This year’s BCTC festival, held August 7-9 at Brewery Ommegang, proved, in my opinion, to be the best yet. Read on to find out why the festival remains so successful, year after year, in “Belgium Comes to Cooperstown Boasts Successful Twelfth Year Turnout,” written for the Ale Street News October/November 2015 issue.
At the fifth annual Village Voice Brooklyn Pour Craft Beer Festival, held this year at the new Brooklyn Expo Center on the afternoon of Sept. 26, 2015, three things were clear: 1) New York City’s craft beer appreciating community continues to grow; 2) local and regional breweries are matching that growth with innovative and on-trend beer styles; and 3) Skylight One Hanson will be deeply missed.
A mug-holding contest at the Sam Adams booth put Brooklyn Pour goers’ stein hosting strength to the test.
The Brooklyn Expo Center on Greenpoint’s Franklin Avenue is everything you want in an event space: vast, well lit and high ceilinged, the venue has plenty of room to accommodate a growing list of brewers, attendees and sponsors, with photo ops aplenty, back patio space with skyline views and well-managed bathrooms to boot. However, those who have attended the Brooklyn Pour in the past know that this venue is no match to the art-deco masterpiece that is Skylight One Hanson in Fort Greene.
Plenty of distractions bordered the expansive space, inside and out: a photo booth for friends to pose and hashtag (complete with sponsored backdrop) hung in the front; tables touting contests and giveaways mirrored brewers’ coolers along the sides of the room; a mug holding contest sponsored by Sam Adams brought brawny bros to the rear; and a personal favorite, a Whole Foods-sponsored “Mix Six” pack photo op floated in the back of the room, beckoning grown men and women to slip into its shoddy cardboard hug (Halloween costume, anyone?).
Build your own custom six-pack of friends. This makes a great Halloween costume for beer buds!
Cold brewed coffee (Califa Farms, Grady’s) and scotch liquor tables (Aberlour, Jameson Caskmates) beckoned bean and booze hounds to the back of the room, providing a fairly welcome, albeit unnecessary alternative to the 125+ beer options available.
Aberlour single malt whiskey (above) and Jameson Caskmates tastings were also available at the Brooklyn Pour.
Other than liquid libations, the Brooklyn Pour offered attendees food options on the outside patio — Nuchas, Papaya King and Coney Shack stood in front of the neighboring building, while Keste grilled cheeses and Zum Schneider brats and pretzels stood in tents closer to the building — but the options and seating seemed oddly limited in the massive amount of space. A few more tables and trucks would have transformed the area into a welcome respite from imbibing and bumping elbows.
Nearly 70 breweries were in attendance at this year’s Brooklyn Pour (a total of 67 were confirmed at press time), with 25 making their Brooklyn Pour debut. These included: Allagash Brewing Company, Anchor Brewing Company, Angry Orchard, Aspall, Austin Eastciders, Barrier Brewing Co., Big Alice Brewery (VIP only), Downeast Cider House, Fentimans, Fire Island Beer Company, Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Greenport Harbor Brewing Co., Iron Maiden, Kronenbourg Brewery, Lost Nation Brewing, Newburgh Brewing Company, North Coast Brewing Company, Oskar Blues Brewery, Samuel Adams, Sixpoint Brewery, Speakeasey Ales and Lager, St. Feuilliens, SweetWater Brewing Company (VIP only), War Flag Brewing Company, and Weihenstephan.
Breweries represented last year who did not return in 2015 included a total of 35: 508 Gastrobrewery (now closed), Ayinger, Bayou Teche, Bear Republic, Boulder, Brewery Ommegang, Broken Bow, Bronx Brewery, Crispin Cider, Dyckman, Founders, Goose Island, Grimm Artisanal Ales, Gun Hill, Harlem Blue, Harlem Brewing Company, Ithaca, Lagunitas Brewing Co., Lake Placid Brewery, Lindemans Brewery, Magic Hat Brewing Company, MOA Brewing Company, Original Sin, Radeberger Brewery, Radiant Pig Craft Beers, Rekorderling, Samuel Smith, Saranac, Shipyard Brewing Company, Sly Fox Brewery, Steadfast Beer Co., Stevens Point Brewery, Transmitter Brewing, Wolffer Estate Vineyard and Yonkers Brewing Co.
Disclaimer: we were not able to make it to every booth. That being said, we have an eye for interesting brews, and these were some of our new and noteworthy favorites.
