Monthly Archives: September 2010

GARRETT OLIVER @ THE BROOKLYN KITCHEN: SEPTEMBER 22

Brooklyn Kitchen logo

Nestled into the same Williamsburg nook as The Meat Hook, The Brooklyn Kitchen sells a wide and eclectic array of cooking utensils and kitchen paraphernalia (not to mention beer-brewing equipment and ingredients), in addition to offering a variety of in-store classes, one of which, on September 22 at 6:30 PM, will feature none other than Brooklyn Brewery Brewmaster Garrett Oliver:

Join Garrett Oliver, brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, for a fun evening of beer and cooking. Garrett, the author of the award-winning book “The Brewmaster’s Table”, loves to cook up food when he’s not cooking up beer. He’s taught at cooking schools from Stockholm to Sao Paulo, but this time he’ll be able to walk to class. Garrett’s coming to The Brooklyn Kitchen to demonstrate several of his favorite recipes, some of which have been featured in “The New York Times”, and pair them up with Brooklyn Brewery’s artisanal beers. So come eat some great food, drink some tasty local beers, hear some tall stories and learn to cook like a Brewmaster!

Go HERE for tickets!

Or, if you really want to, email info@brooklynbrewery.com for your chance to win a pair of spots for tonight’s class.

BEER TASTING @ CENTRAL MARKET: DALLAS, TX

EB18Summer2010GarrettOliver

[photo by Michael Harlan Turkell]

Shortly after his return from judging at the Great American Beer Festival, Brewmaster Garrett will head down south to the Lone Star State for two special events, a beer dinner at The Meddlesome Moth, and “Brooklyn Brewery Gastropub”, a sampling demo at Central Market’s Cooking School. The Moth dinner is sold out, but there are still tickets available for the Gastropub, part of Central Market’s Fall series of beer-related in-store events. Get them now!

Brooklyn Brewery Gastropub
Central Market: Dallas, TX
September 25, 2010
6:30 – 9:00 PM
$60.00

Participants will listen to Garrett speak about beer while sampling:

Brooklyn Local 2 made with special Belgian yeast that adds hints of spice to the dark fruit, caramel and chocolate flavors paired with Caramelized Shallot & Mushroom Toasts;

East India Pale Ale with its fruity, earthy, lemongrass aroma and complex flavor will be paired with Bite Sized Veal Milanesa;

Lager is made by dry-hopping, a British technique  that has been applied to a Viennese –style beer and enhances the flavors of Twice-Glazed Asian Barbecued Chicken;

Local 1 with a palate of unusual depth due to the 100% bottle re- fermentation will complement Green Bean & Seared Shrimp Salad with Spicy Curry Vinaigrette; and

Brooklyn Brown Ale, an award winning original, will  be paired with Aged Cheddar, Aged Gruyère and Aged Gouda.

BEER DINNER @ MEDDLESOME MOTH, DALLAS, TX

Hello. The Meddlesome Moth is a gastro-pub and is the latest venture by Dallas restaurateur Shannon Wynn. Honest. Garrett Oliver is, well you know who he is. In the middle of NY Craft Beer Week, he’s flying to TX to do what he does best — speak, eat and drink. Meddlesome Moth’s Executive Chef Chad Kelley has prepared a fantastic five-course meal to be complimented with six of Oliver’s Brooklyn beers, including some rare selections.

You should get a reservation by calling 214.628.7900.

Meddlesome Moth
1621 Oak Lawn
Dallas, TX 75207
Brooklyn Event September 26th, 4:00 PM

Menu:

Amuse

Chicken Liver Pate, White Port Gelee
w/Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

Warm Cauliflower Soup
Brown Butter, Sage and Hazelnuts
w/Brooklyn Local 1, Original Assay 2006

Root Vegetable “Angel Hair”
Pancetta, Rosemary & Quail Egg
w/Brooklyn Local 2

Boudin Blanc Stuffed Quail
Collard Greens and Toasted Garlic-Tabasco Emulsion
w/Brooklyn “Wild 1”, 2008

Pork Jowl Schnitzel
Brussels Sprout Leaves and Stout Mustard
w/Brooklyn BLAST!

Tres Leches
Horchata Shooter and Bunuelos “Cracklins”
w/Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2009

THE "COOL UNCLE"

by Tom Callan

photo by Tom Callan

Our favorite borough periodical, The Brooklyn Paper, offers news and opinion on Brooklyn Brewery’s expansion, Hindy’s place in New York’s craft beer legacy and the looming NY Craft Beer Week.

