Meet a Tall Dark Guardsman
On Sunday afternoon behind the bar in the little red building across from the Montauk Movie, Vaughn Cutillo pulled the handle and out poured a “blond-haired lady in a black dress.”
That’s one way the Irish describe Guinness Stout. Except in this case it was the Montauk Brewing Company’s Guardsman Stout, as dark, rich, and smooth a draft as any beer lover could ask for, named for the Montauk Coast Guard station and crew of the cutter Ridley that is based there. The Guardsman will be introduced and dedicated to our local Coasties on Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. at Swallow East, a venue chosen for its view of the Coast Guard station across the harbor. There will be free food and beer.
“They are this community’s unsung heroes. They are overlooked a lot. They work in a harsh environment, and they’re ready for everything. It’s stressful. The Guardsman is a beer that gives back,” said Mr. Cutillo, who, with his partners Eric Moss and Joe Sullivan, founded the Montauk Brewing Company three years ago.
The Guardsman is the eighth brew concocted by the three amigos. Their popular Driftwood Ale will very soon be available in cans sold in stores, and a new ale, Arrowhead Irish Red, will be on tap at the brewery as well as most bars and restaurants from Southampton to Montauk in time for St. Patrick’s Day. The homegrown brew masters have come a long way in three years.
“We used 18 pounds of grain to make our first batch in the basement. Now we use 11,000 per batch,” Mr. Cutillo said, the beer making having been moved from the basement of the little red brewing company headquarters to a full-scale brewery in Pennsylvania to keep up with demand.
“The Coast Guard station has a softball team and they come in after the game and to our tastings. We announced the Guardsman on Facebook and got a response from a Coast Guard station in California.”
Unfortunately, the Montauk brewery is unable to fill that particular West Coast demand, at least for now, because of laws governing interstate sales. “We had no idea it could go countrywide.”
Saturday’s event is by no means the first time the Montauk Brewing Company has given back to the local community. They have rolled out kegs at a number of local benefits and celebrations over the past three years.
“The town has been so welcoming. We want to give back,” Mr. Cutillo said.