As an hospitality industry professional it is very important to understand the importance of wine beverage management. Coming from a background that did not include wine consumption at all, the “Wine and Beverage Management” introductory course has piqued my interest spontaneously.

As a way to further experience step by step the making of wine, I decided to visit a vineyard who is “committed to producing premium, distinctive wines, ciders and spirits through a dedication to quality, penchant for style and celebration of place.” Although it was a long trip, this experience provided lots of information which was enhance due to the file of knowledge that has been built in the course.

Wölffer Estate Vineyard was founded in 1987 in the heart of Hampton, Long Island by Christian Wölffer who’s heart was captured by the world of wine. The vineyard has been known for its sustainable wines.

The vineyard is located in the South Fork of Long Island, very closed to the coast (North Atlantic Ocean). According to “Long Island Sustainable Wine Growing”, the organization states that “…its depth, good drainage and moderate to high available water-holding capacity that make this soil well-suited to farming.” Due to the large bodies of water, the temperature is able to moderate the temperature within the soils and environment as a whole.

The vines at Wölffer Estate Vineyard are approximately 30 years old which allows the grape vines to be matured. They have 25 acres of Chardonnay, 14 acres of Merlot, 6 acres of Pinot Noir, 1/2 acre of Trebbiano, and a bit high of Vignole. According to”In the Wine Country of Long Island a Rising Star: Merlot”, Florence Fabricant stated that “Merlot is attracting a lot of attention because it seems to be emerging as the best red grape for this area.” This is proven due to the fact that Wölffer widest red grape variety grown is Merlot.

Merlot Wine tasting

During this experience I had the privilege of having a tour with the Sommelier, Pamela, who has worked at Wölffer since 2007. While describing the canopy practices, Pamela was well descriptive with the history of wine as an overall concept. She described the causes as to how phylloxera was spread throughout the world (practically) and why it led to grafting  the vitis labrusca and vitis vinifera. 

Some of the viticultural practices that they take is manipulating their grape vine from having 18 canes to only 2 (sometimes 4). They also drop about 1/3 of the leaves to allow enough heat and sunlight to ripen the grapes. They drop fruits to increase quality of the grapevines occasionally. During the wine production, they hand pick their grapes and destemmer. Their wine age on an average of 18 months on oak barrels (red) and vessels for (white). Pamela explained that they punch the must and skins during fermentation to allow both to have contact.

Vessels Fermentation

Oak Barrels

During the testing, we tried a white, rose and and 2 red wines (one was fuller than the other). The white wine was a chardonnay had notes or the core of a pineapple, lemon zest and tart unripened pear; it had a medium acidic level.It pared well with a Shrimp cocktail. The rose, honestly was not one of my favorites as it was extremely light. It was a blend of chardonnay, merlot and pinot noir (was very dry on palate). Both of the reds were very similar. One was a pinot noir and the other was merlot. Although completely different grapes, it felt as if I were drinking the same wine. Both contained notes of plums, blackberries, and a bit of apricot. The Merlot paired well with mushroom truffle.

Wölffer sells their wine internationally to Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. A fun fact to know if that their labels are named after each of the horses that Christopher once owned. I am very excited to perhaps visit the vineyard again when the grapes start to grow.

Bottle of Merlot

Citations:

Fabricant, F. (1990, August 22). In the Wine Country of Long Island, a Rising Star: Merlot. Retrieved April 30, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/22/garden/in-the-wine-country-of-long-island-a-rising-star-merlot.html

For this assignment I decided to do it on a beer brewery, and I chose to go to Brooklyn Brewery located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This specific brewery has four ingredients which is malted barley, hops, yeast and water at times they might also add wheat.

Brooklyn brewery doesn’t use their own ingredients for their beer, by teaming up with Grow NYC’s Greenmarket they link up with local farms as a source of their grains. North County Farms in Watertown, NY is the biggest supplier supplying over 70% of the grain used in Brooklyn. All of the hops for their beers come from a farm outside of Syracuse, NY, owned by the very own Brooklyn Brewery’s technical director Mary Wiles, combined with their bavarian yeast and New York State water to complete the recipe. By using ingredients from local farm’s they reduce cost and help provide the freshest ingredients for their beer. North County Farms uses two granite stones to produce flours and other mixes from locally grown grains.The whole brewing process starts with what they call sanitization, cleaning all bacteria and any unwanted ingredients from the brew. After the sanitization comes the mash, during this process you’re extracting all the sugars, color and flavor you can from the grain, by heating water and adding the grain and stirring consistently you finally extract what you need. Going along the process the boil comes next, during this process you’re bringing your wort to a low, rolling boil and keeping it there for a period of time while adding ingredients like hops and spices. After this comes fermentation, this is when the beer actually becomes alcoholic.

