The Brooklyn Brewery

In 1984, Steve Hindy ended a five and a half-year tour as the Middle East Correspondent for the Associated Press where he covered wars and assassinations in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Sudan. On his last night in Beirut, his hotel was hit by a mortar barrage. Steve picked up a still-warm piece of shrapnel as a memento, packed up his family and returned to New York City. During his years in the Middle East, Steve befriended diplomats based in Saudi Arabia, where Islamic law prohibits alcoholic beverages. The envoys were avid homebrewers and happily plied Steve with their flavorful beers. Returning to live in Brooklyn and editing foreign news for Newsday, Steve started brewing at home. Eventually, he enlisted his downstairs neighbor, banker Tom Potter, and they set out to establish the Brooklyn Brewery. Steve placed that shrapnel on his desk as a reminder of his days in the Middle East, and it still sits there next to his books.