Absolutely fascinating is the history of Bushwick as the beer brewing mecca. If you read Erin Wicks’ regular Bushwick Brews column here on Bushwick Daily, you’ve probably got your taste for it already. If not you should absolutely watch Brewed in Brooklyn, a fantastic, 50-minute long documentary created by filmmaker John Weber in early 2013. The best news is that you can now the watch full documentary for free on Hulu (embedded above).
Brooklyn, with almost 50 breweries, had more breweries than any other place in America at the turn of the century. Brewed in Brooklyn follows the most important milestones of this turbulent era, including the arrival of German families to America to continue the long tradition of brewing lager; going from local to national; the tough 13 years of prohibition; worker strikes; arrival of out-of-state competition and departure of the beer industry from Brooklyn all together in 1970s to opening Brooklyn Brewery in 1987 and today’s home brewing culture.
In the film you will recognize a couple of Bushwick spots, such as music venue The Well, which used to be The Hittleman Brewery, and the old Rheingold Brewery site, which is currently in the process of rezoning so that an investor can build condos on its spot. The area of Scholes and Meserole Streets and extended from Bushwick Place to Lorimer Street used to be called Brewers’ Row because you could find 12 breweries on 12 blocks.
Brewed in Brooklyn is an absolute must for every Bushwick resident!