Brasserie Thiriez

[link to podcast page]

The Brasserie Thiriez (pronounced "teary-yay") is located in the tiny French farmland village of Esquelbecq, very near the border of Belgium. This part of France hosts countless tiny villages of old stone buildings surrounded by lush, verdant rolling hills -- endless undulating green fields, interrupted by narrow winding roads, wire fencing, the occasional stand of trees -- dotted with large swaths of bright yellow patches of rapeseed. Many a field is populated by cows, sheep and occasionally some pigs. You don't see many people, however.

After a career as a human resources executive at a large French supermarket chain, Daniel Thiriez decided, like many homebrewers before him, to take his love of making and enjoying beer to the professional level. The location of his brewery, which he founded in 1996, had long been the farmhouse brewery of a local family farm, which had operated up until 1945.

Downtown Esquelbecq.

Daniel's brewery started as a 6-hectoliter operation. But demand for his fine ales forced the expansion into a new brewery "barn" behind the farmhouse's garden, with a 20-hl system. He and his wife's spacious, sun-filled, warmly inviting, modernized French farmhouse also serves as a welcoming bed and breakfast establishment.

The brewery barn, with hop garden in front.

The first beer of the brewery, the 6.5%abv La Blonde de l'Esquelbecq, is still the brewery's mainstay, though he also brews a 5.4% Ambrée/Amber, a La Rouge Flamande (named after a breed of dairy cow, and created to celebrate the unveiling of a statue dedicated to that particular bovine clan in 1999 at Bergues), a Christmas/Nöel beer, and others. But the brew probably best known to Americans is the 4.5% Etoile du Nord (Start of the North), better known in our parts under its export name, Thiriez Extra.

AKA Thiriez Extra.

Here is B.R.'s summary translation of the address Daniel made to his brewery guests in our podcast this installment:

He starts by saying that the brewery has been around for 16 years, since 1996. The region has a long history of brewing and the current tasting room used to be the farm's brewery up until 1945. The town has about 2,000 inhabitants and, at one point in history, it used to be home to 5 different breweries. There were also 84 cafés and "estaminets" (pubs) for those 2,000 people...  The next town over had 8 breweries.  At the time, beer was pretty much the only beverage because wine was reserved for special occasions in that region and the water wasn't necessarily safe to drink.  

Eventually, all of the small village breweries closed throughout the 60s into the 80s -- even the regional breweries closed.  Now, there's been a revival and most "départements" in France have at least one brewery.

Daniel states that he brews 2,000 liters on a typical brew-day. He then goes on to talk about the ingredients that go into his beer. The water is filtered, softened, and dechlorinated. He uses local malt. He then describes the malting process. His beers are 100% malt (he actually mention this, but a lot of beers from the north of France have added sugar, usually in the form of barley syrup).

Then he explains the brewing process:  mash in, sparging, boil (1 1/2 hour), hops. The region used to be a big hop growing area, but not as much now.  Since the local hop selection is limited, he also buys varieties from Alsace, Germany, England, Czech, Belgium, and the U.S.

He shows the group whole hop flowers and pellets, passing around jars filled with the various permutations of hops.  Daniel mentions that other botanticals or spices can be added if the brewer so chooses, as a general statement -- not specifically referring to his own beers.

The chilling and fermentation steps are spoken of before he talks about yeast. The brewery has been using the same strain (from a lab in Brussels) since the start. Fermentation takes one week, and then he has a three week period of "de garde", or conditioning. All of the beers are unfiltered.

Daniel points to the bottling machine and says that it can fill 1,000 bottles per hour. The beers are refermented in the bottle, and it takes at least two weeks for them to reach proper carbonation.  He then discusses the yeast deposits in the bottles -- sur lies.
 
Mr. T then talks about his different beers.  Someone asks a question about organic beer and he says that he does have one organic beer (La biObière) but says that there are not a lot of organic hops available, so the choice is limited.  He says that most of his sales are local, but he does export about 10% of his beer to the US, Canada, Sweden, and Japan.  His main goal, however, is to remain a local producer.  He's got three full-time workers (including himself).

A tour group member asks, what is the difference between Kronenbourg and similar mass-produced beers, and the Thiriez beers. He then goes into a brief description about ales and lagers and artisanal beers that are meant to be savored, and industrial beers that are mainly just thirst-quenchers.  He then invites everyone to walk around the brewery but not to turn any knobs or faucets, "even if you're thirsty". Then it's off to the tasting room for some sampling!


Note: many of the pictures in the post come courtesy of Ryan of Shelton Bros., who accompanied us on this part of our trip, and we thank him for his contribution. The other photos were by B.R.

A view of the cafe building from the brewery drive.

The entrance to the cafe/tasting room.