In the tasting room there is an employee at each tasting with fifteen customers and you get to taste four different beers. Before the tasting starts the employee took us to the back and showed us how their beer is made taking us on a journey through their brewery passing by thousand gallon vats of beer and meeting many cheery faced employees. Along with that you get a step by step breakdown of how the beer is made, taking you from vat to vat explaining what happens in each one. After the trip through the brewery you get to sit in their lounge area tasting different beers or if that’s not your mood you can hit the store and purchase memorabilia or even your very own beer.

For the analysis experiential I decided to visit a distillery called Kings Country Distillery on 299 Sand St, Brooklyn, NY 11205. “Kings County was founded in 2010 and makes handmade moonshine, bourbon, and other whiskeys out of the 119-year-old Paymaster Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard” (Kings County Distillery).

King Country Distillery

To make whiskey they use corn and barley. The first thing they need to do in order to make whiskey is to cook the corn and barley with water in the mash tank for many hours. When its cooks Lia Niskanen tour program manager said “that it looks hot oatmeal”, they separate the solid from the liquid and the liquid is transfer to the another machine. She stated that the solid that is left is use for compos or for animal feed.

Tank they use in order to cook corn and barley

The color of the liquid when they take out in to be fermented is yellow because of the corn. They transfer the liquid to be fermented into the barrel  The liquid will stay there for about 3-4 days and it becomes a distiller beer and is not for drinking.

use to fermented

Then they will bring the beer into a still whiskey color cooper and they will still two times one still bigger and the other smaller. The beer is heated and the still bring to boiled. Lisa stated “boiled is about 200 and alcohol 173, alcohol boils first. Copper is popular material for still and are good for heat.

Still for whiskey  

This two stiller bellow absorb the liquid from the cooper still and the one to the right is made to produce the “heads, hearts and tails” and the distiller job is to take the heart.

One part that the small still made is the heart which is the best part, the head is to strong and tail is to watery. In order to known what part is the heart, they need to know the timing, watch volume, and how fast the distillate will come. They will do that procedure again. In order to get a moonshine they will add purified water to the head and put in a bottle.

Head from the small still

Where Bourbon is made.

Bourbon will go to the oak barrel. No climate control, which produces expansion and contraction in the barrel. They will use the barrel for aging only one time and send barrel to other place. Lisa said that for Irish whiskey they will use the same barrel for aging.

Oak barrel

Then they age the whiskey for approximately 2 years or 5 years. When the whiskey start aging the color change, the color came from the oak.

Moonshine to 2 year of aging

Bourbon left is age for about 4 years and the middle is age for 2 years. In the spirit competition, the American crafts awards in 2018 gave 4 gold metals and the two Bourbon won 2 gold metals.

Bourbon

The moonshine can be mix with natural ingredients with no sugar. This moonshine are used for cocktails they will not need aging.

Moonshine

I really recommend that you visit this place Lisa was nice explain every step clear and answer every concern that I have, I really enjoy this tour I was able to learn new things and try the moonshine and bourbon.

Reference

“Kings County Distillery.” Kings County Distillery, kingscountydistillery.com/.

“Products.” Kings County Distillery, kingscountydistillery.com/products/.

