazy IPAs, which are the specialties of OH. What sets the IPAs apart from most other IPAs is that they manage to have high alcohol content without tasting bitter. OH doesn’t serve its own food but has partnered with local food outlets and food trucks.

Combined with yummy dishes, a good stout, and a friendly atmosphere, OH has created a winning formula. Their outlets are pet-friendly, and despite being at capacity almost always, they have a reputation for serving their customers quickly. The staff is also knowledgeable and extremely friendly at all times.

OH also sells merchandise, such as beer glasses, t-shirts, and bags, in their store and online. But the true winners at OH are their brews, which have catchy names such as:

• Bananversary
• All 6th Anniversary Everything
• Batch One Was Better
• Line @ Garnet
• Short, Dark and Handsome
• Pink Chroma
• Darkness Descends

If you’re interested in reading about all their brews, you can go through their 66-page drink menu online or give them a call at 917-765-6107 or 585-617-0453.