Beer Sessions Radio™ Team Makes Tribute Beer To Honor Ray Deter

On Saturday, February 11th, the Beer Sessions Radio™ team got together at Sixpoint Brewery in Brooklyn to create a new beer to honor the late Ray Deter. Deter Tribute London Brown Ale was create via collaboration between Jimmy Carbone and the crew from Beer Sessions (Cathy Erway, Bree O’Connor and Brett Thompson) along with Jeff Cioletti of Beverage World, Jason Bummel of 49th State Brewing, and Pete Dickson of Sixpoint. Members of the Deter family were also there to help Ray’s friends pay homage to their late friend.

The beer, which will be served at next month’s Beer for Beasts event, is a toasty English-style Brown Ale that Ray (former dba owner and co-host of Beer Sessions Radio™) would dig. The beer was made by hardening the water to make it similar to the water in London, as opposed to New York City. It’s made with a combination of English barley malt including “Brown Malt,” a standard brown pub ale malt, and Fuggle hops, an English hop.

Cheers to Ray!

This Week On Beer Sessions Radio™ – Our 100th Episode Features Long Island Brewing, Pretzel Making And Pork(2/7/12)

Join us for our 100th episode today, when we will be talking with Vaughan Cutillo, Joe Sullivan and Eric Moss of Montauk Brewing Company. Although Long Island has a rich tradition of brewing beer, Montauk Brewing is relatively new to the scene. We’re looking forward to talking about their new brewery and plans for 2012. We’ll be getting a sneak preview of some of the brews that will be going on sale this spring.

And what’s great beer without some food to go along with it? We’ve got Patrick Donagher of Get Real NY’s aPorkalypse Now and Lina Kulchinsy, owner of Sigmund’s Pretzel Shop. Patrick will be talking about his February 25th food festival (details here), while Lina will discussing her East Village shop that specializes in small batches of hand-made pretzels.

Finally, be sure to mark your calendars for March 21st, when we’ll be celebrating all the shows (including Beer Sessions Radio™) on Heritage Radio Network that have hit the century mark. The party will be held at Santos Party House (96 Lafayette), with details to follow.


What You Missed On Beer Sessions Radio™ – Bruce Williams And The Rise Of English-Style Cask Ale (12/20/11)

Recently, Bruce Williams of Williams Brother’s Brewery stopped by to talk about Scottish beer and why he wants a cask-beer accreditation system in place in the US for bars. While there has been a rise in popularity of English-style cask ale the past five years, many breweries are not up to the task of making real cask ale. Following the Beer Sessions Radio taping, Bruce joined us for a few beers. He had been hoping that some American bar owners would jump on the bandwagon, demand, and serve perfect examples of traditional, authentic English cask ale. After a few pints together, we all realized that the cask campaign would have to start with American craft breweries! This will be an ongoing story, but why not listen to Bruce yourself (hear the episode). Perhaps by fall 2012 we’ll be back with more info about real cask ale to surprise you all!

Farm + Beer Expo At Brooklyn Brewery To Benefit Ornery Farm

Tickets are now on sale for next week’s Farm + Beer Expo at Brooklyn Brewery. On Tuesday, January 31st, from 7-10:00 p.m., Farm + Beer Expo will  benefit John Gorzynski (Gorzynski Ornery Farm), whose farm was one devastated by last year’s Hurricane Irene. Nestled in a valley of the Catskills, Gorzynski Ornery Farm is where John and his family have been farming for over 20 years. John is a longtime advocate for organic agriculture and small-scale growers, especially in his local Farm Bureau. In 2002, however, he dropped their organic certification for the farm in protest of the newly enacted federal standards and changed the name of his business from “Gorzynski Organic Farm” to “Gorzynski Ornery Farm,” in ironic protest. He recently dropped his membership in Farm Bureau but continues to be a mainstay at Saturday’s Union Square Greenmarket.

The Farm + Beer Expo builds on hurricane farm relief efforts currently underway in NYC, while offering this all-you-can-eat-and-drink beer event. Unlimited 7-ounce beer samples will be provided by:

  • Wandering Star will be tapping their last keg of 2010’s all Massachusetts malt and hop Berkshire Hills 01201 Saison;
  • Brooklyn Brewery, offering a wide variety of its brews;
  • Sierra Nevada (bringing its Estate Ale);
  • Tundra Beer (one of the few beers currently meeting the Greenmarkets’ standard of making beer with at least 50 percent of the ingredients grown by the brewer);
  • Kelso, which will be making a special locally-sourced beer for the Expo;
  • Along with Empire Brewing, Lagunitas, Peak Organic, Maine Beer Co., Ommegang, White Birch Brewing, and more TBA.