Barrier Brewing Co. Red Button Imperial Red Ale
Birreria Eataly Strawberry Blonde Cask Ale
Rockaway Brewng Company NY Pharm
Lost Nation Mosaic Single Hop IPA
Weihenstephaner
Comet Weisse
Weihenstephaner Comet Weisse
Third Rail Beer Skyland IPA
Oskar Blues IPA
Finback Brewery Close of Day
In a recent infographic from Brooklyn Brew Shop, the beer making kit company recommends Six Fantastic Hopped Ciders for Fall, geared toward those willing to venture against the grain. The blog post is a perfect answer to beer-lovers’ questions about approaching the apple-fermented beverage, which is often cloaked in mystery yet has been gaining popularity in New York City this fall.
Hopped cider recommendations include:
Nine Pin Cider Works Willsie Dry Hop; Urban Farm Fermentory Hopped Cidah; Square Mile Cider Co. Spur & Vine; Citizen Cider The Full Nelson; Finnriver Dry Hopped Cider; and Brooklyn Brew Shop‘s own Hard Cider Kit and Hopped Cider Refill Pack, which recently became available (along with Sweet and Dry Cider options) on brooklynbrewshop.com.
Check out the infographic below and click to learn more about Brooklyn Brew Shop’s hard cider options. Copywriting by yours truly and graphic design by Brittany Murray.
“Six Fantastic Hopped Ciders for Fall” infographic via The Mash on brooklynbrewshop.com.
Photo via BrewersAssociation.org.
On Sept. 26, 2015, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) awarded 275 professional medals to 242 craft breweries representing small and independent breweries throughout the United States. This year, more than 700 breweries competed, with 423 entering for the first time. Of those first-time entrants, 38 took home medals to their breweries.
New York entered 20 breweries into the competition this year, with five taking home GABF medals.
Grimm Artisanal Ales of Brooklyn, N.Y. for their Double Negative
Category: Imperial Stout
Great South Bay Brewery of Bay Shore, N.Y. for their Hog Cabin
Category: Specialty Beer
& Muscat Love, a recipe created by American Homebrewers Association member, Brian Giebel brewed in collaboration with the Great South Bay team
Category: GABF Pro-Am competition
Prison City Brewing of Auburn, N.Y. for their Bleek Worden
Category: Belgian-Style Blonde Ale or Pale Ale
Newburgh Brewing Co. of Newburgh, N.Y. for their Cream Ale
Category: English-Style Summer Ale
Crossroads Brewing Co. of Athens, N.Y. for their Black Rock Stout
Category: Export Stout
Congratulations to our New York winners and to all GABF winners and participants! For the full list of winners and awards, visit www.brewersassociation.org.
The Village Voice Brooklyn Pour will be celebrated for the fifth consecutive year on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015. This year, the craft beer tasting event will make its Brooklyn Expo Center debut in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, taking place from to 3pm to 6pm for general admission, 2:30pm to 6pm for early admission, and 2pm to 6pm for Very Important Persons.
Ithaca isn’t Brooklyn, but we love them like they are.
The craft breweries represented at the Brooklyn Pour (of which there are more than 100) comprise a well-balanced cross section of New York City (many), New York State (several), regional (some) and international (a few) breweries. For a festival that’s positioned as much toward casual beer consumers as it is to the hardcore drinks dorks among us, the list of exhibitors here never disappoints.
Look how happy these guys are!
A friendly atmosphere does wonders when you’re sent upstream in a room crowded enough to get lost in. At the Brooklyn Pour, at the same time that you’re probably getting separated from your friends, you’re making new ones, and for the most part, people don’t get pushy at the tasting tables, either.
She was so surprised to see new beer dudes from Brooklyn, Braven Brewing Company!
I’ve been attending the Brooklyn Pour since 2010, and every year, I see the same faces behind many of the coolers, but I see lots of new ones, too. Though it would be difficult to get bored in a room that has hundreds of beers to taste, the variety of old and new faces keeps things familiar and exciting at the same time.
Food trucks (and porter potties) aplenty.
This is Brooklyn, so you can’t really fux with the food choices, because we will notice and we will not be pleased. Brooklyn Pour offerings this year include Keste Pizza, Zum Schneider, Nuchas, Papaya King and Coney Shack.
You could be rolling in swag shades.
So yeah, I’m a sucker for stickers, coasters and keychains that scream “I like beer way too much” (who isn’t?). At the Brooklyn Pour, swaggery is not only plentiful, it’s encouraged. You don’t have to get all weird about swiping the free stuff—there’s plenty of it—and generally the brewers, reps and volunteers pouring your beer are super into decking you out, too. Sometimes, there are even games to play to win prizes! (But you don’t have to play them. You can also just have the prizes, if you ask nicely.)
