Other Half Brewing Co.

From a garage under the Gowanus Expressway

In 2014, Sam Richardson, Matt Monahan and Andrew Burman founded Other Half Brewing Company in New York City. Their starting point was simple: make beer they wanted to drink themselves, at a company they wanted to be part of themselves. Richardson grew up in Portland, Oregon, and learned to brew through the Fermentation Science program at Oregon State University. After his studies he moved to Brooklyn and worked at Greenpoint Beerworks. There he met Monahan, who put him in touch with Burman.

The first location was in an industrial garage under the Gowanus Expressway in the Carroll Gardens neighbourhood. Real estate was expensive, so the founders chose the cheapest option they could find, via Craigslist. When Other Half opened its doors in 2014, it had been nine years since a brewery had started in Brooklyn. According to Richardson, only Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint and Greenpoint Beer & Ale Co. came before them.

The brewery grew after that. In 2019 a second location opened in East Bloomfield, New York. Later came sites in Domino Park in Brooklyn, in Washington, D.C. and, in October 2021, in Philadelphia. Other Half is still an independent craft brewer.

A brewery built around hops

Richardson wanted to give New Yorkers access to hefty IPAs, like the ones he had seen on the West Coast. All Green Everything, a triple IPA, was the first attempt. Drinkers were drawn in by the high alcohol content and the juicy, hoppy flavour. Many New Yorkers had never had anything like it.

In 2016, two years after the founding, 85 percent of what Other Half brewed was IPA. The range has since become broader, but the brewery is still mainly known for this style. Demand was so high that beers sold out quickly and the brewers had to scale up and streamline production.

Other Half also collaborates a lot with other breweries, both in New York and worldwide. That has been part of how they work since the start.

Other Half Brewing Co. at Hoptimaal

We've had thirteen beers from Other Half: eleven IPAs and two stouts. The strength ranges from 6.5 to 12 percent. Most come in 47.3 cl, and there has been one in 50 cl and one in 33 cl. Highly rated on Untappd are, among others, Other Half Double Citra Daydream, Other Half Double Mosaic Dream, Other Half BA Double Sunset - Cloud Cover Layo Teraga, Other Half All Dank Everything (5th Anniversary), Other Half Chicken Riggies and Other Half Chicken & Broccoli.

Drink their IPAs as fresh as possible and well chilled. Hop is the first thing to fade, and that is exactly the point of the beer here. With heavier beers, such as stouts and barrel aged versions, it pays to drink them more slowly. Take them out of the fridge a while before pouring, and the aromas come through better. You can see exactly what is in stock in the webshop.