Lacey, Joan & Ryan Infront of the Barrels

Distillery Tasting Group

Menu of Tasting List

Instead of attending a winery I decided to go to All Points West Distillery. The location is  73 Tichenor St, Newark, NJ. All Points West distillery is a very nice place to visit whether,  it’s to attend one of their tours or enjoy some food in their quite small or rather petite restaurant, where they also host tastings. The tasting room is quite small as well, but it’s completely overlooked by the outstanding décor. Once everyone that was attending the tour came to the tasting room, we were taken to their factory where they have barrels of their whiskeys and where the distillery machines and fermenting barrels are located. First we were taken to their Boozeum room where our tour guide Lacey gave us all a lesson on how whiskey was started and the history behind All Points West Distillery. Next, we were taken into the production room where you can see their distill machines and huge barrels where they hold the fermenting process. First, the employees were working with one boiler but now they are going to start using their new boiler to fill up larger barrels to ferment the whiskey. During the tour, Lacey mentioned their goals and one of them was finally releasing their 750 milliliter bottle because right now at the moment they are just selling pint and half pint size bottles. The two main ingredients that they use in their whiskey distillery is 80% corn and 20% molten barley. All their corn and other ingredients that they use for infusions come from a farm called Lake Free Organic where 75% of their ingredients come from. And since the distillery has tons of land, they age all their whiskey in that facility. After we was shown and explained the process of how the whiskeys are made in the distillery factory, we were taken back into their shop where we was given to try 5 kinds of whiskeys that are produced by them. However by law for one single person they are allowed to be offered 4 shots of whiskeys in the tour that we was given. For the four shots of whiskey that I tasted where Moonshine, Straight bourbon, Peated bourbon, and Grapefruit with Jalapeno.  The Moonshine I kinda enjoyed because it wasn’t way to strong and it didn’t leave me a after taste nor my throat burning. The second one, the straight bourbon wasn’t bad but it left my throat burning for a good while then I went on to tasting the Peated bourbon and I kinda enjoyed that one more than the other two that I had just had. Finally it was time to taste the last one which was the grapefruit with jalapeno whiskey which caught my attention because it was a weird combination that I heard and was curious to find out how it would taste. Unfortunately I did not enjoy it at all and the aftertaste that it left was the worst part. Not only was I the only one that didn’t enjoy it but I spoke to other people who were part of the tour and they told me as well that they didn’t enjoy that one as well and they was getting that after taste a lot too. Overall I really enjoyed my visit to All Points West distillery from learning the history on whiskey’s, how All Points came to be. The experience was grand I was finally getting to taste some of the whiskey’s that they produce. It’s a tour that I would for sure recommend to friends and family to go visit for they can as well learn about the history of whiskey’s.

Franklin Hill Vineyard was the location that I chose to visit. It is an estate located on Franklin Hill Road in Bangor, PA. (Pennsylvania) and is fifth in wine production in the United States. Franklin Hill has grown from 3,000 barrels their first year to 60,000 per year. They grow French American grape varieties such as Vida Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet France, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Elaine Pivinski is the owner of the Franklin Hill Vineyard and has been operating the vineyard since 1976 with no viticulture knowledge. Her vineyard is the Lehigh Valley’s oldest winery and the third winery region in Pennsylvania. Elaine had no wine-making experiences before she went into the wine business.  “As early pioneers in this industry, there was no instruction manual. With a lot of hope and plenty of luck, we guided these majestic vines into rows. They in return produced an amazing crop year after year, (E.Pivinski, 2019).” Her business is successful and is running with help from her families and friends. Her first planted vines are forty-two years old and took five years to grow, while her new acre of vines is seven years old and took three years. They experienced difficulty planting the new vines, they discovered that the grass growing on the land was stealing all the vines nutrients and had to be removed. The trouble didn’t stop there, a trickle system or irrigation had to be installed because it refused to rain.

Helen who was our tour guide, she showed us everything we needed to know about the winery. During our visit there we were able to observe the very beginning of the bud break stage of the vines. Harvest of these grapes usually occurs during the second week of September and takes around seven weeks.

She explained that Elanie started the wine business with older techniques, using the technique Brix to measure sugar levels of their grapes. (S. Guide 2017) The vineyard makes a variety of different wines including red, white, fortified and rosé with a list of specialties that are delicious as their names are stimulating.

Stainless steel tanks are used for their fermentation, as supposed to using neutral Barriques/oak (wooden barrels) having had trouble keeping the quality of the Barriques and keeping pace with the demand. Most of their blends feature an alcohol level of 10-12% except for port wines which are around 20%.

Helen explained that Elaine had been producing the wines in a singular Destemmer, which is used to first crush wine grapes and then separate the grapes from the stems, multiple stainless-steel tanks, and Paper filters. However, when they discovered that not only were the paper filters unstainable but also depleting large amounts of the wine they switched to a filtration device obtained from Germany. (Fun fact, the filtration system was the same cost of the land purchased for the vineyard). Punching down the cap is a method for the vinification practiced at this vineyard along with cold stabilization for one of their wines called Evanswood. Adding oak flavors is achieved by using fabric like material filled with oak staves and chips that are attached to the bottom of the tanks.

