It’s late in the morning on a brew day, and the smell of warm wort fills the air of Industrial Arts Brewing Company when Jeff O’Neil walks in, slowly, casually, as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, as if he’s stepping through a dream. He immediately offers a beer, steps behind the bar, and starts pouring Metric, his Pilsner. It’s clear, malt-forward, with the familiar bite from traditional hops. It’s immediately familiar, like a distant memory of a Pilsner you had on a European vacation a lifetime ago or the way a certain generation talks about beer from way back when. However, this beer isn’t stuck in the past; it’s the sign of things to come. As craft brewing continues to gain market share, much of the growth will come from smaller brewers embracing the style long favored by the big players.
Before he opened this brewery that occupies 30,000 square feet in an arts and industrial complex complete with a creek that feeds into the nearby Hudson River, O’Neil was betting big on his hops forward ales—specifically Tools of the Trade, an American pale ale—as the big driver. And, don’t get him wrong; it’s done quite well. But Metric turned out to be the “sleeper hit of the summer” catching him a bit by surprise.
Garnerville is a working-class town about 40 miles north of New York City, and the Pilsner speaks to the locals, at both craft-centric and regular bars in Manhattan, and to long-time drinkers who occasionally want a respite from hops forward ales. (O’Neil cans his beer, and he, of course, has a New England IPA, Wrench, that is also doing quite well.)