Beer Hear!: BREWPUB

Interview with Brewmaster Andreas Heidenreich of Paulaner NYC

http://mofohockey.org/podcastgen/download.php?filename=2014-08-25_bh180.mp3

The relatively new Paulaner Bräuhaus which abruptly closed in April has re-opened under new management. We never made it to the original incarnation before they closed; we tried to drop by one Saturday afternoon around 4pm but found that they didn't open until 5. Since I never saw the inside, I can't comment on the renovations but the current space has a long bar on one side and communal tables and smaller booths on the other. There's lots of wood, exposed brick, and antlers - giving the place a modern Bavarian feel. They've also got a smaller room downstairs and are working on a small outdoor area.

Copper brewing tanks sit across from the bar

They've retained brewmaster Andreas Heidenreichs and he currently has 3 beers on tap, all of which are unfiltered. On deck is an IPA which should be ready in the coming week. We'll be speaking with Andreas soon on an upcoming edition of Beer Hear! and will ask him about his German IPA!

We started with the hazy Munich Lager which had a crisp hop aroma and a fresh bread flavor. We followed that up with their Hefeweizen which had subdued fruity esters and spicy phenols with an accent on cloves. There was a light banana note in the flavor but it wasn't a fruit bomb. The Munich Dark Lager, which they are not calling a dunkel, was deep copper in color with notes of caramel and toffee. They also use the dark lager in a beer cocktail called "Root Beer". This is made with Root liqueur, lemon juice, cane sugar, and then finished with a touch of the dark lager to provide the head on the "beer".

Summer bock (from the fermentor).

Wolfgang, B.R., Bob and Andreas.

1872: Courtesy of the NYPL Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection

[link to podcast page]

WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 9/3/2012

Tucked away in a variously named corner of lower Manhattan's west side (Hudson Square, West Soho, South Village, Printing District, etc.), 508 GastroBrewery is one of the new establishments helping to turn this once dirty, abandoned, neglected zone into a destination to visit and anchored neighborhood in which to live.

This is an exceptional gueuze.

An interesting side-note about the building housing the bistro -- it was once the home to Jonathan Larson, the composer of the music of the musical "RENT", when he was working on the play. According to Anderson, it also once housed a brewery, long, long ago.

Brewer Anderson and B.R.

This was our first visit to 508 and, while we heard good things, we weren't sure what to expect of the beers. The beer of the last brewpub in that neighborhood -- Nacho Mama's -- was, at it's best, "drinkable" (we never got a chance to visit its predecessor Manhattan Brewing, a tip of the hat to Garrett). We hoped for the best, and braced for the worst.

As I waited at the bar for Anderson to be available (he was cleaning up after a brewing session) and for B.R. to arrive, I ordered the Belgian Farmhouse Saison (5.4%) and 1/2 a dozen Rappahannock oysters from Virginia. The glass arrived filled with a dark gold, brassy colored beer topped by a full, white, lacy head. A sniff revealed a hint of yeastiness and a bit of a grainy note. A sip -- slightly sweet, very malty, a bit tangy, full body and just the right amount of bitterness to compliment the rich, malty core. Not a delicate saison, for sure -- it's one sturdy farmhouse ale! Oh -- and the $1 oysters were magnificent! Briney, plump and satisfying.

6 on tap, 9 in the bottle, all brewed on premises.

B.R. arrived and tried the Lil' Bitter Session IPA, which we believe is not on regular rotation -- it's a specialty brew. At 4.4% abv it appears to be the most sessionable beer in the stable. It's nice and malty with an assertive, but not over-the-top, hop profile. We also saw a gueuze in bottles on the menu and, though having very low expectations, we had to give it a try. What poured out was probably the best American made gueuze that either of us had ever had! It was perfectly sour, tart, effervescent, refreshing. Where we expected to find unpleasant funk and off flavors we found brilliance. The 1/2 liter bottle was $13 -- and worth every penny!

Antique bottle on display.

When Anderson joined us, he had the Cluster Common, a California Common style beer, with Cluster hops. Anderson has a running series of single hopped versions of his Common beer. Using the same recipe for each batch and alternating only the hops, each batch is brewed with just one variety of hops. He's done single-hop Commons with: Cluster, Galaxy, Simco, Motueka, Cascade and Citra.

The podcast is an interview with Anderson, and it provides a lot of information on the brewpub's history, philosophy and operation, but it's worth noting a few key points here. Anderson started as a homebrewer. He wanted to study brewing in college, but there was no pure brewing course of study at the time in Brazil (Anderson was born and raised in São Paulo). Eventually, after discovering homebrewing while a chef in the restaurant that he and his wife Jennifer owned and operated, he ended up studying brewing at Siebel Institute and continued his research and studies at home. Anderson designed and built -- from scratch -- his first and second brewhouses.

His one-barrel (!) system was built with three 300-liter (80 gallon) stainless steel wine fermenters, with professional custom fittings, utilizing an electric HERMS system (Heat Exchange Recirculating Mash System, the same concept as Bitter & Esters). He ferments in 60-gallon food-grade cylindrical-conical vessels and then kegs the beer in 5-gallon soda kegs, and bottles in 1/2-liter bottles. A usual brew day consists of 2 brewing sessions to fill one fermenter.

Anderson and Jennifer plan to open another brewpub in Brooklyn very soon, this one with an even greater focus on the beer, with serving tanks and a very beer-friendly menu.