After leaving Franklin Hill we journeyed to a vineyard called M&M Vineyard. This vineyard was only three years old. The owner and his wife were both microbiologists, they planted the grape vines in 2016.

They grow Vidal Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Point Noir, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc. Their wine tasting only cost five dollars, and you can taste seven different types of wine. However, they only sell their wines locally, so you won’t have the chance to buy their wine unless you make the drive to their vineyard for a full wine experience. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take a tour to see the inside of their winery because it is not open to the public.

From their website they describe the benefits of the land, they purchased after spending two years researching. “Nestled between the rolling hills of the Pocono Mountains and the Delaware Water Gap, our site was chosen through extensive land and soil analyses conducted throughout Northampton County. Our Vineyards’ ideal south-facing slopes made of rocky, well-drained soil, rich in weathered shales, balanced micronutrients, and generous mineralogy, provide an exceptional terroir for producing the most highly expressive wines. Also, the small batch, handcrafted, winemaking practices that we employ produce the most captivating wines in the region.”(S. Mohinder, 2019)

I really enjoyed my trips to these vineyards and have gained a large amount of knowledge and fascinating stories from the workers that we met.

References

Certified Specialist of Wine: Study Guide 2018. Washington, DC: Society of Wine Educators, 2018. Vocabulary words.

Lehigh Valley’s Oldest Winery │Franklin Hill Vineyards. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://franklinhillvineyards.com/

M&M Vineyards. (n.d.). Welcome to M&M Vineyards. Retrieved from https://mmvineyards.com/

If looking for a winery to attend I would recommend the Warwick Valley Winery. The Warwick Valley Winery is a family owned business that has over 5 acres of land producing more than 100 bottles of wine a day.

Welcome

As shown below this is the entrance to Warwick Valley. Since being up relatively far I would suggest this as a day trip. While driving into the place you can see the grapes and other trees growing such as apples, pear, and oranges also made into different hard liquors.

A view from the road

The process of making wine and all liquor starts with the viticulture. Viticulture is the process of making wine. Warwick Valley relies heavily on the process of vinification. Fermentation wise Warwick Valley uses classic oak barrels for fermentation. Vessels are used as well to produce sparkling wines.  Most of there wines are racked and then left for purchase. Their wines are not typically long-aged wines that are racked for many years and purchased by the crate.

Wines for Sale

Walking through the winery on the tour was interesting to do as the tour guide was very knowledgable from the types of grapes to the crus on the branches.  some varieties of grapes grown as Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris and many more. these are all types of grapes varieties that we learned about throughout the semester and are defined within the textbook. The winery itself has a trail like process through.

some grapes

Grapes

the tasting room was connected to the dining hall and the store. it was a small crowded area that was run by one bar back. He was a very busy man that was doing a tasting of about 8 wines that day. You had the option to choose your vintage and your blend and then you were able to taste them. one disappointing factor of the wine tasting that is it quite cramped as its a small area.

The Wine Tasting Counter

A major highlight of this winery was the food and music. The food there was absolutely amazing serving hand made fire oven pizzas that were delicious, and crispy homestyle french fries tossed in truffle oil. And the live music was from a local band. it’s a cute place that is family friendly and just an overall fun time. If you’re looking for a winery I would recommend Warrick Valley Winery.

The wine menu. Tasting for me was free.

The Vineyard in which I visited was Bunker Hill Vineyard and Winery in Parrish, Florida. I chose to go to this Vineyard in Florida because this was near my Tampa vacation destination. Bunker Hill was fairly easy to find on Google, but when driving, very hard to navigate, as it was surrounded by many farms. Bunker Hill was the only winery and vineyard within a 60 mile radius of Tampa. Bunker Hill was a gem, I learned so much information which will further help me in my wine education in the future, including how this was a family operated business which thrived from faith.

