Repairs on tap at Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. in Peconic after SUV's crash into building

Instead of hops and barley, Rich Vandenburgh toiled with nails and screws Wednesday afternoon at Greenport Harbor Brewing Co.

Sporting a tool belt, the brewery’s co-owner climbed down a ladder into a pit several feet deep inside the building where his crew makes small batches of seasonal beers. Up until two nights ago, the pit was covered by a stage where musicians play for crowds on typical nights.

The stage, along with electronic equipment and stored items like Christmas decorations, were destroyed Monday evening when a driver left Main Road and barreled through the large garage door on the east side of the brewhouse. The damage means no private events will be held there until the building is "back to normal in a couple months," Vandenburgh said. The co-owner is viewing the wreckage not as a setback, but a "forced opportunity" to reconfigure the event space over the winter, the business’ "quietest time of the year."

Only the driver of the 2026 Toyota Grand Highlander, a Greenport man, was injured in the crash, according to Southold Town Police Chief Steve Grattan.

The Toyota sent wood from the stage, the metal guardrail that encased it and the empty beer kegs that served as a backdrop through a second garage door on the opposite side of the building.

"It was just a total mess," Vandenburgh, 64, said.

The SUV driver was heading west on Route 25 just before 6 p.m. when he "swerved to avoid an uninvolved vehicle that he reported had crossed into his lane of travel," Grattan said. The vehicle then "struck the support wires of a PSEG utility pole" before entering the brewery's parking lot, he added. The driver was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of injuries not considered life-threatening.

Grattan told Newsday there were no updates regarding the department's investigation or the driver's condition Wednesday afternoon. The driver has not been charged.

Vandenburgh does not have an exact timeline for completing repairs. He said the crash caused less than $100,000 worth of damage, but he is still waiting to meet with insurance adjusters, as well as obtain a copy of the police report detailing the crash.

He was home when he got a phone call from an employee who said "there had been an accident."

"As I approached the property, I saw all the police cars and fire engines and I was like ‘holy mackerel,’ ” he said.

The brewhouse’s pit, which once housed large brewing tankers before Vandenburgh opted to erect a stage for live music, was now filled by an SUV. The brewery’s forklift, which normally lifts beer kegs, hoisted the car up by its roof so a tow truck could pull it free.

"It’s a pretty versatile piece of equipment" he said "I’ve done a lot of things with that forklift, but this is the first time I’ve ever lifted a car out of a hole with it."

Vandenburgh said it was "remarkable" that there were no other injuries or more property damage. The brewhouse also contains administrative offices. The employees "had all gone home fortunately" in the hour before the crash.

On Wednesday afternoon, a pallet loaded with dozens of bags of various malts sat in front of the plywood wall erected to cover one of two garage-door-sized holes in the building. Had the pallet been there Monday night, Vandenburgh said he would have lost thousands of dollars worth of materials he will need for crafting winter brews.

"We’ve also had events here, private events here," he said. "This room could be full with a lot of people on certain nights, so thank God none of that was happening when this happened."

The brewery’s tasting room and restaurant, in a separate building from the brewhouse, remain open for business. A holiday market scheduled for Nov. 28 will go on as planned, although Vandenburgh said he must still figure if he can go ahead with live music scheduled for that day. Although he cannot rebuild a stage before the pop-up event of about 25 local artisans, he sliced two-by-fours with a circular saw Wednesday afternoon to begin assembling a safety barrier around the pit. While the old stage was a rectangle set closer to one side of the room, Vandenburgh is considering rebuilding as a triangle so artists can more easily play to both sides of the room.

"We’re going to have to pivot a little bit, but it hasn’t really affected our production operations," he said. "It’s really just going to be a bit of a pause on some of the private event stuff that we do."

As Vandenburgh made repairs, about a dozen customers enjoyed his brews in the property's beer garden. Among them, reading a Jimi Hendrix biography, was Bill Petito, 58, of Southold. He said he watched a live band in the now-shuttered brewhouse in recent weeks and was surprised to hear of the crash.

"I thought it was pretty cool, you got a stage and a bar in the back, that's all I need," Petito said. "As long as it's back for next summer I'll be good."