Days of Swine and Roses

With the first-ever Pig Roast at the new brewery space coming up inside of a week, thoughts turned to the pig roasts of the past, when Captain Lawrence was a significantly smaller brewing operation, and the crowd gathered around the spit wasn’t much of a crowd at all.

The first one, in Pleasantville in 2006, had maybe 200 people, says Laura DeMaria as she sips a Chico De Leche, Randy Shull’s sweet and malty milk stout. There was a lone pig and maybe five beers on tap. “Scott Vaccaro cooked the pig himself,” she says. “You won’t see that anymore.”

Laura knows her pigs; her father is John DeMaria, owner of Hemlock …