Blue Point Brewing is on one lately. This month, they announced distribution of their first ‘Hazy Bastard’ IPA in 16 oz cans; they’re canning other beers with wacky ingredients like seaweed and beach plum; they hosted an experiential marketing gig, bringing Blue Point beer and beach vibes to the Lower East Side (complete with boardwalk, relaxation pod and “underwater” bar—see photos here); and they’ll soon be opening a new production facility and brewpub in their hometown of Patchogue, Long Island.
Perhaps the most impressive of their latest endeavors, though, at least to the small group of beer nerds who got to taste it, is 1902, a “pre-prohibition lager” brewed in collaboration with Popular Mechanicsmagazine.
On December 5, Blue Point Brewing invited media to preview “Relax, Dammit!,” a popup travel agency on Orchard Street in Lower Manhattan. Continue reading →
Such are the words used by brewers and their representatives at Belgium Comes to Cooperstown (BCTC), Brewery Ommegang’s annual beer festival that took place this year August 4-5, when asked the question: What does craft beer mean to you?
In the process of making this video, it became clear right away that even when put on the spot, brewers know exactly what craft beer means to them. Read a transcription of their answers below.
“Craft beer means a dedication to what you’re doing and a certain knowledge and skill level. I’ve worked in all different sized breweries…I firmly believe there’s craft in every size. I’ve met some of the best, smartest people in larger breweries. The common thread is passion for beer and making as high quality beer as you can.”
—Phil Leinhart, Brewery Ommegang brewmaster
Phil Leinhart was not available at the time of filming; we called him up afterwards so he could weigh in.
What Is Craft Beer?
“Craft beer is love. It’s care. It’s quality…There’s no boxes. There’s no limits. There’s no, ‘you can’t do this,’ ‘you can’t do that.’” – Scott Luposello, Brewer’s Apprentice and Taproom Manager, Clemson Bros. Brewery,Middletown, NY
“Craft beer, to me, means a lot of pride from where you come from.” – Noreen Lanasa, Bartender,Oyster Bay Brewing Company, Oyster Bay, NY
“I was just so inspired by craft beer that I dropped out of college…it’s my life now, so it means everything.” – Austin Partridge,Red Shed Ale, Rochester, NY
“It’s a lifestyle. I make it and I drink it, every day.” – Kevin Van Blarcun, Brewer,Red Shed Ales, Kingston, NY
“Good people. Good drink. Good times.” – Jamal Robinson, Director of Sales, Stony Creek Brewery,Branford, CT “You really find, when you’re in it, it’s just this community.” – Richard Rogers, Brewer, Roscoe Beer Co.,Roscoe, NY
“Really, it’s people creating things that they’re passionate about and interested in…It’s keepin’ it real.” – Tony Bellis, Co-founder and Brew Commander, Kings County Brewers Collective,Brooklyn, NY “For the customer. Full of soul.” – Colin Herzog, Brewer, Flying Bison Brewing Co.,Buffalo, NY
“Individuality, freedom of expression, stickin’ it to the man.” – Randy Schull, Packaging Manager, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co., Elmsford, NY
“Freedom.” – Vincent Somoggi, Customer Safety Representative, Flying Bison Brewing Co., Buffalo, NY
“Independence and freedom, my friend.” – Jaye Beattie, Co-founder/Vice President, Four Mile Brewing , Olean, NY
“It’s creativity, it’s freshness.” – Kelly Taylor, KelSo Beer Co., Brooklyn, NY
“It’s about beer being at the cultural center of everything that’s creative.” – Gabe Barry, Beer Education and Community Ambassador, Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY
For you baseball fans and beer weirdos out there, listen up: Sam Adams is releasing a beer at their brewery in Boston today—and today only—dedicated to Boston baseball hero, Big Papi (formerly known as David Ortiz).
The beer is called Big Hapi (get it?!) and it’s a double IPA packed with lots of hops and lots of juice (mango, to be exact). There are only 541 cans being released—one for each of Big Papi’s home runs, because he’s a beast—and the proceeds will go to the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, because he’s also apparently awesome. Big Papi loves his children.
Great South Bay Brewery won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for their Jetty Cream Ale.
New York may not win a lot of beer awards, but when we do, we win gold, baby.
The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) celebrated its 35th year in Denver this weekend, bringing 60,000 craft beer enthusiasts and industry members together to sample nearly 3,800 beers from more than 800 breweries. The festival, presented by the Brewers Association, took place at the Colorado Convention Center from Thursday, October 6 through Saturday, October 8.
On Saturday morning, the GABF awards ceremony, now in its 30th year, awarded 286 medals to 254 breweries for exemplary renditions of 161 beer styles submitted in 96 categories. Though the top state winners by ratio of medals to entries per state were Wyoming (45 entries and 5 medals), Hawaii (28 entries and 3 medals) and Virginia (200 entries and 14 medals), New York walked off with gold medals in four categories: Honey Beer; Barrel-Aged Sour Beer; Belgian-Style Witbier; and Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale. Continue reading →
Goose Island Brewmaster, Brett Porter lists his favorite hops at the Mondial de la bière Master Classes.
At Mondial de la bière, an annual beer festival known around the world as one of the most prominent in North America (held for the 23rd year in Montreal at the Palais de Congres June 8-12, 2016), a new initiative was introduced to festival-goers this year: the Master Classes.
Launched in partnership with Goose Island Beer Co. and targeted to industry professionals (along with avid homebrewers and connoisseurs), the new feature brought three world-famous brewers to classroom settings to share their insights into different aspects of the brewing business: Yvan De Baets, Brasserie de la Senne; Leonardo Di Vincenzo, Birra Del Borgo; and Brett Porter, Goose Island brewmaster, who led a session on hops sourcing in a time of shortage, an issue which many craft breweries are facing today.