The viticulture practices in which Bunker Hill facilitated are plentiful. To begin, Bunker Hill makes wine out of many different fruits and even vegetables. Blueberry, lemon, lime, mango, onion and even coffee wines were made at Bunker Hill. Bunker Hill grows all of the fruit in which they make, which makes them a significant Vineyard because not many vineyards can execute this strategy. Not only do the owners grows majority of the fruit used to make their wines, but they have also been able to recycle over 90,000 wine bottles. Bunker Hill practices eco friendly production and execution in order to be track their carbon footprint. Bunker Hill abides by the Federal Law of making authentic “Natural” wines. All of the wines made at Bunker Hill are labeled, “ Grown, Vinted, Produced and Bottled”. I learned that this is very rare amongst the wine industry. Bunker Hill’s noble, which means the older wines, were typically grape wines.

When it comes to the vinification practices of the winery and vineyard, Bunker Hill grows about 95 percent of the fruit used to make their wines. The only grapes in which they use are 100 percent muscadine grapes, which are native to Florida and Georgia. These muscadine grapes are wind pollinated, which means the wind transports the pollen to allow the flowers to grow. Instead of aging their wine in oak barrels or tanks they use carboys, which are glass tanks in which they ferment the wine in. Once the must and yeast are added to the carboy, the carboy is then airlocked to prevent any oxygen or bacteria getting in and ruining the aging. Bunker Hill ages all their wines, other than the noble wines for one year. As far as the cellar, or where the wine was aged, the owners insisted that the temperature in the room is the temperature of the earth because that’s how nature thrive’s. The owners typically make natural jams from the fruit in which they made the wine, to pair with different meals. For example, I tasted about a teaspoon of strawberry jam inside the strawberry wine and was told to think of the drink as a sangria; in fact it tasted exactly like a sangria.

Being that Bunker Hill is so Eco friendly, they also advertise that they are one of the only Vegan friendly wineries in America. This is because all of their wines are unfiltered. Unfiltered wines are natural in the sense that nothing is added to the wine such as preservatives or “strainers”. Many wineries filter their wines with egg whites which now makes the wine non vegan friendly. This process can be related to raking, which is transferring wine and or filtering the wine from the following rest place.  Bunker Hill’s bottling process is they use recycled glass bottles all 750ml. Once the wine has aged in a room temperature “wine cave”, for a year,the wine is then transferring directly into the bottle. One thing that I was told during my tour is that since the wines are unfiltered, when they are transferred into the bottle, they are vinted and aging continues.

This is an image of the grape vines. Is is currently dormant season for Bunker Hill.

This is the wine cellar. The room in which I specified earlier as being room temperature.

Another picture of inside of the cellar.

This is one of the only photos I was able to capture in the wine tasting room. there was currently another group in which I did not want to take a photo of.

Citations:

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.bunkerhillvineyard.com/

Learn about Wine. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://winefolly.com/

Society of Wine Education Textbook.

These glass vessels are a tool used in which wine is being made. These are glass vessels.

Over spring break, I had the opportunity to visit a mom and pop vineyard/winery in Parrish, Florida. Larry and Lenora Woodham both run Bunkerhill Vineyard and Winery. This establishment has been open for over 20 years. The Woodham’s are the sole owners and built their land from the ground up. This couple was very humble, gracious, uncensored, and happy to inform us on how the establishment runs, and everything we need to know about the wine industry. The Woodham’s opened up our eyes to sustainability in the beverage and hospitality industry.

The Steel Wine Cave

Firstly upon arrival Mr.Woodham brought us into the retail wine cave. In this cave were bottles ready for sale, and a tasting area. Mr.Woodham first broke down the wine laws to us that he had posted freely on the wall for customers to see. All of their wine is grown, produced, vinted and, bottled on the establishment. They gave us a keynote when reading wine labels, to look for those words (In the United States). Not only do they produce grape wine, but they produce wine from local fruits and vegetables. Only    3% of their fruits are outsourced. Due to them making wine from whole fresh fruit, they put natural on all of their wine bottles except for grape wines, which it is illegal. Also on their wine label includes the vintage year and various titles of local animals.

Tinted bottles of Rose Wine named after a wildlife species, the Country Cat.

