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They call it “The Mardi Gras of Beer Festivals.” It’s Freaktoberfest, and it’s coming this Saturday, September 15th. Host Jimmy Carbone welcomes Freaktoberfest founder (and Smuttynose lover and field sales rep) Pat Fondiller, who reveals the origins of New York City’s wildest beer festival. Also weiging in is Albert Antonucci, owner of Greenwood Park, the bar and beer garden that is hosting Freaktoberfest. One of the many breweries at Freaktoberfest (see below) is Founders, represented by Brand Manager Tim Traynor, the Brand Manager for Founders Brewery. He previews the Founders launch of their Breakfast Stout on September 21st. Finally, we hear from Matt Polacheck, the man behind all of Shmaltz Brewing’s crazy designs.

Listen the whole episode here.

Beers that will be available during this year’s Freaktoberfest:

This may turn out to be our annual end-of-summer event, although we cannot promise (nor do we hope for) a tornado every year. A scary weather morning broke just in time for the first (annual?) Barrels & Kegs. The food was amazing (porgy at Rippers, tostadas at Rockaway Taco and arepas at Caracas) and the beer flowed all afternoon, courtesy of the 20+ brewers who showed up to pour their best brews. Like the Beer Sessions Radio page on Facebook, and see all the fun we had in the sun.

Rain or shine, we’ll be there. And there will be tents at the beer concessions area (and the beer is already there). Plus, the weather should be breaking around noon… right when we open! Come out, hang out, bring your swimwear (hey, you’re meant to get wet at the beach!). On site tickets for sale ($28 for 20 pours or $10 for 5). Take the A train (to Far Rockaway not Lefferts/Ozone) and transfer to the S-Shuttle at Broad Channel. Can’t wait!

It’s a day at the beach! With beer! And killer concessions! And we have different options for getting you there and making sure your beer glass runneth over!

Barrels & Kegs: A Rockaway Beach Beer Event, which takes place this Saturday, September 8th, from noon-5 p.m., serves several purposes. Working with the New York City Brewers Guild, we’re spreading the word that New York City Beer Week (f.k.a. NY Craft Beer Week) is moving to February 2013. We’re also celebrating the amazing local beer scene in Brooklyn and Queens. We’ll offer 20 pours (with additional beer tickets available on site) from each of the following brewers who are bringing two different beers:

• Sixpoint
• Greenport Harbor
• Kelso of Brooklyn
• Coney Island/Shmaltz
• Barrier Brewing
• Carton
• Empire Brewing
• Sly Fox
• Brooklyn Brewery
• Bronx Brewery
• Ommegang
• Doc’s Cider
• Narragansett
• Founders
• Blue Point
• Wandering Star
• Butternuts
• And Queens’ latest brewery, Rockaway Brewing!

Getting to Rockaway is easy! You can take the A train (to Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue Branch, not the A to Lefferts/Ozone Park) and exit at Broad Channel; hop on the Shuttle and exit at any of the first three stops (90th, 98th or 105th).

We’ll also have additional (or fewer) beer tickets available at each concessions area (concessions are at 86th, 96th and 106th at the Boardwalk) for only $10 (5 pours)! Note: If you are accompanying friends and don’t drink, you do not have to pay to join the fun! It’s pay-as-you go (or not!). With so many options to choose from, how can you miss this great beer at the beach event?

For a list of vendors for additional food purchase, check out this cool map of the Boardwalk. Get your general admission 20-pour tickets here.

You may have heard that NYC Beer Week is moving to February this year. That doesn’t mean that we won’t be gearing up starting in September, as we present Barrels & Kegs: A Rockaway Beach Beer Event. Rockaway has a tradition of a great beach and boardwalk (“Barrels” refers to surfing), and the concessions along the boardwalk are reason alone to visit the beach.

On Saturday, September 8th, from noon-5 p.m., Beer Sessions Radio and Edible Queens will present 15+ area breweries (with a couple friends from afar thrown in) at three separate concessions areas (86th, 96th, 106th) to offer beer to go along with your Rockaway concessions crawl. Check-in at any of the three concessions, get your wristband, cup and a punch card. You can sip beer and try out the many great food offerings, including Rockaway Taco, Caracas Arepa, or Rippers (the joint venture of Roberta’s and Brooklyn Kitchen). With your ticket you’ll get 20 pours, including beer from:

• Sixpoint
• Greenport Harbor
• Kelso of Brooklyn
• Coney Island/Shmaltz
• Barrier Brewing
• Long Ireland
• Brooklyn Brewery
• Bronx Brewery
• Ommegang
• Founders
• Blue Point
• Wandering Star
• And Queens’ latest brewery, Rockaway Brewing!

Other breweries TBA. Fifteen brewers, 20 beers, only $28 (food available—see below—for separate purchase). $1 from each ticket benefits the Ray Deter Memorial Fund. Get your tickets here.

