Touring The Brooklyn Brewery

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Nexmaury Gil

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.

Circa Brewery

Posted on December 7, 2017 by anthony espino

The brewery I visited was the Circa Brewery at 152 Lawrence street Brooklyn, NY. I called the brewery to ask if I could make an appointment and I spoke to the manager Rachael who was very helpful and kind towards me coming in. she asked if I was available to come in that same day to speak to Danny who would love to show me around.

A couple hours later I arrived, I was astonished by the look inside. It was a bar and a restaurant but with huge tanks all throughout the right side of the room. I immediately sat down at the bar just to see who and how someone would approach me. right away a young lady came to take my order as I replied that I called and was meeting Danny for a tour. She pointed to the guy on top of a tank cleaning it out and said that’s your guy come around so you can meet him.

Danny shook my hand and told me to join him on top while the finishes the tanks. I immediately told Danny that I appreciated the time he was taking out of his work day to help me. I then asked him to explain a little about himself. Danny has been working in this field for 8 years professionally and about 4 years unprofessionally making beer in his home. He loves his job and says it is a two-man job to run all the production at that location. He then stated the steps of making beer. Saying that what is done in today’s day is different from the methods that were once used before. He first said that the four main ingredients for making beer are Barley, Hops , water and malt . He gets the barley and malt already mixed from farmers around the united states and the globe. Barley is a very important ingredient in this process but Danny said something interesting about how barley from Germany is used in German beers but if you take barley from Canada a lot of people would never see the deference. He then explained how every tank works differently the first two were for heating the liquid which contained starch sugar and gains for about an hour to an hour and thirty minutes. Its then cooled and transferred to the smaller tanks by the entrance which at that point the yeast would be added and left alone to eat the sugar. Once it is tasted and is cleared by Danny he then adds other flavors to get a certain type of beer. I asked him about how important the farmer is in this day in age as he replied it is very important to have a middle man because in new York there isn’t a lot of room to be growing the raw ingredients yourself all the time . I also asked him about the look in the venue and if it was a safety concern. He explained to me that the owners of the brewery thought it would be cool to have the tanks in front of the clients so they can see the hard works that goes in. also, to add a certain unique look that not every bar would have. It is indeed a safety concern and a health concern to have the process take place right next to the service but he replied that if there’s no law against it then all we have to do is keep it clean.

Danny then stated that he knows that I am studying wine but that the beer process is a lot more complicated than just stepping on grapes. As he laughed he made sure to relay that message to professor Goodlad and offered to do a class tour so he can go more intodepth with the beer making process

Young Whiskey Reviving The Distillery Scenes of New York

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Dreagut1101

I heard from the Van Brunt Stillhouse Distillery from a peer. I did some research and found that they make Whiskey, Grappa, Moonshine and Due North Rum. In a 2013 Fall issue of MicroShiner magazine, they had a piece on Van Brunt Stillhouse where they explained the name of the company. Apparently the founders wanted to come up with a name that represented the history of distilling in Brooklyn. So they thought of naming it Van Brunt after Cornelius Van Brunt, an early settler and founder of Brooklyn.

I made reservations for a tour at the distillery. I arrived by cab at 6 Bay Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York. I entered this warehouse in Redhook, Brooklyn. The door had a computer printed sign that said Van Brunt Stillhouse Tasting Room and Tours. Seemed a little sketchy especially since it was really dark before 6pm. There were staircases going up and down and a big red door proper open. I went towards the door and saw an office space, wooden barrels, and sliding doors labeled, “Tasting Room. “No one to come greet us at the door and no idea where to wait for tours I went into the tasting room which showed signs of life. It was a cozy little place with uncovered low yellow light lightbulbs. A bar to the right, some counters to the left, some couches in the middle and an electronic fireplace in the far corner and wooden floors. By the window I saw a traditional single batch pot still, like the one we saw in the American History Channel video during class. I saw that the sliding doors were sliding stable doors you find in barns. I guess this is a city way of attempting to recreate barn-country chic.