Though at Bunkerhill they do various fruit wines, they do specialize in their grape wine. The only grape variety that they use is the Muscadine grape also known as vitis rotundifolia. According to Crfg, the muscadine grape is native to southeastern United States.These grapes naturally have a thicker skin that can handle this AVA’s naturally maritime climate. In Florida they are surrounded by many lakes which moderates the heat. Florida does get some rain but when it is not enough, they use drip irrigation, with the help of solar panels according to their site. The Woodham’s informed us that harvest for them is in early august. In the specific time that we visited, the vines were just waking up from dormancy. We asked the Woodham’s about pests and how they control it. All of their practices are organic and they are also sustainable. They mentioned their main pests are racoons, whom with their hands can damage the trained vines. Therefore thy capture them unharmfully, and release them into wildlife.

The Woodham’s vinify their wines in a carboy glass inert vessel. This is done because eventually steel releases chemicals into wine and, oak barrels are very porous and unsustainable in their opinion. I inquired about the temperature of the wine cave. Mr.Whoodam said that they do not refrigerate their wine cave because they prefer their wine to be at the temperatures of the Earth. The wine case was made out of steel. The interior is made from storm damaged trees that keeps the cave from getting too warm. Only when completely necessary they use refrigeration, just to keep the wines from being too warm. As far as their sparkling wine, they prefer to do it the traditional method. According to the Society of Wine Educators, the traditonal method originated in France and is the most pricey way to sparkle wine. As usual they make their base wine in a carboy, then for the second fermentation, they do it in 750 mL bottles (which are 100% recycled from returning customers), and riddle the bottle, disgorge it, and reserve it for at least a year. Their base wines are also reserved for minimum one year in a carboy. After taking a tour of the Wine Cave, we went back to the tasting room/ retail shop and got to analyze some wines. We also had the chance to wax bottles. I didn’t get to taste but Massiah did. She tasted a sparkling red, and white. Also she got to taste a blueberry and mango wine. Ms.Lenora Woodham assisted with the wine tasting and was very knowledgeable. She even paired some of their homemade jam to pair with one of their dry wines.

Overall the experience was amazing and i’m very thankful to the Woodhams for being very informative and open.

Myself, in the process of waxing a wine bottle.

The vines here are just waking up from dormancy.

Works Cited

Bunker Hill Vineyard and Winery, retrieved from http://www.bunkerhillvineyard.com/Home.php

Muscadine Grape, retrieved from https://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/muscadinegrape.html

Society of Wine Educators, Certified Specialist of Wine Study Guide. 2018, Print.

Kings County Distillery is New York City oldest, largest and premier whiskey distillery. They started the business in 2010 in a tiny spot in Bushwick and then moved to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 2012. At the Navy Yard I took the 3pm tour the distillery offered for 16 dollars. The first part of the tour was the experiment wall. This wall shows all the spirits that they tried that were successful, as well as the ones that never made it on the market. Then we proceeded with the whiskey war history. Where the tax distiller Clinton Gilbert was shot and killed (Poleman & Haskell 2015) page 72. Kings County distillery has 9 years of service since prohibition.

Spirits and Ingredients:

Straight Bourbon: is their main type of whiskey. The technique Kings County Distillery uses are the grain mixture which is made up of 80 percent of New York State corn and 20 percent U.K barley. It is combined with the fresh corn and then stored in the oak barrels. It has 45 percent alcohol. Aged for 2 years.

Chocolate flavored whiskey: is infused with moonshine. The flavor and the aroma  from the nose comes from the shell or the husk of the coco beans, then sits 3 to 4 months in stainless steel pot still.

Moonshine: Other known as whiskey before aged in a barrel. The moonshine corn whiskey ingredients are corn make from 80 percent New York State corn and 20 percent malted barley. The moonshine is double distilled. It has 40 percent alcohol.

Peated Bourbon whiskey: Is made from malted barley that has been exposed by peat smoke. It is made up of 45 percent alcohol, from 75 percent corn and 25 percent Scottish grown peated malt.

Grape fruit jalapeno flavored moonshine: Both fruits are processed in a separate thank. However the seeds from the jalapenos are removed. The moonshine is infused with citrus, bitterness and heat on the palate.

