New York Cork Report

Drink Long Island Beer for American Craft Beer Week

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

I know all you wine enthusiasts do occasionally open up a bottle of beer (or two). I also know that as folks that appreciate better wine, you also appreciate better beer, what most folks call "craft beer." When you reach for a craft beer next week, make it an American craft beer. I'll tell you why.

American Craft Beer Week starts on May 11 and runs through the 17th. All that we craft beer enthusiasts are asking you to do is when you reach for that beer to choose an American craft beer. And, if you are Long Island, visit one of the breweries near you and tell them you are there to celebrate the American craft beer scene.

You can find a list of the local breweries on my site.

This week-long celebration of American Craft beer started in 2006 when the U.S. Congress passed House Resolution 753. That year I did a wild tour of Long Island visiting every single brewery. If you can't do that you should at least visit one.

The premiere craft beer event on Long Island that week is the Long Island Brewer's Dinner on Monday May 11. This is the second year that the Black Forest Brew Haus in Farmingdale has hosted the event. The party starts a 6 p.m. with appetizers and Long Island Maibocks. The five-course dinner starts at 7 p.m. with beers from the Black Forest, Blue Point, the Brickhouse, John Harvard's, and Southampton being featured. Give the Black Forest a call to reserve: 631-391-9500. The price is $60 plus tax and gratuity.

Also, I want to ask a favor of all you wine enthusiasts. Long Island isn't listed on the "Favorite Beer City, USA" poll that Charlie Papazian is sponsoring. What I want you to do is go to his poll, scroll down, and under "Other" type in "Long Island". We need at least fifty votes to get put officially on the poll.

I know that not every wine enthusiasts will know who Charlie Papazian is, but he's a very important guy in the craft beer world. He's not only president of the Brewers Association, but he's one of the most well know homebrewing evangelists in the world. I learned to brew from reading Charlie's homebrewing book. I've adopted his motto for my life: "Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew!" And you can't get more American than that.

Holloween Costume Firkin Friday at DEKS in Rocky Point

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

While I've been off promoting my new book, The Beer Hall Guide to Long Island, the beer scene has been moving and shaking. 

There are many opportunities coming up and going on where the beer-curious drinker to find and taste some excellent beers and to improve their beer knowledge.  The Long Island Beer and Malt Enthusiasts are now hosting a series of beer "study" sessions (once a month on a Thursday, see the Long Island Beer Calendar) where beer experts and novices come together at one table to taste and discuss the history and qualities of a particular beer style.

Long Island also has a beer tradition that I've not seen in other parts of the county (at least at the level that we take it): pumpkin ale season. Each September the Island's breweries release their take on a pumpkin flavored ale and we can't get enough it seems. If you have never had a pumpkin ale, you should know that there is a wide variation in the quality of the different versions out there. Some brewers gimmick-up their pumpkin ale with a sugar and spice rim. This tasty flourish hides, rather than reveals the pumpkin flavor. True pumpkin ales will be able to stand on their own and go down pleasantly without the aid of a sweetener. One such pumpkin ale is the Pumpkin Ale from Southampton Publick House.

Next Friday on Halloween, you'll be able to try cask conditioned Southampton Pumpkin Ale at DEKS American Restaurant in Rocky Point. The firkin will be tapped at 6 p.m. and anyone in costume will get their first pint on the house. Don't miss out on this opportunity to try a fantastic pumpkin ale direct from the cask.

Because Man Can't Live on Wine Alone: North Fork Craft Beer Festival

I drink a fair amount of wine, which will come as no surprise to any of you. If I didn't drink wine, I guess I wouldn't have a wine blog now would I?

But what might surprise you is that I probably drink just as much beer. Yes, really.

There may have been a time in America when beer and wine drinking was an either-or situation. You drank wine OR you drank beer, not both. But I don't think that's the case anymore. Beer is slowly, and thankfully, starting to get its due among those who care about what they are putting in their mouths.

Of course I'm not talking about American mega-brews. Those light-yellow, high-carbonation, near-flavorless beers might be acceptable at a football game on a frigid when one is merely looking to warm him or herself any way possible, but not with dinner or on a hot summer day.

Why am I bringing this up? Who cares?

A couple reasons actually. First, you're going to start seeing a lot more local beer coverage here on LENNDEVOURS. Consider yourself warned.

Secondly, if your experience with beer has been limited to those mass-produced, character-less beers we all see on television commercials, you need to make sure that you attend next year's North Fork Craft Beer Festival. I went to the latest one a couple weeks ago at Martha Clara Vineyards and was able to taste a great many honest-to-goodness, how-its-supposed-to-be beers in one place.

I'll make sure that I give you plenty of notice on next year's. I'm planning to go again for sure.

