June 2011
1 post
3 tags
Just Another Day At Work
I’m sure the beer isn’t so hot, but there is something about wrestlers/strong men SMASHING grain that makes me want to try it.
April 2011
1 post
2 tags
How was your April Fool's Day?
Apparently, I started working for Miller-Coors the past April 1st.
The article definitely made me chuckle, and as I was about to print out a Miller High Life logo to pin onto my brewery jacket the phone rang.
“Your phone must be ringing off the hook, eh?” inquired a middle aged man apparently unaware he was on speaker phone.
“Uhhh, no. Not at all. Do you know what day it...
March 2011
3 posts
3 tags
Brew School
Despite the new job, I’m keeping it real with Brew School and the gents at Beeriety.
2 tags
No Good Deed...
…is rewarded with a beer.
Despite my best efforts to do something noble, the Pints For Pints blood drive at Kelso of Brooklyn that I signed up for Friday evening was canceled!
I know I drank a little more wine than I should have Thursday night, however I more than made up for that by chugging orange juice, eating every banana in the apartment and cramming an ungodly amount of oatmeal and...
Crack open a can-o-water
A-B is finally brewing water on purpose! Thankfully it’s for a good cause.
February 2011
3 posts
2 tags
Where's Your Beer Etiquette?
It looks like Mayor Bloomberg and my grandmother have something in common after all!
3 tags
I Can't Believe They Drank The WHOLE Thing!
The Angel’s Share.
Have you ever heard of this? It refers to the portion of a barrel aged spirit that evaporates during the aging process. In reality it is one of those cutesy phrases that somewhere down the line a self righteous do-gooder created to make light of a situation that really sucks. Basically, it’s the worst kind of euphemism!
The reason I bring this up is because of...
Working at the Brewery
This is a pretty accurate description of what happens while I’m at work.
January 2011
6 posts
Beer theme park!
Now that I learned about Bierwelt, I have to come up with a scheme to undercut their ideas.
Instead of actually building a beer tower and animatronic gnomes, why not just do the sampling portion of the tour first, then just show patrons around to a few darkened with strategically placed garden gnomes, lots of It’s A Small World-esque music and, of course, a lot more sampling.
Bottoms Up
I’ve been seeing videos about this “Bottoms Up” beer filling station, but until now I haven’t seen anything about how it actually works.
The technology is pretty cool but how many breweries are going to be able to afford it in the near future. Yeah, it’ll be great for the InBevs of the world at the local arena or stadium but I hope that restaurant groups and big...
2 tags
Bar Facts
Since I’m now a hot shot beer man…ahem-ahem…I am privy to all the inside industry talk.
..well, it’s not exactly secret information, but next time you need some bar stool trivia, here are a few fun facts about the beer industry according to the Craft Brew News.
90% of Americans now live within 50 miles of a craft brewery.
The number of legal age drinkers is growing in...
I'll hate it...for this week...
I guess that the Primanti Brothers Sandwich will be my edible archenemy this week.
Thanks The Post!
The Beery Future
I apologize for the lack of posts lately. However, there is good news!
As of last week, I am now a proud employee of the Brooklyn Brewery here in NY! Although I am working more on the business/office side of things now and not in the actual brewery, I am still going to continue writing beer-related posts.
My time at Chelsea was cut short for reasons beyond my control, but I now have the...
1 tag
(The Final) Brew School
December 2010
3 posts
Limoncello
This is the tincture that became my gift to family members this year. Nothing says Merry Christmas like some homemade limoncello!
No More Bud at Ballgames?
Scroll halfway down this article to read about Anheuser Busch’s lawsuit.
Essential, A-B had an informal agreement with MLB to continue being the official brew of baseball. However, after MLB discovered that A-B was paying the NFL $43 million as opposed to the $10 million Major League Baseball was getting, they called off the deal.
Now A-B is an angry beer-spewing legal monster and wants...
Learning by Doing
Despite everything I’ve been learning at the brewery I constantly want to know more. Fortunately, the brewery I work in consists of three people: the head brewer, an assistant brewer and myself. This small crew provides me with many opportunities to not only flood my mind with beer knowledge, but also get my hands into many of the daily brewing operations.
I currently work six days a week. ...
November 2010
4 posts
2 tags
The Next Big Thing...
I’ve jokingly told many people that they eat like a 7-year old not realizing that there are “researchers” out there who feel that picky eating is a disorder.
Introducing SED.
Selective Eating Disorder? Really?!
There have been enough people on brewery tours telling me that they don’t like bitter beers, don’t like dark beers or some form of that excuse. Also, my...
Beer on TV?
