UPDATE // MAY 17 Go to the bottom of this post to view the insane beer list available at the launch party!

Announcing the formation of the New York City Brewers Guild (NYCBG), an organization of the Empire City’s breweries dedicated to advancing the local brewing industry and thereby lessening human misery.

To acknowledge and celebrate this momentous communion, on May 22 at 7pm at The Brooklyn Brewery the Guild is holding a unique evening of rare and obscure beers from each of the 10 inaugural brewers (listed below). This experience of the senses will be unprecedented in its display of industry unity, creativity and flavor. Buy tickets here.

NYCBG to Lead New York Craft Beer Week:
Amidst the revelry on May 22nd, the NYCBG will merrily proclaim the transition of New York Craft Beer Week from Founder and Managing Director, Josh Schaffner, to fall under the leadership of the newly formed Guild. At the opening bash, the NYCBG will announce the new date for the 5th Annual New York Craft Beer Week, which has become a beloved citywide celebration of the breadth of craft beer from around the region and around the world.

General Admission tickets for the Opening Bash are $75, and are good for a commemorative tasting glass and unlimited samples of each brewery’s offerings. Food will be provided by Guild members Eataly Birreria & 508 GastroBrewery.

For an additional $50, one can opt to receive a discounted year-long Individual Guild Membership to the NYCBG. Regular membership after the fest will go up to $75. The Individual level of membership includes:

+ Official NYC Brewers Guild T-shirt
+ VIP access to Official NYC Brewers Guild Events
+ VIP Tours & Tastings at Guild breweries and brewpubs (VIP tours are scheduled throughout the year to allow Individual Guild Members special access & treatment at their favorite breweries throughout the city. VIP tours will be announced via e-blasts and will be available by reservation only on a first-come, first-serve basis).

Discounted $50 Individual Guild memberships will be available for on-site purchase during the event.

Come join the NYCBG and share with New York City’s brewing community in this remarkable display of the growth and excitement about exceptional craft beer in the country’s most dynamic beer city!

About the NYCBG:
The New York City Brewers Guild is a pending 501[c]6 non-profit founded to advance New York City’s brewing industry – and thereby lessen human misery. NYCBG is Bronx Brewery, Brooklyn Brewery, Chelsea Brewing Co., Eataly Birreria, Harlem Brewing Co., Heartland Brewing Co., KelSo Beer Company, Shmaltz Brewing Co., Sixpoint Brewery and 508 GastroBrewery.

Media Contacts:
Ben Hudson, Brooklyn Brewery (Marketing Director)
BHudson@brooklynbrewery.com
Jeremy Cowan, Shmaltz Brewing Company (President)
jeremy@shmaltzbrewing.com
Guild email: nycbrewersguild@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/nycbrewersguild

THE LIST:

+ Birreria Gina American Pale ale with Wild Roman Thyme
+ Birreria Gaia Saison
+ Bronx 3 Ways: Bronx Pale Ale, Bronx Pale Ale Cask & Bronx Bourbon Barrel Aged Pale Ale
+ Brooklyn Cuvée de la Crochet Rouge Riesling
+ 175th Anniversary Carnegie Porter Brooklyn Collaboration
+ Brooklyn Googa Doc Pomus
+ Brooklyn Black Ops Cask
+ Chelsea Brewing Co. Checker Cab Blonde
+ Chelsea Brewing Co. XXX Stout
+ Coney Island Barrel Aged Geektoberfest 2011
+ Coney Island Barrel Aged Human Blockhead
+ Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner
+ Heartland Imperial Black Saison
+ Heartland Old Red Nose Special Edition 2008
+ Harlem Brewing Co. Sugar Hill Golden Ale
+ He’Brew Funky Jewbelation
+ Kelso Rye Rauchbier
+ Kelso IPA Cabarnet Barrel Aged & dry hopped in barrel with Galaxy Hops
+ Kelso Brettanomyces aged IPA
+ Sixpoint Spice Of Life – Columbus Series
+ Sixpoint Apollo
+ Sixpoint Mad Scientist Series
+ 508 GastroBrewery Greenwich Gueuze
+ 508 GastroBrewery Montezuma Imperial Stout
+ 508 GastroBrewery DBIPA
+ 508 GastroBrewery Spring Saison

[Text by Carly Planker and Hillary Lyon]

[Photos by David Schwartz and Carly Planker]

It was the first 80 degree day in Cleveland, Ohio and I was cruising through Gordon Square with a trunk full of beer from Brooklyn Brewery.  We rolled through the west side arts district in Cleveland and it was abuzz with activity.  Excited, we arrived at 78th Street Studios ready to see what all this hype was about.  One young lady arrived promptly at 6 PM looking for some home cooked food and we welcomed her with open arms and a large, empty plate for her to fill.  As more people arrived it became clear that yoga is popular, vegan dishes were aplenty, and everyone favored the delicious Summer Ale.  I had to fend people off the social media darling of the evening, the cheesecake-stuffed-chocolate-dipped strawberries, in warrior one as I went back for seconds.

As the sun set, folks gathered around for the slideshow not quite sure what to expect.  The exciting mix of local and international artists kept everyone’s attention and was the topic of much discussion at the after party.  Local artist David Schwartz took us on a journey down Route 66. Matt Eich showed us an Ohio some of us had never seen before. The quirky slideshow by Liam Tickner was a debate-inducing crowd favorite.  The House on Elwell, a piece by Cleveland expats Daryl Matusak & Willi Wilber echoed the Ohio City landscape next door.

The slideshow ended and the chatting moved outside as we headed to local bar XYZ. Cleveland folks are definitely friendly: two young Episcopalians literally tried to carry me out of the bar as to stop me from returning to Brooklyn the next morning. Local Director, Hillary Lyon, valiantly saved me in Warrior 2. Thank goodness her asanas were strong from her yoga teacher training graduation the night before. After all that vegan food, we ate two hamburgers (of the meat variety) and discussed what was making the burger so delicious. Whether is was the bun or the fried pickle, it was the perfect reward for the work everyone had put in to bring SLPS to Cleveland.  As we careened back to the east side of Cleveland, I took a full, deep breath in and as I exhaled, I thought, Cleveland rocks!

Porti della Nuova York e Perthamboy. Giuseppe Maria Terreni. ca. 1763. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.

From Brooklyn Historical Society (click image to enlarge):

This month’s featured map is from the Gazzettiere Americano, an atlas published in Livorno, Italy in 1763. The map shows New York Harbor and surrounding areas, and includes a number of Brooklyn references. If you look closely, you will see the following names on the Brooklyn area of the map: Bushwick, Brockland, Redhook, Flatland, Flatbush, Gravesend, Utrecht, and Coney Isola. The small numbers on the map are called soundings and they represent water depths. Soundings were commonly featured on early nautical charts and maps and are still used today in navigation.

Interested in seeing more maps? You can view the BHS map collection anytime during the library’s open hours, Wed.-Fri., from 1-5 p.m. No appointment is necessary to view most maps. Our cataloged maps can be searched through BobCat and our map inventories through Emma.

We’re excited to bring you a series of beer and food parties in the coming year featuring our most current Brewmaster’s Reserves, and introducing the latest issues from local chapters of our friends at Edible Communities.

Search for “carousal” on our Events page for a party near you, and enjoy the merrymaking!

[Concert Grove Lagoon, Prospect Park], 1897, v1973.2.365; The Brooklyn oversize 19th century collection, v1973.002; Brooklyn Historical Society.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

As the days get warmer and the nights get shorter there’s nothing like an outdoor picnic to celebrate the early days of summer. This photo of picnickers in Concert Grove Lagoon depicts a picturesque scene of Brooklynites enjoying the mid-day sun at Prospect Park in 1897. At the turn of the twentieth century, as Brooklyn’s population continued to diversify, members of different social classes mixed more and more in public spaces such as parks and theatres – even as class and race divisions continued to stratify. The photograph also depicts a fleet of bicycles for cycling, a leisure activity fast gaining popularity in 1897.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

Brooklyn Brewery’s exclusive beer club, The Legion Of Osiris, is now accepting a second round of membership applications from only the most discerning of drinkers. Named after an Egyptian god known to stop at nothing to protect the most holy of beverages, The Legion of Osiris seeks to do the same.

The Legion meets every Friday at The Brooklyn Brewery Tasting Room at 5pm, one full hour before the masses shuffle through those famed red doors. All Legion members enjoy robust conversation, tomfoolery, back patting, and a selection of that week’s cask from a members-only dimple mug. On top of that, special guest speakers, rare beer tastings, ice cream socials & more are included in the weeks’ programming.

You, too, can join this camaraderie of connoisseurs. A $75 a year membership fee allows you:

+ Legion of Osiris dimple mug
+ 5pm Friday Happy Hour admission through a secret entrance
+ Invitation to all Brewmaster’s Reserve release parties
+ Position at The Table for the Yearly Assembly of the Legion
+ Contribution to the Legion’s publication, The Almanac of Beer
+ Feelings of Entitlement

Email osiris@brooklynbrewery.com with the subject line “Legion of Osiris” to receive the Legion’s Form of Registry.

“Beer has dispelled the illness which was in me.” — Late Egyptian, translated by Dr. Kent Weeks

[Text by Maria Teresa Salvati]

[Photos by Tina Remiz, Kitty Walker and Rajan Zaveri]

Wednesday, 25^th April, 2012 the IV edition of Slideluck Potshow London took place at the two-floors trendy gallery in the heart of Shoreditch, 81 Leonard Street.

There was a lot of expectation on this edition; probably because there had been a great deal of build up and many people involved from all around the world. From the London-based curators – Fiona Rogers, who selected the female submissions and Harry Hardie selecting the male entries – to the theme, in which interpreted the idea of Gender and/or Identity; to a further selection, which will be made by Erica McDonald for DEVELOP Tube (NY) and GUP Magazine (Amsterdam); to the food, the drinks and the raffle.

We think all the expectations were matched!  We got so many complements, tweets, Facebook posts and emails by people congratulating for the whole experience. For what was viewable to people’s eyes it all went smoothly and great! However, there has been a lot of preparation and dedication behind the scenes by the core team: Maria Teresa Salvati, Mariona Otero, Tina Remiz and Kitty Walker – who also designed this year’s flyer.

The food was, as always, outstanding! The London crowd never disappoints as far as the potluck is concerned. We had a selection of many cuisines from all around the world, as a confirmation that London truly is a melting pot! And this year we introduced something new, just to have more fun: a food editor.

Regan Maloney awarded the best dish and a runner-up with a hamper and a feature in her blog. The winners are: homemade rhubarb with black pudding tart and Vietnamese spring rolls. And it all looked amazing in the palm leaf plates and eco-friendly tableware kindly supplied by Little Cherry.

The wonderful Brooklyn Brewery beers worked as glue for food, smiles, mingles and a push into the spirit of Slideluck Potshow!

At 8:30 on the dot, the slideshow commenced, and it was outstanding! There was a good mix of emerging and established artists, who interpreted the theme in many different ways: ranging from a literal translation of the ‘gender’ topic, with stories about transgender, like the Mongolian Transgender by Alvaro Laiz or ‘Memories of a boy’ by Paul Amundsen or ‘Jenny Sexy’ by Christine Rose Divito, and more.

Then we presented other slideshows focusing on cultural or personal identity, where the gender was either accidental or not relevant at all,  like Laura Hynd with ‘The Letting Go” and Cristina De Middel with her China story “Made in”, and others.

Our partner, Blurb awarded the best story to Pierfrancesco Celada. A story about loneliness and alienation in big metropolis – ‘Japan: I wish I knew your name’.

Overall, the slideshow was really strong and some of the work was emotional too. We can’t wait to see them published online, so we can share them all with those that didn’t attend!

I want to really thank all the artists that submitted work this year! We had so many entries, and we are particularly proud to donate 20% of the submissions proceeds to support the Firecraker grant, in support of European Women Photographers.

The place was packed – I think we had more then 200 people. So, far the most successful Slideluck Potshow London edition. We are excited about the next one, though we are still recovering!

People left smiling and not empty handed: we gave away lovely SLPS branded bags with loads of goodies in it: a selection of GUP Magazine, Viewbook discounts and much more.

Special thanks to everyone for the support: from our global team, to the volunteers and everyone who came along!

Bird’s Eye View of Coney Island, ca. 1892, v1972.1.777; Photography Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This aerial view of Coney Island includes several of the attractions that led the area to become a favorite weekend destination for New Yorkers and others. In the center of this photograph is Surf Avenue, as well as the Elephant Hotel, which opened in 1892. The hotel had staircases and shops in the elephant’s legs and rooms inside the structure’s body.

To the right of the elephant is the Sea Beach Palace, another example of Coney Island’s early hotels. It was also the terminal of the New York and Sea Beach Railroad, one of several steam railroads that served the area at the time. Most of the New York and Sea Beach Railroad’s route became part of the BMT Sea Beach Line, or N train.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[Text by Vladimir Dzintra]

[Photos by Casey Kelbaugh]

Laba diena! Es esmu Vladimirs Dzintra, Latvijas vissvarīgākais foto blogeris un dīdžejs lielas radio parādīt, MaximumFunky bailīgs pie Baltijas jūras vasaras laikā. Lūdzu zvanīt man Vlads.

Es esmu svinēt valsts svētkus Latvijā, un ieradās Amerikas Captiol, Washington, DC. Man bija laba izdevība apmeklēt lielāko regulāru notikumu sestdienas naktī, ka es lasīt par in Washington Post. Tas bija vārds Slideluck Potshow, un es neatceros redzēt tādas lietas Rīgā jebkad agrāk. Zem viena jumta, mēs ēdam miežu un baudīt funny attēlu šovu.

Mums bija vētrains, vējainā naktī, kad es apmeklēju amerikāņu Haunted House Pennsylvania Avenue, netālu kur Premier sēž. Iekšā bija daudz skaistas amerikāņu meitenes, daudz delcious pārtika izgatavoti no rokām un atsvaidzinošu dzērienu no šīs Brooklyn Brewery. Es dzirdēju par šo alus darītavu agrāk, jo mans poļu brālēns, Krzysztof, dzīvo tur blakus. Viņš saka rajons kļūst pilns Giggletossers.

Slaidrādi bija 26 mākslinieki no District of Columbia jomā. Mums bija tik smieklīgi attēli no Amerikas prezidenta kampaņas TJ Kirkpatrick, kas ir iepazinies attēlus vīriešu ar spēcīgu bārdu Christopher McCool un jauki bildes no Svētās zemes, ko Daria Lombroso un interesantas bildes no maza ciema Iowa pa Brendan Hoffman, trakas bildes kā sapnis man bija, kad es apmeklēju īpašas sēņu medniekiem pa Russ McIntosh, un jautri attēlus vīriešu ģērbšanās kā sieviete Eli Meir Kaplan.

