Our Story
Brooklyn’s Grimm Artisanal Ales is renowned worldwide both as a stylistic innovator and a respectful champion of tradition. In addition to winning awards and accolades within the brewing industry (including winning New York State Brewery of the Year honors an unprecedented four times in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025), Grimm’s focus on elegant, complex ales has built a devoted following of aficionados who appreciate the brewery’s deft hand with spontaneous fermentation just as much as their aromatic hazy IPAs. Part small business, part art project, this auteur brewery reflects the creative vision of the Grimm family and their jolly band of collaborators.
Joe Grimm (an erstwhile indie/experimental musician) and Lauren Carter Grimm (a former sculptor and conceptual artist) view brewing and fermentation as an extension of their creative practice. Working with a staff of critically-minded and quality-obsessed beer freaks, they delve into historical brewing practices while innovating with cutting edge research, making their own contributions to brewing’s deep living tradition in the form of refined, creative, and tasteful beers.
***
Operating as a nomadic brewery before opening their own brick-and-mortar facility in 2018, Grimm has been at the forefront of several innovative beer styles that have since become fanatically popular. After receiving viral acclaim for their Northeast-style IPAs, the Grimms introduced dry-hopped sour ales to the market –– precursors to the “sour IPA” style and some of the first of their kind. The related Pop! series added milk sugar and vanilla, pioneering the dessert-style sour ale category.
Current projects include the development of a unique approach to American spontaneous ale (fermented entirely by local ambient microorganisms and ripened in former wine barrels for 1-3 years), adapting the historical practices behind Belgian lambic to their own time and place. In further appreciation for the natural beauty around them, the Grimm team uses carbonic maceration techniques borrowed from the wine world to extract the best flavor from local, whole fruits to blend with meticulously selected barrels of beer.
Grimm’s former industrial space is outfitted with custom equipment adapted to their idiosyncratic brewing processes and uniquely flavorful house ale yeast strain, lovingly tended for hundreds of generations. The adjoining airy, plant-filled taproom provides ample space for friends and neighbors to gather and enjoy Grimm beers at their freshest and finest. The taproom is dedicated to fostering community and social connection with recurring events such as Grimm Run Club, The Grimm Old Time Music Jam, Crafty Hour, and more.
Never content with stasis, the Grimm team has recently launched Physica Wines, our own brand of whole-cluster, sulfite-free, spontaneously fermented natural red and orange wine in collaboration with North Fork vineyards, and opened Lala’s Brooklyn Apizza in our rooftop terrace and bar, where we serve our unique take on New Haven’s well-charred pizza style.