Monthly Archives: March 2010

A man on a mission to make us all into beer geeks

Former Brooklyn Brewery charge, Sam Merritt, has been spreading beer knowledge far and wide since the mid-aughts. Asylum.com did this recent piece about what he’s been up to.

‘Civilization of Beer’ Founder Pairs Craft Beer With Food

Mar 29th, 2010 by Jeremy Taylor

“…In 2006 Sam Merritt founded Civilization of Beer, which aims to “promote, through education and appreciation, the responsible enjoyment of high-quality craft beer in the context of our rapidly changing culinary landscape.”

To reach this goal, the Civilization of Beer offers training to culinary professionals, consulting to restaurants and bars, and corporate and private beer appreciate events. Merritt is also one of only 95 people to have been officially certified as a beer cicerone.

A beer cicerone is analogous to a wine sommelier. That in mind, we asked Merritt if he could educate our readership on some simple beer and food pairings. 

Read on to see what he came up with.”

Cru vs Brew Fundraiser For Haiti

From BaristaNet.com

Amanti Vino’s wine vs. beer competition dinner on March 23 at the Woman’s Club of Upper Montclair wasn’t the buttoned-up affair I expected. Thankfully. Au contraire, it was casual, friendly, fun and partying on a Tuesday night seemed positively decadent. The five-course dinner was punctuated by friendly and comical sparring between the master wine wonk (Fred Dexheimer) and the master beer brewer (Garrett Oliver). Between the two of them, who were vying for top dog for their wine and beer pairings, they had Amanti Vino staff (Will, Amelia, Thad, Wes and Tim) busy pouring a selection of eight micro-crafted beers and seven wines produced in countries from Greece to Uruguay.

The pairings were going fine, and our table we even got seconds of the fantastic Robert Sinskey Vin Gris (Napa). But we all almost lost it at the cheese course, which featured three cheeses each paired with a brew and a cru! That’s right, the cheese plate brought 6 more glasses. Not that we didn’t enjoy it.

I went to the dinner thinking, I’ll just humor Amanti Vino owner Sharon Sevrens, because really, BEER pairings? To my astonishment, the fine brews provided by Brooklyn Brewery and picked by Oliver were on target complementing the meal. Our table, for the most part, favored the brew pairings over the wine. Several of the beers, complex and spicy, are only available at brewery headquarters in Brooklyn.

(read more)

Coney Island Gala, Tonight

coneygala

One of the best things I ever heard came out of The Freak’s mouth in Coney Island. He was hurling insults, as is his wont, when this gem flowed from his Madonna headset microphone, “Hey kid, you gonna become a biggah degenerate than ya’ fathah. ” If you want to continue to hear wise soothsaying like this then contribute to the preservation of beloved Coney Island tonight at their annual Spring Gala. This year it’s being held in the fancy confines of Angel Orensanz on the L.E.S.

Look at what’s going to happen there!

  • The Cast of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow
  • The musical stylings of Bliss Blood and the Moonlighters
  • Rudy Macaggi “The Acromedian”
  • Miss and Mr. Coney Island USA past and present
  • A Bevvy of Burlesque Beauties and Old Tyme Coney Cronies
  • A stellar silent auction of art and curiosities
  • Get your portrait taken in the photo studio plus much, much more…

Buy Tickets Now:

  • General admission tickets $100 ($80 tax deductible)
  • VIP tickets $250 ($200 tax deductible) The VIP ticket experience includes access to a private seating area with table food and drink service, goodie bag and meet and greet with our performers!

Thursday March 25th 2010
7-11pm
At Angel Orensanz Foundation
172 Norfolk St.
New York, NY 10002
Cocktails and Hors D’oeuvres will be served.

We Present: Local X Local II @ Brooklyn Bowl

We’re happy as clams to invite you to this month’s edition of Local X Local, starring Vivian Girls!
From Brooklyn Bowl

vivian girls

SUNDAY, MARCH 28TH

BROOKLYN BREWERY PRESENTS

// LOCAL X LOCAL //

VIVIAN GIRLS

GERMAN MEASLES

Doors 12:00pm :: Show 7:00pm :: 21+

FREE

Celebrating The Best In Locally Brewed Music, Arts, Media… And Beer!Vivian Girls drop sweet girl-group melodies into proto-shoegaze squalls the way the Jesus & Mary Chain used to and the way groups like the Aislers Set have done with female vocalists.

