The freak show just got another freak show.
Coney Island Brewing Company has opened what is believed to be the world’s smallest brewery — a 175-square-foot shop on W. 12th Street that cranks out a gallon of brew per batch.
“You can buy a bottle at a time,” said Jeremy Cowan, founder and owner of the company, an offshoot of the San Francisco-based Shmaltz Brewing Company. “It’s our official new clubhouse in Coney Island.”
The mini-beer garden — a beer shrub, really — was launched last Thursday in conjunction with Coney Island USA, the group that runs the Sideshow and the annual Mermaid Parade. In exchange for a penny for each bottle of “Albino Python” and “Sword Swallower” sold on-site, the arts group gives the brewery a rent-free space and use of Coney Island freakshow imagery.
“We give a business with an artistic sensibility a foothold in the neighborhood and hopefully they move on and become part of the neighborhood,” said head freak Dick Zigun. “They need a jump start.”
Indeed, this could be the beginning of a planned Brooklyn expansion, Cowan said.
“I’m looking for the right fit for our company to find a bigger home in Coney Island and to explore the rest of Brooklyn as well,” Cowan said.
Coney Island Brewing Company (3008 W. 12th St. between Surf Avenue and Bowery Street on Coney Island), Thursday–Sunday, noon–6 pm. For information, visit coneyislandbrewingcompany.blogspot.com.
