Brooklyn Brewery: Hot and Hotter

[link to podcast page]
Brooklyn Brewery's Hot and Hotter podcast

On Friday April 12, 2013, Brooklyn Brewery's Worshipful Company of Brewers released it's latest in the series, which are unique beers formulated and brewed by a rotating host of the numerous assistant brewers working under Garrett.

Garrett with cut out of Andrew, who was otherwise motorcyclicly engaged.

Brooklyn's Assistant Brewmaster, Andrew Ety, created a split batch of golden ale, a 6.2% ABV beer made with British Pale Malt, Crystal Malt, Caramel Malt and hopped with Summit, Willamette, East Kent Golding, Cascade, and Citra hops.

Half of the batch was dry hopped with Citra hops which were kilned at 130 degrees (HOT), and the other half dry hopped with Citra hops kilned at 150 degrees (HOTTER). This was an experiment to present to the recently convened Craft Brewers Conference, to illustrate how great a difference this variation in kilning affects the characteristics of the hops.

I asked the tap masters for a small sample of both beers to compare. The aromas were very similar. I might not have detected much of a difference, if I weren't looking for it. The Hotter seemed a bit more pronounced in hop aroma -- bolder, sharper --  than the Hot.

But when it came to flavor, it was very easy to pick up the differences. The Hot had a smooth, round, somewhat soft hop flavor, though still quite assertive. The Hotter, by comparison, had a brisk, bold, sharp, aggressive hop flavor, that was a bit wild and skunky, like fresh marijuana (so I'm told). The Hotter put hops front and center in the beer. Though it probably had the same IBUs, it seemed a bit more bitter than the Hot.

Garrett with cutout of Andrew.

Garrett explained that hop growers report that West Coast brewers prefer their Citra to have characteristics akin to garlic, onion, and "weed" (hotter), while East Coast brewers are looking for more of a citrus quality.

He said that brewer Andrew was working closely on this hop topic directly with suppliers and growers, to make sure that the brewery is able to get hops that provide the bittering, flavor and aroma profiles that they're looking for. He mentioned that there is a new hop under development, which is planned for the next special Brooklyn brew: Hop 366 grown on Loftus Ranches by Patrick Smith and Perrault Farms by Jason Perrault, which has twice as much hop oil as other hops. 

This particular experiment -- Hot vs. Hotter -- definitely made its point. And, while I'm happy to be a beer guinea pig, being a more malt-centric individual, I wasn't really jazzed on this particular beer as a complete package. There was certainly a malt backbone, but I'm just not excited to have more hops than anything else in a beer. It's personal taste. So, I got my malt on at Tørst directly afterwards, with some dark, malty concoctions that soothed by bittered tongue!

Andrew, the man of the hour.

Dial M for Mild

[link to podcast page]
WFMU's Beer Hear! with Bob W. and B.R. from 10/3/2012

On Friday Sept. 28, 2012 Brooklyn Brewery had a release party for a beer never before made at Brooklyn, as part of the Worshipful Company of Brewers series. As Brooklyn's website explains, "The charter of this sanctified league dictates that each member of the Brooklyn Brewery brewing team will design and create a batch of his/her own draft-only beer, to be served exclusively at the Brewery Tasting Room until the last drop has been squeezed from the taps, and each with the possibility of blooming into a fully distributed Brewmaster’s Reserve."

The latest in the series is a Dark English Mild brewed by Al Duvall. Al has worked at the Brooklyn Brewery since 2011. In 1994 Al worked at Zip City brewpub, which was on E. 18th St. by Union Square, and stayed on when it became the Tap Room from 1997 to 1999. He then brewed at Heartland beginning in 2001, then Greenpoint Beer Works in 2003.

Al's Mild is a delicious, easy-to-drink 4% abv brew that provides a soft, round, comforting experience. The varied grain bill helps create a beer that is deep dark brown in color, but very easy on the palate, and low enough in alcohol to sip over a good long session. There's a pleasant hint of mild tanginess in the finish of this sturdy but gentle ale.

Just for the release party, some of the beer was infused with 9 lbs of cherries over 3 weeks. Originally, Al thought that he'd use the cherries in the whole batch, but it wasn't enough to impact the overall aroma and flavor, so he just made one keg of the sour cherry infused version of the mild. The fruit added flavor and aroma, but no significant amount of additional alcohol to the beer. Guests were offered the option to have the beer with varying amounts of the cherry-infused version added to their mug. Some opted to drink the cherry mild straight, which had a very intense flavor!

There was a cask version as well as kegs of draught available. The two versions were very similar, with the cask ale, understandably, being rounder and smoother than the carbonated style.

You can enjoy this unique, wonderful, exclusive beer at the Brooklyn Brewery tasting room on Fridays from 6pm-11pm, Saturdays from noon-8pm and Sundays from noon till 5pm. There's more on the Brooklyn Brewery blog.

Centerfold Revealed At Brooklyn Brewery

Rob, on the right, fills the glasses of the masses.

The Worshipful Company of Brewers is a "guild" of brewers at the Brooklyn Brewery. On a rotating basis, different brewers there are given the opportunity to brew a unique batch of their own creation, which is released on a very small scale and only in kegs. A launch party is held at the brewery for each new beer, to which friends of the brewers, supporters of the brewery and industry insiders are invited.

On Friday May 18, 2012, Brooklyn Brewery's Cellarman, and brewer, Rob Lemery served up his own invention, the Centerfold, to a very enthusiastic, thirsty crowd. Rob's was the second beer in the series, the first one being Tom Villa's Oishi. Aside from Garrett, Tom is the longest tenured brewer at Brooklyn, and Rob is the most junior.

Can you handle this?

What Goes Into Making a Centerfold?