Food will be provided by Jimmy’s No. 43, DNA Info, and East Village Meat Market, among others. Expo participants include From Shoe Town to Brew Town’s “Craft Brewing Meets Green Development,” an architect’s forum to discuss efforts to develop green breweries in the region; Brooklyn Brew Shop with homebrew demonstrations and brewers’ kits available for purchase; beer authors Erica Shea and Stephen Valand will be on hand to sign their book, Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Beer Making Book; NYC Homebrewers Guild; Sam Merritt from Civilization of Beer; Cicerone Program; Sean Lynch from Pipe Dreams (a line cleaning service) will explain how great bars tend great beer; The Village Voice’s Choice Eats; Beer Sessions Radio; and additional craft beer companies (TBA).

The Rise of Hyper-Local Beer: Wandering Star’s Berkshire Hills 01201

Just as many chefs are creating dishes from locally sourced, in-season ingredients, so many brewers in the craft beer industry are developing beers from local ingredients. At last summer’s American Craft Beer Festival in Boston, several brewers discussed the rise of “hyper-local beer,” whether that meant using ingredients grown on or near the brewery to distributing only from kegs (or directly from the brewery) to a limited radius.

Riding this wave is Wandering Star Brewery (Pittsfield, MA), which has an ironic zip code added to its Berkshire Saison in part due to the political wranglings of the State of Massachusetts’ Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. While owner Chris Post was patiently awaiting his license, the state was trying to regulate the amount of local ingredients brewers must use in their beer. Wandering Star arguably uses more of its own grains per capita than virtually any brewery in the north east, growing barley on Chris’ land and hops on the exterior wall of the brewery.

Happily, thanks to great efforts by Wandering Star’s partners, Chris Cuzme and Alex Hall, NYC has had many opportunities to try the amazing beers being offered by this brewery. As for the Saison, Wandering Star describes it as “A classic Belgian Saison brewed using Brasserie Dupont yeast, and fermented at traditionally stratospheric temperatures – reaching 98°F during primary fermentation! As an ironic nod to the Massachusetts ABCC’s recent attempt to force farm brewers to use mainly MA-grown ingredients, the beer uses pilsner and wheat malts from nearby Valley Malts of Hadley, MA, as well as local unmalted wheat and spelt. The result is a quenching, complex, and aromatic light amber beer with a deceptively high 6.3% ABV.”

Farm + Beer Expo Brings Together Local Farmers, Brewers, Beer Industry Experts To Benefit Hurricane Relief

The Good Beer Seal, Brooklyn Brewery, and Brooklyn Brew Shop are happy to announce Farm + Beer Expo to be held at Brooklyn Brewery on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012, from 7-10 p.m. The Farm + Beer Expo brings together select craft brewers that have a focus on using local ingredients in their brews. This all-you-can-eat-and-drink beer event will benefit select local farms that were impacted by last fall’s hurricane.

Unlimited 7-ounce beer samples will be provided by:

  • Wandering Star will be tapping their last keg of 2010’s all Massachusetts malt and hop Berkshire Hills 01201 Saison
  • Brooklyn Brewery (a co-host of the event);
  • Sierra Nevada (bringing its Estate Ale);
  • Tundra Beer (one of the few beers currently meeting the Greenmarkets’ standard of making beer with at least 50 percent of the ingredients grown by the brewer);
  • Kelso, which will be making a special locally-sourced beer for the Expo;
  • Along with Empire Brewing, Lagunitas, Peak Organic, Maine Beer Co., Ommegang, White Birch Brewing, and others TBA.

Food will be provided by Jimmy’s No. 43 and DNA Info, with more TBA. Expo participants include From Shoe Town to Brew Town’s “green architects,” who will discuss efforts to develop green breweries in the region; Brooklyn Brew Shop with homebrew demonstrations and brewers’ kits available for purchase; Erica Shea and Stephen Valand will be on hand to sign their book, Brooklyn Brew Shop’s Beer Making Book; Sean Lynch from Pipe Dreams (a line cleaning service) will explain how great bars tend great beer; additional craft beer companies (TBA); and several farmers will be there to talk about their NY State farms.

Tickets available here soon!

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This in from a recent Wall Street Journal posting on their New York section, the state is launching a campaign, “I love NY Brew,” to encourage tourism among the growing number of breweries that have opened in the Empire State (not to mention Empire Brewing). We look forward to buying the t-shirt! (The article can be found here.)