Old copper still pot

The bar tender Josh wore a black t-shirt with the Van Brunt Logo, silver-framed glasses, medium length chestnut hair, and a rugged trimmed beard. He looked like a good-looking nerd on steroids. He offered a seat at the bar and if I wanted any samples or drinks. There were bottles of whiskeys on the bar counter; American, Bourbon, Rye, Moonshine, Smoked Corn and Empire. Empire I had guessed meant that it was made in New York-the Empire State. I tried the Whiskey Cider, which had a little lemon juice and to my surprise, it tasted like a mellowed-out Whiskey Sour. It was a perfect balance of cider, that was not too sweet or acidic, and their American Whiskey. As we waited for the 6 o’clock tour to start, I looked at the spirits they have on the shelves on the wall. They have their Van Brunt Stillhouse Whiskeys and some draped with medals they’ve won. They displayed their gift box set that holds 2 bottles of whiskey, there was a “Van Brunt Stillhouse” beanie, bottles with clear liquid with a strip of masking tape and on it was written “Gin.” I overheard another guest ask about the gin and the bartender said that they made their own gin and that they are going to start selling it in the near future. On the counter there were card flyers that had recipes for some beverages they make with their spirits and a map that shows where they are located. And there were jars filled with grains that they use.

A gift box set and beanie that they sell with their logo

A $10 beverage menu and card flyers that have recipes of drinks with their whiskeys.

Bottles of the spirits they make, medals that they have won on the bottles to the right, and the gin they make in the middle of the bottom shelf.

The four grains they use for the spirits; Rye, Corn, Wheat and Barley.

Whiskey Cider

Van Brunt sampling cup

A woman in her Mid-to-late 20’s came with coiffed short brown hair with neat fade hair lines on the sides and back. She wore straight-cut jeans, a gray t-shirt and gray hoodie. He blue eyes looked stoney, almost cold, but with a sense of wisdom. She introduced herself as Rachel the Tour Guide. The tour began right in front of the tasting room where small barrels laid stacked. The distillery is small, and you can see that this facility has reached full capacity with the rows of barrels, packing/labeling area, office space, and machinery all in sight. She had a bottle of their American Whiskey already there and she handed us small tasting glasses with their brand on it. To smell and taste the whiskey she said, “I’m gonna breathe through my nose, but with my mouth open a little bit, that gives the alcohol somewhere to go so that you get a little more of the aroma. As you taste it you can let it travel through all the different parts of your mouth…similar to wine, you pick up different flavors from different parts of your taste buds. As you swallow you’re going to have a little bit of a burn, it is whiskey. After that burn it’s gonna rise forward with some more flavors on your tongue.” She said that this particular whiskey was made of equal parts wheat and malted barley with the addition of rye and corn for flavor. Rachel said that pre-commercialized whiskey was made in farms from left over grains and corn that could not be commercialized to then either sell or consume. She showed us the big sacks of grains they receive from Oechsner Farms, a “transitional” organic farm located by the Finger Lakes.

A half empty sack of wheat, and other bags of grains.

Because some of the newly purchased farms is not yet certified as an organic farm, the stillhouse does not have to pay all these fees as they would from a certified farm. The Wheat, Rye and Corn grains are from Oechsner Farms, but, “[The] Malt is sourced in a variety of different places, so you won’t actually get to taste our Single Malt Whiskey because it is not a farm product. As long as our distillery operations are over a certain threshold-75% of farm ingredients, than we can make additional spirits. So we actually make a [Due North] Rum that is not a farm product, we make Tokki Soju which is like a Korean rice based spirit. Unfortunately the law for our tasting space is not the same as the law for our production so those spirits all have to be farm spirits.” This is but a brief section of the extended law and regulations of the New York State Alcohol Beverage Control. To be more specific it is under Article 5 Sub Section 61 2-C(i),

“Only liquor manufactured primarily from farm and food products, as defined in subdivision two of section two hundred eighty-two of the agriculture and markets law, shall be used in the tastings.”

