Beers of Belgium

Brooklyn Brewery’s Chris Basso will discuss the history of brewing in Belgium and go over some of the great styles of beer that have emerged throughout Belgium’s history. Some styles covered will be Belgian Tripels, Dubbels and Singels, Beers of Flanders, Gueze and Lambic, Saison and Biere De Garde (Northern France and Southern Belgium) and Trappist style beers. There will be a tasting of styles in conjunction with a  discussion of what makes these styles special and what techniques and ingredients one can implement in order to make some of these classic Belgian brews at home.

March 16th, 6:30PM $50.00

Link: http://www.thebrooklynkitchen.com/web-store/classes/2663-316-beers-of-belgium-class-tuesday-630pm-march/

Yeast: It’s Wild!

Brooklyn Brewery’s Chris Brasso will lead this class, focusing on the different kinds of yeast that can be used in homebrewing. Topics will include Ale Yeast, Lager Yeast, Wild Yeast and their uses in brewing. We will discuss some basic yeast handling methods and ways to more effectively control the results of your fermentations. There will include a tasting of various beers that give typical flavor characteristics of each variety of yeast. An additional side by side tasting of beer homebrewed by Chris will be on hand to show how by changing only the yeast strain the resultant beer will be dramatically different. Expect to come away knowing far more about yeast than you thought possible.

March 25th, 6:30PM $50.00

Reservations available by phone: 718-349-5033

photo by macwagen

BasicallyRead did a nice lil’ review of last night’s festivities.

Finnish photographer, Thomas Backa took time to do some nice styling for this portrait of a beer that doesn’t exist. He’s got a bunch of images of interesting objects, including quite a few featuring vintage cameras. Check out more here.

We’ve been getting excited about tonight for a while. The good folks over at that craft beer and classic arcade game haven, Barcade, are putting 12 rare and vintage draft lines and bottles on tonight only.  See below this breathtaking e-flyer for the beer list.

Backbreaker – 7.0% ABV – Extra malt-y Strong Ale
Black Chocolate Stout 2004 – 10.1% – aged at Barcade since our first winter
Blast (cask) – 8.0% – A very large IPA, served on cask
Brown – 5.5% – Our classic English Brown Ale
Cookie Jar Porter – 7.8% – Oatmeal cookie, anyone?
Cuvee de Cardoz – 8.5% – Belgian style Strong Pale Ale with Indian Spices
Dark Matter – 7.5% – Brown ale aged in bourbon barrels (first time ever on draft)
Lager – 5.2% – Brooklyn’s finest
Monster Ale 2004 – 11.8% – barleywine, aged at Barcade as well
Sorachi Ace – 6.5% – Belgian style Farmhouse Ale
Weisse – 5.0% – German style Hefeweizen
Wild One – 9.0%? – Wild yeast version of Brooklyn Local 1

The latest invention from our intrepid brewing team is rolling to a better beer bar near you. Read Dark Matter’s creation story from Brewmaster Garrett Oliver below, and find out how you can win a pair of tickets to next week’s launch party.

Cosmologists tell us that the universe was made by a massive explosion called the Big Bang. And in this Big Bang was created a material called “dark matter”, which accounts for 95% of the mass of the universe and actually binds the universe together. Well, that sounds pretty heavy. But it’s theoretical. Here in Brooklyn, our cosmology is a bit different.

In the beginning, there was Black Ops. Or perhaps not. Beer does have its mysteries. Anyhow, they say that back in 2007, a small amount of Dark Matter was created alongside Black Ops, but very few people had an opportunity to taste it. The Brooklyn Brewing Team decided that this shortage was unfortunate – plenty of Dark Matter for themselves, but not enough to share with all their friends. So last autumn they decided to recreate Dark Matter and open up the Brooklyn Barrel Room to a wider world. Brooklyn Dark Matter is a robust brown ale aged for four months in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels. Some barrels previously held Black Ops, some hosted The Manhattan Project, others came straight from the distilleries as soon as the whiskey was decanted. We’ve blended these barrels to create a beer full of caramel and chocolate flavors heightened by vanilla-like oak notes and hints of the barrels’ previous tenants. The result is a smooth, rich beer that really loves food, from fried or roasted chicken to char-grilled steak, barbecue, pork chops and even monkfish. And on some chilly evening in late winter, or perhaps the first warm night of spring, we hope that you may be tempted to believe that Dark Matter really does bind the universe together.

