Paloma Rocket

Co-owner Graham, center, surrounded by beer reps.
Shane from Sly Fox on the right.

 Paloma Rocket
 Non-Flash version of the podcast

At first blush, "self service beer bar" sounds like a cheeky gimmick, and we weren't sure what to expect when we visited the Lower East Side's Paloma Rocket, located at 7 Clinton Street, just below Houston. Opening recently with 30 taps pouring a respectable list of craft beers, all but four domestic and with heavy representation of NY State breweries, was this just a clever way to stand out from the other craft beer joints dotting the downtown bar scene?

Maybe... but maybe not. Let's first explain what it's all about and how it works before further contemplation on the subject.

Paloma Rocket could be the name of sultry, kick-ass "Bond Girl".
Stay at the bar long enough and you may have a very Mary Goodnight!

First off, in order to get the beer flowing, you'll need an RFID card -- you get that at the horseshoe shaped bar to the right as you enter Paloma Rocket. You can put whatever dollar amount that you like onto the credit card sized plastic card -- $20 seems to be the average. Each of the 30 taps that line the back wall has a display screen with information about the beer that pours from that tap: brewery name and logo, some info on the brewery, perhaps, name and style of the beer, a brief description of the beer. You can scroll down the touch screen and see the ABV, for example. There is a place above the tap to set your "beer card" to active the tap.

B.R., aka Beer Rocket, can pour her own beer, thank you very much!

When you place the card above the tap, the video screen displays the value/balance on your card and the price per ounce of that particular beer. Prices range from 50-cents to $1.50 an ounce, and can be as high as $4 per ounce for a rare, high-ABV, exclusive brew. Next you select one of many styles of glassware stored on a shelf above the taps, give it a rinse with the upward-spraying rinsers set into the drip tray below, and you're ready to pour your own beer!

Don't forget to tip yourself!

As you pour, you see the ounces tick up (similar to a gas pump or fro-yo display) and your card balance tick down as the beer flows into your glass. You can pour as much or as little as you prefer from any tap. Want to get a one-ounce taste of an unfamiliar beer before deciding to go for a full pour? Done, and done! And if you're not sure how to properly pour a pint, Paloma Rocket's staff is there to give a hand.

The beer cards must be returned before leaving the bar -- they expire in 12 hours after purchase. If there is a balance on the card when you leave, the amount will be refunded to you. As Kenny, one of the owners, noted, "it's probably the only bar where you get money back when you leave!"

• Check out the beer description on the screen.
• Activate the tap with your card, and see your card balance (upper right), and the price per ounce (lower left).
• As you pour, the ounces go up, and your balance goes down, along with the beer bar graph on the right.
• The cost of your pour is displayed when you're done pouring.

The absence of a bartender to pour your beer has its ups and downs. Though there's always a "bartender" there to add value on to your card, answer questions, and help suggest pouring techniques, it's obviously not the same as having Isaac mix you a daiquiri while giving you tips on finding love, or some Irish brogue crooning lad or lass charm you. The design and layout of the bar -- huge windows, very open, bright, clean, sparse -- lends itself to a bring-your-own-vibe feel. Large flatscreen TVs are there to ogle, showing soccer, hockey, or whatever other sports happen to be on. (Co-owner Graham is a proud ex-pat Londoner, so proper football is often on screen.)

But there are plenty of benefits to this new system, unique in NYC at the moment. You'll never have to wait to get your glass filled (unless there's a run on something on a crowded night, I suppose). Being able to pour any amount is a definite plus. It's conceivable that one could sample all 30 taps with 1 ounce pours, and still be able to leave without stumbling. Then there's the possibility of "beer blending" -- say, mix some Central Waters Nitro Puppy Porter with some Rodenbach Grand Cru Flanders Red? (Which was possible at the time of this posting.)

Clearly, this is not your wood paneled, sawdust floor, dark, worn in, 100-year-old oak bar, and it's not your hip, beer nerd/beer snob, $10-per-8oz-pour, served by your beer sommelier bar. It is a place where you can go learn about beer on your own, if you care to, try as much or little as you like of any of 30 beers, pour your own as you like it -- but hopefully not drink alone! It does have the feel of a sort of "beer arcade" where you can play bartender, which makes for a fun destination for a party. After riding the Paloma Rocket ourselves, we know that, while it might not suit everyone's orbit, we had fun, enjoyed some very good beers, and we'll definitely book many future flights!

Kenny demonstrates the system.

Bob rinses and pours.

NY State in the house. Oh, and Vermont.

Owl Farm: Brewing Network Meet-Up

Retired potato chip salesman.

On Tuesday July 2, 2013 we ventured to Park Slope to a Meet-Up organized by our pal Fritz for The Brewing Network, an on-line beer and homebrewing website resource that features articles, podcasts and, in general, seems to strive to be informational and entertaining.

Unlikely list -- in best possible way.

B.R. had been to Owl Farm before, one of a family of Brooklyn bars that include Bar Great Harry and Mission Dolores, but it was my first visit. I was surprised by the eclectic draught list. I've been to plenty of good bars with great lists, but there was a quirky randomness to their tap list. I don't think that I've ever seen anything from Beer Here, Emelisse or Alvinne on tap before, but here they were, among a wide range of breweries and styles represented on the 28 taps, plus one cask. And Owl Farm's Steven took good care of us!