RSVP on FACEBOOK FOR $3 BROOKLYN BREWERY BEER SPECIAL 7-9PM!

THIS MONTH’S LOCAL FOOD SPECIAL:

We’ll be serving Fish Tacos with Local Cod, red cabbage, pickled peppers and roasted tomato salsa, served on local tortillas made by the famous Tortilleria Mexicana los Hermanos in Bushwick

LOCAL LOUNGE FEATURING

MAST BROTHER CHOCOLATE

With New York’s only bean to bar chocolate maker from Williamsburg, Mast Brothers Chocolate, serving the freshest and tastiest in the devil’s food

AD HOC ART

Live screen printing by Ad Hoc Arts/Peripheral Media Projects

Brooklyn Star had a fire. let's help them out, guys.

bk+star+event+poster

Everyone, the old stove in one of our favorite newish neighborhood restaurants, Brooklyn Star, sparked a devastating fire that has shut them down. Let’s all pitch in to get Brooklyn Star back on its feet. And eat and drink a whole bunch in the process.

From NBCNewYork.com

It’s hard enough running a successful restaurant these days. Imagine trying to do it without having something essential, like say, a kitchen.

Obviously, that is not possible. Which is why The Brooklyn Star — after its kitchen went up in flames last month (thanks no doubt in part to their 100-year-old wood-burning stove) has been shuddered, anxiously awaiting fire insurance to pull its head out of the ash.

In the meantime, friends of  the Star’s owner, Joaquin Baca — David Chang’s former chef and partner of the Momo empire — is hosting The Brooklyn Star Hootenanny fundraiser on Friday, March 26 to help the Williamsburg newcomer re-open for business. (It’s no Tony Soprano to the rescue, but considering the lineup, it’s pretty good.)

The Meat Hook, Tom Mylan‘s butcher shop, is providing both the space and the charcuterie, while the Star’s staff will cook up some of their own menu items like shrimp and grits and brisket. Thirsty? Not to worry. Brooklyn Brewery, Wilfie and Nell (where Baca helped plan the menu) and Whiskey Town are bringing all the refreshment you need on a Friday night: Beer and whiskey. For those craving a little crack, crack pie that is, Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi is bringing her signature sweet-meets-savory goods.

And because no hootenanny would be complete without a little entertainment, there will be an oyster shucking and a hot dog eating contest and — bet you didn’t see this one coming — a 350-gallon dunk tank. Huh.

Baca,  a child of Texas ranchers, opened The Brooklyn Star last year and his menu, an homage to his childhood fare,  was met with praise by hipsters and foodies alike. Because you can’t go wrong by putting bacon on everything.

So please, buy your tickets now so we can all get back to eating bacon-wrapped meatloaf and fried pig tails.

2010 COCHON 555 Pigs Out…

…and our own Brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, was lucky enough to be tapped to judge this heritage pig cook-off.

From Metromix.com

garret judges

You’re a judge today. What do you look for in a pork dish?
I’m looking for a blend of deliciousness, originality and use of the entire animal. If somebody only used the tenderloin, that wouldn’t be very interesting.

Have you ever had a McRib?
When was I was nine years old I had my first, and last, McRib. They used to say “parts is parts.” Lord knows what that means.

Click here for a slideshow of all that tasty pork.

Garrett Discusses Beard Nomination With Draft Magazine

james_beard

From Draft Magazine

We got a chance to check in with Garrett Oliver, brewmaster and vice president at Brooklyn Brewery, regarding his nomination for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional from the James Beard Foundation. Oliver is responsible for every aspect of beer production at the brewery, and obviously he’s doing something right: Over the past 20 years, he’s has won countless awards, many internationally, and published several books (including James Beard Award nominated and International Association of Culinary Professional’s Cookbook Award winner, “The Brewmaster’s Table”), serves as editor-in-chief of “The Oxford Companion to Beer,” and hosted over 600 beer tastings and beer dinners in nine countries. He was also a founding member of Slow Food USA and an international counselor to the global, grassroots organization to “counteract fast food and fast life” for five years. And in 2003, Brooklyn Brewery became the first New York company to begin to use 100 percent wind energy to operate their business. In other words, he’s been busy.”

Read the full interview, conducted by Noah Davis, here.