Rachel then pointed to a fire engine red metal box mounted on the wall with a key lock installed. It looked like an oversized mail box you find installed by the door of a house. She said that inside is where they keep the recipes to all of their liquors. All of the recipes are done by weight. She showed us their mill which was located outside. First the grain goes into the large container where it is weighed to scale a ton of grain for the recipe.

The container where they weigh the grains according to the recipes.

the mill where the grain is ground

It is ground in the mill to a size she describes as grits. She continued to talk about the fermentation process, “We’re taking a starch and we are breaching the hull, breaking it open, we’re gonna add water to it, cook it down to a sugar solution. And then we’re gonna add yeast, which eats sugar and creates alcohol.” The grist travels through the pvc pipe and goes back inside of the building, into a large vessel you have to go up some steps to reach the top. It was at this point that the second whiskey was sampled; the Bourbon. She explained that Bourbon is native to America and it has the same four grains as the American Whiskey, but it contains 55% corn. To be labeled Bourbon, “It has to be 51 percent corn, so you are going to have more sweetness…you’re also going to have to age it in new, never been used American Oak barrels, we actually do that for most of our whiskeys here. It has to be made in the United States.” She explained that bourbon can be made anywhere in the United States, “not just in Kentucky,” and like Kentucky and their Kentucky Straight, New York has its own categorization called Empire-Rye. It has to be made from 75% New York grains, distilled in New York, have to be distilled at no higher than 160 proof, put in a barrel at no higher than 115 proof, and aged for at least two years. Both are destination based like an appellation.

Through my research I found that the Empire-Rye just started last year when six leading distilleries in New York came together to create the Empire Rye Whiskey Association, dedicated to establishing a whisky style from New York that is high quality. The Van Brunt Stillhouse is the first outside distillery that has adopted this appellation standard.

Large vessel where wort is made

the vessel where wort is made

Back to the vessel, the grist is boiled for 8-16 hours, depending on the recipe, and the sugar content is constantly checked on until it reaches a certain level based on the recipe. Then the grist mixture cools so that it the yeast can ferment into wort. The wort is put into a copper kettle, a Bavarian Brandy Still (which they named Jolene) that has a single column still. The column has 6 little windows where you can see all the levels where the mash travels when heated up and the alcohol evaporates further through the machine where the coils cool down the gas which becomes liquid whiskey. The mash falls down into a small vat where it collects. The mash is put through a separator where the grain is collected for New York compost to collect and the water drains into the sewer. The liquor is collected in a large vat.

Copper Bavarian Brandy Still

The small vat where the alcohol is collected

Rachel said that it is distilled twice. The first is called a “stripping run” which is the initial separation of the mash and a liquid alcohol they call “low wines.” The second distillation is called the “spirit run” which she explained as the process that can separate certain compounds from the low wines at different temperatures. “We have the heads, the hearts and the tails of that spirit run, so in the spirit run of the head section, we’re gonna get stuff like methanol. We don’t really want that. That’s not one of the alcohol compounds that we’re gonna want to take into our collection, so that were actually gonna either use for cleaning in the bar or we’re gonna dilute and just dispose of…The middle part, the hearts, that’s really the collection we’re looking to reserve.” She guided us to a large vat next the Bavarian Brandy Still that was no higher than five feet. In it there was a crystal clear liquid which is a highly refined which she said was about 150 proof. Based on our lecture in class, I asked if this was moonshine, and she said yes because it was rye that they distilled earlier. We then sampled their Van Brunt Rye Whiskey which is 75% Rye which is a United States requirement they abide by to be able to label this whiskey as Rye Whiskey. It was spicy and smooth as it went down.