*Did I mention great beer? In case you forgot, here are some reminders.
Brooklyn will be represented by the likes of Braven Brewing Company, Brooklyn Brew Shop, Coney Island Brewing Company (pictured above) and Sixpoint Brewery.
Queens breweries will include Big Alice Brewing Co. (VIP only), Rockaway Brewing Co., SingleCut Beersmiths (above) and Queens Brewery.
Staten Island newcomer, Flagship Brewery will be at the 2015 Brooklyn Pour.
This guy LOVED Two Roads Brewing Company of Stratford, Conn. Brooklyn Pour attendees also enjoyed out-of-state beer makers like Victory Brewing Company of Downing, Penn., and Harpoon Brewery of Boston.
For more of my favorite moments of people loving the Brooklyn Pour, check out my 2014 coverage for the Village Voice here. To skip that and buy tickets, go here.
In case you haven’t heard, you can now brew Brooklyn Sorachi Ace at home.
Thanks to a recent collaboration between Brooklyn Brewery and Brooklyn Brew Shop, brewing novices and intermediate beer makers have an easy route to replicating Brooklyn Brewery’s Sorachi Ace, a saison showcasing the rare hop varietal of the same name.
Brooklyn Sorachi Ace is available online as well as at the Brooklyn Brewery gift shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in both kit (ingredients + equipment) and mix (ingredients only) form. Both options pack all the grains, hops and yeast necessary for brewing the esteemed farmhouse ale in your own kitchen, known among hopheads for revitalizing the Sorachi Ace hop, a quirky, long-forgotten varietal originally created in Japan in the 1970s, later rediscovered by a family farm in Washington State in the early 2000s and officially brought back into the spotlight by Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster, Garrett Oliver in 2009.
See what Oliver and Brooklyn Brew Shop co-founders, Stephen Valand and Erica Shea have to say about the brand new release in this announcement posted on Brooklyn Brew Shop’s The Mash today.
The 8th Annual Brew n Chew will take place at the Diamond on Sunday, Sept. 20.
Brooklyn craft beer bar, The Diamond is known for its fair share of accolades—from being one of the “best jukebox bars in Brooklyn” to receiving honorable mention as one of Craft Beer & Brewing’s national craft beer dive bars, the Greenpoint staple has long enjoyed a reputation for its expertly curated selection of unusual brews from around the world, served in an atmosphere completely devoid of pretension.
This weekend, on Sunday, Sept. 20 from 3 to 5pm, the Diamond will be the one handing out the awards—at the 8th annual Brew n’ Chew homebrew and food pairing fundraiser.
That essential relationship between good food and good beer will be on display at the Diamond, where six homebrew teams will put their beer and food making chops to the test. The menu is subject to change, as the last two teams are still deciding on their offerings (Team 6 not shown).
Beer: Stout with coffee, maple syrup and cardamom
Food: “Some kind of waffle-taco hybrid”
Beer: Brett Lavender Saison
Food: Tiramisu
Beer: Hoppy American Saison
Food: Pork rilletes on crostini with cornichons
Beer: Old Ale
Food: Butterscotch pudding
Beer: Table Saison with Apricots, or Dry Hopped Saison, or Belgian Singel
Food: Smoked portabello mushroom slider & smoked pork tenderloin slider
One hundred percent of proceeds from Brew n’ Chew will be donated to Horizons Leadership Project, an organization that holds summer academic and elective programming for mostly disadvantaged Brooklyn youth. The winning team will take a trip to Sly Fox Brewing Company, a Phoenixville, Penn. craft brewery which is sponsoring the event.
“I can honestly say that this is one of the greatest days of the year to be at the Diamond and people love this community event,” Pollack said.
Tickets are $25 and will be available at the door, but you can snag them ahead of time here.
The Press Democrat is billing the partnership between Lagunitas Brewing Co. and Heineken International “the most significant deal yet in the American craft brewing industry.” Is it?
Tony Magee, founder of Lagunitas, has happily partnered with Heineken. Photo via the Press Democrat.
Last week’s announcement, which also appeared on the Lagunitas and Heineken websites on September 8, described the 50-50 deal as a powerful new partnership that will allow Lagunitas to export their craft beer globally. A strategic move for both parties, to be sure, but what does it say about Lagunitas as a member of the craft beer industry? Is it worth losing the status as “small and independent,” as the Brewers Association defines craft brewery, for an export deal?
