If you’ve visited a craft beer store recently, you may have noticed Brooklyn Brewery beer on the shelves. Despite the New York moniker, those brews are made right here.

Last year, Brooklyn Brewery announced a partnership with the Bay Area’s 21st Amendment Brewery that would allow the New Yorkers to not only distribute their beer here, but brew it here, too, at 21st Amendment’s production facility in San Leandro.

Brooklyn Brewery’s backstory is an interesting one. In 1984, Steve Hindy had just finished a five-year tour of duty as an Associated Press war correspondent in the Middle East, covering stories in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Sudan. Alcohol was taboo in those cultures, but diplomats he met while he was there shared their homebrews with him. So when Hindy returned to the U.S. to take a job with Newsday, he began homebrewing, enlisting the help of a neighbor, Tom Potter, who was in the banking industry. After a couple of years, the duo quit their day jobs to start a brewery.

Brooklyn Brewery opened in 1987 — with a logo designed by Milton Glaser of “I (Heart) NY” fame — and began pouring Brooklyn Lager. Brewmaster Garrett Oliver came on board in 1994 and began brewing a lineup that has come to include East IPA, Brown Ale and Sorachi Ace Saison, along with seasonal and experimental brews, such as Brooklyn Local 1.

The partnership with 21st Amendment has begun rolling out Defender, a golden IPA, and Bel Air Sour, both in 12-ounce cans. California-brewed Brooklyn Lager is on the schedule for later this year.

Brooklyn did a similar partnership with Colorado’s Funkwerks, a small brewery in Fort Collins that specializes in saisons and sour beers. Part of the rationale behind the triple-brewery collaboration was the ability to expand distribution with a shared sales force. Brooklyn currently sells its beer in 30 states and more than 30 countries — that kind of distribution is much easier to do if you can make the beer closer to where it’s sold, since transportation is such a large part of the costs involved.

Shaun O’Sullivan, 21st Amendment’s brewmaster, says that’s why his brewery plans to start brewing and canning some of Funkwerks’ beer, as well. That translates to more suds options for Bay Area beer lovers, and that’s always a good thing. It also allows 21st Amendment to maximize its San Leandro facility’s production capacity. Related Articles California beer: Yuengling arrives, Double Jack returns and Stone Brewing goes upside down

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When I was in Brooklyn last month, I stopped by the brewery to see Hindy. I hadn’t been to the Brooklyn Brewery in more than a decade, and the place has grown significantly since then. Even the neighborhood is more built-up, with entire vistas blocked by new high-rises. Hindy talked about how excited he is to be involved in California’s beer scene and how much he’s enjoying his left coast visits. He and Oliver participated in several events during SF Beer Week in February, and they hope to continue that.

Meanwhile, you might pick up a copy of Hindy’s “The Craft Beer Revolution: How a Band of Microbrewers Is Transforming the World’s Favorite Drink” (St. Martin’s Griffin, $17). It pairs well with Brooklyn Lager.

Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.