The last part of the whiskey making process, is putting into new white oak barrels that are about 3 feet tall. These are small barrels that they purposefully choose because of space and to accelerate the aging process so there is more liquor to charred oak contact. In doing so the quality of the whiskeys is attained it still gets that smoky flavor and deep color within the two years that it is aged. Two years is good enough for them and the Rye Whiskey Association, but they also want to specialize in young whiskey. She showed us a white oak stave from an old barrel they used to age whiskey. You can see how deeply charred the barrels are and Rachel pointed out the line where the whiskey seeped through. The barrels are purchased charred, and it acts as a natural filter as it seeps through the staves which gives the whiskey its caramel color and oaky taste. The station where they label their bottles was simple.

An old stave that shows the charred inside of a barrel and the line in the middle is the indicatorof how far the whiskey seeps in.

A long table, a roll of stickers, empty bottles and shelves. I could see some different shaped bottles which Rachel said were what they made for the bar such as Vermouth and Gin. This place really does what they can with what little space they have, and hope to expand. Although they plan to get a bigger place to work, this won’t change their original passion for representing young whiskey and bringing back New York’s lost grain-distilling history.

Beverage Control. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/ABC/61

Empire Rye Whiskey Association. History. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from https://www.empirerye.com/history

Lyon, M. (2013, October). Van Brunt Stillhouse-History of Spirits in Red Hook, Brooklyn. MicroShiner, (Fall), 46-64. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from https://issuu.com/microshiner/docs/microshiner_autumn13_web

New York (State)., Office of the New York State Senate., Division of State Services. Alcoholic. Retrieved December 03, 2017,

Van Brunt Stillhouse. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from http://www.vanbruntstillhouse.com/

The Brooklyn Brewery

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Jodian Burgess

I decided to use the Brooklyn Brewery for my beverage production experiential analysis because I wasn’t able to go to the vineyard. The Brooklyn Brewery is a beer production and tasting bar located in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I have to say that I was pretty excited for this visit because I’m kind of a beer fan and I have never been to or thought about going to a brewery.

When I got there I walked in to hear someone asking if anyone wants to take the tour or if they’re just drinking so I immediately walked up to him and told him that I’m on this visit for a school assignment and that I wanted to take the tour. The guy was very nice because he told me that I could ask him or whoever anything I needed too because it was for school. I got my tour ticket and then I went to go get my beer pass. There were a couple of beers on the menu but I ended up getting one that had orange in it. I liked it a lot because it had the beer bitterness that I liked but it tasted of orange so it balanced out.

The bartender was also my tour guide. His name was Travis and he told us that they’ve been around since 1980 but they were only home brewers and did not yet have this brewery. They would sell recipes until they made enough to buy what they now call the Brooklyn Brewery and they’ve been opened since 1988. They brew 24 hours a day, 5 days a week using a 50 barrel roll up system from Germany. Each beer is tailor made by how many grains are used.

Travis let us know that there are 4 ingredients in beer, water, grains, hops and yeast (which I was glad to already know). He also let us know the two categories of beer, ale and lager with ale being the sharper one. The way they make their beer is by adding their grains to a drum that heats them up and creates water when the grain start to come out of their shells. This is filtered by separating the water from the grain in order to kill any bacteria that is still in it. It is then transferred to what he called the “war pool” where the hops will be added. They let the mixture cool down and then they send it to the fermentation cellars where the yeast is added. They let it become beer and then they bottle it up and start to distribute it. They depend a lot on word of mouth as well as selling their beers to local Brooklyn establishments.

filter

The staff was really helpful. I enjoyed my visit and I thought the beer was really good. I liked that they didn’t try to make the place look fancy, it looked exactly how i would expect a beer making place to look. It was a good new experience.

Blue Ridge Estate Vineyard &Winery

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Dale Campbell

I took a weekend trip in November to the Poconos with my family and we found a cute little Vineyard & Winery Called Blue Ridge Estate Vineyard & Winery. The owners Randy and Tiffany decided in 2010 after visiting the West Coast to open elegant yet informal winery where they handcraft small batches wines. They also have two locations where they sell their wines called Regina Farms and The Crossing Premium Outlets. They also sell their wines in little shops around town.