Farming, Fermenting and distilling practices:

Kings county whiskeys are process includes mash,fermenting straining, stripping run, spirit run, proofing and aging on site. (Poleman & Haskell, 2013) page 130 to 144. Using 24 liters stainless steel stills and 5 oak fermenters made from roof tops water top which holds 40 gallon each. The straight bourbon is distilled twice in copper pots still and aged in new charred oak barrels. First they must choose the barley or corn, then malt the desired grain, extraction of the sugar (corn or barley). They are then combined with warm water also known as the mash, the reduction of carbohydrates creates sugar to activate the yeast. The result is called wort. The draff is the husk or any particles which is used for farming. Follows by fermentation which is yeast + sugar + alcohol = coz+ ethanol + heat. The yeast is then doubled to help absorb the sugar which creates the beer . It is then fermented in oak barrels.  Then comes distillation where the uses copper still known spirit run as to help extract contaminants from the spirit. There are 3 alcohol that is produced from this process foreshots high in alcohol followed by the head, feints very low in alcohol and heart which is high proof alcohol right before the heart is 70 percent proof the tail is distilled water at the end. The transformation from beer to whiskey, maturation of the whiskey is where the spirit sits in charred oak barrels. Then aging in the oak barrels which adds flavor, texture on the palate and color in the appearance. Over all the experience was knowledgeable because the tour guide was familiar with his history and the AVA’s, his spirits, the fermenting process and he was able to answer random questions connecting the question to the lesson in the tour.

Reference list:

Poleman, C., & Haskell, D.,(2015). Kings County Distillery: Dead Distillers.

In-text reference:        (Poleman & Haskell, 2015)

Poleman, C., & Haskell, D.,(2015). Kings County Distillery: Guide to Urban           Moonshining.

In-text reference:       (Poleman & Haskell, 2013)

Wall of experiment

Hospital ticket

stainless steel pot still

Wooden Fermenter

Premium whiskey stored in smaller sized barrels.

Myself

3 main types of whiskey: Moonshine, bourbon and Chocolate flavored

source number 1.

source number 2

For the Project, I chose to visit a coffee roaster instead of a vineyard with a winery. I went to the Brooklyn Roasting Company, this coffee roaster expanded from a single location at 25 jay street to now three different locations. (Eldredge 2015)

The entire place looks like a warehouse and built-in coffee machines. When I spoke with the staff at the front, he was willing to talk but was kind perfunctory. Maybe there were students visit the company every year, therefore, the staff is impatient about what I was about to ask. Despite the attitude, I was able to get enough information out of his mouth because I at least made a purchase so I was a customer. I purchased a Nitro Cold Brew, I think this is a new trend about coffee because I only saw this kind brew recently. Cold brewed coffee with the infuse of Nitrogen can bring a hint of sweetness, however, I found a hint of sourness instead.

Brooklyn Roasting Company only selects the finest Arabic coffee beans from the suppliers they trust and have a direct relationship with. All beans before the roasting process will have a moisture check, only the beans with the moisture content within 11%-13% will be kept and roasted. All BRC coffee roasting process is done by fully computer programmed roasters, therefore, they were able to track the progress and control every roast. The machines they use are also environmentally friendly and more efficient than others. When the beans are roasted to the ideal roast it will be canned or bagged at the same facility, this is also part of the quality control. (BRC 2019)
After the roasting, they also send the beans to their retail store to sell. They also sell all kind of equipment needed to brew coffee.

BRC source their beans all over the place and work with all types of farmers but only when they have met with the member of the coffee co-ops and built a direct relationship because they want to make sure the coffees beans are sustainably grown and harvest. BRC also work with the Fair Trade USA to make sure the farmers they purchased the beans from are paid with a proper wage.

What makes this company unique are the combinations of all trait of them. 100% Arabic beans, Fairtrade, reusable containers, and environmentally friendly coffee roasters, all these together makes the company a great reputation company.

I like that they work with the fair trade to provide proper pay for the farmers because some companies work with the partner that pays barely anything to the farmers and uses child labor at the farm.

that is the cafe, where you can sit.

The finished coffee product they sell

they also sell coffee mugs

This is the roaster they use to roast the coffee

Tools like french press they sell

This is me at the door with their brand name

Reference:

About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.brooklynroasting.com/about

Eldredge, B. (2016, March 24). Sneak Peek at the New Brooklyn Roasting Company HQ. Retrieved from https://www.brownstoner.com/brooklyn-life/sneak-peek-brooklyn-roasting-companys-new-hq-brooklyn-navy-yard/

Brooklyn Roasting Company | Brooklyn | Restaurants. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nycgo.com/restaurants/brooklyn-roasting-company