When Steve Hindy ’71, MAT ’75 returned to the US with his family in the early ’80s after ending his stint as a reporter in the turbulent Middle East, he kept a couple of things: shrapnel from a mortar round that hit their hotel the eve of their flight, and a thirst for beer lovingly homebrewed by diplomats in “dry” Arabian countries.

Years later, he co-founded Brooklyn Brewery, which has been heralded by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a symbol of the Brooklyn “renaissance.” Steve is now an author, speaker, and the head of a craft-beer operation that ranks among the top 10 of its kind in the US and sells to 20 countries, including Sweden where it has just opened a branch.

Brooklyn Brewery’s first beer, Brooklyn Lager, remains its best seller—and the shrapnel from long ago and faraway still rests on Steve’s office desk, a glinting paperweight.