Vehicle crashes into Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. in Peconic

An SUV barreled into a popular North Fork brewery Monday evening, hindering its brewing and hosting operations "for a while," its owner told Newsday.

Customers were sipping beer in the tasting room of the Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. location in Peconic when the vehicle "was coming down the Main Road, somehow left the roadway" and crashed into the building, owner Rich Vandenburgh told Newsday.

"I think everyone’s OK," Vandenburgh said. "Thank God we weren’t packed; it could have been much worse."

The driver suffered injuries that are not considered life-threatening, Southold Town Police Chief Steve Grattan told Newsday via text message late Monday. A helicopter transported him to Stony Brook University Hospital.

There was no one else in the vehicle and no other injuries were reported, according to the chief. The driver was not charged as of 9:30 p.m. The incident remains under investigation.

Just before 6 p.m., the driver was heading west on Route 25 in a 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander when he "swerved to avoid an uninvolved vehicle that he reported had crossed into his lane of travel," Grattan said. The SUV then "struck the support wires of a PSEG utility pole" before entering the brewery's parking lot, he added.

The driver crossed the parking lot without hitting anyone, "but managed to go right through our garage door into our brew house and destroyed our music stage," Vandenburgh said.

The crash "caused significant damage to the interior of the building and its contents," Grattan said.

In the hours after the crash, a first responder peered inside the Toyota among the remnants of two garage doors Vandenburgh said were demolished. The crash scattered dozens of beer kegs. A chunk of white wall adorned with the brewery's logo lay on the ground next to the SUV's rear passenger door.

While the tasting room can remain open, the brew house area, where the beers are crafted, must close "for a while," Vandenburgh added. The damage will also prohibit the brewery and restaurant from hosting private events.

The Peconic location is the larger of Vandenburgh’s two Greenport Harbor breweries. The other is in the brewery’s namesake hamlet of Greenport.

The Southold Fire Department, Southold Town Fire Marshal and Southold Town Building inspector responded to the crash, Grattan said.

Newsday's Randee Daddona contributed to this story.