Beer networkers.

I had to get the Beer Here beer, naturally. Their Dark Hops looked and drank like a Baltic porter, with a slight cocoa note in the finish and a clean, bitter aftertaste. B.R. went for the Pretty Things ¡Magnifico!, a "3.4% rustic session pale ale", which had a hazy dark golden straw color, a very hoppy, grapefruity nose (thanks to Simcoe, Horizon, Citra and Bravo hops), a very light body, with some citrus flavor up front and some graininess in the finish. The finish was extremely clean and trailed off to oblivion.

Beer Here's Dark Hops left, Pretty Things ¡Magnifico! right.

Next, B.R. tried the Oskar Blues Pilsner, Mama's Little Yella Pils, which was aged in chardonnay barrels. It had a tart, cidery aroma and flavor, and, seemingly, a very light body, though the wine attributes could have pushed perception in that direction. The wine barrel really imparted a lot of wine character -- it was quite refreshing.

Créme Brulee by Emelisse.

I, on the other hand, went to the opposite end of the scale, with a Créme Brulee Imperial Stout from Emelisse Brouwerij of the Netherlands. It had the darkest brown color with a garnet highlight when backlit with a candle, topped off with a thick, dense, tan head, which retreated rather quickly. The nose was rich and sweet with marshmallow, cream soda, and caramel notes. A bitter note peeked out from under the sweet, creamy, malt-dominated flavor, and reasserted itself in the finish and aftertaste with roasted malt flavors. It started out creamy and ended with roasty bitter finish. It's a real piece of art!

Cask version of Perennial's Aria Belgian Ale with brett.

I finished the visit with a Perennial Aria, a Belgian style ale with brett, which was on cask. The Aria had a medium golden color, and an almost pumpkin pie spice-like note in the aroma. The flavor had a hint of pleasant sourness cutting through a somewhat creamy, soft malt quality in the mouthfeel and in the flavor. Perennial is known for making beers with bold barrel aged characteristics, but this one was quite subtle and understated -- much smoother and softer in flavor than any other of their beers I've had. Perhaps being on cask, with the lower carbonation, rounded out the edges a bit. It was a good one to end with!

Three's a parliament.

Mikkeller At MBAS Meeting

Mikkeller At MBAS Meeting podcast

Jacob Gram Alsing, the Operations Manager of Mikkeller, was the guest of the Malted Barley Appreciation Society homebrew club in June 2013 at Mug's Alehouse. Jacob, who works at the company headquarters in Copenhagen, was passing through town and gave us the short history of the company, as well as insight into some new developments.

How did it all start? Mikkel Borg Bjergsø was a high school physics teacher in Denmark who, in the early 2000s, began homebrewing 13 and 26 gallon batches with his pal Kristian Keller (Mikkel + Keller = Mikkeller). He figured that with his science background he should be able to make better beer than what was then domestically available in Denmark. In 2005 he began selling his homebrewed beer though his brother Jeppe's bottle shop and entering his creations in competitions. 

Hangin' with the homie...brewers. Photo Warren Becker.

Apparently, he was able to brew better beer, as the awards and accolades began to roll in! Since founding the company in 2006, Mikkeller has won the Danish Brewery of the Year award three times -- in 2006 and 2008, and in 2009 sharing the honor with Hornbeer.

The Mikkeller empire has expanded to include the Mikkeller Bar, Mikkeller And Friends bar and the Bottle Shop, all in Copenhagen. They're also in the process of launching a Mikkeller Bar in San Francisco, due to open on July 4, 2013, and one in London, England. Additionally, they've begun to make and sell spirits, including a "beer brandy" made from distilling the 17% Mikkeller Imperial Stout called Black. If that's not enough enterprise for you, Mikkel and company also organize the best international beer fest in Denmark on the first weekend of May -- an annual fest that began in 2012.

Beer brandy.

Black.

Most folks familiar with Mikkeller know that the operation is a "gypsy brewery", meaning, they don't own a brick & mortar facility. They brew their beers at various breweries around the world, though brew most often with a few trusted facilities, such as De Proef in Belgium. Mikkel specifies the ingredients, brewing process, target volume, etc., makes his own artwork, and pays the contract brewery wholesale price for the end product. That then gets shipped off to distributors and importers around the world. Jacob said that the U.S.A. was the biggest market for Mikkeller, but recently Sweden has been taking over.

Photo W.B.

In 2012 the brewery made 8500 hectoliters (9,700 bls) of beer, with 91 different new beers, currently selling in 42 countries.


For those lucky to be in attendance, Jacob poured draught samples of Orange Yuzu Glad I Said Porter and 1000 IBU. He also shared two different bottles from the "educational wood series" Mikkeller released, Forêt Limousine barley wine, aging a single batch of beer in various different types of barrels, to illustrate how different barrels can impart drastically different characters to a single brew. This is similar to the other series that Mikkeller has released, such as the hops series and yeast series. Learn more by listening to Jacob's complete address on the podcast.

Forêt Limousine barley wine aged in wood.

Pour, pour Bob.  Photo W.B.

1,000 IBU.

Jacob, Bill Coleman and Bridget of Nobel Experiment. Photo W.B.

  [link to podcast page]