The kettle à gauche, mashing tun à droit.

Bottling line.

Daniel addresses the tour group.

The bar of the cafe.

Poser.

Senior beer day!

VERY local hops.

Looking from the bed & breakfast to the cafe on the left, brewery set back on the right.

Victory Beer Garden Open Again

It's become a much anticipated sign of summer -- the re-opening of the Victory Beer Garden in Battery Park, at the southern most part of the park, next to the Battery Gardens restaurant and beside the Coast Guard station!

This year they've done a very smart thing and created a gate into the garden from the most heavily trafficked pathway near the garden. In the past, the beer garden was quite hard to find unless you already knew that it was there. Hidden behind thick, high hedges, and with the entrance located behind the garden away from the pathways, it was no wonder that this gem of a watering hole was always so undeservingly empty.

On our Memorial Day visit, the garden was more busy than we've ever seen it. In fact, we wondered if we would find a seat, as we searched the tables for an opening, beers in hand. We spotted a large table with empty seats near a senior gentleman sitting alone in the shade of a tree by the hedges. We didn't even have to ask if the seats were free before he invited us to sit. After starting a friendly conversation, our table mate informed us that he'd just finished a walk from 110th St. down to Battery Park, walking the roughly 8 miles via Broadway -- no doubt he was thirsty!

B.R. and I both had the Summer Love ale, which was satisfying and refreshing -- malty, without being too heavy, and with plenty of hop flavor. Our new companion, who was on holiday from Australia, looked to be having a Victory Lager, which is what B.R. had next. The Lager was a bit more bitter and had a deeper amber color than the style which inspired it, the German Helles.

When asked what our Aussie friend thought of the American beers that he'd tried, he said that he'd quite liked them, finding them more flavorful than the average Oz-brew. When pressed for a favorite he mentioned Blue Moon. When he offered to get us a round, I insisted that we get him a round, he being a guest in our city. I asked what he'd like, and he allowed me to choose for him. So, considering his liking Blue Moon, I got him a Witte from Ommegang. And, as expected, he liked it very much!

I went for the Headwaters Pale Ale, which hit the spot on a very warm, muggy afternoon. Its soft, malty body -- unbothered by any aggressive, biting hop bitterness -- went down slowly and gently, like a lazy summer sunset.

And nature was gladly represented in the beer garden. A tiny orange spider, seen at the end of the superimposed arrow above, set up shop on our bikes with an impressive web, created in the short time that it took for us to enjoy our two beers! We carefully collected the spider onto a nice big leaf before riding off, sparing him a bike ride.

Also on tap at the beer garden was Hop Devil, and, as in recent years, other breweries' beers in bottles and cans, such as Sierra Nevada Stout and some Sixpoint varieties, to accompany the standard outdoor grilled fare -- hot dogs, hamburgers, and the like.

ABC Beer Company

While walking to Petit Abeille for a dinner of beers and moules-frites, by way of the East River Park, we happened upon ABC Beer Company on Avenue C by 6th Street, run by the proprietor of ABC Wine nextdoor. It's one of those new hybrid drink-on-premises bar/take-home-bottles-and-growlers establishments that seem to be popping up everywhere lately. The Ale Street News has a great article about these kinds of shops, with an extensive list, on page 6-B of the latest issue, also available on-line.

The exterior of ABC is pretty stark and plain and gives no indication of the very comfy, warm, rustic, wood ensconsed interior. There were 11 items offered on draft, for consumption in the bar, or to take home. I ordered a pint of Newburgh Brewing Co.'s Smoked Stout, and found it suited the atmosphere perfectly. It was dark, smooth, mildly smokey and slightly creamy.

B.R. "hop-ted" for a different "hop-tion" -- the Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA, which she noted was indeed hoppy! You can hear her comments about it in a bonus, very much abbreviated Beer Hear! podcast.

BR thought-bubble: "ce magasin a besoin de la bière plus français..."

ABC Beer definitely seems to be putting the focus on being a bar more than a shop, using the vast majority of their space for seating, including a massive common table with benches, in the European fashion. They also offer some light fare to accompany the beers. Everything on tap ranged from very good to great, with reasonable pricing.

The bottle selection -- for take away only, not to be consumed on premises -- was impressive, and the pricing was in line with what you'd expect in NYC. Though the selection is far from the variety and quantity offered by nearby Good Beer on E. 9th St. between Ave. A and B or City Swiggers on the East 86th just east of 2nd Ave., if you told me 15 years ago that you'd be able to buy Westmalle and Dogfish Head on Ave. C one day, I'd have found that hard to swallow.

 It's another welcome sign that people want to drink good beer, and harkens back to the day when it was common to go to the pub with a bucket to fill and take home.

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.