Hopped Hard Ciders: 6 Recommendations from Brooklyn Brew Shop

September 29, 2015September 28, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

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 brooklynbrewshop.com.

“Six Fantastic Hopped Ciders for Fall” infographic via The Mash on brooklynbrewshop.com.

Brewing Video Tutorials and Courses on the Cheap (and Free!)

August 25, 2015August 25, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

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.

All-Grain & Partial Grain Brewing by Craft Beer & Brewing.

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)!

Beer Brewing 101 by Brooklyn Brew Shop in collaboration with Brit + Co.

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

Bars We Love: Fetch a Few Brews at Luckydog! – Brokelyn

July 3, 2015July 3, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

Luckydog has been a longstanding Brokelyn favorite due to its gruff and casual vibe, decent and cheap booze, and most significantly, its dog-friendly-bordering-dog-necessary policy.

All good things come to an end, however, even when man’s best friend is on your side. Despite unconditional love from local K9s, customers and even Yelp reviewers, Luckydog lost its pooch privileges (along with several other Brooklyn bars) when the New York Department of Health cracked its joyless whip across the borough last year.

The bar no longer gives its loyal locals the warm and fuzzies, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve your love money—in fact, on the contrary, they could use a little extra love right now. Next time you’re in South Williamsburg, stop in for a pint or two (Rockaway’s ESB was on tap last time I stopped in), maybe a bowl of water for old times’ sake, and reminisce about the days before doggy discrimination, when you would drink a beer with someone else’s animal next to you, or go to the bar next door because of your boyfriend’s allergies.

For some extra Luckydog intel, check out fellow Brokester, Kate Mooney’s look at the dog ban in her recent piece in the New York Observer, “Dining With Dogs: Here’s What’s in Store for Luckydog Bar in Williamsburg.”

Thoughts on L.A. BEER, the new webseries sitcom now streaming on YouTube

May 14, 2015July 1, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

I take a positive tack on beer related ventures, so I’m not going to say L.A. BEER is terrible. All sitcoms are terrible. These guys and gals are trying though, and if it’s in the name of getting beer making in front of the masses, then I can try, too. The problem I have is, there’s hardly any beer making. Fair enough, but if we’re to assume the show is casting a wide net to catch viewers, then they’re missing the mark on two counts. For the beer nerds, there’s definitely not much going on in the beer knowledge department. For the vaguely beer curious, it’s unclear what these people are doing in their office every day if it’s not brewing.

In the five webisodes released in time for American Craft Beer Week, we see the struggle of fictional Los Angeles microbrewery, Silver Screen Brewing (how cute), in five quick and disheartening stages. In episode one, “New Brew,” the latest beer fails because it was made with a stinky Asian fruit (durian) in the brewer’s futile attempt to make something exotic (if that’s a reference to Ex Novo brewmaster, Jason Barbee, who brewed a Jacked Up Saison with one hundred cans of jackfruit, it’s only a compliment).

In episode two, “Silverlake Strawberry Ale,” another beer fails and is protested against by an angry mob of flannel-wearing mothers due to its kid-friendly label art (because hipster moms). In episode three, “Straight Up Shandy,” the boss fails to recognize one if his employees is homosexual, and said employee fails to stand up for himself (because being gay is hard and older white men don’t get it). Episode four, “Culver City Crowdfunding,” chronicles a Kickstarter campaign to can a beer gone wrong (because millennials) and episode five, “Fairfax Beer Fast” (where exactly is this brewery, anyway?), takes us through the lovely journey of the female employees attempting a juice cleanse that makes them go crazy to the point of becoming demonic, while the men have fun doing a beer cleanse (because girls are insane and think beer makes them fat).

Basically, these first introductions show nothing but failure in every corner of the brewing industry, from the launch of the brewery to the flagship beer to the marketing and distribution. Mix this in with a few staid personality types (the marketing bitch, the internet-and-approval-crazed intern, the gay guy and the clueless boss), a few lesbian and hipster jokes (or lesbian hipster jokes, as episode two would have it), and a few jabs at #craftbeerproblems and you’ve got yourself a sitcom. I guess?

The five episodes streaming right now total about 25 minutes all together, so it’s fair to say the production had to cut to the chase in terms of telling us who’s who and setting up their struggle. Fine, it’s your plot. But the parts that reinstate social assumptions like girls not drinking craft beer—even when it’s literally their job—leave room for improvement.