From The Brooklyn Paper

Brooklyn Brewery expansion keeps a-‘head’ of the borough’s beer scene

by Kristen V. Brown

Brooklyn Brewery’s Steve Hindy may not be the father of craft beer in New York City, but he is certainly the cool uncle.

And now, after 23 years in brewing, the former foreign correspondent is about to expand his Williamsburg brewing complex — an announcement that couldn’t be timed more perfectly, what with New York Craft Beer Week about to pop the cork next Friday.

When Hindy’s space becomes operational in December, the brewery will be 14 times larger — able to accommodate more experimental blends as well as produce more of Hindy’s beer in Brooklyn (most is currently produced upstate).

Just as when he worked for the Associated Press, Steve Hindy knows what he’s doing. The rest of the country may be experiencing a downturn — hell, even beer sales were down two percent last year — but Hindy, and the craft beer movement of which he is at the vanguard, is certainly experiencing a boom. Craft beer sales rose seven percent last year, and Hindy’s sales were up 20 percent, he said, riding a wave of growing appreciate for fuller-flavored suds.

So Brooklyn Brewery is the ultimate 15-year overnight success — and perfectly located in a borough that has had a long history with brewing.

In the 19th century, German immigrants brought a taste for good beer to New York — and from 1870 until the 1950s, Brooklyn was one of the largest producers of beer in the country. The borough was once home to 48 breweries, but by the time Hindy and partner Tom Potter founded Brooklyn Brewery in 1987, there wasn’t a single successful commercial brewery left.

It seems odd today, but Hindy and Potter struggled in their quest to bring “good beer” to New York, as bar owners were skeptical of the full-flavored lager.

(read more)

SERIOUSLY CATCHING ON IN ENGLAND

lager draught

The James Clay gang, our importers in the U.K., were in town this week. Of course there was lots to talk about and good beer to taste. Coincidentally, this article in The Independent touting Clay’s success in distributing our beer also surfaced this week. Brooklyn Brewery is being recognized as a player in the reemergence of the beer scene in Great Britain.

From The Independent (UK)

by Will Hawkes

British beer is enjoying a remarkable renaissance. There are now 767 breweries in the UK, more than at any time since the Second World War. According to Camra, 78 new breweries have opened in the past 12 months (and although a fair few have closed, too, there are still 56 more now than this time last year). Last month’s Great British Beer Festival was bursting at the seams with interesting ales and happy drinkers. Beer lovers in this country have never had it so good.

Maybe, maybe not. The growing popularity of American beers in the UK suggests that things are not quite so rosy. The innovative, hop-heavy character of Yank beers is clearly filling a gap in the market, a gap that British brewers have failed to fill.

One American beer that no serious bar in the capital appears able to do without is Brooklyn Lager, which has grown hugely in popularity over the past two or three years. The man who brews it, Garrett Oliver, is a long-term friend of British brewing, having learnt to love beer over here in the early eighties – but he feels the scene on this side of the Atlantic is nothing like as exciting as it should be.

(read more)

BROOKLYN BREWERY PRESENTS: LOCAL X LOCAL @ BROOKLYN BOWL

LXL Maluca

Brooklyn Brewery Presents: Local X Local celebrates the Best In locally-brewed Music, Arts, Media… And Beer, of course. Once a month for the rest of the year we’ll be presenting a free show at our next door neighbor’s, Brooklyn Bowl.

Maluca is the latest addition to the New York dance scene. Maluca, which means “crazy girl” in Portuguese, is the moniker for 27 year-old Natalie Yepez, born and raised in New York City. Yepez, who was discovered by Diplo while performing karaokee, is the latest addition to the famed DJ’s label Mad Decent, where she joins the ranks of fellow genre-benders M.I.A. and Santigold. What distinguishes Maluca, though, is her own latin-influenced “ghettotech” and fashion flare.

