Not Hoppy About This

Start-up Brooklyn Brewers Drop the ‘Narwhal’ From Their Name

Fact: Narwhals do not guzzle beer in real life. They sip.
Fact: Narwhals do not guzzle beer in real life. They sip. Photo: Dave Fleetham/Corbis

You may remember those two plucky Bushwick brewers who formed a start-up called Narwhal Brewery in 2011, only to have their dreams crushed after discovering Sierra Nevada had beaten them to the punch by trademarking its Narwhal Imperial Stout. Co-founders Basil Lee and Kevin Stafford now say any hopes of working it out with the craft beer giant have been dashed: “They were not interested in any kind of solution, where everyone would get to distribute [with the name],” Lee tells the Brooklyn Paper. “We told them that all we wanted to do was sell our beer under this name and that as long as they let us do it and say they wouldn’t pursue any legal action, it would have been fine. But they were basically like, ‘No.’” Instead, Lee and Stafford have renamed their endeavor Finback Brewery in honor of the 60-foot finback whale that washed up at Breezy Point late last year and later died on the beach. [Brooklyn Paper, Earlier]

Start-up Brooklyn Brewers Drop the ‘Narwhal’ From Their Name