She’ll do the voodoo that she brews so well!
A Sunset Park brewer will launch her new taproom and a new stout beer called “Voodoo Juice” early next month with a party featuring free samples of the black brew. The opening party, in Industry City on March 4, comes at the end of New York City Beer Week, and the woman behind it says that she is excited to tap the first keg in front of an audience of brewers and beer fans.
“I’m excited to come out strong out of the gate and to show off the business,” said Katarina Martinez, the owner of Lineup Brewing.
The new brew is a chili chocolate malt stout — a combination that might seem daunting, but Martinez said that it goes down smooth and will have guzzlers coming back for more.
“It’s only four percent beer, so we want people to drink more than one of them,” she said. “It has a little bit of heat, but not too much, and a bit of residual sweetness from the lactose and rich chocolatey malt.”
Along with all of the free Voodoo Juice you can drink, Lineup’s opening party will serve a pale ale made especially for Beer Week and two other beers from Long Island brewery Great South Bay, its partner for the event.
Lineup recently moved into a warehouse space that it shares with Industry City Distillery, which opened a tasting room for its vodka and gin drinks in 2015. For the launch party, the sixth-floor bar has installed several beer taps, and locals cannot wait to see them flowing with suds, said Martinez.
“People are really excited, they see the taps and they want beer,” she said.
The tasting room is currently open on Friday and Saturday nights, but Martinez — who just quit her day-job — plans to expand the hours throughout the week.
Martinez, who moved to Sunset Park from Colorado, has made a name for herself as the only woman in Brooklyn to operate her own brewery solo. The only thing that matters is a passion for brewing, says Martinez, no matter the gender, but she hopes that her example will help women feel more comfortable ordering a beer instead of a vodka soda.
“I want women to drink what they like without it being some sort of boys’ club,” she said.
And she wants men and women to crowd into Lineup’s taproom to test the new drink. The bash comes right after Mardi Gras, but Martinez promises that it will be just as wild as a party in the Big Easy.
“We want it to be a party and for everyone to have a good time,” she said. “There will be free beer — what’s not to like?”
“Voodoo Juice” release party at Lineup Brewing (33 35th St., sixth floor, between Second and Third avenues in Sunset Park). March 4 at 7 pm. Free.
