Middletown, NY

 

Kenan Porter has been involved in the beverage industry since he was twenty years old. While still in college, he began traveling the country trying to get a product off the ground that he was calling, Spiked Punch. It was a Capri-Sun style pouch with two shots of vodka, pre-mixed, and ready to drink. Kenan had been visiting different colleges giving his concoction to people at parties trying to perfect his recipe. Spiked Punch did, in fact, make it to manufacture, unfortunately, Kenan didn’t know much about the industry at the time. He was chasing this dream for about three years, when reality started to sink in as it does for many college graduates- it was time to get a real job, since his spiked punch funds has pretty much run dry.

The second chapter of Kenan’s story took him to the streets of New York on a bicycle, selling beverages out of his backpack. Literally, pedaling, non-alcoholic beverages from one grocery store to the next. Still hoping to make Spiked Punch the next big thing, he figured he could set up a good route for when his spiked punch was ready, this way he could get it into stores. It wasn’t too long before Kenan figured out that he couldn’t legally sell his liquor product to delis and grocery stores, but he was learning, and he certainly wasn’t giving up there.

What happened next was an opportunity that Kenan had been keen enough to pick up on. Out of all the drinks he was selling, there was one drink that he continually sold out of, and it happened to be an aloe water. This sparked Kenan’s interest, leading him to trademark the name “Sabila”, which means aloe in Spanish. He eventually released his own aloe drink under this name, which still exists in eighteen states today. This product took Kenan down a new road, one on which he no longer needed to sell his products via bicycle. Leaving the streets of the city behind, Kenan went Upstate where he started his own distribution company. By 2013 his company had grown substantially, and he needed more space to keep up with the demand. 

After looking at many of the surrounding towns, Kenan heard through word of mouth that there may be spaces available owned by the city of Middletown. With the help of the Economic Development Department of Middletown, Kenan was shown an old Hacksaw manufacturing facility previously owned by the Clemson Brothers. Eager to hold on to the rich history of Middletown, the name stuck.

At that point, Kenan needed to stay competitive, and that meant branching out his distribution to other product lines. His distribution company had been solely distributing Sabila, but he knew beer was the next direction he wanted to go in. As the craft beer movement had just begun to take, there were many incentives out there to make and distribute his own beer, rather than simply sell someone else’s.

“I wasn’t a huge beer drinker at that point, I was a scotch drinker though, I like scotch,” Kenan admitted to us, “but when I saw this tower building it was pretty clear that this could be an awesome brewery.”

That is how Kenan Porter got from Spiked Punch in a pouch to running the first brewery in the city of Middletown since prohibition. Unfortunately for Kenan, he didn’t know the first thing about brewing craft beer, and neither did his brother-in-law, Paul. While Kenan stayed in Middletown for the next two years getting a handle on the business side of things, Paul went off to Foley Brothers Brewing in Vermont to learn the art of brewing. The Clemson Bros. Brewery officially opened in October of 2015.

Kenan believes the key to his success is being his own person, standing out not only as a person but as a business. He doesn’t like to follow the crowd. If all businesses are going in one direction, he says his best move is the opposite of that. He doesn’t plan on chasing the IPA trend. Although Clemson Bros. does have its own IPAs, it’s coming out with three different lines of craft hard teas, which Kenan has very high expectations for. Kenan explains they are similar to a Twisted Tea, but more of a beer. Clemson’s first hard tea is on their current menu.

The brewery has a ten-barrel system today but is in the process of building a forty-barrel system by the end of the year. This month they began experimenting with canning their beers, so customers can expect to see Clemson Bros. beer at retailers in the near future. For now, the brewery is open for lunch and dinner. To pair with your choice of any of the twelve beers on tap, they have a ten- dollar lunch menu and the dinner menu consists of burgers, pizza, tacos, salads, and more.

“I’m a foodie, I love to eat, all day long,” Kenan told us. So, customers can expect the bar to be set pretty high for the quality of food served at Clemson Bros.

They have plenty of room for hosting events, including indoor and outdoor space. Their beer garden, which will open up again when the weather gets a bit warmer, sits outside next to their game room with games like corn hole, ping pong, and darts. They also hold trivia nights on Thursdays and regular live music.

Clemson Bros. Brewery has had a forty to fifty percent growth rate since they opened three years ago, and there is no stopping them there, as they plan to open five new locations in the next four years. Their next location will be opening in Warwick. Following that they’ll be looking into Kingston, Montgomery, and West Haverstraw.

 

CONTACT

Phone: (845) 775 – 4638
Email:  info@clemsonbrewing.com
Click Here to visit the Clemson Bros. Brewery website
Location: 22 Cottage St. Middletown, NY 10940