By Courtney Dentch
The brewing company may be based in Harlem, but Springfield Gardens resident Celeste Beatty is ready to bring her Sugar Hill Golden Ale to Queens, just in time for those Independence Day barbecues.
Part of the Harlem Brewing Company, the beer is celebrating its first anniversary this month, and Beatty launched the brand Saturday at the Pathmark supermarket in Springfield Gardens. The beer can also be found at the Wholefoods market in Douglaston and will soon be served at Carmichaels Diner in Jamaica, she said.
“They absolutely loved” the sample cases of the beer at the diner, Beatty said last week. “They should be getting their first shipment very soon.”
Sugar Hill Golden Ale, Beatty’s second brand, is described as a copper-colored ale and has a full-bodied taste with a hint of orange, Beatty said. It was named in honor of the cultural and musical history of Harlem, specifically after the Sugar Hill Gang jazz group, she said. The brand’s logo features a large bass drum surrounded with a saxophone and a trumpet.
The logo and the name of the beer help combine Harlem’s and Queens’ cultural history, Beatty said.
“Beer, wine, alcoholic beverages, they were all part of our celebrations,” she said. “It wasn’t drink because you wanted to get a buzz. It was part of the tradition and that was tied to music.”
Beatty first became interested in developing a beer when she moved to Harlem 11 years ago, she said.
“Like most people, I probably had my first beer in high school,” Beatty said. “But when I lived in Manhattan, I met people with a serious interest in building a brewery in Harlem.”
Although the idea to build a brewery never got off the ground – Beatty’s beer is produced for the Harlem Brewing Company by a Saratoga, N.Y. facility – Beatty bought a home-brewing kit and began working on a recipe. She did her homework, too, she said, and toured dozens of breweries, including Peroni in Italy, Heineken in Holland, and Anheuser-Busch in America, learning what she could about making beer, she said.
“I was able to see the nuts and bolts of what it actually takes to brew beer,” Beatty said.
Finally, she found a recipe that worked and called it Mojo. Although Mojo beer did well in the Washington, D.C. area, the facility where it was brewed closed, and the brand went with it, she said.
In 2000, Beatty found herself back at the drawing board in Queens and on her own. While the friends who helped inspire her start in the beer industry had moved on to other ventures, they were glad to hear that Beatty was still working toward the idea of a Harlem brewery, she said.
“They gave me the green light to go for it myself,” Beatty said.
After more trial recipes and more research, Sugar Hill Golden Ale was born and officially launched June 19, 2001, with the support of family, friends and business people who gave Beatty advice, she said.
“Even if they weren’t involved in the brewing industry, just to be able to get on the phone with someone with that kind of experience was terrific,” she said. “It really fuels you as an entrepreneur to keep what you created going.”
And the Sugar Hill Golden Ale’s unique logo has set it apart from other beers, both in retail stores and bars and restaurants. Beatty has been trying to target music venues like the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, but she’s yet to pick similar locations in Queens, she said.
Beatty hopes Queens’ beer drinkers will be as receptive as the Harlem ones have been, she said.
“A lot more drinkers are looking for a more flavorful beer,” she said. “They see the Sugar Hill Golden Ale as a high-quality product and they look for it.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 229-0300 Ext. 138.