Pēc izrādes, es devos uz tuvējo dzeramā namā, 18 grozījumu, un patika vairāk laika ar saviem jaunajiem draugiem. Pēc pāris pāris glāzēm kartupeļu šņabi, man bija konkurss, lai redzētu, kurš bija spēcīgākais kājas ar vienu Āzijas vīrieti un vienu vīrietis ar bārdu. Jums nav nepieciešams laiks, lai man jautā, kas bija visspēcīgākā kāju!

Es satiku jaukus cilvēkus, ļoti patika mans laiks Hill Center, un ceram redzēt citu izklaidi, piemēram, šo – varbūt, kad es atkal apmeklēt laikā novembrī Fotoweek DC. Nākamreiz, es lai mani visvairāk atbilst pelēkie zirņi vai šķiņķi!

You don’t speak Latvian?!  We try Google Translation:

Good day! I am Vladimir Dzintra, Latvia’s most important photo blogger and DJ of major radio show, MaximumFunky on the Baltic Sea during summer time. Please call me Vlad.

I am celebrating National Holidays in Latvia, and came to visit America’s Captiol, Washington, DC. I had the good occasion to attend a most unique event on Saturday night, that I read about in Washington Post.  It was name Slideluck Potshow, and I don’t remember seeing such a thing in Riga ever before.  Under same roof, we eat barley and enjoy funny picture show.

We had stormy, windy night when I visited American haunted house on Pennsylvania Avenue, near where the Premier sits.  Inside was many beautiful American girls, many delicious foods made from hand and refreshing beverage from this Brooklyn Brewery.  I heard about such brewery before because my Polish cousin, Krzysztof, is living near there.  He says neighborhood is becoming full of Giggletossers.

In slideshow there was 26 artists from District of Columbia area.  We had so funny pictures from American presidential campaign by TJ Kirkpatrick, familiar pictures of men with strong beard by Christopher McCool,  lovely pictures from Holy Land by Daria Lombroso, interesting pictures from small village in Iowa by Brendan Hoffman, crazy pictures like a dream I had when I visited special mushroom hunters by Russ McIntosh, and fun pictures of men dressing like a woman by Eli Meir Kaplan.

After show, I went to nearby drinking house, the 18th Amendment, and enjoyed more time with my new friends.  After a couple few glasses of potato vodka, I had a contest to see who had strongest legs with one Asian man and one man with beard.  You don’t have to take time to ask me who had strongest leg!

I met nice people, enjoyed very much my time at Hill Center, and hope to see another entertainment such as this – perhaps when I again visit during Fotoweek DC in November.  Next time, I bring my most satisfying grey peas and ham!

Conor McCormak, pictured above, is the Winemaker at Brooklyn Winery, where he oversees all aspects of wine production from sourcing premium fruit from vineyards to the bottling of 5,000 cases annually. When his hands weren’t busy handling grapes and cradling his daughter Madeleine, born earlier this year, he and Garrett chatted over email about the similarities in beer and wine packaging trends…

Conor: Hi Garrett. I have noticed an increase in microbreweries using cans (some with very elaborate designs) for their beer along with a couple wineries trying it out. Do you find there to be a difference in flavor, quality, or shelf life with canned beer versus glass bottle? I haven’t put any wine in can as I would suspect that the acids would react with the aluminum.

Garrett: Good question! We’ve been putting our beer in cans for years now, but until a few years ago we largely confined them to places glass wasn’t allowed – stadiums, golf courses and the like. Slowly but surely, however, cans are becoming seen as a legitimate package, shaking off the “cheap industrial beer” image that they had until recently.

The reasons are largely two-fold. First is the realization by brewers that modern canning doesn’t have any technical downside and even has some advantages. Levels of oxidation in cans, once much higher than in bottles, have now been brought under control. That’s important, because oxygen destroys beer pretty quickly. Polymer can linings mean that the liquid in the can never actually touches metal. Cans are also entirely opaque, which protects beer from one of its worst enemies, which is light (which reacts with hop compounds to cause “skunky” aromatics technically referred to as “lightstruck”).

The second thing is the new availability of relatively inexpensive canning lines. A canning line has traditionally been a large, very expensive piece of equipment, something that could only be afforded by a huge company. Because of the new prominence of small-scale brewers (and other beverage producers) and improved technologies, packaging equipment manufacturers now make canning lines that some smaller breweries can afford.

In many ways, the can is the “screw-cap” of the beer industry. Most people feel “better” about bottles than they do about cans, the same way that most people feel better about corks in wine bottles. These images, however, are increasingly divorced from any actual quality concerns. Some breweries now use the retro/hipster/ironic qualities of the can as part of their brand identity. That’s not really our style, but our cans do look pretty cool. The real downside of cans, in my opinion, is that it seems that most people who drink canned beer are probably drinking it directly out of the can rather than pouring the beer into the glass. No brewer really likes that – we work hard on features like a beer’s aroma and foam, and we like people to experience them. But we also know that sometimes people are drinking beer on fishing boats, not at the dinner table, so we’ll let that one slide!

I’ve seen a lot of different packages for wine, and bag-in-box has really become well pretty accepted in Europe. Do you see any possibility that anyone will can decent wine? Given how many highly acidic fruit juices come in cans, I assume that any barriers are cultural rather than technical, yes?

Conor: I think that it is possible to put decent wine in a can, but I doubt it would ever breach the “over $20″ shelf due to cultural barriers. Not to say there isn’t plenty of decent wine under $20 that could benefit from a unique packaging option, just that consumers often react slowly to such big changes making it a risk for producers putting it out there.

The bag-in-box wine has been around for quite some time but has always remained in the lower tier of both price and quality. It is true that cultural barriers will continue to inhibit any major market growth, but the plastic based bag used to store the product cannot protect it from oxidation over time. Some of the bags are augmented with a metallic lining to slow down the oxidation, but plastic is very porous. The only kind of wine that might survive the “bottling” to drinking would be one that is sterile filtered, or worse chemically filtered, and generally stripped of any soul.

The truth is, I don’t see many wineries risking their brand being stigmatized as “box wine” quality unless they do so under the guise of another label. Some of the big players who are looking to place wine in every major super market around the world might be able to make a couple bucks by putting out mediocre bag-in-box wine, but for higher end producers and drinkers I think box wine will remain on the bottom shelf.

Since starting at Brooklyn Winery, I have been experimenting with wine on tap. While there have been some kinks to work out in the delivery process, I am happy with the results overall.  Some of the major concerns have been the length of time from tapping to kicking the keg while maintaining a fresh pour, and tartrate build-up in the lines.

How long can a keg of beer stay fresh once tapped? Does it depend on the style of beer?

Beer lines are often cleaned (or should be), but I have heard that poorly maintained lines can lead to “tap sickness”. Can you explain or debunk this?

Garrett: A keg should be, in the best circumstances, a perfectly clean and sterile container full of beer that’s free of extraneous microbes. In real life, however, the biological axiom “everything is everywhere” applies. So once the keg is breached by tapping, it comes into contact with the inner surface of the beer lines, which may or may not be pristine. Well maintained beer lines should be cleaned (with caustic soda, then flushed with water) every two weeks at the very minimum. Otherwise, solids from the beer start to build in lines, and this is where problems start. Anything growing in the beer lines may eventually make its way into the keg and spoil the keg. Now, it’s important to keep in mind that there are no known pathogens that can survive in beer, so spoiled beer can’t make you sick. But it sure doesn’t taste good, so proper practice is critical. We try to make sure that any bar or restaurant that’s serving our beer finishes out a keg within a week or so. At a place where they clean their system frequently and sell beer quickly, the beer will tend to taste great….and the converse is true too. Fortunately, these days most proprietors are paying proper attention to their draft systems and beer tastes better than ever.

[Text by Albert Such]

[Photos by Marcelo Aurelio and Oscar Ciutat]

Saturday the 31st of April was a gorgeous spring day in Barcelona, so we could have the projection and dinner in the patio that makes CC Pati LLimona famous, in the middle of the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona, and next to the ruins of the old Roman city wall.

In Spain, we like to have dinner very late, so we have made a slight change to the traditional SLPS routine: we started having some cold beers and chatting, while the production staff from Pati Llimona was setting up the last details, followed by the slideshow itself, and then dinner. As usual in Spain, also, people tended to arrive late, so we really did not start the projection until 8:30…

We had a very good attendance, around 100 people showed up; some well known friends from that had attended other SLPS shows in Barcelona, but lots of people for which this was the first time, and did not know really know how the whole thing works: “where do I leave all the food stuff I brought?”

The slideshow was really interesting.  We had a wide variety of very different work: from the lovely portraits of Barcelona people of Enric Mestres, to the very intriguing work of Oscar Ciutat about animals in the zoo.  We had also some international presence, Renaud Cousin from France and Piere Liebert from Belgium, though none of them could attend the show in person, so this year we had to give our prize to “the perosn who has travelled further to attend the show” to Marcelo Aurelio and Sonia Gimenez, who came from Terrassa (only 40 Km away from Barcelona!)

Dinner, after the slideshow, was delicious!  We had all types of different foods and plenty of time to talk both about the different works presented, what’s happening in the Barcelona photography scene, and everything under the stars.

A team of Brooklyners hit the sunny streets of Williamsburg last week to enjoy Motley Cru*, among a score of other fine wines produced by our vintner neighbors Brooklyn Oenology, a wine shop, bar and art gallery on Wythe Ave (just a few minutes walk from the Bedford L train). With gratitude to our gracious host/winemaker Alie Shaper, we left BOE having not only indulged our sense of taste, but with significant knowledge of the beverage.

Setting this purveyor apart from the vast lot of other wine shops/bars is that the majority of BOE’s offerings are produced by BOE themselves, on Long Island, and using NY state grapes, predominately from the Finger Lake and North Fork regions. Each bottle of BOE wine is adorned with a custom label created by a NYC artist, whose work can also commonly be found decorating the walls of BOE’s Brooklyn tasting room. Said tasting room is a cozy, sun-drenched den wrapped around a half-moon bar, on one side offering for sale bottles of wine, whiskey and a selection of various local products, and on the other providing patrons a place to relax and sip (and munch on a cheese plate). As an additional offering, BOE produces a monthly wine CSA club where members come to pick up four bottles: two from BOE and two from a rotating cast of local guest wineries.

[*no, not that Crüe]

Flanked by well wishers, Brooklyn’s Brian Dochney charges down Wythe Ave in the name of wine.

The BOE arsenal, at the ready.

BenMo and Misty, mystified at the BOE tasting room.

Alie serves up the goods…

… and takes our palates to school.

[Photos by Jen Plaskowitz and Dan Teran]

[Text by Casey Kelbaugh]

On a lovely spring night in Manhattan, about 300 people squeezed into the free co-working space, Wix Lounge near Union Square for a lively evening of art, food, drink and music.  The occasion was the inaugural edition of Red White & View in New York City.  After a couple years of producing very popular events in Tel Aviv that showcase the works of 5-8 emerging artists with proceeds going to various charities, RWV decided to bring the love to NYC.

An eclectic and international mix of people came to enjoy an exhibition of the works based on the naked body by Alexander Motyl, Andrew Einhorn, Erica Simone, Joana Ricou, Mia Berg, Myles Bennett, with projections by Casey Kelbaugh and Chris Talbott.  Artist Spencer Tunick was the honorary host and food was provided by Shantilly Picnic, Brooklyn Fork & Spoon, Dorian Gray, Alison Eighteen and libations were generously donated by Société Perrier, Forever Young Wines and of course Brooklyn Brewery.

The excitement at Wix was palpable right out the the gate and only gained momentum as the hours tumbled by.  By the time the clock struck 7, a couple hummus and crostini platters were decimated and Joana Ricou had already sold one of her largest pieces.  Though the work tended heavily on representation of the female form, Chris Talbott’s slideshow featuring ten years of pictures of him emerging naked from the woods brought some much needed balance and schlong to the event.

The first RVW managed to raise $3000 for Slideluck Potshow, fostered a great deal of art-appreciation (as well as sales!) and likely got dozens of people laid.  I’m pretty sure it won’t be long before the second edition comes along, but in the meantime, maybe we should call it like it is:  Red White & Brew.

Join these Facebook groups to keep up with Red White & View and Slideluck Potshow!

Map of the borough of Brooklyn: showing location and extent of racial colonies. Ohman Map Co. Inc. ca. 1910s. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.

From Brooklyn Historical Society (click image to enlarge):

This month’s featured map was created by the Ohman Map Co., a New York-based map company located at 258 Broadway, in the early 1900s. One of only a handful of maps in the BHS Collection to show ethnic communities in Brooklyn, this map features various groups, from Europeans to African Americans to people of mixed heritage. It is clear from this map that early twentieth century Brooklyn was a diverse community of people, just as it is today.

Click here to view the map key.

Click here to view detail from the map (Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant).

New Utrecht Dutch Reformed Church, ca. 1910; v1981.15.103, Ralph Irving Lloyd lantern slides; Brooklyn Historical Society.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

From the desk of Cassie Mey, Project CHART intern: I am currently scanning the Ralph Irving Lloyd lantern slides of Brooklyn, 1890-1910. Many of the images in this collection reflect the end of an era when townships like New Utrecht, made up of old Dutch farmlands, were annexed into Brooklyn. Several weeks ago I came across this slide of the New Utrecht Dutch Reformed Church and was positively puzzled by the white pole in front of the church. I couldn’t believe that this was a pre-World War I image. I wondered how a radio antenna was present before there was radio.
As my research revealed, the original New Utrecht liberty pole was first erected on November, 25, 1783 – a New York holiday known as “Evacuation Day” – to celebrate the British evacuation of Long Island. In the late eighteenth century, liberty poles – long, wooden poles, sometimes topped with a red “liberty cap,” – were erected in protest of monarchial tyranny. They became popular during the American Revolution but were used around the world, most notably during the French Revolution.

The New Utrecht liberty pole reminds us of how happy many citizens of New Utrecht were to see the British set sail for home in 1783. After the Battle of Brooklyn in August 1776, the British army took control of Long Island, often commandeering the supplies and even some of the homes of residents in towns like New Utrecht. Though more than a few Kings County residents were loyalists at the start of the Revolutionary War, by its end most had come to resent their British occupiers. Liberty poles like the one in New Utrecht marked the joyous celebration of the departure of the British after a protracted and difficult war.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[Text by Casey Kelbaugh]
[Photos by Chelsea Dejesus, Chelsea Rominski, Cierra Butler, Tara Robertson and Casey Kelbaugh]

One damp Leap Day evening, a few dozen hardy souls braved the freezing rain and converged at the Gershman Hall of the University of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia for Philly’s the second Slideluck Potshow.  The space was majestic, the slideshow diverse, engaging and set a fantastic soundtrack – all masterfully coordinated by SLPS Philly Director, Sam Gulino.

