Ommegang & Union Beer Donate $9300 To Hurricane Sandy Relief

(Cooperstown, NY) – January 30th, 2013/mbb/ – Brewery Ommegang presented a check for $9300 to Barrier Brewing Company on Long Island this week. The donation includes contributions from the brewery and from Union Beer Distributers in Brooklyn, N.Y., who distribute Ommegang ales in the NYCity area.

Barrier Brewing, located in Oceanside, N.Y., was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. The four-month old facility suffered more than $100,000 in damages when the building flooded. Following the storm, Ommegang’s CEO, Simon Thorpe, reached out to nearly 40 breweries in the storm-affected area offering assistance ranging from donating supplies to full-scale brewing. Barrier, who was hit harder than most, accepted the offer.

In December, the two breweries worked together to create Barrier Relief Ale, a Belgian-style IPA, brewed at Ommegang with Barrier’s recipe. Barrier brewers were at Ommegang at the beginning of December when the beer was brewed and again later in the month to taste the first keg. The hoppy collaboration was described by Barrier brewer and co-owner Craig Frymark as exactly the kind of beer he’d want to drink while cleaning up his brewery.