Some things the show is correct in portraying is that starting a brewery is hard, that the craft beer business involves a myriad of stages and issues and departments outside of the brewing itself, and that even brewers struggle to keep up with beer styles and sex appeal in a social media saturated market. But is it realistic? I don’t know, I’ve never worked in a brewery. My initial question still remains, though: Where’s the beer?

British Beer in Bay Ridge at Brooklyn’s Only Welsh Bar, Longbow

March 20, 2015July 1, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

The day I walked the length of the mighty Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, seeking contenders for the Brokelyn Beer Book’s South edition, one bar of many welcomed me into its warm, wooden arms: Longbow.

Supposedly the only Welsh bar in New York City, say the owners, Longbow is a perfect place to sit a spill on a Saturday afternoon when you’re hankering for a refreshing UK brew, wouldn’t mind seeing a bit of sport and perhaps fancy a chat with a tipsy regular or two.

Get a taste of it here.

ICYMI: Sugarburg Has Coffee Now

March 19, 2015July 1, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

6 Irish Stouts to Drink Instead of Guinness on St. Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2015July 1, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

Did you know that stouts originated in London? Or that the “stout” is actually an abbreviation of “stout porter,” a stronger style of the popular beer among early eighteenth century London dock workers?

Guinness was introduced, as the story goes, in 1759 by Arthur Guinness, at St. James’s Gate in Dublin, Ireland, where the draught is still brewed today. Yet, some speculate the story is hogwash and the beer actually originated in England. To add to the confusion, several varieties—like the Guinness Extra Stout we see here in the States in cans and bottles—are brewed in other countries (for us, Canada) and on top of that, the Guinness headquarters is in London!

It’s hard to say how “Irish” the Guinness you’re drinking today really is, so in an effort to get you educatedly drunk this St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a list of Irish stouts that are either 100% Irish or Irish-inspired, and are, by American terms, craft—that means no Murphy’s, Smithwick’s, Beamish or Killian’s, either, I’m afraid—all of those are owned by either MolsonCoors or Heineken.

O’Haras Irish Stout. Image via youtube.com.

O’Hara’s Irish Stout
Carlow Brewing Company
Bagenalstown, Ireland

O’Hara’s Brewery, or Carlow Brewing Company, is an independent, family-owned brewery located in Bagenalstown in County Carlow, Ireland. O’Hara’s Irish Stout, the company’s flagship beer, was first brewed in 1999 and has since won multiple awards as well as acclaim for staying true to Irish tradition. Robust, tart from Fuggle hops and espresso-like in its finish, O’Hara’s Irish Stout recreates a taste similar to the stouts of yore.

Find it at: Alewife (5-14 51st Ave., Long Island City); Barleycorn (23 Park Place, Financial District); Taproom 307 (307 3rd Ave., Kips Bay); Beer Authority (300 W 40th St. at 8th Ave., Midtown West); and Draught 55 (245 E 55th St. at 2nd Ave., Midtown East).

Porterhouse Oyster Stout. Image via clevelandhops.com.

Porterhouse Oyster Stout
Porterhouse Brewing Company
Dublin, Ireland

Another Irish independent challenging the industrial breweries is Porterhouse, a brewpub that opened in Temple Bar, Dublin in 1996 and has since added locations in Cork, London and—wait for it—New York. The brewing company’s Oyster Stout is literally brewed with oysters, which is pretty gross, but this is actually their best selling stout to date.

Find it at: Fraunces Tavern, a Porterhouse-owned pub in the Financial District (54 Pearl St. at Broad St.), or The Well (272 Meserole St.) in Bushwick.

Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask. Image via bandadegaitas.mx

Innis & Gunn Irish Whiskey Cask
Innis & Gunn
Edinburgh, Scotland

This Scottish stout is matured in Irish whiskey barrels (so it’s half Irish, right?) and yields a dark, rich, boozy pour that’ll put the proverbial hair on your chest. Surprisingly, the stout reaches 7.4% ABV—less aggressive than other barrel aged stouts, which tend to clock in above 10%—but nearly doubling the alcohol content of typical stouts, which usually hover around 4%.

Find it at: Beer Boutique in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Moylan’s Dragoons Dry Irish Stout. Image via pfbarney.wordpress.com.

Moylan’s Dragoons Dry Irish Stout
Moylan’s Brewery & Restaurant/Marin Brewing Company
Novato, California

Of the non-Irish Irish stouts, Moylan’s Dragoons is furthest from the motherland but perhaps closest to its heart. The Dragoons Dry Irish Stout is made at Moylan’s Celtic-inspired brewpub in the North Bay Region of the San Francisco Bay Area, and its unique character comes, in part, from being brewed with barley and hops imported from the UK. As for its inspiration, Dragoons was conceived to commemorate General Stephen Moylan, an Irish expat who served as commander of the 4th Continental Dragoons during the American Revolutionary War. At 8.0% ABV, it’s the most alcoholic stout on this list, which also wins it a few points.