I traveled down by bus from the NYC, and after delicately tucking a Roast Pork Italian sandwich from Tony Luke’s into my belly, picked up my two little nephews from school.  We got home and spent the hour preceding the show preparing the best two Tortilla Españolas ever created by a 4- and 7-year old.  That being said, neither those, nor my brother’s Lentil and Walnut salad, were any match for a bunch of hungry art students.

Because of University regulations and the high concentration of minors, we decided to make the event itself “dry”, but that didn’t stop photographer Robin Odland – who’s documentation of Occupy Philadelphia was 7-year old Zach Ryan’s favorite slideshow – from sneaking in a cold bottle of Local 2, which he shared generously in characteristic Occupy form.

Five spirited women from the West Chester Photo Club trekked down to support their comrade Lauren Miller, who made a photo story about another member of the group who spent a liberating day trashing her wedding dress after a recent divorce.  To see a complete list of participating artists, click here.

The show was immediately followed by an afterparty at the nearby Perch Pub, sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery.  A lively mix of photo students, faculty, and regular  Philly civilians gathered around a long table overlooking Broad Street and swapping stories while clinking glasses of Mary’s Maple Porter, E-IPA and Brooklyner Weisse.

It’s good to have a brother in the City of Brotherly Love, but it’s even better to know we have another show coming up on June 16th.  Stay tuned, folks!

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

The woman pictured in this early twentieth-century photograph is staffing the museum gallery desk of what was then called the Long Island Historical Society. Much has changed since Miss Ingalls’s day: the Long Island Historical Society is now Brooklyn Historical Society, the building’s museum space looks very different, and the popular style of dress has relaxed a bit. Yet Brooklyn Historical Society still maintains a legacy of creative and engaging public exhibitions. Today, BHS visitors can explore such exhibits like Context\Contrast, which examines new architecture in New York’s historic districts, and Inventing Brooklyn: People, Places, Progress, a student-curated exhibit that traces the evolution of Brooklyn into the place we know today. Ms. Ingalls, no doubt, would approve.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

The second Slideluck Potshow in Baltimore took place at Area 405 in the Station North Arts District on Friday, February 24, 2012. Photograph by Casey Kelbaugh

King of the Hipsters?  Check.  Director of the Baltimore Museum of Art?  Check.  Seventeen thousand firecrackers?  Check.  Chilean Cornbread Casserole?  Check.  Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes?  Triple Check.  A slideshow with thirty five local artists?  Check.  A beautiful, diverse, engaged and appreciative crowd of 300?  Check.  A spacious, raw, post-industrial location?  Check.  A rompin’ stompin’ Delta blues band?  Check.  An artist making a 20-foot drawing on a piece of plywood with two blowtorches and a flamethrower?  Check.  An open bar with five kinds of Brooklyn Brewery beers to choose from?  Check.  A fantastic photo exhibition hanging in the front gallery?  Check.  A coat drive to support a local homeless services organization?  Check.  Camera crews?  Check.  A bonfire?  Check.  The Slideluck Global Producer shotgunning beers?  Check.  People with names like Piper, Spoon and Chappy?  Check.  A team of five representatives from the NYC Slideluck office?  Check.  Half a dozen people that road-tripped up from DC?  Check.  An after party with five local rock bands?  Check.  A late night Korean BBQ feast at a place suggestively named Jung Kok?  Check.

Need we say more?  It’s starting to sound like a room full of people from Czech Republic watching their team in the World Cup around here.  Suffice it to say that the Czechs would have little to cheer about if it weren’t for the new SLPS Baltimore Director Piper Watson, our hosts at Area 405, sponsors at ASMP Baltimore, Station North Arts District, the band Swampcandy, SLPS Producer Carly Planker, Assistant Producer Jen Plaskowitz, intern Mesha Bhansali, roadie Dan Teran, blowtorch artist Walker Babbington, exhibiting photographer Jonathan Rosser, Project PLASE Organization, and all of the other volunteers, guests, exhibiting artists.

Charm City, ain’t you just that?

You’re probably like “What? Did I read that right?”. Don’t worry, you did. Good job! Claire, our extraordinaire Export Coordinator, will explain:

Friday nights at the Brooklyn Brewery are typically full of good times and great people but recently we had some very special visitors. An a’cappella Choir of 24 girls from Iceland called Graduale Nobili (@gradualenobili) who just so happen to be on tour with Bjork, offered to sing us a few songs in exchange for beer and pizza. Harmoniously and flawlessly they sang their National Anthem, their impressive rendition of the Flight of the Bumble Bee, and an upbeat song that translates to a man in red destroying a village with his scythe. They were even kind enough to humor us by singing the anthem of our cask beer club, The Legion of Osiris. It was an honor that they decided to spend their night off from Bjork’s Biophilia tour with us.

Watch as Graduale Nobili graciously supports us on The Anthem of The Legion of Osiris, followed by a performance of “Raudi Riddarinn (The Red Knight)”. Below the video are the song’s upbeat, sunny lyrics.

No one is so solitary that he cannot expect a visitor, a horseman all in red riding a pale steed
A horseman all in red wielding a reeking scythe gallops so the clatter of hooves resounds around the world
Swirling up dust that darkens the world of men and spatters on the windows
The horseman forces his way into the house and his sickle drips with blood 

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This photograph features a toll booth that stood on Flatbush Avenue between Fenimore Street and Winthrop Street in what is now Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Built in the 1850s by the Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Jamaica Plank Road Company, the booth was used to collect tolls on Old Flatbush Turnpike, one of the main thoroughfares connecting the town of Flatbush to the city of Brooklyn. The road’s plank surface made it easier for wagons and carriages to travel on the dirt road. When the road company went out of business in 1893, the booth was gifted to John Moore, the last Flatbush Road Commissioner, who placed it in his backyard in East Flatbush. Today, the booth stands in Prospect Park, near the Lefferts Historic House and the carousel.

Among the major investors in the Plank Road were members of the Lefferts family. You can learn more about them and their role in developing the town of Flatbush from An American Family Grows in Brooklyn, BHS’s new digital exhibit.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This week, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we share a photograph of Lovers’ Lane in Prospect Park. This image, ca. 1887, features a picturesque pathway, with sunlight softly drifting through the trees. When amateur photographer Walter H. Nelson took this picture, the Frederick Law Olmstead-designed park had been open for two decades. Olmstead intended Prospect Park to offer Brooklynites a secluded, naturalistic escape from the bustling urban center that Brooklyn was becoming – a quality that Nelson’s photograph captures perfectly.

In and out of Prospect Park, Brooklyn offers a number of striking places to walk with your loved ones. As a matter of fact, Brooklyn Historical Society was named as one of the best date spots in Brooklyn by Time Out New York. So celebrate love this week by strolling in a local park, visiting BHS, or taking in the sights of Brooklyn.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

From Brooklyn Historical Society (click image to enlarge):

This month’s featured map was created by the prolific Brooklyn surveyor Teunis G. Bergen, who copied it from an “ancient map.” According to Bergen, there was no date or surveyor’s name on the “ancient map,” but it was probably made before 1750. The map covers modern-day Brooklyn Heights and the Gowanus area and shows buildings and names of landowners. Please note that any writing on the map with an asterisk was added by Bergen and not found on the original map. If you’re interested in learning more about Bergen, the BHS archive has an amazing collection of his writings and maps.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

Anyone who rides the F or G trains knows this spot — it has been disrupting your life for a while now, especially if it means your home stop is skipped. This is the overpass at Smith Street and 9th Street in southern Brooklyn, formally known as the Culver Viaduct, which spans the Gowanus Canal. As one passes by the station or walks below, one can see into the murky ick we’ve come to fear as one of our nation’s recent and controversial Superfund Sites. The canal has a rich past – it was one of Brooklyn’s major commercial waterways during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the consequences of that sometimes bubble up in an unfortunately smelly way. The viaduct has been losing chunks of its infrastructure for some time and is finally getting a makeover.

Perhaps this beautiful photograph taken by Jackie Weisberg at 10:57:46 AM in 2009 will be intriguing enough to make you forget about all that for a moment. Jackie has lived in Brooklyn for many years and only recently felt able to capture the mysterious quality of the Gowanus Canal. Acknowledging its toxic status and its potential, she felt that 2009 was the moment at which she could successfully grasp the canal’s mood, beauty, and ephemeral quality before it all changes. This is one of seventeen photographs she made in her series “Gowanus Impressions,” which explores the canal in a nonjudgmental manner. Jackie donated “Gowanus Impressions” to Brooklyn Historical Society in late 2011. We haven’t even catalogued the images yet so I hope you find this to be a nice preview. You can also go to Jackie’s website to see her entire body of work while we manipulate pixels and metadata on our end. One more year to go before the transit lives of Southern Brooklynites is back to normal – hang in there!

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

Earlier this week, the Brooklyn Brewery team snuck out from behind their respective fermenters and computers to visit the New York Distilling Company, the gin and rye whisky producer founded by Tom Potter (who along with Steve Hindy gave birth to and raised up The Brooklyn Brewery) Tom’s son, Bill (who is also the distillery’s production manager) and Allen Katz, one of the leading experts on distilled spirits and cocktails.

Tom and Bill showed us around the facility, featuring at its heart a steampunk-inspired copper still with which all were thoroughly impressed based on looks alone, not to mention the fact that it makes spirits. Connected to the distillery is The Shanty, a full-service bar featuring cocktails made with NY Distilling Co. products where the dazzling distilling equipment is on display through a large glass window. At The Shanty, Allen treated us to a taste of both Perry’s Tot “Navy Strength Gin” and Dorothy Parker “American Gin”, and mixed up some cocktails including the “classic” Tot & Tonic and the Sauvetage (Dorothy Parker, Bittermen’s Amer Sauvage, Carpano Antica & grapefruit served up with an orange twist).

After sampling these fine spirits, some fine food was in order. We hopped on the L to Roberta’s in Bushwick and feasted on meat and cheese, Caesar salad, a beet medley tray, brick oven pizzas (including the “Millennium Falco” and “Cheesus Christ”) and a few bowls of gelato. Sorachi Ace on draft was the cherry on top.

The standing still.

NYDC: Courtesy, Professionalism, Gin.

Bill Potter addresses the Brewery squad.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the shining copper bands.

Tom beside the fermenter.

The gravity bottle-filler.

Allen Katz preaches the word of Gin.

The Sauvetage.

Dinner at Roberta’s closes out the outing.

Our neighborhood friend Christina Tosi — the driving force behind Momofuku Milk Bar‘s deliriously delectable desserts — gave some advice to MSNBC’s Matt Lauer recently on choosing the perfect chocolate for Valentine’s Day. And when it comes down to “what to get the man in your life,” there was no question: Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.

[Text by Adrienne Lee]
[Photos by Callie Richmond]

Walking up to Austin’s CTC Garden, you’re invited by an atmosphere that is immediately both comforting and stimulating. The music, greenery, lights and laughs have made a cozy bed in this open-air venue. It’s a funky space, succulent-filled with happy colors, and it was the perfect complement to Slideluck Potshow Austin IV.

Austin’s fourth Slideluck oozed a liveliness different from years past. It even lured passersby who were interested enough to join the party. In the end, some 250 people enjoyed the food, sounds, camaraderie, beer and amazing photographic work on Saturday night.

Old friends caught up, new faces met other new faces, and everyone ate. And we ate it all. SLPS-inspired lasagna. Maple-glazed bacon-covered brussels sprouts. Onion and sun-dried tomato tart. Cookies with dotted with mini peanut butter cups. And to wash it all down, we crushed  350 cans of ice-cold Brooklyn Lager.

It was clear from the beginning of the night that the following few hours were going to be kick-ass. Everyone walked in with a smile — not surprising since Austin is made for friendly greetings and compassionate people.

There was an almost immediate calm once the first piece started. Austin artists clearly respect each other. Curated by Alison Zavos of Feature Shoot, the slide show highlighted 20+ artists, nearly all of which are locally based, their subjects ranging from art pieces to truck drivers, party goers to football players. The entire show exhibited a delicate and fresh balance of sincerity, intrigue and whimsy.

Rather than taking a real “break” for intermission, we further ramped up the group with some sweet raffle prizes, mostly thanks to Austin newbie Lomography. Sure, we had beginning moments of cricket-chirping silence to a few of the called-out ticket numbers — raffles can be a little bit awkward. But momentum quickly picked up and we gave out all the goods to eager winners. There wasn’t a roof at CTC, but we definitely raised it! (Zing!)

We wrapped up the second half of the show, enthusiasm still bursting, and easily morphed into an after party with the night’s second DJ spinning out enjoyably fitting tunes. (One couple on the dance floor really enjoyed the tunes.) When the final marshmallow was melted for the last of the s’mores and the 350th can of Brooklyn beer was cracked open, SLPS Austin IV came to a close, people still holding excited smiles.

The fire, space heaters and booze certainly kept us toasty during the night. But it was the positive, supportive energy emanating from the diverse crowd that really kept us warm. (Everyone nearly forgot it was kind of winter outside!)

With a true community spirit keeping the passionate vibe alive all night, Slideluck Potshow Austin IV just further proved the awesomeness of this loving city and the artistic and creative people who make it what it is.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This photo shows Seatrain Shipbuilding workers on break at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1977. This photo was donated by Frank J. Trezza a long-time electrician at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Frank J. Trezza Collection contains several hundred color photographs, black and white photographs, color negatives, and black and white negatives, all photographed by Frank J. Trezza during his tenure at the Seatrain Shipbuilding. Though the dates of the collection span from 1861 to 1988, the bulk of the records are from the period 1973-1978, when Mr. Trezza was an employee of Seatrain Shipbuilding. The images offer an inside view of the Navy Yard during the final years of shipbuilding there. Included are landscapes of the Navy Yard and its surrounding area, portraits of fellow Seatrain employees on the job, and images of the ships that were built or repaired at the Navy Yard during this time. There are also a few copy prints obtained from the National Archives that depict ships built at the Navy Yard from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

Boys at Fort Hamilton, ca.1910, V1981.284.55; Emmanuel House lantern slide collection, v1981.284; Brooklyn Historical Society.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This photograph features boys from Emmanuel House on a visit to Fort Hamilton. Fort Hamilton is located in Bay Ridge, in the southwestern corner of Brooklyn. American soldiers had used the site as a garrison since the Revolutionary War, but the structure that stands today was not erected until the nineteenth century. The Army commenced building Fort Hamilton on June 11, 1825, completing it after six years and at a cost of half a million dollars. Fort Hamilton has played numerous roles in both war and peacetime. Its military residents included Robert E. Lee, garrisoned there during the 1840s, decades before he would lead the Confederate Army. During the Civil War, the fort protected New York harbor against potential Confederate invaders and provided troops to police the New York Draft Riots of 1863. In the twentieth century, it served as a major port of embarkation during both World Wars. Fort Hamilton continues to be an actively used military site today. The fort also houses the Harbor Defense Museum, which offers educational tours, exhibits, and access to archival collections related to military history in New York City.

