Thirty years of Brooklyn Lager, brewery tours, and Saturday afternoon buzzes are coming to an end at one of Williamsburg’s most iconic addresses.
Brooklyn Brewery has confirmed its final day at 79 N 11th Street will be Saturday, August 29, closing the doors on the original tasting room that opened back in 1996 and arguably helped kickstart the neighborhood’s transformation into the beer-and-brunch capital it is today.
Before anyone starts mourning though, take a breath: this isn’t a shutdown story, it’s a glow-up story.
Don’t panic, it’s just moving down the block
The brewery isn’t going anywhere except four blocks away, relocating to a massive new headquarters at 1 Wythe Avenue.
The new space is nearly four times the size of the current location, and it’s less “taproom” and more “full-blown beer campus,” complete with a rooftop terrace bar, expanded brewing facilities, event spaces, and immersive AV systems built for the brand’s notoriously eclectic programming.
The team already started teasing the transition earlier this summer.
Back in June, Brooklyn Brewery’s own stained-glass “B” sign, practically a neighborhood landmark at this point, made the physical move from North 11th Street to Wythe Avenue, a moment the brand shared on Instagram as an early sign of the new chapter underway.
The farewell party you’ll actually want to attend
If you’ve spent any summer evening drinking a Sorachi Ace on that patio, this is the send-off worth showing up for.
Brooklyn Brewery is throwing a Farewell Party: One Last Night at 79 N 11th on Saturday, August 29, from 9 pm to 11:59 pm, free with RSVP, according to the brewery’s official events page.
Before that, the countdown has already been running for weeks.
The brewery hosted a Stoop Sale at the original location on August 11, clearing out decades of memorabilia and gear before the big move, another small but telling sign that this closure has been planned as a celebration rather than a quiet exit.
What’s actually coming to the new spot
The bigger headquarters means bigger ambitions, and food is finally becoming part of the equation.
For the first time in the brewery’s history, the new space will include a full kitchen, built in partnership with Chef Michael Ayoub, founder of the beloved North Brooklyn pizza institution Fornino.
Expect a menu centered on Neapolitan-style pizza and dishes designed specifically to pair with the brewery’s beers, plus a dedicated demo kitchen with livestreaming capabilities for collaborations and events.
The bar program is expanding too, with wine and cocktails joining the beer list for the first time.
And true beer nerds have plenty to look forward to as well: the new facility will double as the brewery’s global R&D center, with upgraded small-batch and experimental brewing capabilities, plus the long-awaited return of brewery tours and guided tastings once everything is fully up and running.
When you can actually visit
The new 1 Wythe Avenue location is planning a soft opening later this summer, followed by a full grand opening celebration this fall.
Given the timing lines up almost perfectly with the farewell party at the old spot, it sounds like there won’t be much of a gap between saying goodbye to North 11th Street and saying hello to the new campus just a few blocks north.
Either way, Williamsburg’s beer scene is about to get a serious upgrade, even if it means letting go of a very well-loved 30-year-old building first.