– Garrett Oliver

The first 25 drinkers to email info@brooklynbrewery.com with “Dark Matter Winner” will win passes for two to THIS MONDAY’s party (March 8th, 7:30pm – 10:30pm) at The Brewery. Get to it!

If you’re in a little town called Austin, TX, later this month. Drop on by.

What a week for the venerable Milton Glaser, creator of The Brooklyn Brewery logo (and a million other things including the little known “I heart NY” campaign.) On Wednesday he traveled to our nation’s capital to accept The National Medal of Arts from President Obama, himself.

Then, just today we received two awards from the World Beer Championships Packaging Competition (everyone’s favorite packaging competition.) Milton’s designs for Brooklyn Local 1 reaped a Gold Medal for Best Case design and a Silver Medal for Best Paper Label design.

Congratulations to Milton and his team!

Our neighbors over at Remains Lighting sent us this cute photo of Brooklyn Brown Ale chilling in some snow on a car in front of their factory today.  Let’s hope it’s their car.

If you’re curious, Remains Lighting is a super picky local lighting manufacturing company that employs lots of tree-hugging tactics to ensure their product makes as light of a footprint as possible on the environment. How’s that for late Friday afternoon pun?

Thanks for the photos, guys!

Local paper WG did some sleuthing and wrote a piece about our next Brewmaster’s Reserve, which should be shipping in a couple weeks.

From TheWGNews.com

Anywhere you go in the country you are bound to find a craft brewery or brew pub serving up fresh beers for the local public, but here in North Brooklyn we are very privileged to have one of the best. Brooklyn Brewery is located right in our back yard near the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, and it is very easy for New Yorkers to take such a great institution for granted. Everyone knows their beers, especially Brooklyn Lager, but occasionally you find one on tap, or cask that you have never seen before…and this weekend that beer is Dark Matter.

A couple months ago Garrett Oliver, the brew master of Brooklyn Brewery, spoke to the New York City Home Brewers’ Guild at one of their monthly meetings. He discussed the the brewery’s beers, told stories, explained that they are not relocating but expanding their operation right here on North 11th Street in Williamsburg, and he also brought beers for everyone to taste.

Most people are familiar with Brooklyn Brown, one of the flagship ales that the brewery makes. Brooklyn Brown is a fine American Brown Ale with hints of caramel, rich chocolate undertones, just a hint of coffee, and balanced perfectly with hops. Brooklyn Brewery originally only made this ale as a holiday specialty, but it has since become a year-round offering…and for good reason. One of the beers that Mr. Oliver brought to share with the Home Brewer’s Guild was a beer called Dark Matter. He explained that it was a beer that was brewed specifically for himself and the other members of the brewery team to enjoy. Dark Matter is the Brooklyn Brown ale aged 9 months in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels. The already delicious brown ale picks up hints of vanilla, a touch of bourbon, and a bit of booze during this aging creating one of the most drinkable bourbon aged beers out there.

Previously the only way to taste Dark Matter was to go to home brew event where someone from Brooklyn Brewery was speaking or attend one of the beer dinners that Garrett Oliver does around the city, but tonight the only cask of Dark Matter in existence will be tapped at the Brooklyn Brewery!

Brooklyn Brewery’s very rare Dark Matter will be available throughout the weekend until the cask runs dry. I recommend getting there Friday night or early Saturday if you wish to get a taste. Brooklyn Brewery is located at 79 N. 11th St in Williamsburg. They are open to the public Friday 6pm-11pm, Saturday 12pm-8pm, and Sunday 12pm-6pm.