Find it at: Malt and Mold beer store in Gramcery (362 2nd Ave. at 21st St.); possibly Malt and Mold on the Lower East Side (221 East Broadway at Clinton St.). Call ahead, this bad boy is hard to find.

Harpoon Irish Stout Nitro. Image via harpoonbrewery.com.

Harpoon Boston Irish Stout Nitro
Harpoon Brewery
Boston, Massachusetts

This may not be brewed in or near Ireland, but since many of Boston’s residents really think they’re Irish, and because Harpoon went through hell trying to figure out how to nitrogenate beer on a large scale, and because it’s on nitro which means it’s extra rich and creamy, I’m allowing it. The Boston-brewed, time-honored take on the style yields an ale noted by the brewery as “full-bodied but sessionable,” with a creamy, roasty character that’s classic enough to convince you you’re drinking a traditional Irish stout.

Find it at: Rattle n Hum (14 E 33rd St., Midtown East) where 16 oz draught pours are being served up alongside other hearty stouts from around the country.

Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout. Image via brewedforthought.com

Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout
Brooklyn Brewery
Brooklyn, New York

A Brooklyn-based beer blogger can’t very well put out a lineup of Irish stouts without the borough’s famed Brooklyn Brewery, can she? The Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout is pretty self-explanatory—roasty, toasty, hints of coffee—and it tastes extra good knowing it’s brewed close to home.

Find it at: The Well or Uglyduckling (166 Smith St., Cobble Hill) in Brooklyn, on draft; Greenwood Park (555 7th Ave. at 19th St., South Slope) on cask; and The Shakespeare (24 E 39th St., Midtown East) on draft or cask.

Most importantly, don’t forget your Irish “cheers” out there today—Sláinte (sounds like slan-cha).

Note: Beer availabilities determined via BeerMenus.com. You might want to call ahead to make sure they’ve got what you’re looking for. It is St. Patrick’s Day, after all.

Bringing Beer-Enhanced Improv to Brooklyn

March 14, 2015July 1, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

The BeerProv crew poses with the Mug of Champions at Littlefield, March 10, 2015.

BeerProv, an improv comedy troupe that utilizes beer drinking in its performances, made its Brooklyn debut at Littlefield last week. About a month before the show, I had interviewed the group’s founder, Jim Robinson, after we connected somehow on Twitter. He set aside tickets for myself and a guest to attend the event, and without knowing it, I was in for a treat.

It doesn’t take much to get me interested in someone’s passion project—pair a fresh idea with a drive to get it out there, and I’m probably I’m board. Put the word “beer” in your project, and I’m definitely on board.

Throughout the show, BeerProv players shared sips of Narragansett on stage.

“BeerProv” is so named not because it has any specific ties to the beer industry, nor a sophisticated knowledge of craft beer (a knowledge that, it seems, is second nature to so many of us beer bloggers and lovers, yet is a world of mystery to other imbibers). The beer on stage was Narragansett, which Robinson could barely pronounce—he and BeerProv originate in Toronto, so we let that one go—and the “beer” part of BeerProv became apparent simply by the players drinking beer throughout the show. Sometimes between skits, sometimes during a sketch, and always with a “cheers” with the audience when a game was complete.

There’s been a lot of talk about improv lately; its core principals, its usefulness in business, and its ability to pull out a person’s comfortability in front of a crowd that perhaps was buried. But what I found most inspiring about the show was that it made us adult audience members feel like kids again. When Robinson called on the audience for names of countries for a skit, silly answers like “Paris” and “Pirates” came out, obvious missteps (as neither of those are countries) that would not fly in a conference room, but are jovially accepted in an improv show—in fact, pirates was chosen as a possible qualifier (the skit involved mimicking different accents).

The BeerProv finalists performed a 3-minute rendition of the Wizard of Oz.

As for the audience members, one couldn’t ask for a better crowd. Small enough to feel intimate, large enough to feel significant (especially in a borough so saturated with talent), and overall complimentary and positive. I spoke to a gentleman named Mike who came with a group of friends; he told me this would be his third time seeing the BeerProv show. He liked it so much, he’s attended every New York performance the group has had (this was the Brooklyn debut, but it had previously run last year in Manhattan). On the restroom line later in the night, attendees chattered about the show, how funny it was, and how it was “better than expected.”