Emmanuel House was located at 13 Steuben Street in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. As a civic center and place of outreach run by the Young Men’s League of the Emmanuel Baptist Church, the Emmanuel House offered Sunday school, Kindergarten and recreational classes to children of the church and neighborhood. Emmanuel House was demolished in the mid-twentienth century during an expansion of the neighboring Pratt Institute, at which time outreach and recreational activities were resumed at the Emmanuel Baptist Church.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

From Brooklyn Historical Society (click here to enlarge):

This month’s featured map dates from approximately 1776 and shows the routes of American and British troops throughout the New York area before, during, and after the “Engagement on the Heights” of August 27th, 1776. Known alternately as the Battle of Long Island, the Battle of Brooklyn, and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, this event was a significant moment in the Revolutionary War. Some historical sites relevant to the battle can still be visited today, including Battle Pass in Prospect Park, the Prison Ships Martyrs Monument, and the Old Stone House.

[East side of Furman Street.], ca. 1940, v1974.16.228; Edna Huntington papers and photographs, ARC.044, Brooklyn Historical Society.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

From the desk of Julie May, Photo Archivist: The first noticeable and great thing about this photograph is the cars, I think. While the new Fiat is sweetly round and compact, I personally don’t think it compares to the curvy lines of the cars above. I imagine they were pretty utilitarian, but I find them romantically stylish. This picture depicts Furman Street – a Furman Street that is no longer. It has transformed from a small street with trees and brick-front buildings to the roaring BQE on the east side of the street and the waterfront on the other side with an occasional building or two. In addition, the new Brooklyn Bridge Park in all its manicured and bike-friendly glory is now between the road and the water. That’s quite a change in a mere seventy years, but that’s Brooklyn for you – always changing.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

Horse-drawn carriage on Clinton Avenue at Fulton Street, after the blizzard, ca. 1888, V1974.7.78; Adrian Vanderveer Martense lantern slide collection, ARC.191; Brooklyn Historical Society.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

 From the desk of Carolina Garcia, project intern: When I first started working on digitizing the Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection of lantern slides, one of the things I was most amused by was the fact that the labels on the slides were stamped “A.V. Martense, Amateur”. Martense hailed from one of Brooklyn’s oldest and wealthiest families and enjoyed the hobby of photography. Although he was not a professional photographer, there are many impressive images in the collection—from portraits to landscapes to architecture.

I chose to share this image because of the sharpness and richness that Martense managed to capture. It is among the images Martense created in the wake of a New York blizzard in March of 1888. The horse and carriage stand in front of a building near the corner of Fulton and Clinton Streets in Brooklyn.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

Sledding in Prospect Park, January 1967, V1990.2.39; Donald Nowlan Brooklyn collection, ARC.120; Brooklyn Historical Society.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

 This photo shows sledders in Prospect Park, January 1967. Equipped with the wood sleds, plastic discs, and pieces of cardboard, hundreds of winter revelers of all ages flock to the hills of Prospect Park every year. When Prospect Park opened in 1867, it provided a free and accessible public space for Brooklynites to congregate, exercise, and play in the heat of summer and the chill of winter. Today, Prospect Park remains one of the most popular sledding sites in Brooklyn.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

Photographer John D. Morrell was Assistant Librarian of the Long Island Historical Society (today known as Brooklyn Historical Society), and donated more than 2,600 photographs of Brooklyn neighborhoods to the library. Most are photographs documenting Brooklyn storefronts and blocks. The collection is a wonderful resource for researchers due to the detail included with each photograph. This photograph shows a small store called Holiday House, located on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Carroll Street taken on February 28, 1960 – it’s great to have that much geographic information for so many images!

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

In 2007, real estate blog The Real Deal called Columbia Heights “Brooklyn’s most expensive street” because of the limited number of properties and the stunning views of Manhattan from buildings on the west side of the street. Columbia Heights has long been one of Brooklyn’s most-coveted addresses, and over the centuries many of the mansions and brownstones along the street housed the borough’s most prominent families. Residents of Columbia Heights have included members of the Pierrepont family, the Roebling Family, Henry Ward Beecher, and more recently, Norman Mailer.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

Eliza J. Lefferts, circa 1850s-1860s; Lefferts family papers, ARC.145, box 5, folder 8; Brooklyn Historical Society.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This portrait depicts Eliza J. Lefferts (1831-1867), a member of one of Kings County’s oldest and most powerful families. Eliza was born in Bedford Corners (part of present-day Bedford Stuyvesant). At the age of twenty, she moved a mile south to Flatbush when she married her cousin John Lefferts (1826-1895), heir to the Lefferts family homestead. Eliza spent much of her adult life pregnant: she gave birth to six children between 1852 and 1860. In 1867, after a short illness, Eliza passed away. Her death was particularly difficult for her sister-in-law, Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt, who lived across the street and who had lost her mother only two years earlier. In a family history she composed for Eliza’s children, Gertrude wrote, “Every effort to renew her strength proved unavailing, and she died in 1867, greatly beloved and lamented.”

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This month’s featured map depicts the New York City subway system in 1955. Published by the Union Dime Savings Bank, the map shows various subway lines, stations, and sites of free transfer. Another interesting feature of the map is that it advertises banking by mail, calling it “the quickest and easiest way to open an account.”

You can view the BHS map collection anytime during the library’s open hours, Wed.-Fri., from 1-5 p.m. No appointment is necessary to view most maps.

The “Brooklyn Night Bazaar” planned for Dec 15-17 at 149 Kent Ave with DJ James Murphy, and bands Fucked Up and The Hold Steady takes me back to a similar extravaganza on the Brooklyn waterfront in 1989, the Cat’s Head*. Of course there are significant differences. The Cat’s Head was completely illegal. As I recall, it was created by a group of early Williamsburg settlers –Robert Elmes, Jessica Nissen and Fred Valentine. They squatted in an abandoned industrial building on the waterfront. No one had insurance; no one had any official approval from the Building Department or the Fire Department or the Police Department. No one had a beer license, but they somehow managed to buy and sell Brooklyn Lager. There were radical art installations, towering sculptures, exploding watermelons, nude performance art, even a tennis match between Paul Campbell and Reggie Hodges in a grain silo, when the event was held in the Mustard Factory on Grand. There were great bands. It went all night. It was utterly raw. As I recall, there were two such Cat’s Head happenings. The shadowy organizers took the profit and went to Berlin and did a Cat’s Head there.

The Brooklyn Night Bazaar will be much more buttoned up, but it continues a great Williamsburg party tradition.

– Steve Hindy, President & Co-founder

*I seem to recall a severed cat’s head on the property gave the event its name.

From the Krausen Commandos:

On Friday August 5th, 2011, The Krausen Commandos of Northwest Connecticut won one of the used Brooklyn Brewery oak barrels through their Facebook contest (with the gracious help of many friends of friends of friends spreading the word and voting). The first part of the acquisition was to travel down to the brewery and pick up the barrel. Not long after the win, a couple Commandos ventured into the city and hauled the barrel back home to CT.

On November 5th (AHA’s National Learn to Home Brew Day), 15 members descended upon one member’s house, with a custom made stout recipe, an enormous amount of brewing equipment, ingredients, beer and food, and spent the day brewing more than 60 gallons of stout to eventually fill the barrel with.

After approximately two weeks of fermentation (in 12 different fermenters), several members got together and siphoned each fermenter into the barrel. The aromas coming out of the barrel were abundant and almost intoxicating!

Nobody knows just yet how long they will age the beer in the barrel, but all are anxious to sample the bounty!

The Krausen Commandos of Northwest CT were formed in May 2010 to Brew, Drink, and Serve! They started with a small group of brewers who often brewed and drank together and decided to make an official club. Their numbers have nearly tripled in less than two years and are now comprised of more than 25 ambitious and talented brewers from all over the state of CT. The members range from as little as one year experience, to nearly 10 years of experience in both extract and all-grain brewing. One member even had a short stint as the head brewer at a now defunct local brew pub.

[Abraham & Straus, ca.1895, v1972.1.611; Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, ARC.201; Brooklyn Historical Society.]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

The end of November also marks the beginning of the holiday window displays in New York. This photograph captures an elaborate window display, which appears to be made entirely out of handkerchiefs, at Abraham & Straus department store. The ornate building, located at 422 Fulton Street, became the flagship location of A&S in 1885, and is now a Macy’s store. The three-story arch that once formed the entrance to the building has since been filled in, but other original art deco details are still visible.

In addition to this photograph, BHS has an archival collection about Abraham & Straus from 1865 to 1995. The majority of the items date from 1964 and 1965 and were compiled by Abraham & Straus employee Juli Daves in preparation for the store’s centennial celebration. These items include newsletters, a history of Abraham & Straus, news clippings, and correspondence between Juli Daves and Mrs. Kenn Stryker-Rodda, Archivist at the Long Island Historical Society (later the Brooklyn Historical Society), regarding research for the centennial. Other materials in the collection include store directories, souvenir shopping bags, employee newsletters, various printed ephemera, and a catalog dating from 1886, when the store was known as Wechsler & Abraham.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[Sunday School Thanksgiving, ca. 1910, v1981.284.20; Emmanuel House lantern slide collection, v1981.284; Brooklyn Historical Society.]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This image showing a Thanksgiving spread at Emmanuel House is one of eighty-seven lantern slides in BHS’s Emmanuel House lantern slide collection, circa 1910-1914. Emmanuel House was located at 131 Steuben Street, near Pratt Institute in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. According to the 1897 Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac, “it was maintained by the Young Men’s League of Emmanuel Baptist Church [and] has reading rooms, game rooms, a gymnasium, and bowling alleys for boys; and free sewing school and kindergarten classes for girls.”

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[Text and photographs by Casey Kelbaugh]

FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN, THEN WE TAKE BERLIN.

“I did not expect Brooklyn to have so nice beer,” said Saskia Bosch, the gorgeous blonde sitting beside me, IPA in hand. It’s true, I thought, bringing beer to Germany makes about as much sense as bringing sand to the beach. But yet, somehow, Marc Rauschmann of Die Internationale Brau-Manufacturen importers managed to bring a dimpled smile to Saskia and about 200 other Berliner’s faces last Thursday evening with generous helpings of India Pale Ale and Local 1 & 2.

The occasion for all of this beer-drinking was Slideluck Potshow’s fourth installment in Berlin. The show was produced by photographer Britney Anne Majure and it took place at .HBC which was the former Hungarian Cultural Center and sits across the street from Alexanderplatz and the iconic TV tower.

Rather than trying to get Berliners to understand potlucking (not sure they’ll ever get it), we opted to bring in Tacos Berlin to provide some slammin’ poblano dinners and Elke Wardlaw’s homemade cupcakes. DJ Magnus Bjerk complimented the candle-lit-sit-down dinner perfectly with velvety smooth Latin-inspired tracks.

Berlin’s population has about as similar a profile to Williamsburg as can be found anywhere on Earth. So not only are all the girls rocking bowl-cuts, but there is an extremely high concentration of young, creative people from all over. Nowhere was this embarrassment of riches more clearly displayed than in our slideshow of 30 local artists, including: Jan von Holleben, Barbara Wagner, Andrea Diefenbach, Jen Osborne, Lindsay Amelie Isola and Mirjam Siefert. Having been to this particular rodeo before, I was completely amazed to see so much fresh and interesting work. Apparently so was Peaches, who I’m told also came for the slideshow.

What also made the show special was having a number of Slideluck directors in town for our European Director’s meeting the following night. Maria Teresa Salvati came in from London, Siri Warren from Oslo, Benedicte Gerbier flew in from Paris, Britney Anne Majure from Berlin, and of course the SLPS Global Producer, Carly Planker from New York.

Towards the end of the party, I met a young American guy who was on a Fulbright scholarship, teaching English in Berlin. He had an armload of IPA’s and I asked what was up. He said when he heard Brooklyn Brewery was having their launch party that night in Berlin – so he came specifically for that, as he was tiring of German lagers. Well, on that particular night, he struck jackpot. Those Fulbrights sure are smart.

[John Jay Pierrepont Home, 1879], v1986.66.70; John Jay Pierrepont photograph collection, ARC.197, Brooklyn Historical Society. ]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

The next time you drive on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) through Brooklyn Heights, imagine what it looked like before there was a BQE. This photograph was taken by John Jay Pierrepont, son of Henry Evelyn and Anna Maria Pierrepont. John and his brother (Henry Evelyn II) lived in Brooklyn Heights and took over Pierrepont Stores, the family’s shipping storage business along the Brooklyn waterfront. In 1879 when this photograph was taken, it would have been very convenient for the brothers to descend the stairs from the backyard of 1 Pierrepont Place, where John resided, toward the offices of the Pierrepont Stores.

Many of the properties along Pierrepont Place enjoyed this aesthetically pleasing and direct route to the water until the BQE was built at the proposal of Robert Moses. After a grueling, public debate, the twentieth-century residents of Brooklyn Heights were able to strike a compromise that eliminated the backyards on Pierrepont Place and installed the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to accommodate the BQE running below instead of criss-crossing the historic neighborhood.

Incidentally, John Jay was also an amateur photographer who chronicled the progress being made on the Brooklyn Bridge and many other waterfront scenes. He was the treasurer for the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society) and a member of the Committee on Brooklyn History.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[John Jay Pierrepont Home, 1879], v1986.66.70; John Jay Pierrepont photograph collection, ARC.197, Brooklyn Historical Society. ]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

The next time you drive on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE) through Brooklyn Heights, imagine what it looked like before there was a BQE. This photograph was taken by John Jay Pierrepont, son of Henry Evelyn and Anna Maria Pierrepont. John and his brother (Henry Evelyn II) lived in Brooklyn Heights and took over Pierrepont Stores, the family’s shipping storage business along the Brooklyn waterfront. In 1879 when this photograph was taken, it would have been very convenient for the brothers to descend the stairs from the backyard of 1 Pierrepont Place, where John resided, toward the offices of the Pierrepont Stores.

Many of the properties along Pierrepont Place enjoyed this aesthetically pleasing and direct route to the water until the BQE was built at the proposal of Robert Moses. After a grueling, public debate, the twentieth-century residents of Brooklyn Heights were able to strike a compromise that eliminated the backyards on Pierrepont Place and installed the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to accommodate the BQE running below instead of criss-crossing the historic neighborhood.

Incidentally, John Jay was also an amateur photographer who chronicled the progress being made on the Brooklyn Bridge and many other waterfront scenes. He was the treasurer for the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society) and a member of the Committee on Brooklyn History.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[Images by John Mazlish]
[Text by Dan Teran]

Slideluck Potshow put its best foot forward Wednesday night with the 2nd Annual SLIDELUCK Fundraiser & Auction.  Monday last we returned to Chinatown after a great success at FotoWeek DC, and in a few short days and near-sleepless nights, the NYC Slideluck Team rallied to transform Sandbox Studios into a compelling gallery space, and was prepared to put DC back in its place as a cultural runner-up.

