Author Archives: Nexmaury Gil

Touring The Brooklyn Brewery

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Brooklyn Brewery Entrance, right away introduces the guests with huge vessels of steel fermentation tanks.

I had the good experience visiting the Brooklyn Brewery this weekend, as an alternative option. Although I’m not a big fan of beer, I thought it would be nice learning some new things about how they are brewed. Before the tour I was limited to only knowing that beer was fermented and made from a grain.Walking into the Brewery the staff was pretty friendly and conveniently gave me tickets to the tour right away before I could ask. I was guided to the tasting room which was full of people also waiting for the tour.

Tasting Room and waiting area.

Our tour guide was Evan, he was a knowledgeable about the history of the Brewery company as well as the heavy machinery. Evan mentioned he’s from New Jersey to reference their beer distribution, they distribute a lot of beer to other many states and countries most notability New Jersey, the UK, Switzerland, St. Louis etc. He then began informing us on the four basic ingredients of making beer, which was malted Barley (Grain), Hop, Yeast and, lots water is also added of course. He passed around a jar of barley and hop for us to smell. The barley looked like a typical grain with a nice familiar smell to it, while hop was much stronger on the nose and looked like small round moss pebbles.Evan pointed out how the process works, and how it starts with malt and water. He showed us the filtration system they use to separate the water form the barley from the water. Then is transferred to another kettle through to the tubes he pointed at connecting the steel kettles, he then explained how hop is added second an agent to give bitter flavors to the beer. While the yeast creates sugar content as it ferments so it give balance to the beer product, before fermentation the mixture is transferred to a wort chiller as well.

Brew kettle were ingredients are added such as hop to the water with barley, before the mixture is fermented in yeast vessels.

Fermentation tanks with yeast, the Brewery has a total of 14 vessels inside the building. They are tightly sealed to protect from oxidation.

Evan took us to another room and showed us more fermentation vessels and bottling machines that they operate. The machines can bottle 7000, 12.0z bottles per hour from the primary vessel. The company produces a lot of draft beer, which they also give out to taste in the tasting room. After taking us to the bottling room Evan explained the story of the owner Steve Hindy and the hardships he had gone through to create the Brooklyn Brewery since his days back in the Middle East.

Evan talked about the Brewery had been robbed at gun point before which was a twist from just talking about production, he explained the owners past and how he had live around danger. Then started Brewing beer in his home using a smaller system. Then coming to American and meet Steve that eventually become partners with and create a business. They were first called the Eagle Brewery and transitioned to the Brooklyn Brewery when they became more recognized in Brooklyn for their marketed malt beers. They had many competitors, but in the early 2000s distribution become more serious. He talked about the history for about 20 minutes or so, so there wasn’t much to learn after the bottling process. It was kinda disappointed me because the tour was to short to just be talking abut the owner for most of the time. I would of wanted to know more about the different varieties of beers made there.

 

Machine used to bottle the beer factory style, the bottles run through the belt.

Other perspective on kegging and bottling machine.

The initial bottling machine, the fermented beer run through these tubes and machines to be dispensed into bottles.

 

Astor Wines and Spirits Visit

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I went to Astor Wines and Spirits for the retail project. Its located at, 399 Lafayette St, New York,  just around the shopping areas in SoHo. It was very easy to find the location, it was not far from the train station at all either which is always a plus, they also had a specific wine tasting at the time which was free also, it was from 5pm – 8pm i believe that day. Walking into the store i did not expect it to be so big and organized It felt good walking inside, it almost seemed like i was at a supermarket but for wines and alcohol. Most of the wines were located in sections of regions if not the countries that produces the wines. There were so many sections to look at, the French aisle had all the important regions like Rhone, Loire, Burgundy as well as other countries like Italy. It was a great experience to recognize so many regions, because i study wine. Most of the wine sections had shelf talkers hanging above the bottles, they were descriptive about the type of wine the region focuses on, for example if they are dry, red, the dominant grape variety, what to expect on your palate and a little positive line about the quality to basically sell the wine. They even include a picture and/or description of where the region is located which makes it very helpful for those like me that study wine. Doing research, on their website you can actually have a full google tour of the store as well, i strongly recommend it, if you are planning on going but want to check out the store online.

I also found myself exploring the unknown and looking at the South American wines, wines from Spain and even Sake. It was interesting because i saw countries that i wouldn’t think to produce wines like Australia. Looking at the price ranges of the store most wines were around $13 – $30, some wines from more important regions like Burgundy had wines for around $30 to $60 on the shelf. I saw wines that were new from Portugal, Chile and Spain, they did not cost much either, i wondered if they were just table wines or experimenting with new producers. While walking around I asked an employee that was very friendly and helpful some questions. I asked if they had any very luxury wines that are not available on the shelf, which he replied with a “yes” and pointed at a sealed room on the left side of the store and told me that they have very expensive bottles and high quality mixed wines there. He said they can range from $75 – $100 to thousands depending on the vintage or and producer, like wines from a well know high quality grand cru, some are not presented to the public either unless is asked for. I also ask if they make orders for customers if they want a specific wine that is not in stock, and they definitely do he said. he informed me that they do delivery and pick ups at the store as well. I had a wonderful experience coming to Astor, i even bought a Riesling wine. The only drawback was just the fact that there ware so many options and vast variety of wines and other beverages, it can be difficult to find something to buy unless is something specific that you’ll want, but the employees are very helpful and knowledgeable so they can help.

Argentinean wine from the South American Wines, Malbec and Cabernet Saugvinon dominant.

Burgundy was my favorite French Region, the shelf talker gives the a great description of the region.

French Sparkling Wines made just outside the Champagne region, referred as a “Cremant”

New Portuguese wines, Fernao Pires, Casa De Pacos and Coventual Portalegre 2014.