So you searched for ICONYC Brewery and now you’re a little confused. I get it. Maybe you grabbed a beer there a few years back, told a friend about it, and now the sign out front reads something else entirely. You didn’t dream it. The place is real, the beer’s still flowing, and there’s a small, kind of funny reason the name doesn’t match your memory.
Let me back up and tell you the whole thing, because it’s actually a nice little Queens story.
What was ICONYC Brewery, really?
Here’s the quick version. The whole thing started in early 2016, when three friends who grew up around the same Queens neighborhood decided to start making beer. Nothing fancy at first. They brewed out of a modest spot in Astoria and opened a tiny tasting room on 34th Avenue, just a short walk from where the beer was actually made.
And I mean tiny. If you walked in expecting some huge warehouse with rows of tanks, you’d have been surprised. It was a small bar, a creative tap wall, a few seats along the front window where you could watch the street go by. The kind of place where you’d order a flight, sit with friends, and lose an hour without really noticing.
Honestly, that’s the version most early fans still remember fondly.
From a little Astoria room to a real beer garden
After about three years tucked away near Northern Boulevard, things got bigger. In 2019 they opened a proper production brewery and taproom over in Long Island City, with an outdoor biergarten attached. Picnic tables in the sun. Twelve taps inside. Room to actually breathe.
If you’ve spent any time chasing craft beer in NYC, you know how rare it is to drink outdoors at an actual brewery in this city. Space is gold here. So a real beer garden in Long Island City? That was a genuinely big deal, and the spot slid right into the neighborhood’s growing beer scene.
The beers people kept coming back for
This is where the brewery made its name (back when folks could figure out how to say that name, but we’ll get there).
They leaned hard into saisons and sours, and they were good at it. Funky, juicy saisons. Plenty of IPAs too, including the hazy New England style people kept asking for. Stuff like Uptown Haze on the hazy side, a clean Good Looks pilsner when you wanted something simple, and a big imperial stout for the cold months. Some of the sours practically glowed pink and tasted like fruit you’d happily keep drinking.
Not every beer was a home run. No brewery’s lineup is. But enough of them landed that regulars kept showing up, and that’s really the whole game.
And then the name changed
Okay. Here’s the part that probably brought you to this page.
In 2023, after seven years, ICONYC rebranded. The brewery is now called Focal Point Beer Co. Same owners, same crew, same beers you liked. Nothing got sold off, nobody walked away. They just picked a new name to match where they’d grown to.
And the reason is, weirdly, pretty relatable. Almost nobody could say “ICONYC.” Was it “Ico-NYC”? “Icon-YC”? People genuinely had no clue, and the team got tired of explaining it every single week. So if you’ve been hunting for the ICONYC Brewery taproom and only turning up a place called Focal Point, that little mystery’s solved. It’s the same spot, just easier to pronounce.
Also Read: Why Sodiceram Is Becoming a Favorite Choice
Can you still go? Yeah, you can
Good news here. It’s all still there in Long Island City, running as Focal Point Beer Co at the same 12th Street address. Working brewery, taproom, biergarten, the whole setup.
The hours shift around a bit, usually afternoon into the evening on weekdays and later on the weekend, so I’d just peek at their site before you head over instead of trusting me on the exact times. Taproom hours and tap lists are the kind of thing that change without much warning.
My honest take
I’ll be real with you, a tiny part of me misses the old name. ICONYC had character. It felt scrappy and local, very “we’re a few people from Queens making beer in a small room.”
But I also get why they did it. A name nobody can read out loud isn’t doing you any favors when you’re trying to grow. And at the end of the day, the beer is the point, right? That part didn’t change. If you cared about the place for the saisons and the hazy IPAs and the outdoor tables, all of it survived the rebrand just fine.
So don’t let the new sign throw you off. Walk in, grab a flight, sit outside if the weather’s behaving. It’s still the same spot a lot of people quietly fell for.
So, is it worth the trip?
If you’re anywhere near Long Island City and you like beer that isn’t just the same five styles you can get anywhere, yeah. Go. The history’s a little tangled and the name’s been swapped, but the actual experience, good local beer with a relaxed garden to drink it in, is very much worth an afternoon.
A few quick questions people ask
Is ICONYC Brewery still open?
It is, just under a new name. It now runs as Focal Point Beer Co in Long Island City, same location and same owners. Nothing closed down.
Where was ICONYC located?
It started small in Astoria with a tasting room on 34th Avenue, then moved to a bigger brewery and biergarten on 12th Street in Long Island City back in 2019.
Why did ICONYC change its name?
Mostly because the name confused people who were never sure how to pronounce it. After seven years, the team rebranded to Focal Point Beer Co in 2023 to keep things clear and match how much they’d grown.
Did the owners or the beer change with the new name?
Nope. The company didn’t change hands, and the beers carried right over. Same people, same recipes, just a different label on the door.
What kind of beer does the brewery make?
A real mix, but they’re best known for saisons and sours, plus IPAs (including hazy New England ones), pilsners, and heavier stouts once the weather turns cold.
Get in Touch With Us for More Informational Blogs