I was surprised to find out that the wine tastings was only $5 per person which includes 5 wines. They have a large and detailed list of white, red sweet wines. I tasted a Cabernet Sauvignon which they called The Godfather. Randy who is the owner and also gave the tour, told us that they aged the wine in 15 gallon bourbon barrels. The Godfather was fullbodied wine. The wine is unfiltered and raw so the wine did have some Sediments in it which i did not like .

Raspberry Inspiration, Riesling, and Terroir

Discriptive wine menu. I marked the ones i tried.

The winery was full of unique vivification methods. They also have a wine that is put into a bourbon barrel then is place 5 feet under ground on the vineyard and is left there for 9 months. It was taken out on June 17. It is also raw and unfiltered. We also tasted a Chardonnay. Randy told us how they aged the grapes in 40 year old scotch and tequila barrels. On the nose the wine had a fruity melon smell with hints of pineapple but on the palate it i tasted a lot like figs and mango with citrus.

The wine tasting room was beautiful. Its a large open space with a wrap around porch that faces the vineyard. In the tasting room they have live performances on the weekend and dinners from 6-9. The tasting room over looks the vineyard and the Christmas tree farm which is next door to the vineyard property . The weekend that i went they started the lighting of the vineyard which would be a great view while drinking wine. Although i didn’t get to stay long for the lighting of the vineyard or for the dinner they do have food trucks and vendors on the property.

View in tasting room

View of vines

As i mentioned before the owner of the vineyard ran the free tours. which took place at 2pm and 4pm. You can tell that he was very passionate about wine and had a great amount of knowledge. He explained viticulture and how he had played a major roll in each and every wine. Randy took us to this machine and showed us the bottling process. it had 8 filling heads it goes around in a circle and fills the bottles next it goes to the sipper which basically sucks out some of the wine to make sure it is exactly 750ml in each bottle. Then before it is corked it is hit with some nitrogen to stop any further oxidation from happening. The bottle is than corked and labeled.

Bottling machine

Over all i had a great experience at the Blue Ridge Estate Vineyard &Winery. Having the tour done by the owner made it a greater experience and made it fell more personal.

I brought 2 bottles and they gave us complimentary wine glasses

Unique

Posted on December 7, 2017 by LourycGarcia

Stainless steel cooling bin Picture by:Kave Brooklyn

For the Beverage production learning analysis assignment I decided to do an alternative task and visit a coffee roaster named Unique Coffee Roasters. It is located at3075 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10303. I spoke with the manager named Joseph Ferrara who informed me that the beans they use to roast coffee are mostly from brazil, however they also have beans that are from Hawaii, Asia, parts of Africa and Jamaica. ).

Close look at coffee bean package.
Picture by: @uniquecoffeeroasters

When I asked Joseph about the farmer’s approach to agriculture/farming practices, he said they are grown in Minas Gerais which is in Brazil and is very close to the south Atlantic Ocean. The coffee beans are picked during Brazil’s winter which is from June through September. The beans cannot handle the frost so when they are ready they are harvested right away (and can be found in stores almost out of stock at T.J Maxx, Homegoods, Marshalls, and Stop & Shop).

Picture by: @Uniquecoffeeroasters

Brambati Roasting Machine Picture by: @uniquecoffeeroasters

Their roasting methods vary since they produce different types of coffee bean flavors like a Deck blend or the Costa Rican Tarrazu. He mentioned that he was inspired by someone he knew in the coffee business who tried their beans before roasting them, this way he would know if the bean deserved a long roast or a light roast. Since I prefer a dark roast he said it would be a long roast if I wanted that chocolate, caramel, heavy taste to it. They roast the beans using a Brambati roaster which has a closed cylinder where the pure heat of the flames circulate throughout the container. It almost looks like a construction site since you are able to climb the stairs and go around it.

