Ash Croce

At my neighborhood brewery, there is someone I look for first. I’ve been guilty of missing a greeting from the bartender because I’m adamant to find her. Sometimes she’s right there by the door ready to greet folks, other times she’s in the brewhouse supervising work, and sometimes she can be found sprawled across a table snoozing on the job. Her name is Simcoe and she is a tuxedo cat with a snaggletooth and a habit of trying to con patrons out of their cheese, and maybe a little salami (as a treat). She lives and works at Grimm Artisanal Ales in East Williamsburg. Photograph: Kevin Serrano| When Simcoe isn’t working hard on the brewery floor supervising her coworkers and keeping pests at bay, she likes to nap in the rain garden right in front of Grimm Artisanal Ales. Aiyana Knauer says if she were to order a beer, it would be “Grimm Lite for sure…she needs an easy-drinking beer for laying in the dirt.” The “working cat” is no anomaly in NYC. Warehouse cats, shop cats, garden cats, and most famously, bodega cats are common fixtures across the city. As it happens, breweries, with their need to store large amounts of grain—a potential snack for vermin—are a perfect match for cats looking for a place to stay. And sometimes it begins just like that–a cat wanders in and never leaves. But often breweries seek out feline workers to join their ranks. Hard Hat Cats, a non-profit committed to pairing cats who may not be eligible for regular adoption into working situations, has provi