Hmm. I’m interested to see how this turns out. Nevertheless, this is a great quote:
“…brewing, you can make it very romantic and sophisticated, but in the end of the day it’s really making a giant mess and then cleaning up after yourself.”
2 tags
Holiday Brews
Since the weather is starting to get a bit more brisk, I’m really looking forward to brewing some holiday beers at Chelsea. This week we’ll be brewing up a batch of Hoppy Holidays.
From what our head brewer tells me, Hoppy Holidays will be a toasty, dark amber brew with an aggressive hop bite. Clocking in around 9% ABV and brewed with dark brown sugar, it’s going to be a big...
Don't Be A Fat Ass
Do people really need to rely on advertising to make their food choices? Don’t blame the Dairy Industry for trying to promote their products!
October 2010
2 posts
2 tags
Brew School
More goodness over at Beeriety!
Tanks
We just brewed our second wet hop beer this year. The first wet hop was a 5% ABV using 57-lbs of Chinook hops from upstate NY. It was mellow but big on that clean, grassy hop-oil taste.
The second wet hop is residing comfortable in the far tank with the ladder leaning on it. It’ll be a bit more aggressive thanks to the addition of extra Columbus and Amarillo bittering hops and some...
September 2010
4 posts
Taste
“Like taste, smell is modified by experience and culture. The odor of cheese is mouth-watering to many Westerners, but repulsive to many Asians, who associate the sharp, acidic smell with spoilage and sickness.”
2 tags
More Beeriety
Pouring some more knowledge on you at the Beeriety website.
NYC Beer Week
Beer week is coming!
Although my brewery isn’t hosting any events, Chelsea will be pouring in all the regular beer-centric spots.
Also, with a lot of the dinners and pairing events being upwards of $100, it’s nice to see Kelso of Brooklyn doing a good ol’ beer and sausage event for $10!
Deep Fried Beer
I’m unsure if I’m intrigued.
August 2010
4 posts
3 tags
It's Hop Harvest Time!
In my hand—and my beer—is a sampling of fresh Chinook hops.
We received an overnight shipment from upstate New York at the brewery today and are all set to brew a wet hop beer with the little suckers tomorrow.
This is my first time being in contact with wet/fresh hops and the aromas are crazy! While our cooler normally smells pretty hoppy, as soon as I opened the door I was...
1 tag
Beeriety: Part 3
Brew School.
Some more knowledge for you.
1 tag
Moonshinin': 6 Months Later
It’s been six months since I started my whiskey project in February and I took the opportunity to taste the experiment this morning.
I meticulously took tasting notes over the first three months but have not taken a sample since April. My reasoning was that after the booze was sloshing around in its barrel in the back of a U-Haul over the course of a cross country drive, I would let the...
That's "Light" with a T-E
“Miller Lite is a perfect beer for people who don’t like beer but need to justify their presence at bars by having a drink in their hand.”
Ouch. Harsh words from an article in Vol. 26, No. 3 of American Brewer Magazine by beer writer Greg Kitsock. While I won’t admit I disagree with his statement, I will say that Kitsock’s article about the rise of...
July 2010
4 posts
2 tags
LeBron Beer?
Although I for the day when I can turn on WFAN and not have to hear some caller reaming LeBron James for not coming to NY/going to Miami/leaving Cleveland or any other number of reasons, I have to give credit to the Great Lakes Brewing Company in Ohio.
The Cleveland-based brewery created a beer they call Quitness. The brew is a cask conditioned IPA “that is as bitter as the mood of...
2 tags
Beeriety: Part 2
Here’s the second installment of my ongoing journal about the brewing life. Head over to Beeriety to check it out:
Brew School: Changing the Way I Drink
2 tags
Brew Tour MASTER
I’ve recently be given the honor of leading Saturday brew tours at Chelsea. Not only is this awesome in its own right, but it gives me some stability in my schedule and means that I don’t have to wait tables Saturdays!
Unfortunately, I’ve been in the restaurant business for the majority of my working life so I forgot just how much I dislike weekend crowds. I went out for a...
Beer Theft
Sometimes you can’t fight the thirst…
June 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Beeriety
While it may seem that I’ve faltered on my promise to document my time learning the brewing trade, I would like to direct you to the fine website Beeriety.
Beeriety is a fantastically informative beer and brewing website run by a few friends of mine in Boston. Their goal with the site is to educate casual beer drinkers about the finer and more interesting points about the bubbly,...
1 tag
Marketing
Today I put in a lot of time doing grunt work at the brewery. In the midst of schlepping around kegs, a good friend sent me a message informing me that he had just tasted Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout.