Roasting Machine Picture by: @striper

A close look at the beans
Picture by: @UniqueCofeeRoasters

The one who assisted me was Joseph who is the son of the James Ferrara, the original owner of Unique Coffee Roasters. James opened the coffee roasting business back in 1955 and Joseph knew coffee was his calling when he was in the 8th grade. Seeing his father run his business made him eager to work there and was first hired to sweep floors and moved up the ladder from there. He said he was fond of his father because he taught him to learn from the bottom and work his way up. Joseph plans on opening a new location in other boroughs such as Manhattan since he believes it will expand his current market.

Packaging the finished beans.
Picture by: @uniquecoffeeroasters

The customer service was great, a receptionist was able to let the manager know that I was interested asking question for an assignment. I had to call back at a different time since he was currently unavailable for questioning. When it came time for scheduling a tour he was unable to give a tour on the days I proposed.

Top View of Cooling bin. Picture by: @pmorse19

Since Joseph was unable to give a tour on the days I was available, he answered my questions through the phone. He was nice enough to suggest using photos from their Instagram page and some from those who had already taken a tour of the place. One thing I learned from this experience was to manage my time better when it comes to doing assignments that involve planning a tour.

Brooklyn Brewery(Steven Liu)

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Steven Liu

Brooklyn Legar!

I went to an alternative which is a beer brewery. It is called Brooklyn Brewery and located at 79 N 11th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249. It was an interesting trip, not that I learned beer production but also the history of it and how they market them self in the hospitality industry. I went to the brewery a little bit early just to got some beer and I found that flavor and the aroma was a little different than the other brand, it has is own style I guess is a symbol of Brooklyn in a way.
I bought a 12oz of Brooklyn Legar before the tour

Beer Tank

The pipe that provide water for the brew.

The middle machine is where they use for pressing.

Bottling line machine that can bottle up to 7000 per hour.

Bottling machine.

It shows that its bottle.

like in wine class I tried and making notes in my head. I found out that it tasted a little different from the other brands it gives a refreshing feeling. The style of this beer is an American Amber lager and it uses crystal malt and cascade hops. In my opinion, this beer would go with pizza or fried chicken.
Steven Hindy is the owner and founder of this brand, he never thought that one day he would become this big. He was a news reporter stayed in the Middle East and learned homebrew over there. He came back to the USA in 1994 and decided he wants to do something different. He started the business with Thom which he never thought this can be a big success. When both of them decided to work together they found Milton Glaser to design their logo that’s how the Brooklyn brewery logo came from.
In 1996 when the brewery started to brew at Brooklyn. The personnel told us there are four basic ingredients to make beers which is Grains + Hop s + Water + yeast=Beer. First they have to crack all the grain, in Brooklyn brewery their grains are came already cracked and sealed, this process will help isolate the enzymes, then they need hot water and grain mash together, the enzymes in the grains will react to the hot water and creates sugar, after that they will add hops to balance the bitterness and creates the flavor of beers, lastly when they add yeast to ferment they will become beer. It was interesting that although the facility is small they have their own assembly line to in the other room. He mentioned that when they first purchase the machine it is only 2 in the world. They can bottle up to 7000 bottles an hour. In terms of marketing, their beer sells in 27 states and 34 countries internality.
I think the personnel was off topics a little. We had like 30 minutes of the tour, he spends about 28 minutes on the story of the founder and how the company becomes this big. I felt like it would be better if he explains more how beers works and the different style of their beer. What makes it so different than other company. Also, I didn’t get a chance to understand how a lot of their machine works because he was making a lot of jokes and wasn’t very into it. But overall, I really liked the taste of their beer.