For the second year in a row, Ryan Jones worked tirelessly to produce the fundraiser.  After all the labor she put into Slideluck, Ryan went into another kind of labor last Friday – this year, Ryan not only produced SLIDELUCK, but also, a human being.  Five days before the auction (and more than a week early) Ryan brought Scarlet Jones Ouvaroff into the world – we were personally hoping she’d name her firstborn Slideluck, but we’ll settle for her hard work and dedication.  Like a true partner, Ryan’s husband, Caspar Ouvaroff, stepped up to curate and install all 60 pieces in the show with yours truly, and with his massive, 6’7” frame, made an appearance at the event large enough for both his lovely bride and newborn child.  A huge thank you and congratulations goes out to the growing Ouvaroff clan.

Guests arrived for the VIP reception and sipped on some of Brooklyn’s finest brews – the Local 1 and 2 – while having a first taste of Co-Host Rikrit Tiravanija’s Thai curry pizza – a preview of the curry lunches he will be serving at MoMA as part of an installation beginning next week.   Morton, the WhistlePig Rye Whiskey brand ambassador, a house-trained potbelly pig, stole the first part of the show.  He demonstrated the virtues that earn potbelly pigs a top-five slot in animal intelligence.  As I sat at my desk on Thursday morning, preparing to make an argument for purchasing a floor pig for my office, I learned some fun facts, namely: that pigs can have their feelings hurt.  This confirmed my suspicion that only Morton truly grasped the irony of partygoers tossing him dog treats, while munching on crostini with braised Mini Mac Farm pork shoulder, Alstede Farms Winesap apple and local shallot chutney.

Early in the evening, I had the delight of meeting the Co-Host, Jessica Craig-Martin, an esteemed events-turned-art photographer.  When prompted by the event’s producer and her former student, Carly Planker, to comment on my attempted mustache, Ms. Craig-Martin replied, “I am a person who generally has a complaint about everything, and I have no complaint about that moustache.”  Take that, Mom.

Ms. Craig-Martin used the silent auction as an opportunity to collect some beautiful work.  One piece, a photograph by Dolly Faibyshev, featured a detail of a woman and her hound from their least flattering angle, as though Ms. Craig Martin had been asked to cover the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show herself.  The second piece she purchased was a photograph by Ruben Natal-San Miguel featuring a woman of questionable employ on the street in Harlem with bedazzled “$” earrings – no less ostentatious than her usual upper-crust subjects.

As the evening progressed, a powerful speech from SLPS Founder and Director Casey Kelbaugh, followed by an uplifting video, brought everyone back to the roots of Slideluck Potshow – an idea idea that began in Casey’s Seattle backyard 11 years ago.  A short film about the Slideluck Youth Initiative, one of evening’s primary beneficiaries, concluded with Casey issuing a challenge for the organization to “change the world through photography”.  The candor in Casey’s voice gave the audience the impression that they were either with him or against him, and I knew where I fell if I expected another sweet, sweet Brooklyn Lager.

Following an exhilarating live auction of works by Spencer Tunick, Ines Esnal, Barton Lidice Benes and others presented by Sotheby’s Courtney Booth, attendees cautiously guarded their favorite pieces by artists such as Shepard Fairey, Joseph La Piana, Jen Davis and Julie Blackmon in the ongoing silent auction – providing no shortage of micro-narratives fueled by bidding wars.  I watched on as two such silent showdowns unfold on pieces book-ending a wall of larger works.  The pieces happened to compliment each other quite well, both in watercolor, one a mustache, the other a series of, well, upskirts.  Artist John Gordon Gauld contributed the mustache piece from a collection of work done for Bergdorf’s, the upskirts were done by Rosalie Stone Morris – both of whom left arm-in-arm before bidding closed, weary of the melodrama, for some late night karaoke.  Thanks guys.

With no shortage of chocolate bark covered in inventive toppings to munch on, prepared by Dave Gould at the Highlands Supper Club, the silent auction wrapped.  Men in suits left with art in boxes.  Women in cocktail dresses left with men in suits.  And the rest of us?  Well, we stayed and swilled the remaining Pennant Ale in true Slideluck fashion, until Carly kicked us out.  Next stop?  Berlin.  Dare we bring some Chocolate Stout to the land of Bier?  I hope so.

[The junction of Flatbush and Church Avenues, ca. 1918, v1973.6.385; Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection. ARC.202; Brooklyn Historical Society.]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This image of Flatbush and Church Avenues, taken by F. A. Walter for Brooklyn Life magazine, looks away from the Old Dutch Reformed Church toward the Bank of Flatbush and the Flatbush Theater ca. 1918. Brooklyn Life was a weekly magazine in publication from 1890 to 1931. The magazine featured poetry, book reviews, art and theater columns, coverage of club life, and gossip about local notables. When the magazine began its run in 1890, Brooklyn was still an independent city, with the editor announcing on March 8, 1890, “Remember you are to work for Brooklyn first, last and always…” At the magazine’s conclusion in 1931, Brooklyn had become a borough of New York City. The entire run of Brooklyn Life and its index is available in bound volumes at the BHS library.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[The junction of Flatbush and Church Avenues, ca. 1918, v1973.6.385; Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection. ARC.202; Brooklyn Historical Society.]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

This image of Flatbush and Church Avenues, taken by F. A. Walter for Brooklyn Life magazine, looks away from the Old Dutch Reformed Church toward the Bank of Flatbush and the Flatbush Theater ca. 1918. Brooklyn Life was a weekly magazine in publication from 1890 to 1931. The magazine featured poetry, book reviews, art and theater columns, coverage of club life, and gossip about local notables. When the magazine began its run in 1890, Brooklyn was still an independent city, with the editor announcing on March 8, 1890, “Remember you are to work for Brooklyn first, last and always…” At the magazine’s conclusion in 1931, Brooklyn had become a borough of New York City. The entire run of Brooklyn Life and its index is available in bound volumes at the BHS library.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[Images by Casey Kelbaugh]
[Text by Dan Teran]

We emerged from the Chinatown metro station in downtown DC after a fun-filled four-hour bus ride down from New York City.  Arriving at the residence of Francis Kim, one of the local Slideluck Potshow directors, we encountered a young lady with two Tupperware containers full of chocolate chip cookies.

We asked if she was going to a potluck, thinking that everyone in DC must be en route to Slideluck Potshow DC VI, and was surprised to find out that she was just going one at “Maria’s apartment”.  Who knew DC was such a potlucky town?  Hoping to maybe get a freshly-baked cookie out of the exchange, we inquired further, only to find out that she had bought the cookies at Costco and then transferred them to Tupperware to give the appearance of home-cooking.  Wow, that’s clever, we exclaimed.  And lame.  We shared the elevator for another couple floors and an awkward guilty silence hung in the elevator like an egg fart.  Wow, DC, we knew you were dirty, but not that dirty.

Cookie Monster was getting off the elevator and we said, “Hey have a good potluck.”
And she responded, “Thanks, you too.”

We ignored some of our NYC friend’s suggestions to “check out Starbuck’s” while were down there and focus on some of Washington’s cultural wonders.  For the 4th year in a row, we collaborated with FotoWeek DC to bring our unique mix of a multimedia slideshow and potluck dinner to the good people of DC.  We curated a show of about 30 artists, primarily DC-based, and rolled into town with no less than 30 cases of Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Brown Ale and IPA.

There were no shortage of Dockers or earnest political opinions, but among the 250 or more folks that attended, was a lively and diverse mix of people.  And no more was that more accurately reflected than in the potluck dinner – sesame bok choy, cauliflower and cashew salad, mac n’cheese cups, an olive and orange salad, chocolate pumpkin bread – too name a few dishes.

The slide show was comic at times, sexy at others, and of course, challenging and hard-hitting in many cases.  Our DC peeps don’t care for fluff.  Nor do they care for Costco cookies packaged in Tupperware.

One of the benefits of teaming up with FotoWeek was that they had a number of exhibitions mounted in the space – including the finalists for Pictures of the Year International and the World Press Photos of the Year.  The afforded the opportunity for Slideluckers to wander the cavernous and carpeted ex-Borders Bookstore, cold beers in hand, to check out some mind-blowing work.  One particularly investigative couple – who looked like they may ridden on their fixies all the way from Williamsburg – were delighted to unearth the repetition of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez quote captioning two different works, practically right next to each other.  Awkward!

After the slides had stopped and the last drop of Brooklyn Brown had found a belly, a spontaneous Sunday night after party coalesced around the corner at the 18th Street Lounge.  Yet another pleasant surprise, this place was packed, with multiple floors eliciting fierce dance moves and a large deck for 50 or more Slideluckers to recount and discuss the evening’s program into the wee hours of the night.

Once again, Washington, DC, you made us proud to be American.

[Annie Novak wheels greens on her Brooklyn Brewery cruiser.]

Cornmeal Cayenne Butter Cookies
from Annie Novak, farmer, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm and founder, Growing Chefs: Food Education from Field to Fork

I’m not going to be ashamed: I love Martha Stewart. Martha makes me feel ashamed when I make the sloppy switch between baking powder and baking soda, and parentally proud of my 99% germination rates when sowing springtime seeds. Don’t let her love of terrariums fool you: Martha Stewart is a badass.

When I started farming for Keith Stewart in upstate New York many years ago, a well-pawed-through copy of the cookbook “Martha Stewart: Cookies” was the literary salve to my frostbitten fingers. Since the nearest grocery store was a good thirty minute drive into town, many were the nights we farm apprentices made hard sourdough loaves and dreamed of the glorious day when we’d have enough Ronnybrook (as we nicknamed butter) to make “Macadamia maple sticky bars” and “Fresh peach drop cookies.” Years later I came across “Cookies” at The Brooklyn Kitchen and snapped it up, biking home to begin fulfilling long-tendered fantasies of Martha-cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But as I pulled out the Ronnybrook and refined sugar, I realized something weird: my palate had changed. In eight years of local farming, I wanted something more than just a sweet treat.

One recipe caught my eye: the cornmeal thyme cookies. I’ve since taken the recipe and modified it to celebrate another great end-of-season crop: peppers. We grew a lot of hot peppers this year at the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The peppers do botanically great in the arid greenroof soil. My cayenne peppers (a variety called “Andy”) dry to a beautiful bright red and are easily crushed into hot pepper flakes. The cookies that resulted were buttery and sweet, with brilliant red speckles. For a final touch, I added butterscotch chips. A zinger-slinger like this treat deserves a good beer to go with it. On the golden day that Martha and I sit down for a few Brooklyn grown Cornmeal-Cayenne Butter Cookies hot out of the oven, I’d pair it with a cool Pennant Ale ’55 from Brooklyn Brewery.

Ingredients
+ 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
+ 1 teaspoon baking soda
+ 1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
+ 1/2 teaspoon salt
+ 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
+ 1 1/4 cups sugar
+ 2 large eggs
+ 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
+ 2 tablespoons (if not more!) freshly dried cayenne chili flakes

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cornmeal, and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time. Add flour mixture; mix on low speed until just combined. Mix in butterscotch chips and red pepper flakes.

3. Using a tablespoon or a 1 1/2-inch ice-cream scoop, drop rounded balls of dough onto lined sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake, rotating and switching positions of sheets about halfway through, until pale golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cookies, on parchment, to a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Pairing
Brooklyn Pennant Ale ’55

[Brooklyn’s Continuation School, ca. 1922, v1973.6.430; Photography Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

Ca. 1922. This image shows students at the Brooklyn Continuation School. In the early twentieth century, many boys and girls who could no longer attend school because they needed to help their families earn income went to continuation schools, like the one pictured here, in order to learn various vocational skills, which would help them find work. Young people would often work at a job in the morning and then take classes at a continuation school in the evening.

Factory owners wrote hundreds of letters praising continuation school programs as they promised to create more highly skilled workers. Boys and girls enrolled in separate programs, based on gender, in the same building. They studied woodworking, electrical wiring, type-writing, salesmanship, and tailoring. Students from Brooklyn Continuation School (BCS) were in particularly high demand as workers. BCS’s students were 97% employed in industries throughout the city and the school had the highest percentage of employed students in New York.

BCS was located near the corner of Ryerson Street and Myrtle Avenue, within walking distance of numerous elevated train lines. Each day hundreds of students would attend classes. Today, BCS continues to operate with a new name and location. Renamed George Westinghouse High School and located in Downtown Brooklyn, the school continues to offer hands-on learning in addition to the standard school curriculum of math, language arts, science, and history. Mirroring the development of Brooklyn industry, the school teaches classes on technology management, eyeglass design and production, website design, and robotics.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[Brooklyn’s Continuation School, ca. 1922, v1973.6.430; Photography Collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

Ca. 1922. This image shows students at the Brooklyn Continuation School. In the early twentieth century, many boys and girls who could no longer attend school because they needed to help their families earn income went to continuation schools, like the one pictured here, in order to learn various vocational skills, which would help them find work. Young people would often work at a job in the morning and then take classes at a continuation school in the evening.

Factory owners wrote hundreds of letters praising continuation school programs as they promised to create more highly skilled workers. Boys and girls enrolled in separate programs, based on gender, in the same building. They studied woodworking, electrical wiring, type-writing, salesmanship, and tailoring. Students from Brooklyn Continuation School (BCS) were in particularly high demand as workers. BCS’s students were 97% employed in industries throughout the city and the school had the highest percentage of employed students in New York.

BCS was located near the corner of Ryerson Street and Myrtle Avenue, within walking distance of numerous elevated train lines. Each day hundreds of students would attend classes. Today, BCS continues to operate with a new name and location. Renamed George Westinghouse High School and located in Downtown Brooklyn, the school continues to offer hands-on learning in addition to the standard school curriculum of math, language arts, science, and history. Mirroring the development of Brooklyn industry, the school teaches classes on technology management, eyeglass design and production, website design, and robotics.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

We remember it like it was yesterday, but that’s because it pretty much was yesterday. Not long ago, Brooklyn was supposedly “Crooklyn”, a strange land where people spoke in tongues, cabs feared to tread, and you couldn’t get a decent piece of cheese. And BAM, the grandly-titled Brooklyn Academy of Music, seemed to stand as a silent sentinel, a remnant of a glorious past few seemed to remember.

Here at Brooklyn Brewery, we remember the real Brooklyn. We remember pioneering beer bars, wild Berlin-style raves at the Old Mustard Factory, the Liveri boys smoking the mozzarella in a little metal box every morning outside Joe’s Busy Corner, prosciutto sliced so thin you could read the newspaper through it, and jerk chicken that made your eyes water. BAM remembers our Brooklyn too, and helped transform it into a place everyone suddenly wants to be.

