Flight of Fancy: Moriches Field Brewing Company Takes Off

By Kate Berube

Photos by Belinda Randolph-Mills

Tucked away off the beaten path is Moriches Field Brewing Company. Situated alongside the LI railroad tracks between Bayport and the Hamptons, Moriches Field Brewing Company attracts craft beer enthusiasts and flight industry personnel alike. Brewmaster and local Bayport resident Rich Flynn founded Moriches Field in June 2017 on the principle that good beer (along with good conversation) should be universal.

Three years spent abroad in London for work exposed Flynn to classic English and German style beers, particularly ESB or Extra Special Bitters, which ironically aren’t bitter at all and instead strive to be balanced and drinkable. ESB’s are richly flavored from high quality malt, have earthy and herbal undertones from English hops, and exhibit a fruitiness that comes from the yeast. Upon his return to the States, Flynn would soon find the brews that were easy to come by in Europe were surprisingly difficult to acquire here and set out to make his own.

His brewing techniques evolved into a fusion of European and American influences, often blending styles and ingredients to bring beer lovers a truly unique experience. Among the most popular offerings on tap is their Festive Trickster, a traditional German Festbier brewed with the LOKI strain of Norwegian Kviek and Tail Gunner, a British Style Bitter combining carmel and toffee flavors with English hops.

Moriches Field is a nod to Long Island’s storied aviation history where air fields were found all over the Island and local aviation innovation tested the boundaries of what human flight could become. Though grass field air strips are mostly a fixture of the past, you can still catch a glimpse of that bygone era at the Bayport Aerodrome where antique biplanes regularly take to the skies above Flynn’s south shore home. The interior of Moriches Field is made to resemble an airplane hangar and is filled with local aeronautics memorabilia, a great deal of which is gifted by the brewery’s loyal regulars. The tasting room opened in October of last year and at its start faced significate challenges from the pandemic. As the weather turned warm and people began to gather again, Moriches Field is finally taking flight.

While patrons might initially be drawn by the diverse craft beer selection, they come back for the laidback atmosphere, the kind of local watering hole where your canine campion tags along to play a round of cornhole with your friends after work. This is on full display when each time the eastbound train barrels down the tracks, the crowd here at the brewery pauses to raise their glass to the conductor who blows the whistle in unison with a toast to good beer, good friends, and good times.