Category Archives: News

Monster’s Log: Tuesday, January 24

The people here just can’t stop talking about the bet they won with some other people on the other side of the country. Beer and Giants jerseys are being packaged up and sent west to San Francisco for the folks of the Golden Gate to enjoy, and thoughts of championship glory are now bent towards Boston.

All fine and well, except I’m not a Giants fan. Convinced “Big Blue” was going down, I’d been wearing my 49ers jersey around the brewery all last week until brewer Tom took it from me and crushed it up in the mill room. Hard to fight back without opposable thumbs.

Steve Hindy To Give Keynote Speech At 2012 Craft Brewers Conference

 Hindy at the mic in 1988 commemorating the F.X. Matt Brewery’s centennial

Brooklyn Brewery’s fearless leader will “address thousands” of beer industry professionals at the 2012 Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego on May 3. A beer biz veteran of nearly 25 years, Steve has amassed a trove of knowledge, insight and great stories about our favorite beverage, and has delivered countless speeches to fans, media entities, business partners and industry insiders. All of this is to say we’re confident he’ll shine on the CBC stage.

We interviewed Steve today about the art of public speaking:

Brooklyn Bloggery: What do you generally think about when giving speeches? What’s on your mind as you address the crowd?

Steve Hindy: The most important thing about giving a speech is having something to say, having a message. Seems to me that many people who give speeches, particularly business executives and politicians, studiously avoid saying anything. This is very frustrating, and boring, for their listeners.

BB: What is your favorite kind of crowd to address?

SH: I like addressing my peers in the industry and other entrepreneurs. I like talking to young people about entrepreneurship.

BB: What are some of the things that make a beer-lover crowd unique, aside from the obvious collective interest? What characteristics tend to define this audience?

SH: Beer lovers are intensely interested in beer, and breweries and brewers. They want to know about our beers and us. But their attention tends to be inversely proportional to the volume of beer they have consumed. So if they have had more than two beers, end the speech.

BB: Do you think you are more or less of a better speaker when you yourself are drinking beer during your speech?

SH: One beer enhances my speaking ability. Beyond one, the benefits diminish.

BB: Where did you give your best and worst speeches? What’s the most memorable speech you gave?

SH: My most memorable speech was at 6pm on the day we celebrated the opening of The Brooklyn Brewery [Williamsburg, Brooklyn facility] in 1996. There were a couple of thousand people at a two-block party on N11th St. I announced there would be FREE BEER until the kegs ran dry. This resulted in a mad rush. My partner Tom Potter then announced the free beer would end at 6:30pm.

BB: Do you still get nervous addressing crowds?

SH: Yes I do get nervous. But you have to channel that nervousness into positive energy. A calm speaker can be a blah speaker.

BB: What topics will you be addressing during your CBC speech?

SH: In San Diego, I plan to celebrate the role of the Local Brewer and outline some of the great challenges facing our industry in the next 25 years.

Brooklyn Reps The Big Apple in Men’s Health

A recent report in Men’s Health lists the best beers in the 32 cities that teams from the National Football League call home. Serendipitously, we got Big Blue:

Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver plies his trade on the opposite side of Manhattan from the Giants’ actual homeland (the Meadowlands, in New Jersey) but Giants fans and hearty beers aplenty can be found on weekend nights at the confines in Williamsburg, all available for the low cost of a wooden token (five for a picture of Andrew Jackson, available at the front desk). What’s more, Oliver’s more experimental brews—from the face-melting Brooklyn Blast to the bottle-fermented variants Brooklyn Local 1, Local 2, and Sorachi Ace—are a treat when you find yourself in a championship mood, as Eli and company have in recent years. Savor the suds. And Jersey, you make good beer, too, but it’s all in the name.

Brooklyn In The News | Dec-Jan, 2012

The Italian bureau of Vogue – arguably the most fashionable of the fashionable — recognizes One Brewers Row as a Brooklyn “Hot Spot” (pictured above).

NY Post talks with Steve Hindy about Brooklyn the brand, and features the Brooklyn Box Set in its holiday guide:

The Washington Times names Sorachi Ace one the Top Beers of 2011.

Brooklyn Lager wins 3rd Place in the Lager/Pilsner category in CraftCans.com‘s 2011 reader poll:

El Vocero  Escenario reports on the arrival of three new artisanal beers in Puerto Rico:

Michael Fassbender (of Inglourious Basterds fame) enjoys a Brooklyn Lager in Shame:

Garrett talks “beerology” on Canada radio waves courtesy of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

AMA Bionda, The Companion Ale and BAMboozle all get some love in Yankee Brew News.

Finnish daily Ilta-Sanomat names Black Chocolate Stout the second best selection in their Christmas beer tasting:

Garrett jumps the pond to promote The Oxford Companion to Beer, pictured below at the Hook Norton Brewery in (the appropriately named) Oxfordshire.

CNN International bids farewell to “The Boss”:

Looking Good, Jee!

PrintMag recently wrote up an e-article about our friend and designer Jee-eun Lee, the steady hand and sharp eye who recently began assisting Milton Glaser in the noble act of making beer look good. All Brooklyn Brewery packaging, logos, labels and more feature Jee’s artistic touch. Check out the article for an interesting look into Jee’s background, past work (sample pictured above), and what she keeps in her bathtub.

Spend Some Time With Beer This Holiday Season

NPR’s “Tell Me More” was recently host to our venerable master brewer, who with him brought a few beers into the studio for the producers to taste on air and in their minds envision the awesomeness that is the interplay of holiday foods and the diverse flavors of ale.

Although we often have dinner on the brain, we tend to enjoy it a bit more on the plate aside a glass of good beer. And so it shall be this holiday season.

BROOKLYN PAPER’S BAR SCRAWL SKETCHES SMORGASBREWERY

Brooklyn Paper gave the newly launched Smorgasbrewery a bit of love in a recent roundup (“Finally, food at the Brooklyn Brewery) and Bill Roundy did us a solid with an amazing illustration of our Tasting Room in action. Would you look at all the detail?! We’ve got Monster prowling for dropped morsels, the wall of cases behind the food vendors, Hollywood renowned Dan Bittner behind the bar, and even an accurate draft list.