The Battle of the Boroughs isn't just going down in typography, it is also being fought in the rough-and-tumble world of beer breweries. Inspired by the success of Brooklyn breweries over the last twenty years two different companies are trying to bring the hops back to the city's mainland borough, though neither is actually brewing in the Bronx...yet.
The Bronx Brewery is currently making its beer in Connecticut, while arch-rival Jonas Bronck's Beer Company is brewing its ales in upstate New York. Why the rivalry? The founder Bronck's used to work with the two-year-old Bronx Brewery until splitting off. Both breweries expect to have their wares in bars this summer.
The two don't just share similar names, they also both see dollar signs in the Bronx name. Which makes sense. As a bartender in the Bronx Ale House, sounding like he might as well be talking about Brooklyn, tells the News: "The Bronx name just sells. Put good beer with that, and you have a business that's going to work."
And it isn't like the borough doesn't have a history of brewing— even Staten Island does. We just don't want either of these brewers to get too carried away with the borough branding. Bronck's Pehlam Bay IPA has a nice ring to it, as does a Bronx Beer's Bronx Pale Ale—but we'll be very sad if we ever see a SoBro Stout out of either brewery.