So, when BAM asked us to make a beer for their 150th anniversary, we wanted to make them something really special. BAMBoozle features a large addition of wildflower honey from the New York family apiary Tremblay Farms – we pick up the honey from Alan Tremblay at the Greenmarket. Blended with golden malts, it is fermented to a dry complexity by our Belgian yeast strain, and then re-fermented in the bottle like Champagne. When the cork pops, the beer shows a shimmering effervescence, a beautifully floral, honeyed nose, and a fresh light zing on the palate that belies its underlying strength. You have not had a beer like this, and neither have we. You can enjoy it now, but it will also age very nicely. Like BAM and like Brooklyn, BAMBoozle is in a class of its own. Happy 150th to BAM, its colorful crown restored, the once and future king of the arts.

[Halloween in Flatbush, ca. 1905, v1992.21.1; Thelma E. Smith collection on the William Matthews family genealogy, ARC.091; Brooklyn Historical Society.]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

Pictured here are members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Women’s clubs and organizations often organized fairs and festivals to support their churches and engage parishioners. St. Paul’s Church mirrored the rapid growth of Brooklyn in the early twentieth century. When the Reverend T. G. Jackson became preacher in the 1880s, the church had fewer than 100 members. Thirty years later, the congregation had tripled in size. The church became a cornerstone of the community: embracing residents from neighborhoods ranging from Astoria to Washington Heights to Brighton Beach.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

[Halloween in Flatbush, ca. 1905, v1992.21.1; Thelma E. Smith collection on the William Matthews family genealogy, ARC.091; Brooklyn Historical Society.]

From Brooklyn Historical Society:

Pictured here are members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Women’s clubs and organizations often organized fairs and festivals to support their churches and engage parishioners. St. Paul’s Church mirrored the rapid growth of Brooklyn in the early twentieth century. When the Reverend T. G. Jackson became preacher in the 1880s, the church had fewer than 100 members. Thirty years later, the congregation had tripled in size. The church became a cornerstone of the community: embracing residents from neighborhoods ranging from Astoria to Washington Heights to Brighton Beach.

To see more photos from BHS’s collection, visit their online image gallery.

Saturday, October 29, 9pm-1am
Surrogate’s Court
31 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
Buy tickets here

From the Mayor’s Alliance:

First-ever Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals® Halloween Event Promises Thrills and Entertainment – to Benefit New York City’s Homeless Animals.

Fall has finally arrived and with it comes the hunt for New York City’s top Halloween parties. The Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals makes this year’s search easy with Creatures’ Ball, the blowout Halloween bash complete with great food, drink, music, and dancing – where party animals can save lives simply by purchasing tickets. Creatures’ Ball will celebrate and raise money to help NYC’s homeless animals – and it all happens in downtown Manhattan’s ghostly Surrogate’s Court (31 Chambers Street) on Saturday, October 29, from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Design and production courtesy of Avi Adler Studio is sure to create the perfect spooky setting, where beer from Brooklyn Brewery and açaí vodka from VeeV will be flowing generously from the bars, and sweet and savory treats skillfully crafted by Vérité Catering and Tastee Vegan will be served. Revelers can dance the night away to music DJ’ed by Vampire Weekend’s very own Rostam Batmanglij!

Celebrants will have the opportunity to see just how the money from their ticket purchases is helping to save the lives of New York City’s homeless animals through evocative video exhibitions, courtesy of (collabo!), that highlight the progress the Mayor’s Alliance has achieved toward its goal of transforming New York City into a no-kill community by 2015.

Additionally, Yelp, the online city guide that helps people find cool places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play, has signed on as the official media sponsor. Subscribers to their newsletter will have a chance to win tickets to the event.

Tickets are priced at $150 each and can be purchased by visiting http://bit.ly/cbnyc. Costumes are requested and attendees must be at least 21 years of age. All ticket proceeds will benefit NYC’s animals through the life-saving programs of the Mayor’s Alliance.

While we absolutely love animals, we ask that you leave your companion animals safely at home when you come out to celebrate at Creatures’ Ball!

Books? We love ‘em. Steve Hindy wrote one; Garrett Oliver wrote one and edited another; and our culinary-culture loving friends over at Edible have cooked up a DIY guide to recreating the best of Brooklyn’s delectable delights in your own kitchen:

“Celebrate Brooklyn’s best, with the most delicious dishes from the borough’s top food sellers and makers, movers and shakers. Edible Brooklyn: The Cookbook takes you on a photo-packed, tasty tour of one of America’s most diverse locales and its gastronomic pleasures. In addition to finding mouthwatering recipes, you’ll meet the people who create this edible goodness, take a close-up look at the institutions that make Brooklyn an epicure’s delight, explore food-fabulous, ethnically diverse neighborhoods, and get edible tips, plus information on obtaining the ingredients.”

Yep, it’s true. A reincarnation of SmorgasBurg, the popular “Brooklyn Flea Food Market”, is coming to Brooklyn Brewery starting Sunday, December 4 and running until March. Needless to say, we are quite excited to welcome the local artisans into our home.

Eater reports:

On Sunday, December 4, the Brooklyn Flea and Brooklyn Brewery will launch SmorgasBrewery, a mini version of the Saturday food fest Smorgasburg. A rotating cast of five Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg food vendors will set up shop in the Brewery’s Tasting Room on North 11th St. from noon – 5 PM. The partnership should run until March 2012.

At the Brewery there are few things we love more than good beer — great new music is a definite contender. To that end, you’ll be able to find Brooklyn Brewery beer at a handful of shows during the 2011 CMJ Music Marathon:

Monday, October 17
Oh My Rockness @ Cameo Gallery

Friday, October 21
Kanine Records @ Cake Shop

Saturday, October 22
Pitchfork @ Aloft

NY Craft Beer Week, the annual 10-day celebration of good beer in NYC, will this year take place from September 16-25 and as always feature a throng of events and tastings across our behemoth abode. Brooklyn Brewery is proud to support NYCBW’s efforts to honor our most favorite beverage, and will be celebrating the week with the events after the jump. We hope to see you somewhere out there.

Concoction Vs Penicillin: The Final Battle
September 16-18, all night
The Counting Room
44 Berry St (Corner of Berry & N 11th St)
Brooklyn, NY 11249
$10 for a taste of The Brooklyn Concoction beer and a Penicillin, the cocktail the beer is based on.

FREAKTOBERFEST IV
Friday, September 16, 7pm-1am
Southpaw
125 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Official kick-off party for NYCBW. Tickets are $50, which includes a glass and unlimited tastings for the duration of the festival.

NY Craft Beer Week Brooklyn Menu Special
September 16th – 25th, 2011
Austin’s Ale House
82-70 Austin Street
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
718.849.3939

The Food Experiments National Championship
Sunday, September 18, 1-4pm
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N11 Street
Brooklyn, NY 11249
Tickets $35 and include all food samples and unlimited beer
Purchase tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/194661

Transportation Alternatives Bike Valet will be onsite for safe bike storage during the event

The Oxford Companion To Beer Release Party
Monday, September 19, 7:30-10pm
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N11 Street
Brooklyn, NY 11249

This event is invite-only, but we’re giving away tickets to 10 lucky NYCBW Passport holders. Simply email info@brooklynbrewery.com, with the subject line, “Passport” for a chance to win. If chosen, you’ll have to present your NYCBW Passport at the door to gain entry.

Transportation Alternatives Bike Valet will be onsite for safe bike storage during the event

Tallboy Tuesdays, brought to you by Brooklyn Brewery and Transportation Alternatives
Tuesday, September 20, 7-9pm
d.b.a.
41 1st Ave
New York, 10003
(212) 475-5097

Sign up to be a member of Transportation Alternatives, and the first round of Tallboys is on them (the first 50 people to sign up get a koozie).

Brooklyn Brewery Sampling @ Good Beer
Tuesday, September 20, 6:30-9pm
Good Beer
422 East 9th St.
New York, NY 10009
Sample Post Road Pumpkin Ale, Blast!, The Companion and a special “Ghost Bottle”

Brooklyn Bounty
Wednesday, September 21, 6:30-9:30pm
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Brooklyn Brewery Take Over @ The Brooklyneer
Wednesday, September 21, 7-10pm
The Brooklyneer
220 West Houston Street
New York, NY 10014
Featuring Weisse, Lager, East India Pale Ale, Oktoberfest, The Companion and a special “Ghost Bottle”

Brewer’s Choice
Thursday, September 22, 6-10pm
City Winery
155 Varick Street
New York, NY 10013

Brooklyn Brewery Feature Night @ Ski Bar
Thursday, September 22, 7:30pm
Ski Bar
7314 Fifth Avenue ( 73rd & 74th St)
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn NY 11209
718.630.5266

[photo of Robin and Eric Ottaway from Brooklyn Bounty 2010 by Keiko Niwa]

Wednesday, September 21, 6:30-9:30pm
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

From BHS:

Brooklyn Historical Society presents Brooklyn Bounty and the first Brooklyn Food Recognition Awards. Attendees will enjoy:

+ tastings of food & drink from Brooklyn growers, chefs and purveyors (including beer from Brooklyn Brewery)
+ historic cocktails in our beautiful Othmer Library
+ food stories told by Brooklynites from neighborhoods far and wide
+ a viewing of historical and new maps and materials related to local food and agriculture
+ a creative silent auction of unique Brooklyn prizes and experiences
+ music by The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn

Tuesday, September 20, 7pm
d.b.a.
41 1st Ave
New York, 10003
(212) 475-5097

What a better way to celebrate NY Craft Beer Week than to promote two of our favorite things — bikes and beer:

[1] Transportation Alternatives, that NYC-based non-profit that fights for “safer, smarter transportation and a healthier city” by advocating for enhancements to bike routes, bus lanes, pedestrian crossings and car parking; and

[2] Tall Boys, those glorious 16 ounce cans of dry hopped, pre-Prohibition style Brooklyn Lager.

The deal is this: come out to one of our favorite bars, sign up to be a member of Transportation Alternatives, and the first round of Tallboys is on them. If you’re among the first 50 people to sign up, you’ll also receive a free, matching can koozie.

From Brooklyn Based:

Our last Brooklyn Brewery-fueled immersion of the summer is around the corner! On Saturday, August 20, join us on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights for a daylong beer and food crawl on an epic strip of Brooklyn bars and restaurants.

From noon to 6 pm, Soda, Branded Saloon, Woodwork, and Hot Bird will be pouring complimentary cups of Brooklyn Brewery beers, and more bars and restaurants will be joining in on the fun. RSVP or email us to stay posted on details and new participants.

Click here for the event link.

Monday, August 15, 7pm
The Diamond
43 Franklin St (b/w Quay St & Calyer St)
Brooklyn, NY 11222

Join Brewmaster Oliver and his brewing team at The Diamond to sample some Brooklyn Ghost Bottles: rare, mostly bottle conditioned beers not available for sale in the mortal world. We’ll be pouring:

+ Crochet Rouge Rosé (Local 1 barrel-aged on chardonnay and Pinot noir lees)
+ Crochet Rouge Riesling (Local 1 barrel-aged on Riesling lees)
+ Barrel-aged Cuvée Noire
+ Black Ops Late Bottle Vintage 2007

Also available will be a selection of specialty cask and draft items, including Sorachi Ace on tap.

The Brooklyn Brewery hereby announces the formation of The Order of Osiris, a league of libation appreciators formerly never matched. By volunteering their time, their tastebuds and a nominal fee, this band of beer lovers will be subject to a number of benefits sure to whet their elevated whistles. Named after an Egyptian god, known to stop at nothing to protect the most holy of beverages, The Order of Osiris seeks to do the same.

The Order shall meet every Friday at The Brooklyn Brewery Tasting Room at 5pm one full hour before the masses shuffle through those famed red doors. All Order members will have the opportunity to taste that week’s cask from a members-only dimple mug. Also available will be robust conversation, tomfoolery and back patting. Read on to learn of even more good will that awaits due-paying members of this exclusive cadre for the mighty beer lover.

A lifetime membership fee of $15 allots you:

+ Order of Osiris dimple mug
+ 5pm Friday Happy Hour admission through a secret entrance
+ Invitation to all Brewmaster’s Reserve release parties
+ Position at The Table for the Yearly Assembly of the Order
+ Feelings of Entitlement

Email osiris@brooklynbrewery.com with the subject line “Order of Osiris” to receive the Order’s Form of Registry.

“Beer has dispelled the illness which was in me.” — Late Egyptian, translated by Dr. Kent Weeks

[photo by Hiroko Masuike]

Monday, August 1, 7-11pm
d.b.a.
113 North 7th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
cost: $20-$500 | buy tickets here

From d.b.a.,

In loving memory of Ray Deter, we will gather at d.b.a. Brooklyn to continue to celebrate his amazing life. Part of the celebration involves remembering his legacy and in doing so we honor his sons. All proceeds will go into a college fund for Ray’s sons. Raincheck tickets are available for those who would like to participate, but cannot attend the benefit in person. Click through to see the additional ticket and donation options.

If you’d like to mail a check directly to the fund, please make it out to:

Ray Deter Memorial Fund
64 Longfellow Drive
Colonia, NJ 07067

[photo by Winona Barton-Ballentine]

Lemon Curd Tart with Local Blueberries
from Erin and Agatha of Ovenly

Pate Brisee

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons granulated white sugar
½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces and frozen solid
¼ cup ice-cold water

Place ¼ cup water in freezer for ten minutes before working on the dough.

In a food processor, pulse flour, salt, and sugar a few times to combine.

Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 10-15 seconds). With machine running, pour ¼ cup water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube, until the dough just holds together when pinched.

Turn the dough onto your work (it will be crumbly) surface and gather into a large lump. With the heel of your hand, press dough onto work surface until it holds completely together. Flatten into a 6-inch disc, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about at least ½ an hour.

Preheat oven to 400.

After the dough has chilled, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll the pastry into a 12-inch circle. (Keep lifting up and turning the pastry as you roll to keep it from sticking – reflour surface as necessary). Fold the dough in half and gently transfer to a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press sides into pan and, using your rolling pin, scrape off any overhanging dough from the pan. Refrigerate the pastry 30 minutes.

Prick dough with a fork, line with parchment, and then fill with dried beans or pie stones. Bake for 20-25 minutes at until the edges are golden and the crust is cooked through.

Lemon Curd

3 ounces (¾ stick, 6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed, and softened for 10 minutes at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

3 tablespoons grated lemon zest

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light yellow and creamy. Add eggs and yolks one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the lemon juice on low (it will look curdled).

In a non-reactive (stainless steal or enameled) saucepan cook the mixture over low heat until it smooth. Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to the point that it coats the back of a spoon – about 15 min. Don’t let the mixture boil or it could burn to the bottom of the pan.

Remove the curd from the heat and stir in the zest.

Pour into baked pastry shell and let cool in a refrigerator until set (about two hours).

Blueberry Thyme Topping

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon (½ oz) butter

1 quart blueberries (preferably farmers market sourced)
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons fresh thyme

In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and lemon juice until thick and smooth. Set aside.

