Opening a brewery in New York City is no small task. Just ask Jeppe Jarnit-Bergsø.
The owner of Evil Twin Brewing has been working on a space to make and serve his cult beer here for over two years.
Building a brewery and tap room in New York is doubly expensive and doubly time-consuming, the brewer says. But it’s all worth it to put down roots here.
“There’s the whole cliché that if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere,” Jarnit-Bergsø says. “I wanted Evil Twin to become a New York brand, and we have become a New York brand to a certain extent.”
Jarnit-Bergsø started Evil Twin in his native Denmark in 2010 before moving to New York in 2012. It operated as a gypsy brewery, meaning Jarnit-Bergsø would make his beer at other breweries. He wanted to build a home for Evil Twin in New York, where people could enjoy beer made right where they’re drinking it, and have the chance to do everything on his own terms.
“I can get beers out the way I want them, I don’t have to go through distributors,” Jarnit-Bergsø says. “We’ve done every detail [for the brewery] ourselves, we haven’t used any designers or anything. It’s a very personal brand and it’s important it stay personal.”
Jarnit-Bergsø is excited to show the world the Evil Twin brewery and tap room, which is slated to open this spring in Queens. Until then, New Yorkers don’t have to wait until it officially opens its doors to get a sneak peek; starting Friday, Evil Twin is popping up at its Ridgewood neighbor, Nowadays (56-06 Cooper Ave.).
Jarnit-Bergsø started brewing beer about a month ago at his Ridgewood brewery and wanted to find a space to start serving it until his own tap room was ready. He got to know the Nowadays team and found out they were looking to dive deeper into craft beer.
“People are going to be tasting beers that are extremely fresh, beers we’ve made ourselves,” he says.
The pop-up tap room will be open Fridays from 5-10 p.m., Saturdays from noon-10 p.m. and Sundays from noon-3 p.m. Guests can enjoy Evil Twin’s IPAs, stouts, pilsners and more in Nowadays’ beer garden (featuring a 20-person heated yurt and fire pits), indoor area with food and get beers to go. They can also get a sneak peek of the Evil Twin tap room by walking a few blocks to the space at 1616 George St., where cans and merchandise will be for sale on Fridays from 5-10 p.m. and weekends from noon-6 p.m.
“For people who don’t know us, we just want to create an experience that hasn’t been seen before,” Jarnit-Bergsø says. “I want people to come in not just because they know Evil Twin. …We want people to come in to drink great beer and be in a cool space.”