Even the most well-versed craft beer lover gets a little confused by the “gypsy brewer,” a brewer that uses other people’s facilities, meaning a lot of variety, flexibility and variation in the beer (for better and worse). This past Monday at Good Beer Seal Bar Mission Dolores in Park Slope, it was all for the better as four gypsy brewers had a tap takeover. In the house were 12 Percent brews from Local Option, Omnipollo, Stillwater and Evil Twin, which was debuting its Lil’B, an 11.4% ABV Imperial Porter that was brewed in Mt. Pleasant, SC, at Westbrook Brewing Co. Evil Twin’s owner and brewer Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø was greeting beer lovers and industry professionals alike. Continue reading “Mission Dolores Celebrates Gypsy Brewers”

This weekend was the annual Belgium Comes To Cooperstown at Ommegang, and the Beer Sessions Radio team was there to record their Heritage Radio Network podcast (normally live, but these special pre-recorded BCTC broadcasts will run on 8/14 and 8/21).

Among the many beer, food and music options was the “Hop Chef” competition, which pits regional winners against the previous year’s top “Hop Chef.” The challenge? Create the best food pairings with Ommegang ales. This year’s competition saw Blind Tiger Ale House (a Good Beer Seal bar!) Chef Tommy Harder defend his 2011 title against Chef Jaime Ortiz from NY (Mazzone Hospitality), Jeff Eng of Maryland (Clyde’s), and Philly Chef George Sabation (Stateside), who ended up the 2012 winner.

Jimmy Carbone was among the judges for this year’s competition, and we look forward to hearing all about the festival on the upcoming Beer Sessions Radio™ broadcasts.

Last night was a great event at the South Street Seaport Museum (if you’ve never been, the place is appropriately decked out like the inside of a ship!). We were drinking beer with Shmaltz Brewing, Long Trail, Thomas Hooker, Beer Hear! and the Brooklyn Brewshop (among others); and ate food from Jimmy’s No. 43 and Sigmund’s Pretzels. All while hanging out with a great group of beer media. Be sure to see all the latest on our Facebook page (and, please, “like” us). A special shout out goes to the Beer Union team of Giancarlo and Sarah Annese, who did manage to get to all 41 Good Beer Seal Bars in a month (they started a week early and finished with a week to go, so we say it still counts). We’re guessing they are the only non-GBS members to make it to every bar on our list, so huge congratulations to them!

What’s the connection between craft beer and micro-distilleries? Quite a lot. From craft brewers who are adding distilling in their business to distillers who got their start in brewing, the ties between brewing and distilling are defining how micro-distillers make inroads into the market.

Michael Kinstlick of Coppersea Distillery – a recently licensed distillery in West Park, NY, and will be selling in the fall –  updates us on the progress of the craft spirit movement. Gregg Glaser (Yankee Brew News and Modern Distillery Age) calls in to help connect the dots between the two industries. Plus regular guest Jen Schwertman of Blind Tiger weighs in on micro-distilleries, alongside Matt Barclay and Justin Israelson from Sycamore Bar and Flowershop.

The movement for craft brewers to add a distilling element is spreading world wide, from Japan (Hitachino) to Europe (Mahr’s Bräu) and everywhere in between (Warwick Valley/Doc’s Cider, McMenamins, Rogue, Dogfish Head, Triple Eight/Cisco Brewing, and Dutch’s, among others). Join Beer Sessions Radio and hear what’s happening in micro-distilling with this great beer-loving crowd.

As a preview of July Good Beer Month’s Beer Book, Blog & Video Fest at South Street Seaport on July 25th, several beer media personalities joined Beer Sessions Radio™ for Episode 122: Beer Books & Blogs. In the studio are Christian DeBenedetti (The Great American Ale Trail and The Weekly Pint), Seth Wright (Beer Nation), and Erica Shea and Stephen Valand from the Brooklyn Brew Shop.

From the future of beer media (including the difficulty of launching a beer-tv show) to the evolution of home brewing as a catalyst for the craft beer movement, this group is looking ahead to the Fest by celebrating the “soul and spirit of beer.” By the end of the episode, you’ll be ready to brew some Peach Cobbler Ale. Or maybe just buy tickets to the Fest here, where you’ll meet these beer celebs and more. Slated to be in attendance:

• Authors—Christian DeBenedetti (The Great American Ale Trail), Joshua Bernstein (Brewed Awakening), Horst Dornbusch (Asst. Editor, The Oxford Companion to Beer), Erica Shea and Stephen Valand (Brooklyn Beer Shop’s Beer Making Book), Lew Bryson (Pennsylvania Breweries), John Holl (Massachusetts Breweries), Jeremy Cowan (Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah), and others TBA;
• Filmmakers—Seth Wright (Beer Nation Tours The GABF), Jimmy Ludwig (The Happy Hour Guys), Paul Kermizian (American Beer), Laurie Delk (100 Beers in Thirty Days), Roberto Serrini (The Brewhaha), Anat Baron (Beer Wars), Jeff Cioletti (Beerituality), John R. Richards (Beer Hunter, The Movie), and Ian Jenkin (Brewery Show);
• Beer Bloggers— Beer Sessions Radio™, The Good Beer Seal, Bear Hear!, Beer Union, Beertography, New Jersey Craft Beer, SuperNeat Beer Adventure, Private Tap, Win Bassett, and Where and Back.