In a saucepan, melt butter and then toss in blueberries, sugar, honey, and cornstarch mixture. Cook over medium heat until blueberries release their juices and the sauce is thick – about two or three minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in fresh thyme.

Let cool to room temperature (about 30 minute) in the refrigerator and then top tart with blueberries. Let cool another 30 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

Pairing: Brooklyner Weisse

Saturday, July 16, 12-6pm
4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

From Brooklyn Based:

“Our roving, Brooklyn Brewery-fueled block party returns Saturday, July 16 on a stretch of Brooklyn known for its stellar bars: 4th Ave. From noon to 6pm, Mission Dolores, The Rock Shop and Pacific Standard will be pouring complimentary Brooklyn brews, and restaurants and cafes will be offering specials — like $2 tacos at Oaxaca Taco and a beer brunch at Sheep Station. RSVP or email us to stay posted on details and new participants.”

To partake in the deals, pick up an Immersion card at Oaxaca Taco or Cherry Tree.

UPDATE :: July 18, 2011. The 4th Ave Immersion was not a competition. But if it was, Reid Dougherty would be the winner:

Saturday, July 9, 7-11pm
Eagle Street Rooftop Farm
203 West Street (b/w Eagle & Freeman)
Brooklyn NY 11222

From ESRF:

The Eagle Street Rooftop Farm presents “SEEDSTOCK!” a concert benefit on Saturday evening, July 9th. Five great bands, one great rooftop farm. Brought to your ears by BroadwayStages, Brooklyn Brewery and the green thumbs at Growing Chefs. Info and updates at RooftopFarms.org and at Eagle Street Facebook.

Tuesday, July 19, 7:30-10pm
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$40 | buy tickets here

Show Town to Brew Town: Craft Brewing Meets Green Development — A Forum over Food & Drink

If we want to transform our industrial ecology what better place to start than our local breweries? Join us for a fun and informed discussion of how breweries can be the centerpiece of a sustainable regional development plan. Attendees will include craft brewers, green designers and many others. The inimitable green scientist Paul Mankiewicz will start things off with the story of what Louis Pasteur found while working with beer and wine microbes. The rest is up to you!

We will provide food, drink and the forum to guests. As a benefit event, most of the proceeds will be donated to the Gaia Institute to support their important projects which are aligned with this event’s ethos.

Wednesday, July 6, 6-9pm
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$15 | buy tickets here (free for homebrewers bringing their own beer to share)

From the City Chicken Project:

Kegs and Kluckers will be fun and delicious event for urban chicken keepers, aspiring urban chicken keepers, homebrewers, chickens, and the people who love them. This fun-filled event will include home-brewed beers, delicious local fare, Egg Olympic Games (at 8 o’cluck, yes we said “cluck”) and appearances by NYC chickens. This is also a great chance for homebrewers (who generate a byproduct called spent grain) and chicken keepers (who can feed their chickens spent grain) to make connections to help create a more efficient and sustainable food system in NYC.

Read more and purchase tickets here.

[UPDATE 7/5/2011 :: We are deeply saddened to report that over the weekend Ray passed away. He will be missed by all of us who knew and loved him.]

Earlier this week, Ray Deter, owner of d.b.a., was struck by a car as he rode his bicycle to work in Manhattan. He is currently in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital, and remains unconscious after suffering from head trauma and internal bleeding. (Read more about the incident here.)

Not only is Ray a valued member of the beer community, he is an old and dear friend to many of us at the Brewery. Our most sincere thoughts and deepest well wishes are with Ray and his family. We are all hoping Ray the best during this difficult time, and wish him a swift recovery.

Tuesday, June 28, 8pm
Brooklyn Brewery
79 N 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$25 online / $35 day-of

From Northside Town Hall:

Join us for an evening of cocktails for the cause at DRINK Williamsburg Greenpoint, Tuesday June 28th, 8pm at the Brooklyn Brewery. Enjoy “Sips” of signature cocktails created for the event from the neighborhood’s best. Watch as top bartenders put their skills to the test in a “Iron Bartender” style battle, fashioning two different cocktails from secret ingredients, revealed that night. Top prize awarded by a panel of guest judges including Toby Maloney from Alchemy Consulting, NYC, and Brooklyn Brewery’s Brewmaster Garrett Oliver. Live music by Djangos and Tangos and bar snacks provided by local restaurants and food purveyors.

Tickets are $25 advance sale, and $35 the day of: GET YOUR TICKETS NOW

Cocktail “sips” from Dram, The Drink, Maison Premiere, The Richardson, Rabbithole, Manhattan Inn, Saint Vitus, Brooklyn Winery, 285 Bedford (name TBD) and more…Also sample The Concoction, Brooklyn Brewery’s latest Brewmaster’s Reserve, based on The Penicillin cocktail. Follow us on Facebook + Twitter for updates on DRINK WG.

This event is 21 and over only, IDs will be checked at the door. “Sips” are limited to quantity at hand, arrive early to ensure you’ll get to sample them all!

All proceeds from the event will benefit the building of the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center a joint project of two longtime North Brooklyn neighborhood non-profits, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) and The People’s Firehouse, Inc (PFI.) Located on the site of the former Engine Company 212 firehouse, the redesigned building will provide a permanent home for the two founding non-profits to continue to serve, organize, and advocate for the community, a flexible cultural exhibition and community meeting space on the ground floor and serve as a place for all to celebrate and build community.

We need a few good volunteers for Drink, email community@nthccc.org for more info!

Saturday, June 18, 12-6pm
Smith Street
Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill
Brooklyn, NY

From Brooklyn Based:

Drink, shop, brunch. Next Saturday, June 18, we’re inviting you to do all three on the cheap when our roving, summer-long block party sponsored byBrooklyn Brewery comes to Carroll Gardens/Boerum Hill. During The Total Smith St. Immersion from noon to 6pm, you’ll find specials at over 20 shops, bars, and restaurants on Smith St. (and a bit of Bergen), including complimentary cups of beer all brewed here in Brooklyn: Brooklyner Weisse at 61 Local, East India Pale Ale at Angry Wade’s, and The Concoction (a new special ale brewed with peated malt, lemon, ginger and honey!) at Bar Great Harry. You’ll also find the Brewery’s brand-new cans of Summer Ale at Gowanus Yacht Club. [NOTE: Don't forget to tip your bartenders!]

Not only is the immersion a chance to sample a few styles of Brooklyn Brewery beer, it’s also an opportunity to explore great shops, bars and restaurants in a neighborhood that’s not your own. We lined up plenty of incentives for you, including specials like 30% off at Home & Haven and complimentary bottles of Local 1 during brunch at The JakeWalk. (A detailed list of the 20+ deals is below.)

To be a part of this all-day bar, shop and restaurant crawl, you’ll need to pick up a free immersion card at one of two participating shops: By Brooklyn (261 Smith St.) or Brooklyn Tattoo/Urban Folk Art Gallery (99 Smith St.) starting at noon on June 18. There will only be 500 in circulation, so appoint a responsible friend to pick up yours if you can’t get to Smith St. early. (They go fast!)

More details and deals HERE.

Tuesday, June 14, 7:30-9:30pm
The Brooklyn Brewery
79 N 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$15/person | buy tickets here

From Making Books Sing:

Join Making Books Sing for A Summer Night to Support Arts Education, hosted by Emmy award-winner Cat Greenleaf & hip-hop artist and activist Talib Kweli.

Guests will enjoy beer from Brooklyn Brewery, light fare and private tours of the brewery. A handsome portion of all ticket sales will directly support Making Books Sing’s arts education programs for 2011-12 season.

[photo by Eric Schwortz]

And… we’re back! The concert series on the banks of the East River has returned for another year of great bands, beer, wine and food. This unbridled summertime goodness is brought to you by the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn (OSA), a not-for-profit who will be using all of the proceeds from the shows to improve North Brooklyn’s parks.

Follow OSA on Facebook here, Consult Ticketmaster for admittance to the non-free shows, and check back with the Brooklyn Brewery Blog for your chance to win a pair of VIP tickets to each show. Read on to view the full schedule.

June 11 | free show
+ Coheed and Cambria
+ Adrian Belew Power Trio
+ Tigers Jaw

June 24
Thievery Corporation

July 6
+ Kid Cudi
+ Chip Tha Ripper

July 22
+ Death From Above 1979

July 25
+ Stone Temple Pilots

July 29 | free show
+ They Might Be Giants
+ Pretty Good Friends w/ Eugene Mirman
+ Kristen Schaal
+ Patton Oswalt

August 2
+ Death Cab for Cutie
+ Frightened Rabbit

August 12
+ Sonic Youth
+ Wild Flag
+ Kurt Vile

August 31
+ Bright Eyes

September 8
+ TV On The Radio

September 17
+ Widespread Panic

September 24
+ Fleet Foxes
+ The Walkmen

Wednesday, June 29, 6-9pm
But tickets HERE

From Edible:

In celebration of Edible’s Eat Drink Local Week we are teaming up with The Brooklyn Brewery, Blue Bottle, Brooklyn Winery and Mast Brothers Chocolate for a night of local food tours and beers. $15 gets you a tour of one of four businesses and a gathering at the Brewery for beers afterwards.

Tour options include:

+ The Brooklyn Brewery
+ Blue Bottle Coffee
+ Brooklyn Winery
+ Mast Brothers Chocolate

Event will take place on Wednesday June 29th. Tours will begin at each business at 6:30pm. Once your tour concludes head over to The Brooklyn Brewery for a post-tour gathering starting at 7:30.

2 Salads
from Harry Rosenblum of The Brooklyn Kitchen

Spring is when the greens come in and we remember why it was worth waiting through the dark months for delicious local produce. A poached egg makes the salad either decadent as a starter or filling as a light meal. Make a bunch of the crispy onion bits, trust me.

Salad #1 [pictured]

Ingredients:

+ Mustard Greens
+ Roasted Asparagus
+ Poached Egg
+ Crispy Onion Bits
+ Grapefruit
+ Shaved Pecorino

Instructions:

[1] The greens are easy, just a brief rinse and they’re ready to go.
[2] Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil and salt, roast on a sheet at 375 until tender.
[3] Fry minced onion in butter and then roast in oven until dark brown.
[4] Cut grapefruit into bite sized pieces, remove skin and pith.
[5] Poach a fresh egg.
[6] Top all with Pecorino.
[7] Eat.

Pairing: Brooklyn Pennant Ale ’55

Salad #2

Ingredients:

+ Pea Shoots
+ Brooklyn Brine Pickled Fennel Beets
+ Lancaster Chevre

Instructions:

[1] Rinse the pea shoots.
[2] Cut the beets into pieces.
[3] Add chevre.
[4] Add an egg if you want more protein.
[5] Eat.

Pairing: Brooklyn East India Pale Ale

[Go here for more great recipes.]

Wednesday, May 18, 8-10pm
The Brooklyn Brewery
79 N11 St (b/w Berry & Wythe)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

From Edible:

Featuring mini-lectures from:

+Keith Cohen ~ Orwasher’s Bakery (Including a mini-video about the bakery and a quick tutorial about bread making)
+ Matthew Tilden ~ SCRATCHbread (Includes a lecture on How To make….)
+ Alfred Milanese ~ Martin’s Handmade Pennsylvania Dutch Pretzels (Includes a mini-video about Martin’s Pretzels followed by a talk covering a brief history of pretzel making, issues of “home” pretzel making and instruction and insights on rolling and twisting a pretzel)

But tickets HERE.

Saturday, May 21, 12-6pm
Atlantic Avenue
Brooklyn

From Brooklyn Based:

Save the date: On May 21, Brooklyn Brewery is sponsoring our first bar/shopping/eating crawl of the summer. From noon to 6 pm on Atlantic Avenue, you’ll find complimentary half pints of Brooklyn Brewery beer at Last Exit, Roebling Inn, Brazen Head and the Waterfront Ale house, plus deals at shops and restaurants including Callalilai, Chip Shop, and more! (Like last year’sFranklin Street Immersion, this all-day block crawl will be a ton of fun!)

At the new-this-year 2 8 2 Burger you can take advantage of the Brooklyn Beer Brunch. The purchase of any two brunch entrees will get you a free bottle of the elegant Local 1. That’s a true breakfast of champions.

Stay tuned for more info. We’ll be adding new participants in the coming weeks!

Check out the event link here.

H/T Atlantic Wire

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative “Spring in Kings”
Thursday, April 7, 6-9pm
Brooklyn Winery
213 North 8th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
347-763-1506
Buy tickets HERE

Come to the lovely Brooklyn Winery on Thursday to support one of NYC’s best bike projects, the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

From the BGI:

When its founders started in 1998, a 14-mile greenway along Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront was inconceivable to New York City officials. Now the greenway is recognized as an essential public health and sustainable transportation resource that will shape the future development of Brooklyn’s waterfront. After ten years of building support, planning, and securing funding, the greenway is poised to become a unified New York City capital project.

The Greenway will connect Brooklyn to Manhattan’s Greenway network, increasing waterfront access and diversifying transportation options. Other public benefits include improved recreation options and increased economic development in neighborhoods near the Greenway. The Greenway has received an array of public and private support. Four miles of interim and permanent greenway are now open on Columbia Street, Erie Basin, Kent Avenue and Williamsburg Street. The Department of Transportation is developing the master plan for the Greenway.

SMALL BATCH BREWERY TOURS
Mon- Thurs, 5-7pm, Reservation Only
25 people max, $8

It used to be that we’d be lucky to cobble together 15 brave souls to visit the wilds of Williamsburg, Brooklyn on a Saturday afternoon. Now, we’re proud to say that The Brooklyn Brewery hosts a bustling crowd of beer enthusiasts, neighbors, tourists and all sorts of thirsty people, all weekend long.

Our recent expansion has also allowed us to offer small, reservation-only weeknight tours from Monday-Thursday. You simply must be over 21 or accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Dogs aren’t really a problem (although Monster the cat has been known to get feisty). One can order food delivered to The Brewery or you can bring your own. See below for our public hours, and visit when convenient.

Finally, the curious, interested and thirsty can have their chance to visit The Brooklyn Brewery during the work week. But you do have to plan ahead as our Small Batch Brewery Tours are reservation-only and limited to 25 people ($8 per person). Things get going promptly at 5pm with a guided tasting of 4 different Brooklyn beers. Our guide will then take you on a 30-45 min tour of our facilities. Afterwards, one is welcome to get a couple of pints or purchase dry goods and souvenirs at The Company Store.

To reserve your spot email tours@brooklynbrewery.com and let us know how many are in your party and the name of each guest. We will be checking IDs at the door.

FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR

6-11pm every Friday, Free

There are no tours but you can have your pick of up to 8 draft beers and our growing number of Big Bottles. Start your Williamsburg night right. As always, beer tokens are $4 each or 6 for $20.

