SYNOPSIS
Craft beer in New York City is big business. But will passion and commitment be enough for a local brewer to make it in the world's toughest city?
Before Milwaukee . . . before the call of the Rockies . . . New York City was the mecca of the beer world. However, the advent of Big Beer in the 1960s changed all that, and by 1976 the city’s beer industry had dwindled to nothing.
Today, a wave of craft brewers are revitalizing the New York beer scene and taking their industry back -- Beer Boom chronicles the modern-day David vs Goliath story of the craft beer explosion and the people who are risking everything to make it happen.
Filmed over the course of five years, Beer Boom finds its heartbeat in the story of Rich Castagna, a gritty Queens-born native; the epitome of the hard-working, do-it-yourself New Yorker. The film documents Rich’s challenges as he grows Bridge and Tunnel Brewery from a garage-based homebrew operation to a 2,300 sq/ft production facility and taproom. Working without financial backing or investors, with the buildout and development pressures solely on his shoulders, and with his family’s life savings committed to the project, Rich must decide how far he’s willing to go to realize his dream.