Meet the Brewmasters at Effin Gruven

 

Meet the Brewmasters night at Effin Gruven in Bellmore NY on Monday May 16, 2011.  This memorable night was featuring Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery and Phil Markowski of Southampton Public House.  This event was on the Monday of Long Island Craft Beer Week.  There was so many amazingly rare and unreleased brews at this event, many of them being aged and/or oak aged.  The alcohol content of the night probably averaged around 8-10%.  Its safe to say that everyone had a good time and had a good buzz going.  There were only 60 tickets sold for this event and there was a lot of familiar faces from the Long Island craft beer scene.  Check out the videos of Garrett and Phil talking during the event.  Also for more pics check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/licraftbeer/sets/72157626850680816/

A couple new brews from Sierra Nevada

Two new beers have gotten approval from Sierra Nevada.  Both of these brews are session beers, and both of these beers will be tough to get your hands on. The first brew is being made exclusively for the Bonnaroo music festival held every summer in Tennessee.  This special beer is a 4.8% ABV farmhouse style ale that is intended for smooth drinking for a long period of time in a hotter climate.  Since Sierra Nevada is a major sponsor of the music festival it is appropriate for them to have a special brew for the occasion.
The other draft only release that has only been found in California is the Black Vapor.  Black Vapor is another session beer in the Cali Common style (steam-beer).  Steam beers are lagers that are fermented at higher temperatures in between 60-65 degrees.  They are no longer called "steam-beer" since Anchor Brewing trademarked the term, these beers are now called Cali-Common style.  The Black Vapor fits into this catagory.  There is a "california common" style released in bottles only found in the Beer Camp variety 12pack from Sierra Nevada.

Sam Adams Bonfire Rauchbier

After having 4 labels approved, Samuel Adams has finally chosen the name and label of their Rauchbier set to be released in bottles.  They have gone with Bonfire Rauchbier which is an appropriate name for a smoke beer.  This is a follow up to a previous article written on Friday April 29th a few posts down.

Brooklyn Brewmaster's Reserve: The Tonic

The next draft only segment of Brooklyn Brewery's Brewmaster's Reserve series is The TONIC.  Here's the official write up by none other than Garrett Oliver from the "Jockey Box" e-mail newsletter from the brewery to the distributors:

We spend a lot of time with our pals in the cocktail world, and they are constantly putting new flavor combinations in front of us. One of my favorites is a Scotch-based cocktail called The Penicillin. Invented by bartender Sam Ross at Sasha Petraske’s famous NYC cocktail bar Milk & Honey, the Pencillin is an instant classic. It combines peaty Scotch, ginger-infused honey, and lemon juice. It’s an improbable blend, but it’s delicious, and it’s also the inspiration for our next Brewmaster’s Reserve beer, The Tonic. The government wouldn’t let us call the beer “Penicillin”, we’re afraid. But friends, between you and us, this brand new Tonic will cure many of your ills. Now take your Tonic and text us tomorrow.
MALTS
English Peat Smoked Malt, English Pale Malt, German Pilsner Malt
HOPS
Willamette, Cascades, Fuggles, Kent Goldings, Simcoe, Citra, Sorachi Ace, Amarillo
ADDITIONS
Dried Lemon Peel, Minced ginger, NYS Wildflower Honey, Organic, Lemon Juice from Italy (Sicily)
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This beer will begin shipping at the end of this month and as always will be in super low quanities.  

Sierra Nevada Expanding to East Coast?

There are some rumors going around that Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada has been looking for locations to build another production brewery on the East coast.  One location that has been visited by Grossman is in Pennsylvania by State College.  It has been said that he did not approve this location because of a financial matter.  There has been no reports of where else he might be looking or if they will definatly be expanding to the East at all.  This is a sign of how the American Craft Beer Market is rapidly growing and forcing the bigger breweries to expand. 
The Boston Beer Company is currently opperating at just under full capacity, and they too are thinking of buying a third production brewery for their brands.  Since Samuel Adams flagship beer Boston Lager uses a brewing technique called decoction brewing which uses 4 brewing vessels.  Most breweries use just 3 vessels making it hard for the brewery to find a used or closed brewery that has these brewing capabilities.  As the American Craft Beer revolution continues to expand and grow it is only natural that the bigger craft breweries will have to expand to meet the demand for their beers.