SATURDAY

Noon – 8pm, Free :: No Reservation Required

Tours at 1pm , 2pm, 3pm 4pm and 5pm

The bar opens early and the tables fill up early too. Feel free to bring a snack or order delivery while you wait for a free tour. And have fun. Definitely try to have fun.

SUNDAY

Noon – 6pm, Free :: No Reservation Required

Tours at 1pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm

Sundays are the most relaxing day here at Brooklyn Brewery. Join us for a taste of your favorite Brooklyn. Don’t forget to try something new before you leave. Also you should probably buy a hoodie: http://brooklynbrewery.com/bk-zippered-hoodie

Last night, Brooklyn Brewery hosted “Brewers For Brewers”, a benefit for Kiuchi Brewery in Japan. “Brewers For Brewers” raised over $12,000 for Kiuchi Brewery to use as it sees fit in their community.

Brewers included Sixpoint, Victory, Lagunitas, Shmaltz, Heartland, Empire, Kelso, and the New York City Homebrewers Guild. Food was provided by The Meat Hook, Brooklyn Kitchen, Tanuki Tavern, SlantShack Jerky, Jimmy’s No. 43, and the Waterfront Ale House. Silent auction prizes were donated by the participants as well as from Civilization of Beer, Rattle N Hum, and Lucky Dog. Many thanks to all the vendors and attendees! We couldn’t have done it without you.

Monday, March 28, 7 – 10 PM
The Brooklyn Brewery
#1 Brewers Row
79 North 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 486-7422

It’s time to stop reading about the disaster in Japan and to start doing something about it. Join us and the local brewing community at “Brewers For Brewers”, a benefit event for the Kiuchi Brewery in Japan. Kiuchi brews Hitachino, and while their brewery hasn’t experienced too much damage, they are using their working bottling lines to bottle water, and are feeding as many people as they can in their restaurant. The Brooklyn Lager, Local 1, Main Engine Start and the rest of our lineup will be on tap but we’ll also be serving selections from Empire Brewing Co., Heartland Brewery, Lagunitas Brewing Co., Sixpoint Craft Ales, Kelso of Brooklyn, Victory Brewing Co., and Coney Island Brewing. Food will be provided by The Brooklyn Kitchen & The Meat Hook, Jimmy’s No. 43, Tanuki Tavern, and Waterfront Ale House.

Tickets are $50 and can be purchased here.  All proceeds will go directly to Kiuchi’s efforts to support their fellow sake and artisanal beer breweries in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Over the last two decades, the block on North 11th St b/w Berry & Wythe in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been transformed by local businesses, beginning with The Brooklyn Brewery in 1996 and ending just this past Tuesday with Mable’s Smokehouse. And of course let us not forget about Beacon’s Closet, KCDC Skate Shop, Sound Fix Records, Whiskey Brooklyn, the Counting Room and Brooklyn Bowl. Mable’s, the newest member of the team, is a must-do for Southern-BBQ afficianados, and meat lovers in general (take a look at the menu below). What better to enjoy your Ribs, Brisket and Hot Links with than beer from The Brooklyn Brewery? Nothing. Except maybe Cole Slaw, Collard Greens and Creamy Mac n’ Cheese.

Mains
Sandwiches (includes 1 side, small cup of slaw, pickles & jalapeños)
Pulled Pork
Chopped Beef Brisket
*Veggie BBQ Sloppy Joe

Platters (includes 1 meat, 2 sides, small cup of slaw, pickles, jalapenos, sliced onion & Wonder Bread)
Pulled Pork
Beef Brisket
St. Louis Ribs
Schwab’s Oklahoma Hot Links

DeLux Platter (choice of 3 of the above meats, choice of 3 sides, slaw, pickles, jalapenos, sliced onion & Wonder Bread)

Sides
BBQ Baked Beans
Cole Slaw
Bet’s Best Potato Salad
Collard Greens
Old South Cornbread
Creamy Mac n’ Cheese
All Day Green Beans
Borracho Beans
Fresh Corn Off The Cob

Rotating Late Night Bar Snacks
Velveeta & Ro-Tel Queso Dip
State Fair Frito Pie
Pulled Pork Sliders
House Made BBQ Corn Nuts
Pulled Pork and Brisket Tamales

Desserts
Various Homemade Pies

Wednesday, January 19, 7:30-10pm
The Brooklyn Brewery
79 N11 St (b/w Berry & Wythe)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

From Edible:

“Edible Brooklyn and The Brooklyn Brewery present How To… PICKLE, JAR & FERMENT, a night of local food artisans sharing their products, tips and general know-how on taste making. Lectures from Kombucha Brooklyn and Anarchy in a Jar (more to be announced). Doors at 7:30PM • Lectures from 8pm–10pm. Brooklyn Brewery Beers $4, snacks and products available from each guest speaker.” RSVP here and see you there!

Triple Pundit is doing a series on sustainability in the brewing industry, and The Brooklyn Brewery is proud to be featured. Click HERE to read about the ways The Brewery keeps itself green, including some interesting details on the efficiency of the new brewing system.

H/T to NYMag.com

We’re quite happy to see this nice write-up from Brooklyn Based about the delicious lil’ snacks our friends at Ovenly are cooking up.

What?! You haven’t tried the Spicy Bacon Caramel Popcorn? Put the Cheetos* down and get on that. In fact, you can choose from a handful of Ovenly delights right here at The Brewery during our public hours (Fri 6-11pm, Sat 12-8pm, Sun 12-6pm), including the Spicy Old Bay Pilsner Peanuts, made with our own Brooklyn Pilsner.

Life is short. Eat well.

[no offense, Cheetos!]

While no one is happy about the closing of these businesses Coney Island has never been a place to avoid an occasion for revelry. Go support and celebrate Paul’s Daughter and the rest of the classic Brooklyn institutions that are being forced to go the way of the Dodgers this Saturday. Party info is here.

Sunday, November 14, 7pm
Brooklyn Bowl
FREE, $4 Brooklyn Lager

Every month, this Fall, we’ve brought you a Brooklyn band we can all be proud of. This time around we bring you Crystal Stilts along with locally made salsa and a sweet/sick beer special.

From BrooklynBowl.com

Formed in New York in 2003 by Brad Hargett and J.B. Townshend, the Crystal Stilts were a multi-influenced indie rock band that released its first work — some singles and an EP — in 2004 on the Feathery Tongue label. The first single, “Shattered Shine,” was followed by a series of local shows, and after an EP — all eventually collected in one place on the self-titled full-length 2008 release — added Kyle Forrester on keyboards (for live gigs, anyway) and Andy Adler to take on bass duties. Finally, the group added a drummer — Frankie Rose, formerly of the Vivian Girls– shortly thereafter.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video.

From Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN — Following weeks of campaigning and an outpouring of enthusiasm and participation from across the borough and beyond, the Brooklyn Community Foundation yesterday announced 20 finalists for its inaugural Brooklyn Do Gooder Awards campaign.

Finalists were determined by a public vote online at www.DoGoodRightHere.org from among nearly 250 people nominated by the broader Brooklyn community for their outstanding sense of giving back locally. A distinguished judging panel will now meet to choose which five of the finalists will receive $5,000 each to give back to their Brooklyn charities of choice. Brooklyn Do Gooder awardees will be publicly honored at a celebration on Nov. 3 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Palm House.

“Community participation for the Brooklyn Do Gooder Awards has been incredible. We are inspired by the level of enthusiasm and support for the diverse group of individuals who were nominated for their good work,” said Marilyn Gelber, president of the Brooklyn Community Foundation.

Five Brooklyn Do Gooders, one representing each of the foundation’s five fields of interest including Arts for All, Caring Neighbors, Community Development, Education and Youth Achievement and Green Communities will be selected by a panel of judges including MoCADA Gallery founder Laurie Cumbo, Atlantic Avenue specialty food store owner Charlie Sahadi, Brooklyn Brewery founder Steve Hindy, award-winning author Peter Hedges and other local Brooklyn celebrities.

Click here to see all the nominees.

Monday, October 25, 6-9pm

Crimson Restaurant, 915 Broadway (at 21st Street), NY, NY

For 8 years World Cares, a non-profit dedicated to preparing for safer disaster response, has been throwing one of the cities most fun food parties: Iron Skillet. Tickets are pricey but the payoff is huge. Not only do you help raise money for World Cares to train volunteers to be leaders in at time of a crisis, but you get to witness a food competition of the highest order. The premise is simple. Take five of the city’s most beloved firefighter cooks and pit them against five of New York’s finest chefs. The firehouse cooks choose their favorite dish and the chefs must try to prepare a version that bests it. And you get to eat both. Everyone wins.

From WorldCares.org

the Iron Skillet Cook Off started as a “thank you” in 2002 to all the rescue workers and volunteers that gave selflessly during the 9/11 relief effort. The idea came from of one of the firefighters who the founding board volunteered with during in the aftermath of the attacks.Today the Iron Skillet Cook Off is a celebration of spirit, a reminder of what communities can achieve when they pull together and a way to support the signature training programs that ensure we will never have to learn our 9/11 lesson all over again.The evening is a good time for all with great entertainment, celebrity judges and, of course, delicious food!

Last year, we hosted over 400 guests, including members of the New York City Council, leaders from the construction industry, finance, public relations, communications, and insurance industries, to name a few. Our celebrity judges and participants went out of their way to ensure the event’s live auction was sensational. Media coverage included CW11′s Morning Show, Clear Channel’s major radio stations, and various other local magazines and newspapers.

This year, the Cook Off will take place on October 25th at Crimson, from 6PM to 9PM. For more detailed information, please contact Julie Dumoulin at 212-563-7570.

Brooklyn Brewery is proud to support Iron Skillet with a financial and product donation. We’re also offering our friends a 20% discount. For tickets go here. At the bottom of the webpage click “Continue to Next Page.”  Enter your name, email address and how many tickets you would like.  Click “Continue Registration” button and you will go to a payment information page.  On this page is a section for you to enter a discount code.  Enter “Brooklyn Brewery” and hit apply discount code. The code is case sensitive so make sure you capitalize both words and be careful not to push the space bar after you enter the code (a space between the two words is necessary).  You should see the code applied right away.

Continue to fill out the rest of the registration information and hit continue and your confirmation message will appear. See you there!

To learn more or request a training in your community visit www.worldcares .org

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!

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)

From The Good Human

Located in, well, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Brewery use wind power to get 100% of the electricity, making them the first New York City company to switch to 100% renewable energy. This saves the atmosphere from 335,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, 1,500 pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 500 pounds of nitrogen oxide that would otherwise be emitted. They also pay local farmers to pick up all their spent grain, the husks that are left over after brewing, that they can feed to their livestock.

Read about the other eco-friendly breweries here.

Farm City Fair
September 12, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
The Invisible Dog Art Center and on Bergen Street, Brooklyn
The fair is a wild, new take on the traditional county fair, a daylong celebration of art and food grown in Brooklyn! Festivities engage all the senses: hear live music performed by local Bang on a Can marching band Asphalt Orchestra; taste delicacies prepared by local chefs inspired by ingredients from Brooklyn farms; view specially commissioned work exploring the culture of agriculture by local artists; get a feel for materials needed to produce your own food in workshops by Brooklyn Food Coalition; participate in a blue ribbon competition hosted by GreenThumb; and browse a marketplace with some of Brooklyn’s small-batch artisanal food purveyors, curated by Greenpoint Food Market. Cap it off with The Food Experiments’ live cooking competition — Brooklyn Roots — featuring savory samples and refreshing drinks from Brooklyn Brewery, Six Points Brewery, Red Hook Wines, Brooklyn Oenology, Kings County Distillery, and others.

Participants include:

Asphalt Orchestra, Brooklyn-based, 12-piece, next-generation, avant-garde marching band, will open the event on Bergen Street and in the neighborhood between 11 a.m. and noon.
Andrew Casner, compost painter, demonstrates his acclaimed, agrarian work — the community process of developing a viable compost with an acid-etched canvas underneath created as a natural by-product.
Mathilde Roussel-Giraudy, a Brooklyn-based artist, presents Ça pousse! (It’s growing!), human-form sculptures made from material such as wheatgrass that change as they grow.
Miwa Koizumi, Brooklyn-based ice cream maker of “NY Flavors,” will create a geographically inspired new ice cream flavor based on Bergen Street and the festival.
Tattfoo Tan, the vibrant urban farming visionary artist, launches his new bike-based S.O.S Mobile Classroom as the next installment in his two-year-long public art project titled S.O.S. (Sustainable. Organic. Stewardship.).
Wylie Dufresne, renowned chef of wd-50, creates a new downloadable recipe based on reimagining local ingredients, to be sampled at the fair.
Christina Kelly, Brooklyn-based artist meditates on loss and possibility, growing blue corn in monumental street planters in a public art project called Maize Field, located where Lenape Indians planted in the 1600s.

Events and activities throughout the day:
Farmstands from Brooklyn farms such as Added Value, Rooftop Farms, and Bk Farmyards will sell their produce and explain its provenance.
GreenThumb will host a Premium Blue Ribbon Contest for gardeners to show off their produce and reveal the range of possibilities for home growing in the city.
Brooklyn Food Coalition will present a daylong series of workshops on how to make or grow food at home, from canning to under-counter compost.
Greenpoint Food Market will curate the best of Brooklyn’s small-batch vendors, including Anarchy in a Jar preserves and Brooklyn Kombucha.
The Food Experiments, created by Theodore Peck and Nick Suarez, will select competitive chefs to respond to their Brooklyn roots, using one or more ingredients grown or made in Brooklyn in a cook-off.
A Bar of Brooklyn Brews, Wines, and Cocktails will offer Brooklyn-made libations during the fair.
Chefs from The Meat Hook, Marlowe & Sons, Ted & Honey, Egg and otherswill serve up delicious eats made in Brooklyn in collaboration with urban farms.

Brooklyn Brewery happily supports the creative writing center, 826NYC. 826NYC happily enjoys BINGO with beer.  If you don’t know 826NYC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With this in mind we provide drop-in tutoring, field trips, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. All of our free programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice.

Oh, it’s also a superhero supply store. So if you need a cape or a bucket of gravity now you know where to go.

It’s another hot one here in The city. The New York Times, meanwhile, continues to do innovative things on the web. See here a terrific reader submitted slideshow, covering all of New York City’s varied waterfront.

ALSO, don’t even worry about the rain. The boathouse has ample indoor space for everyone to enjoy Detonation, Sorachi Ace, Local 1 & 2 and other tasty things. There are also giant chipmunks and a human-sized bird’s nest to hang out in. So it’s really a no-brainer.

Celebrate the arrival of our newest beer, Detonation Ale, in style at The Boathouse in Prospect Park. Here’s what you need to know. Tickets are $20 and include a first taste of Detonation plus some other Brewery favorites, real good food from Ovenly, meatstuffs from The Meathook and dumplings from The Dump School. All ticket proceeds benefit The Prospect Park Alliance.

Click here for a map of Prospect Park.