With dozens of craft breweries across Long Island, it can be difficult to keep track of them all, let alone visit each of them.
The Long Island Brewers Guild invites craft beer fans to take up the challenge and visit 30 of the island’s breweries with their new Hidden Treasure LI membership scavenger hunt.
The challenge began July 3 and will run until someone visits all 30 stops across Suffolk and Nassau counties. This victor will win an all-inclusive getaway weekend at the historic 1708 House bed and breakfast in Southampton.
In addition to a shot at the grand prize, participants will be entered into weekly raffles and receive either a free flight or pint upon their first visit as a guild member to each of the participating breweries. Participants must have a brewers guild membership, which will last until next summer and costs $200.
“The idea is that throughout the year, you still have a ton of time to go to all these breweries,” said Manny Coelho, the head of the marketing committee for the Long Island Brewers Guild and the co-founder and brewer at Lythology in Farmingdale. “And on Wednesdays, there’s members-only meet-ups to drive people to come hang out. Maybe they’re collecting their token for the first time. Or they just want to go and hang out with other people. We call them hunters or pirates … Some breweries are choosing to offer an event for that night, some are just having people just show up and hang out. For instance, I’m going to be having pirate-themed trivia that night and if someone shows up dressed up as a pirate, they get $6 pints all night long.”
Here on the North Fork, übergeek, Twin Fork Beer Co. and North Fork Brewing Co., all in Riverhead, as well as Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. and Jamesport Farm Brewery are among the 30 participating breweries.
The first pirate meetup occurred last Wednesday at Sand City South in Lindenhurst. Members-only meetings are slated for Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. Aug. 22, North Fork Brewing Co. Oct. 18 and at Jamesport Farm Brewery Feb. 17 and übergeek Feb. 28 of next year.
“It’s just a fun way for craft beer lovers to revisit old spots, see new spots, and taste what they got and connect with other treasure hunters that are scavenging, hunting around the island,” Jamesport Farm Brewery manager Joe Caggiano said. “You’re not just going to breweries, getting a flight, and then going ‘okay, see you later.’ These meet-ups are really for members only. It’s a unique, exclusive chance to see these places in a different light and in a more personal setting than when they’re open to the public.”
To sign up for the year-long Long Island Brewers Guild membership and enter the contests, craft beer fans can visit hiddentreasureli.com, where they can also download an app to track the breweries they have visited for the scavenger hunt.