Centerfold is a 6% abv California Pale Ale, that's made with floor malted european malts -- pilsner and Marris Otter -- and treated to a wide array of hop varieties: Chinook, Cascade, Amarillo, Centennial and the not oft utilized New Zealand Pacific Jade. The beer is dry-hopped, generously, twice, and also picks up some unique flavors and aromas by the addition of Rose Hips.

The apprentice and the master.

Rob, a N.J. native, still homebrews whenever he can, and he said that his recipe was partly inspired by discovering Rose Hips at his local homebrew shop. He claims that the Rose Hips allow him to use more hops without over bittering his beer, while adding a nice tartness and floral quality. He also said that Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale was a favorite of his in his early years of beers, and that it also contributed to his decisions in recipe formulation.

You can hear all about it, and more -- and learn Rob's nickname since high school, and his relation to Pete Wilson (no, not the former governor of California) -- in this week's podcast!

Maia handles the tap.

Keep those hands where we can see them when handling the Centerfold!

Rob got a big boost on his big night.

Rob gets high with a little help from his friend.

Garrett ponders, "Why didn't I think of that..."

"Excuse me sir... can I have another?"

Add bartender to the resumé.

Where's Bobby Cuza to report on Cuzme and Bobby?

The mug doesn't stay full for long.

On offer in the tasting room.

Oishi: Brooklyn Brewery's 1st Release of The Worshipful Co. of Brewers

The Worshipful Company of Brewers is the name of the London brewer's guild founded in 1438 -- it's also the name of a new program that the Brooklyn Brewery has initiated which allows each of the various brewers at the brewery to craft their own custom beer on the old 25-barrel system in Brooklyn.

On Friday March 23, 2012 the first beer of the program, brewed by Brooklyn Brewery veteran brewer Tom Villa, was released. The "Oishi" was served up inside the brewhouse to a lucky gathering of NYC beer scene insiders and industry folk. Garrett Oliver, the Brewmaster of Brooklyn Brewery, addressed the group, explained the program and introduced Tom's creation. As Garrett promised, Tom is a man of little words, and what words he does offer are very quiet! We thought that we'd squeeze enough words out of Tom to make an interview out of the meeting, but, alas, the man prefers to let the beer speak for itself.

(We tried to interview Monster about the beer, but all we could get out of him was some gentle purring -- taken as a sign that he approves of Oishi!)

Dan bows to Brother Tom -- quiet as a monk!

The Oishi, which is Japanese for "delicious", is a 3.9% abv session version of the Sorachi Ace, which normally clocks in at 7.6% abv. We love the Sorachi Ace, and we also found Oishi to be an incredibly tasty, refreshing treat. Hazy golden in color with a light, white lacy head, it had a nice lightly citrus hop note mixing with some pleasant yeast aroma. While fairly light, effervescent and well carbonated, it offered a body that was light yet substantive. The flavor hinted at something of a mix between a Belgian pale ale and malty saison, with a faint citrus note in the flavor as well. The hops seemed to add to the citrus quality, melding nicely with the yeast flavor, and there was a nice bitterness to enhance the almost wheat-like pilsner malt flavor (the main malt used is German 2-row pilsner malt). This is a beer that will be very easy to drink by the liter on a warm spring day!

Inspiration, along with Avril.

Tom told us, off mic, that he was aiming for an even lower abv for Oishi. But anything under 4% seems sessionable enough! He also tried to convince us of some imperfection in his creation, but we wouldn't hear any of that! Everyone present was raving about the brew, including some very opinionated beer critics. I don't know how many times we heard, "I love this beer!" that night!

While Tom was too modest for the microphone, he was gracious enough to answer some questions about the beer via email, which we appreciate very much.

The inspiration for Oishi was Avril and Sorachi Ace -- really, just an interest in making a sessionable beer that's tasty. The possibility of a table Sorachi had been floating around in my head for awhile. It just seemed that if done right, it would be a beer that people would enjoy.

To hit my target ABV I just used a lot less malt, and to give it a little more body I added some floor-malted Munich dark malt. This malt doesn't add color -- just a little malt backbone. And since the beer was so light, I felt that it needed that.

The yeast and fermentation were the same as Sorachi. The yeast is our house Belgian yeast. I did lower the bittering hops proportionately, but then further reduced that amount slightly more, because I really wanted the hop aroma to be the focus. The Sorachi Ace hop has a beautiful aroma, and I felt that it should be the first sensation that the drinker experienced. As for the dry hopping, I dry hopped it twice because after the first dry hopping it just wasn't popping enough ("hopping enough"-ed). And there are some hops in the dry hopping other than Sorachi Ace [ed. Simcoe and Amarillo], but the Sorachi was by far the central hop.

I did consider brewing a smoked helles, but I could only choose one style this time, so, maybe next time. Who knows what I'll be into on the next go around.

Also, to answer your question, I do enjoy low ABV beers -- I mean, I still drink the strong stuff, but it's nice to find the delicate and subtle nature of a session beer. So, am I eager to do it again? Yes -- but now I understand a bit of what Garrett goes through with the Brewmaster's Reserve series. It is slightly stressful putting a new beer out there to be judged.

Over all, it was a fun experience and it was nice to have all the people show up for the release party.

You could tell that Tom was very excited, proud and nervous about his beer. Tom started with the brewery over 10 years ago in the warehouse, moving boxes around, and has worked his way up to being one of the key movers of the entire organization. Garrett noted that Tom's the hardest working guy in the brewery, and that's easy to believe, given the result of his work which we enjoyed by the mugfull.

Oishi will be available exclusively at the Brooklyn Brewery tasting room, so we're told, so make sure that you visit soon to get a taste of this very limited supply of extremely delicious beer! Domo arigato, Tom!