Here are the key points of the deal:
Lagunitas, based in Petaluma, Calif., was listed in as No. 6 in the Brewers Association’s Top 50 U.S. Craft Brewing Companies of 2014. For the Top 50 Overall, it sat at No. 11. Since ratings are based on 2014 sales volume, it’s clear Lagunitas is selling a lot of beer.
So, why stop there? Isn’t that the purpose of starting a brewery in the first place? By sacrificing their status as sixth among the craft brewers, Lagunitas is elevating its status as a brewer, period. If given the opportunity to sell your beer overseas, wouldn’t you take it?
Basically, what I’m getting at is, they’re not wrong.
In the words of Tony Magee, founder of Lagunitas, the partnership is “a profound victory for American craft. It will open doors that had previously been shut and bring the U.S. craft beer vibe to communities all over the world.” That all sounds great, but consider the reverse: isn’t Lagunitas giving Heineken the opportunity to gain a foothold in the craft beer industry here? Aren’t those “doors” swinging doors?
A lot of questions will continue to surface as the deal unfolds. (Will Lagunitas grasp more market share with Heineken’s fists? Will Heineken be brewing Lagunitas’ beer, and vice versa? Will Heineken “partner” with more U.S. craft breweries, taking hold of similarly positioned companies like Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and Gambrinus? Is this as bad as Anheuser-Busch snatching up Elysian, Blue Point and Goose Island? Will what happened to Dick Cantwell at Elysian happen to Magee?)
After the sudden trepidation passes (if it ever does pass), maybe we’ll start to see that these partnerships aren’t such a bad thing. All we can hope for is that our still-small, still-independent breweries aren’t pushed out further by one of their own.
Read Tony Magee’s (thoughtful, very verbose) blog post on the recent news here.
Beer lovers are, more often than not, drawn to the craft beer scene after trying a new style or being introduced to a better form of the beverage. Before you know it, there are tap takeovers, beer festivals, day trips and vacations planned exclusively for breweries and basically, we pretty much have beer on the brain at all times. But even if you memorize every BJCP style guideline and keep up with all the latest trends, the only way to truly know beer is to make it.
If you’re interested in learning how to make beer and don’t have plans for the Siebel Institute or the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD) just yet, there are several online courses that will accomplish the basic “how to” of homebrewing without the hefty tuition. Here are three that are actually worth considering, both for their content and the cost.
This intro video is only the beginning.
All-Grain & Partial Mash Brewing by Craft Beer & Brewing
Price: FREE IF ENROLLED BY 8/25, otherwise $24.99, or $9.99/month for access to all Craft Beer & Brewing classes.
Along with publishing a monthly print magazine and regular digital content, Craft Beer & Brewing produces comprehensive brewing basics courses (as well as more advanced techniques) in their online homebrewing education platform. The course offerings range from extract brewing to partial to all grain, and each class offers step by step segments complete with downloadable, printable instructions and checklists for your brew session.
The video/slideshow/handout combo is a big draw for me, so even though I’ve been all grain brewing from the start, I’m registering for today’s free course and considering signing up for the monthly access. (My first foray into flavoring – strawberries and mint sprigs in a summer wheat ale – is currently fermenting, and I’d love to learn more about incorporating fresh ingredients into future brews. The yeast harvesting may have to wait.)
Enroll for the free class here – it’s FREE today (Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015)!
Look how happy she is after brewing her own beer!
Beer Brewing 101 by Brit + Co. and Brooklyn Brew Shop
Price: $19.99
Cutesy DIY fanatics, Brit + Co. recently collaborated with Brooklyn Brew Shop co-founder, Erica Shea to present Beer Brewing 101, a fun and easy guide to brewing a one-gallon batch of beer. The class uses Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Grapefruit Honey Ale beer making kit, which is also available for purchase at 10% off the original price of $40 when you buy the class for $20. The principles of this tutorial apply to any beer of any batch size, and divided by chapter, the course manages to condense the 4-6 hour brewing process down to less than 30 minutes of digestible, re-watchable content.
Check out Brooklyn Brew Shop’s blog post here or sign up for the class on Brit + Co.
Feel the satisfaction and joy of turning grains into beer.
Introduction to All Grain Brewing by the AHA
Price: Free?!
Although they don’t advertise these as brewing classes per se, the American Homebrewers Association is also full of resources and information on how to brew at the Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels. These include videos, recipes, how-to guides and tips detailing the brewing process from start to finish (with pictures!). As a member of the AHA, I’m thrilled to discover this – and I’m pretty sure it’s available for anyone to use.
Peek at the “Let’s Brew” section for a multitude of homebrew recipes and free offerings on how to brew.
Learning is cool, go do it!
Cheers,
Beer Affair
Beer Affair 