Island To Island Brewery

Danii Oliver is the owner of Island to Island Taproom in Flatbush, Brooklyn but not only is Island to Island a Brewery it is also a Fermentary and Juicer. One of the few where you can get home made juices, fermented juice mixed with a spirit as a cocktail or in-house beer. She started with juicing a few years ago when she wanted to start living a healthy life, soon noticed the juice fermented over time and turned the fermented juice into Komucha and decided to play around by adding malt and playing around with  other fruits and vegetables blends.

List of House Beer and Ciders

Brewing technique in Island to Island is Craft Brewing, all grain or no grain at times but no extracts only wholes foods grains, fruits and vegetables.  She also uses a technique called Seed to spirit which is the life cycle of fruits and vegetables over time. Grains which are sprouted like chai seeds or almonds which can become spirits through the process of being in alcohol or being stilt.

tasting

Strawberry Blond(ABV 4.5%)- FRUIT ALE, Trini Love(ABV 4.4%)-FRUIT ALE, Mango Chow(ABV 4.5%)-FRUIT ALE, Dreamy(6.7% Collaboration with Harlem Brewing Co.)- TRADITIONAL BEER

When I asked about the machines used in her brewery she said “Pumps are the only machines. They pump liquid from one vessel to the next” And factors that can affect the brewing process are Ingredients, time, air, yeast, bacteria, the brewer, the tap lines, the keg quality, storage. They have recently bought in a master brewer and certified cicerone (beer sommelier) Norie Manigault to help refine the recipes before they start to brew in the bars basement.

Behind the Scene in Island to Island Basement

Island to Island is a New York State- grown farm Brewery. So 80% of the ingredients used are New York state ingredients like Apples, raw honey, barley, rye, wheat, corn, oats, hops and seasonal fruits and vegetables such berries, melons, peaches, cherries, pears, apricots, pumpkins, peppers, herbs, flowers, potatoes, greens, grapes, figs, carrots, beets, turnips, radish etc.

20% of her ingredient used are International. Ingredient used to make some of her fruit ales are Sugarcane, coconuts, sorrel, agave, tamarind, starfruit, mango, pineapple, guava, oranges, limes, peppers, spices, ginger, molasses, cassava, turmeric, wormwood and soursop.

Purple reign (ABV 7%) – CIDER and Saint Hilarie Knowles(AVB 4%)- FRUIT ALE

They have a drink called Jun which is a kombucha like drink made with Honey and Green tea. She would usually give it to customers who may be intoxicated and the Jun would aggressively eat the alcohol in your system to help you sober up.

Jun

Anyone can come to Island to Island for a drink. They offer Cider, Fruit Ale, Beer, Grain-free beer and IPA’s and tradition beer. Danii wants all walks of life to be able to come into Island to Island Brewery, pregnant women, elderly and teenagers to come into a Bar environment and grab a alcoholic or non-alcoholic beer or ale and just enjoy each others company in a cool laid back environment. This place is also good for Vegan and people that are interested in juicing and cleansing beverages for there body.

I really enjoyed my time at Island to Island, It was interesting to learn that beers, ciders and ale can be made in non- traditional ways that may be more healthy and give people a wider variety to choose from when i comes to consuming beer, ciders and ale. It was also awesome to learn that Danii is an Alum from City Tech with a Business Degree and showed interest in coming back to talk to student in the Hospitality Department about her Business, which i think would be a pretty cool idea.

Tasting at the Bar

 

http://islandtoislandbrewery.com

Retail Beverage Shop

spain

Region we have not studied Spain Sections was pretty small along with Greece and Argentina but Spain lable were more eye catching.

 

The wine shop visited was Gramercy wine and spirits located on 104 East 23rd Street in the Flat Iron District. Walking into Gramercy it is a tight queeze but everything was very organized and easy to find.  All the wines were in there designated countries, some they had to offer was New Zealand, Spain,  Argentina, France, New York, and Washington. They also had sections for Champagne, tequila, bourbon and vodka but I could tell that wine was there main source of revenue.

 

 

I had the opportunity to speak to one of the buyers of Gramercy, her name is Beki Mann and she has been working in the wine industry for 10+ years but started with knowledge of Whiskey before learning detailed information about wines. She has tried 80% of the wine and spirits offered in Gramercy but more of that being the wines. Most of their wine is imported from France and California which was pretty obvious because they had the biggest section in the store. I asked Beki “which wine does she think is more popular?” and at first it was hard for her to answer so she based it off which countries sells more in store which is France but she informed me that Argentina is slowly becoming more popular and interesting to customers.

I asked champagneBeki what wine would she recommend to someone that has never tasted wine and she explained a common mistake people make when trying wine for the first time is drinking a red wine like Merlot or Pinot Noir that may be medium/high in tannin and low sweetness. For a first time wine drinker she would offer them a dessert wine like Muscat which has no tannin and is high in sweetness. Many people come into Gramercy asking Beki and her Co- worker for their opinion on what type of wine, champagne, etc someone should get there Wife, Father, Brother, Sister-in-Law and Mother and it is there job to have product knowledge of every wine and champagne sold in the store in order to help the customer have the best experience and want to come back. Before leaving I noticed Beki knew some customers by names and even remembered what wine they bought the last time they visited which shows appreciation for the customers and makes me want to go back.

 

 France

Half the section of France- more white wines than red.

I definitely recommend everyone go and visit Gramercy if your ever in the neighborhood and speak to Beki Mann she is was so down to earth, interesting, knowledgeable, informative and kind.

 Business Card

Beki Mann Business Card from “Gramercy”