Blue Ribbon MS Charity Bike Benefit

Riding on the coattails of September’s LXL is a worthy cause — the Blue Ribbon MS Charity Bike Benefit. Bromberg Brothers’ Blue Ribbon Restaurants, a restaurant group headquartered in New York City, will donate to its employees 160 new Cannondale Quick recreational bicycles on September 19, 2010. The new bikes will be ridden by Blue Ribbon employees as part of the company’s 200 plus member “Blue Ribbon Restaurants/Naked Nuggets Charity Bike Team” participating as a “Top-Tier Team” in the upcoming National MS Society’s “Bike MS NYC” Event on October 3rd, 2010. The new bikes are part of the company’s efforts to encourage health and wellness, greener business practices, and raise money for charity at the same time.
The bike donation event will include helmets and associated gear, safety instructions, helmet fittings and other assistance to Blue Ribbon employees provided by various sponsors including Cannondale, the NYC DOT, Bike New York, NYC Transportation Alternatives, the NYC – Southern Chapter of the National MS Society, Cycling Sports Group and The Bike Express/52 Division. The bike distribution will be followed by a fundraiser party at Brooklyn Bowl, NYC’s top Zagat-rated music venue, at 7-11 PM on September 19, 2010, at Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, including Local x Local, a Brooklyn based business organization.

“The Annual MS NYC charity ride was a major impetus in our decision to provide bikes to our employees,” said Eric Bromberg, chef and co-founder with brother Bruce of Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon. “Last year, many employees told us they could not ride with us in the 2009 MS ride because they did not have bikes. This year, we decided to solve that problem. We are working with Cannondale to provide each employee who needs one, a limited edition Blue Ribbon Cannondale “Quick” allowing them to not only participate in the ride, but keep the bike and commute and ride in comfort and style, and hopefully get outdoors and lead a more active lifestyle after the MS ride.”

Ruth Brenner, president of the NYC – Southern NY Chapter of the National MS Society said, “We’re excited Team Blue Ribbon/Naked Nuggets has joined the movement toward a world free of MS by participating in Bike MS NYC, and is providing this amazing opportunity for their employees. As one of our top fundraising teams, we’re grateful for Blue Ribbon’s commitment to our cause, and are thrilled they’re back for a second year!

VOYAGE OF THE IPA

clipper city liberty

New York Craft Beer Week is a ripe moment to visit all of the city’s many stellar beer bars – and we encourage you to do so. But for two hours on Saturday, October 2nd, we invite you to experience beer on the high seas with our friends from Manhattan By Sail. Join brewmaster Garrett Oliver, Captain Lawrence, Goose Island and Greenport Harbor Brewing aboard the sailing ship “Clipper City” for a hoppy journey into our brewing past. India Pale Ale, one of the world’s great beer styles, was specifically developed to survive a sea voyage from England to India. Garrett, editor-in-chief of the forthcoming Oxford Companion To Beer, will deliver insight on the matter in a way that only he can.

Oh, and we’ll be pouring Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, BLAST! and Detonation Ale along with IPAs from some of our favorite brewers:  Captain Lawrence, Goose Island and Greenport Harbor Brewing Co.

Don’t make the worst decision of your life.

Email reservations@manhattanbysail.com or call 212 619 0907 now.

That way you can sail a magnificent 158-foot schooner around New York harbor, taste several delicious IPAs and hear tales of the beverage’s original heyday. All at the exact same time.

Voyage  of  the  IPA
4:30PM to 6:30PM
$65  per  Person

GETTIN' BLOGGY: CRAVINGS

Brooklyn Brewery

From FindYourCraving.com

Serendipity. Just two days after my recent move to Brooklyn, I happened to meet the publicist for Brooklyn Brewery while walking home one night. Two weeks later, I scored an interview with famed brewmaster, Garrett Oliver, at the brewery’s headquarters, only one block away from my new pad in Williamsburg.

Our meeting started on the right note, when Oliver thoughtfully chose three bottles of beer for me to taste — all in 750-ml bottles, made in a process similar to the second-bottle fermentation in champagne making. Oliver explained that, in beer jargon, this method is called “full-bottle conditioning.” Just as with champagne, refermentation in larger bottles is often superior. Plus, it makes for good presentation and encourages sharing. Oliver added playfully, “Why should champagne get all the fun?”

I proceeded to tell Oliver I had recently brought a bottle of Fantôme’s farmhouse ale to a Twitter wine dinner. He became very animated. “That beer is totally outside of its style. It bears little resemblance to other Saisons, and is therefore fairly unique. It’s like saying you had a rosé by Lopez,” he explained. I couldn’t believe it: that’s exactly what we had that night — the Fantôme and a 98 Lopez rosé! Wow, I thought, the beer man knows his wine.

(read more)