Kings County Distillery

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Anne Huang

Kings County Distillery (FRONT)

The Distillery I visited is Kings County Distillery located in 299 Sands St, Brooklyn, New York 11201. Kings County Distillery is highly known for operating whiskey distillery such as corn whiskey and bourbon whiskey. It is NYC’s first legal distillery since Prohibition. Kings County began as the smallest commercial distillery in the county and was first located on a small 325 square foot room in East Williamsburg. It had five 24-liter stainless steel stills making whiskey continuously. In 2012, the distillery moved into the Paymaster Building in the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard, just a few miles away from the Brooklyn Whiskey Wats of the 1860s and the former distillery district waterfront. It was a tremendously am informative 1 hour tour and a half. My tour guide Evan was extremely knowledgeable about distillation and super friendly. He talked a lot about the history and process of making Whiskey in Kings County Distillery. I learned plenty about both the history and craft process, and really enjoyed the tasting. They make handmade moonshine, bourbon, and other whiskeys alongside with experimenting different flavor whiskey. Sometime their experimented whiskey come as a failure but they continue to try to make a new creation. A few of their popular creations they are are honey moonshine, grapefruit jalapeno moonshine, chocolate whiskey, and etc. Below are some of their whiskeys products and price list.

Evan brought us to the main distillery floor where all the whiskeys gets made. The main ingredient in making whiskey is grain especially malted barley grain which has a smokey rubbery characteristic. Their main product bourbon need to be 51% corn by law so they are 70% corn. They have their corn and grains straight from the farm, lakeview organic grain which is a farm in upstate New York. The first step is in their cooker that boils/cooks the corn and grains and liquefy it. Then they have a separator to separate all the grain and liquid. The liquid goes a tank which then pumps it into their fermenters. They sprinkle yeast all over the fermenters and leave it for about two to four days to ferment.

Fermentation

Evan also emphasize that fermentation process is similar to how beer gets fermented just that for distilling, it involves removing the carbon dioxide. Once it is ready, the liquid gets pumped into stills. The stills they use are true pot stills.

It cooks it on one side of the stills and turns into steam. There is a black pipe that compressed steam. That’s the heat source that goes into a coil, a stainless steel coil inside the still. It boils the steam to vapor and travels into a condenser and then can see the whiskey coming right out of the stone. They consider it as double distilling. One advantages of their pot stills is that it gives a really rich textural flavor. After one distillation, they will reduce a thousand liters of wash or distillers beer down to about six percent alcohol down to about 600 liters at forty percent alcohol. They will have someone taste and smell the spirit and make sure it is the right consistency and flavor.

The last and longest step in the process is storing the spirits. Evan brought us to where they stored it in barrels. They have approximately 2,400 barrels. Their shorter age barrels are in the center of the room and larger one near the windows. Their whiskey bourbon has to be aged in a charred new oak barrel so they have smaller barrels with char three on the inside. Their rye whiskey is aged in the smaller barrels. Usually the smallest size barrel tends to be more for the experimental whiskeys like oatmeal whiskey.

Tasting

At the end of the tour, Evan offered tasting of their whiskey. It started off with a sample of moonshine. Moonshine has the most high-proof distilled spirit. It has NOT ever been barreled so it had high alcohol content. It was extremely hard to consume and strong. The second sample I had was spiced whiskey. It had a fusion of 7 spices which is pepper, cinnamon, star anish, all spices, caradamom, nutmeg, and cloves. It had a spicy cinnamon kick to it. The remaining whiskey I tried was straight bourbon whiskey, peated bourbon, and chocolate flavored whiskey. My personal favorite was the chocolate flavored whiskey. They infused their moonshine with ground cacao beans from Mast Brothers Chocolate, a factory nearby. It had a hint of bitterness and tasted like dark chocolate. I really enjoyed it!

Chocolate Flavored Whiskey

Brooklyn Brewery Sell Sheets

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Prof. Karen Goodlad

It is time to practice our analysis skills on a new beverage, beer! Please the attached sell sheets provide great information about the beer we will taste. I suggest tasting first, downloading after.

Bedell Cellars In North Fork Long Island By: Stephon Watford

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Stephon

Throughout my time in this semesters wine class I have gained extensive knowledge about the creation and production of wine and spirits, so I was really excited to go and experience it in person. I was able to go to Bedell Cellars on November 25th in the North Fork of Long Island. I went with my fellow classmate Malica, and thanks to the wine and beverage manager at her job we were able to indulge in a complimentary wine tasting and tour of the vineyard and cellar.

