“Sometimes the beer just tells you when it is ready,” says Mike Voigt of Rocky Point Artisan Brewers about their recent collaborative brew with Secret Engine Brewing of Brooklyn. Mike Mare, brewer and co-owner of Secret Engine, is currently trying to find a permanent home for the brewery while still getting his beer out there. Though the original plan was to wait until later this month, Sticke Handwerker, the Long Island debut from Secret Engine, will be released this Friday at Tap and Barrel, The Black Sheep Ale House and a to-be-determined location in Brooklyn. keep reading...

We spent the better part of yesterday sampling homebrew inspired by the neighborhood around the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn. The Food Book Fair Brew Pub brought together local NY area brewers, as well as one from Norway, to share their creations with attendees. The event ran from 2-5 pm and 6-9 pm, with the first session being the more crowded of the two. Chips from McClure’s as well as pretzels were sporadically present through the entire day, but the food highlight came from Fleisher’s Meats. Unfortunately they only provided snacks during the 2-5 pm slot but these included a super tastu mini roast beef sandwich with caramelized onions, smoked sausage and whole grain mustard on toast and a mortadella, cheese & olive kebab. All were welcome companions to the plethora of handcrafted beers that were being served. keep reading...

As mentioned previously, we will be pouring two home brewed beers during the Food Book Fair’s Pop Up Pub this Sunday, April 27 at The Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn. When contacted by Eric Steen, the man behind the pub, he asked that all beers produced be inspired by the neighborhood surrounding the Wythe. Though only required to brew one beer, our research led us in a couple different directions and both ALTernative and MJ were born.

Before the Williamsburg bridge was built and eventually opened in 1903, Williamsburg, Brooklyn was heavily populated by German immigrants. However, the bridge to Manhattan allowed for a huge influx of settlers and Williamsburg quickly became the most densely populated neighborhood in New York City. The once German area was now occupied by people of all backgrounds and a diverse culture began to form. Reading this reminded us of our recent trip to Düsseldorf and Cologne in Germany and how well they have used beer to preserve certain aspects of their history. Kölsch and Altbier breweries are among the most popular gathering points in each respective city and the recipes have gone unchanged for hundreds of years. ALTernative is our homage to traditional German culture, with a little outside influence. We brewed up an Altbier, making  a few tweaks to the recipe, then aged it in a new oak barrel which Kevin received as a birthday present from Alicia. The result is a malty, oak forward, German-esque beer with elements of other styles coming through. We’d imagine if you were able to drink Williamsburg in the early 1900’s, this is what it would taste like. keep reading...

On Sunday April 27th, 2014 in Brooklyn New York, 28 homebrewers will gather at the Wythe Hotel to participate in Eric M. Steen’s Brew Pub (Reprise). Why reprise? Mr. Steen has previously organized similar pubs in Glasgow, Scotland (2010) and New York City (2011). What are these “brew pubs”? They are pop-up (or one night only) pubs (places to drink and socialize) organized as a gathering of homebrewers and patrons in a space brought together by Mr. Steen. Each “brew pub” celebrates the creative output of the hombrewers in the city where they were held. keep reading...