Along with filling in audience members on his history in the beer industry—which spans 28 years between Bunces Brewery in England, Portland and Deschutes breweries in Oregon, and the past six years at Goose Island—Porter stressed the importance of seeking out and cultivating relationships with hops farmers. In his experience, he said, hop growers are the most “open, welcoming and happy people” in the world, and knowing the right people to call will invariably lead to hops-sourcing success. Toward the end of the session, Porter shared a list of his favorite hops to brew with, along with (in most cases) the farms he works with to acquire them. Continue reading →
Simon Gaudreault, co-owner of Brasserie Dunham, with a bottle lineup at Mondial de la bière 2016.
Among the 536 beers and 586 total beverages offered by more than 85 breweries present at the 23rd Mondial de la biere in Montreal, none stood more than those of Brasserie Dunham (Dunham Brewery), a microbrewery specializing in farmhouse style and wild ales located about an hour southeast of Montreal.
The brewery first caught our eye (along with our nostrils and tastebuds) at Les Terrasses Flaveurs, a beer and caprices tasting organized by Quebec-based beer and gastronomy expert, author and speaker, Philippe Wouters. The pairing experience was organized in stations, the second of which paired caprices from Au Petit Extra with two of Brasserie Dunham’s expert creations:
First Pairing: Spring roll with mango, ginger and tempeh, paired with Brasserie Dunham Saison Fleurs Sauvages.
This spring roll was the best either of us have ever had in our lives—no, seriously. Nothing like the greasy, crispy cylinder stuffed with cabbage and carrot that we’re used to. Refined yet approachable, this roll was fresh, delicate and grease-free, prepared more like a maki with miniature rice noodles in place of the rice and a moist, translucent rice paper skin in place of the seaweed. The best part was the fresh ginger, first enveloped within the spring roll’s fragrant folds, then bursting to life on the tongue with that quintessential ginger zing. (We weren’t the only ones talking about this roll all weekend.)
The Saison Fleurs Sauvages bottle label; each beer label at Brasserie Dunham is designed by a different local artist. Image via brasseriedunham.com.
Saison Fleurs Sauvages, or saison with wild flowers (6% ABV), was a perfect pairing, equally fragrant and refined at its delicate core, with its own set of unique nuances. According to Dunham co-owner, Simon Gaudreault (who is also an accomplished wine sommelier and writer), the saison includes three types of wild flowers: raspberry (little white flowers that grow with the berry); elderflower (also little and white, often used in herbal remedies and recently, in craft beers); and berce flowers, for which he nor I could find an English translation.
Second Pairing: Dark malt bread with smoked salmon “nuggets,” paired with Brasserie Dunham Assemblage #1.
The caprice here was essentially a small piece of rye bread toast with a shmear of butter, lox-like smoked salmon pieces, and topping of dill-weed. Like fancy lox on a bagel with a hearty crunch, the fat of the butter and salt of the salmon were cut exquisitely by the funky, dry and bitter formulation of Assemblage 1.
Assemblage Numéro 1, a wild beer blend aged in Zinfandel barrels.
Assemblage 1is a blend of American Pale Ale and saison with honey (or more accurately, propolis) aged in Zinfandel barrels with brettanomyces yeast. Read that again. It’s delicious! Funky, rustic, fruity, hoppy…it’s all there, and it’s truly special. According to the brewery, Assemblage 1 is the first “assembly” or blend in which the effect of the barrels transcends the two base beers. Voila.
Fun fact: Dunham brewery is located in Dunham, Quebec, not far from the U.S. border. As such, the brewery has done a few collaborations with American brewers—Hill Farmstead and Cambridge Brewing Co. among them. Trust me, you’ll want to keep your eye out for these guys.
They never stop experimenting, either: in fact, on May 22, 2016, Dunham released no fewer than 22 beers for an event Gaudreault described as a bottle release that was enhanced for its attendees with games, giveaways and other merriments meant to make waiting in line less miserable. Plus, the releases were all pre-order, so no one walked away empty handed.
I’ll close with this video created for the brewery last June : “Brasserie ze film” by Alex Chabot. (Disclaimer: it’s in French.)
BeerAffair‘s Cat Wolinski and Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver and Samantha Bernstein.
With NYC Beer Week 2016 in full swing, deciding on which events to attend each night becomes a bit challenging, to say the least. But on Monday, February 22, the choice was non-negotiable: Brooklyn Brewery invited select guests to attend the twenty-first birthday of the Black Chocolate Stout.
This was no ordinary birthday party. The Black Chocolate Stout holds significance at Brooklyn Brewery for several reasons. One is that the beer’s recipe was essentially the entry point into Brooklyn Brewery for Garrett Oliver, now brewmaster, who has since risen to worldwide fame for his beer making and beer-and-food pairing prowess. Another is that at the time of its original brew date in 1994, the beer, an imperial stout, was the most radical stout many beer drinkers had ever seen or tasted. Chocolate in a beer name?! Ten percent alcohol by volume?!
Finally, and perhaps most significantly for birthday bash attendees, the brewery has held onto nearly a dozen bottled iterations of the imperial stout since its origins. Originally announcing 10 vintages would be available, it turned out that there are, in fact, 11 vintages of Black Chocolate Stout available — a surprise 2007 was available on draft — making this event even more unique than we originally thought. The icing on the cake—the figurative one, not the chocolate one— was tasting and comparing each chocolately vintage with sweet early 2000’s tunes to sip to. Continue reading →
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