Basically, Dark Lord is a shining example of the profound effect the Internet has on the beer community. The beer is supposedly amazing, but since it is only sold on one...
May 2010
4 posts
2 tags
I’m (Almost) A Brewer: Day ??
Despite my best intentions, I’ve completely lost track of how many days I’ve spent in the brewery. Lately, my weekdays consist of reporting to the brewery at 8:30am for an educational/grueling day of beer related happenings followed by the dinner shift at the adjoining restaurant. It’s a long day, but hopefully it’ll pay off one day when I can consider myself a real...
1 tag
I'm (Almost) A Brewer: Day 1
Last Thursday I spent my morning playing with caustic solutions, lugging around 30lb barrels of steel and directing gallons upon gallons of fermented, beery goodness. Unfortunately, I had to spend that evening waiting tables, but the morning was my first step towards learning the fine craft of brewing.
After arriving at the brewery around 8am, I squeezed my feet into a pair of entirely too small...
Beer and Football
Looks like there’ll be a lot more over-priced Bud at the Jets games.
1 tag
Kegger!
I started my new job at the Chelsea Brewing Company today. While I was only hired as a waiter, I made it very, very clear that I would do any and everything to learn the brewing.
It looks like I got my intentions across because in addition to having a full work week, I will report to the brewery at 8:30 am on Thursday and start my brewing education. Thursday morning, I’ll be up bright and...
Number One, eh?
Oh Budweiser, way to highlight the American beer scene.
April 2010
5 posts
3 tags
Brewing...PROFESSIONALLY??!!
On May 2nd of last year Meg and I left NY and embarked on a 3-month trek across the country visiting friends, baseball stadiums and lots of breweries. It was an epic journey that lead up to our arrival in Portland, Oregon, a place where I envisioned delicious local brews gurgling from every Benson Bubbler and cheap rent available at every apartment building.
For the most part we were right about...
1 tag
“I have a dream of a multiplicity of pastramis”
The quote is from Ken Gordon, my boss at Kenny & Zuke’s.
Ridiculous, I know, but what can I expect when from him when he’s being interviewed for the Times.
Either way, I have to hand it to the guy, the pastrami is really good.
3 tags
Brown Bread Experiment #5: I'm Totally Irish
I finally got around to making brown bread with my lady’s Irish cousin’s recipe.
Totally Irish. Totally delicious.
This bread is half wholemeal flour and white flour. At first I was skeptical, but after biting into some at dinner, I’ve come to understand that a dense chunk of bread sitting in my stomach is no where near as enjoyable as this lighter nutrient bomb.
Also, this...
2 tags
Moonshinin': Month 3
Three months in and my whisky is starting to seem like a real drink.
The color is more golden-bronze than pee yellow and the nose is much more woody. Some of the sweetness is mellowing out but still lingers in the flavor.
Initially, a sip of the hooch tastes smooth and almost smoky. However, the pleasantness quickly fades away to a focused, lingering burn.
This stuff may be the end of me.
March 2010
9 posts
2 tags
Legendary Brews
My pals over at Beers of Legend sent me a little taste of the east coast. In the midst of my excitement, I checked out their site and noticed an absolutely amazing contest they’re having: you can win—for absolutely free—a six-pack of Westvleteren beers!
Yes, this six-pack includes Westvleteren 12, the beer considered by many to be the BEST BEER IN THE WORLD, not to mention...
3 tags
Brown Bread Experiment #4: The flour is here!
I finally received my King Arthur flour and in celebration I baked a loaf of brown bread to go with dinner. There is nothing like a solid ploughman’s platter to highlight a rich, nutty loaf of deliciousness.
To put it simply, the flour is banging. I’m in bread heaven.
3 cups King Arthur Irish Flour
1 cup wheat bran
3 tablespoon wheat germ
1/2 cup white flour
1 tsp salt
1...
3 tags
Brown Bread Experiment #3
Brown bread experiment #3 had a greater purpose in its baked life than the previous two experiments. This brown bread was destined to be part of a meal with both an Irish gal and a British transplant. The pressure was on.
The previous breads left me satisfied but there was something lacking in their longevity. I love toasted day-old brown bread, but the bread lost all its moisture...
2 tags
Brown Bread Experiment #2
Despite my lack of legit Irish flour I’ve been inching closer towards authenticity with my brown breads. (Pleas note that by authentic I mean I give a slice to my Irish-bred girlfriend and get a nod of approval or a look of disgust.)
Experiment #1 look good, but it became too dry after the first day and lacked the characteristic nutty crunch of real brown bread. I chalked up the texture...