When arriving we were greeted kindly by the conductor of the tour Brad who showed us to our seats. We were given tasting menus and excited to see that we would taste four wines and a cider! I was so excited for the cider because that’s something that we have never tasted in class. The cottage cider was the first thing we tried Brad explained that they use it to help cleanse the palate, made from the apples grown in there cottage orchard built in 1710. The smell of the cider was a pleasant aroma of bright crisp apples and the taste matched exactly, it had a crisp mouth fill, which left my mouth salivating ready for the next glass. Up next was First Crush White 2016 a unique aromatic blend made from 40% Chardonnay, 30% Gewurztraminer, 20% Sauvignon Blanchard 10% Riesling and aged in steel. This wine reminded me of a wine for a beginner something that almost anyone would like; it had notes of apples, lemon and some mineral qualities this wine is very easy to like but to some might think it is one noted.

The remainder of the wines was all red grapes. The first one was called Taste Noveau 2017, made from fermenting whole grape clusters using the classic carbonic macetration technique 90% Merlot and 10% Malbec, The second one was a 2015 Caberbet Franc aged in older French barrels. Lastly we had the Taste Red 2013 a full-bodied blend of 50% Merlot, 30% Syrah, 14% Petit Verdot, 4% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc. Out of the red wines I would say the Taste Noveau was my least favorite, because I felt the taste was lacking body and taste it almost had a watered down quality to it but then again it is the first wine of the vintage so with time maybe the flavors would develop more. Taste Red 2013 I was torn between different feelings because I loved the soft and ripe tannins it had but there wasn’t enough complexity in flavor. I was looking forward to the complexness of the grapes since it was a blend but it does have a unique taste that I enjoyed. Out of all the wines I tried the Bedell Cellars 2015 Cabernet Franc was amazing I really enjoyed this wine, the smell was remarkable it smelled just like butter and it coated my mouth like a blanket it had notes of dark cherries, blackeberries and vanilla from fermenting in old French barrels. It left my mouth savoring for more

After the tasting Brad took us on a tour of the vineyard the cellar and the bottling station. Although nothing was in season and their were no grapes on the vines the visuals were absoultely beautiful. We were informed that Bedell Cellars is home to some the oldest vines in the North Forks of Long Island. The first grapevine was planted by founder Kip Bedell in 1980, the soil there is rocky and sandy due to the galciers years ago and the climate is oceanic due to the alantic ocean just east of them.

The Vineyard

An exhibit of what the soil is like

Next we visited the cellar it was so cool to see all the oak barrels and steel tanks. They had all of the barrels labeled with the type of grape date and time and also temperature. I learned that instead of buying commercial yeast to firmament their wine they actually create their own natural yeast, which helps them save money and gives the wine a special taste. Also I found out that there most popular grapes are Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc and the best sellers are Merlot and their Rose. The bottling station was nest door, in it was the bottling machine which was very interesting not as big as I would’ve thought I would be but it did look as complicated it could bottle up to twenty bottles per minute! A fun fact about Bedell is that it was the first wine from New York to be served at an inauguration. The 2009 Merlot was in the menu at President Obamas second term inauguration ceremony.

Oak Barrels

Oak Barrel Frm The Cab Franc I Loved !!!!

Steel Tanks For Fermentation

Bottling Room/Station

In Conclusion This experience was so amazing I could not have asked for anything better then this. I was given a wine tasting and tour I feel that this has been such an amazing eye opener to the creation and production of wine, to see it first hand was a great treat I feel that I know so much more about the production of wine. I would definitely love to come back to Bedell in the spring when the grapes are growing on the vine, and I would recommend Bedell wines to a friend any day.

Goodlad HMGT 2402 Fall 2017

"We Study Wine"