It’s funny, that reaction. While certainly a compliment, it states that one hadn’t expected something to be that good. I’m guilty of the same—I hadn’t know what to expect, really—I’m not much of an improv fan, or comedy show goer for that matter. I, too, was more than pleasantly surprised. Robinson and his hand-picked crew of New York comedians put on a show that felt, honestly, like a group experience with friends.

A captivated BeerProv audience at Littlefield.

Beer is a very important part of social situations and public performances. In general, audience members, especially at venues like this one, are drinking throughout the events they attend. Oftentimes, the performers are drinking, too, but do it discretely, or keep it back stage. But not BeerProv. BeerProv makes it front and center, tells us it’s okay and fun, and connects us during intermittent “cheers!” moments between audience and stage. The crew is happy, the onlookers are happy, and the bar is certainly happy.

As a final thought, I’ll say this: give BeerProv a chance. I think the group could get big in Brooklyn, and I know I’ll be at their next show.

Photos by Patrick Phillips.

5 Patriotic Beers for the Fourth

July 4, 2014July 1, 2015 / Beer Affair / Leave a comment

My friends over at Brokelyn published “The definitive ranking of summer 2014′s special edition beer cans” this week, which listed the Bud AmeriCan, Miller Lite 70s can, Gennessee flag can, Miller High Life red-white-and-blue can and the Narragansett 1975 Quint can as the top five aluminum consumable American summer beers.

In retaliation, I propose my own ranking, one forgoing the cheap can qualifier and embracing the craft and/or refreshingly crafted glass-produced, not mass-produced top five independent and family-owned patriotic beers you can drink today, period. It is, after all, Independence Day.

Every Summer Love is a Victory. Photo via uwishunu.com

5. Victory Summer Love – Golden Ale

This golden ale was commissioned by Visit Philadelphia to capture the essence and history of the Victory city, one of the first settlements in the fine U.S. The bottle label features a baseball inside of a sizzling sun, the flavor is refreshing and lemony and the composition is full of American whole flower hops. Were it not for the German malts, this combination of the American pastime, American pastures and American taste reminiscent of lemonade from your childhood lemonade stand would render this an all-American beer.

Wise up this summer with a Smuttynose Summer Weizen. Photo via smuttynose.com

4. Smuttynose Summer Weizen

What says wet hot American summer more than a (presumably) suburban mom in a (presumably) suburban pool? Embrace your lazy side and sip this lightly hopped simply brew of domestic and continental character perfect for a poolside, grillside or fireside.

No one is more patriotic than The Patriot. Photo via samueladams.com

3. Samuel Adams Summer Ale

Although the Boston Beer Company pushes the boundaries of “craft” brewing and personally doesn’t do much for me anyhow, come on, The Patriot. Sam Summer’s lemon peel and Grains of Paradise make this American wheat ale a big, tangy mouthful of Boston pride, which is probably as patriotic as you can get in New England without crunching a mouthful of Plymouth Rock. Rumor has it there are actual pilgrims’ tears of happiness in this one. Or was it sweat?

Those drips don’t lie. Photo via yuengling.com

2. Yuengling Summer Wheat – Traditional Weizen Beer

Look at that eagle! Old Baldy may be nearing extinction here in the U.S., but Yuengling keeps the American dream alive on a plethora of bottle and cans designs with this guy. Here he is looking mighty fine on the Summer Wheat, a hazy heffe released in Spring as the third edition in a series of Yuengling seasonals. Did I mention the trump card that this is America’s first brewery? Don’t be a commi. Drink a damn Yuengling.

You made it! Cue the fireworks: Yule Smith Summer Holiday Ale is brewed especially for the July 4th holiday. Photo via alesmith.com

1. AleSmith Yule Smith Summer Holiday Ale

Summer seasonals typically limit their availability to March through July, but this 22oz double IPA from AleSmith is available only in July and August. Released specifically for the Fourth of July holiday, the Yule Smith Summer is strong (ABV 8.5%), bitter (105 IBUs) and assertive as the first settlers. In AleSmith’s words, it’s “an unaplogetically bold expression of fresh American hops.” What could be more American than that? Check for availability on this one, it’s a rare find.

There you have it. A palatable list, and frankly, vibrant journey through some great beers of our nation made, with love, right here in the U. S. of A. Get drinking, America. Happy Independence Day.

Yours brewly,

Beer Affair

Beer Affair

– A Love Affair With Beer –

@ beer reviews