Riverhead’s fire department kept its trucks on East Second Street for seventy-seven years. We make beer here now.

The building was built in 1931 and served as the Riverhead Volunteer Fire Department’s main headquarters until 2008, when the department moved to Roanoke Avenue. After that, the building sat empty for ten years.

Peter Barraud was born and raised in Riverhead, and still lives here today. After beginning his career as an educator, plans began to shift. Somewhere along the way, lesson plans gave way to beer. He came home, took over the old firehouse in 2018, and made Pierce the Ale that first year.

It’s still on tap.

The building hasn’t forgotten what it was. The lockers where firefighters once kept their gear are still here. Today, they make up the wall behind the taps.

Everything you drink was made about thirty feet from where you’re standing. That means we can put beer in your glass fresh, and we can tell you exactly what went into it.

We usually have twelve beers on tap, with something for just about every taste. A five-percent light lager next to a nine-percent double hazy. An English bitter. A maple porter. A fruited sour. And, every so often, a Gruit—a style almost nobody brews anymore.

We’ve never moved. We’ve never opened a second location. Somehow, we’ve kept up with demand.

One room. One brewing system. Beer made right here, by people who live here.

That’s what this place is.