June 6: Cask Night at DEKS, Troeg's HopBack Amber Ale

Our usually intrepid beer writers Donavan has been busy lately with some of his fiction-writing projects, so I'm going to hop (pun intended) in here today and let you know about the next Firkin Friday Cask Night at DEKS restaurant in Rocky Point, NY.

The next edition of this monthly beer gathering will be June 6, starting at 6:00 p.m. and the beer is Troegs Brewing Company's HopBack Amber Ale, their flagship product, and a beer that I tried for the first time over the holiday weekend.

I'm a lover of well-hopped beers, a "hop head" as they say, and I enjoyed this one quite a bit and I look forward to tasting it from the cask next week. It's not over-the-top hoppy, but it is certainly more hoppy than most amber ales. I have to say, I've tasted several of Troegs' beers and I haven't tasted one yet that I didn't really like.

So, come out and join us on June 6. The cask is usually gone by 10 p.m. or so, but DEKS has more than enough fine beers on offer to get you through the rest of your night. I hope to see you there.

Firkin Friday at DEKS and Sixpoint in Bellport

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

The next Firkin Friday at DEKS is coming up soon; it's this Friday, the 18th. A firkin of Green Flash Hop Head Red is on its way from Vista, California for our cask conditioned drinking pleasure. Hop Head Red is "a deliciously full-bodied and appropriately hoppy ale," according to Celebrator Beer News. It earned the silver medal in the American-Style Amber/Red Ale category in the 2007 Great American Beer Festival, the USA's oldest and most prestigious craft beer competition.

As far as I can tell, this may be Hop Head Red's Long Island premier (in a firkin, at least). The Hop Head Red was spotted on tap at Big Z Beverage on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington (if you want a preview). Green Flash is a popular brewer in southern California and they've had a presence on the East Coast for at least a couple of years. Their IPA has been readily available in multiple venues on the Island (notably at Bobbique in Patchogue).  Currently, a Green Flash Imperial IPA is pouring at Once & For All in Patchogue.

The next day (Saturday the 19th), you should head on down to Dave's Bellport Beer & Soda where a representative from Sixpoint Craft Ales (Brooklyn) will be present with 7 or 8 different kegs for our sampling and purchasing pleasure.  Bring a glass and a growler.  The event starts at 1 pm and the good folks of the Long Island Beer & Malt Enthusiasts will be grilling hot dogs and burgers for the hungry masses.  If you come out, you'll find ample parking at the Bellport train station at the corner of Station Rd. and Montauk Hwy.  If you come out, be sure to meet the new manager at Bellport Beer, Rich Thatcher.  He's a friendly and beer-knowledgeable guy.

These are Long Island Beer & Malt Enthusiast-sanctioned events. Come on out and meet a bunch of fellow beer lovers. If you are new to the scene, make sure you introduce yourself. I'll be wearing my RadioBeerHall.com button, but you can always ask for me at the bar or at the grill. Everyone at DEKS and Bellport Beer knows Donavan. One more thing, all these beer events (and more!) are listed on the Long Island Beer Calendar.

Cask Night at Deks: March 28th

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

It's happening again: DEKS American Restaurant in Rocky Point is having another cask night.

This time there will be an entire firkin (that's a little more than 10 gallons) of a special edition from the York Brewery in England. York Brewery has been experimenting with different varieties of hops and has been releasing ales that use only a single variety. The advantage of this for the person interested in developing their beer tasting skills is that single hop beers make it possible to focus on the flavor coming from only that one hop. The hop variety that we'll be studying on Friday is called Saaz.

Saaz is a hop that originally comes from the region that is now the Czech Republic. This hop is responsible for the characteristic flavor of Bohemian Pilsners (most notably Pilsner Urquell). Saaz is often described as floral and/or grassy. Personally, I associate the aroma with crisp spiciness, so typically, when I brew with this hop, I'm looking for it to deliver an edge to the aroma and flavor that contrasts with the round, maltiness of the grain.  Saaz is one of the four noble hops whose characteristic is a restrained (or delicate) bitterness and pronounced aroma.

I've never tasted York Brewery's experiment with Saaz hops, but it will be interesting to see what they are able to bring out of this hop.  Hope to see you there.  The firkin will be tapped at 6 pm and pints will be served until the firkin runs dry.

Don't Forget, Today is Firkin Friday at DEKS in Rocky Point, NY

Just a quick reminder that tonight is the night for Firkin Friday at DEKS restaurant in Rocky Point, NY.

Tonight, starting at 6 p.m., a firkin of Oakham Bishops Farewell will be available on cask in the tap room. Several members of the  Long Island Malt and Beer Enthusiasts group will be there and we're hoping for a big turn out.

Hope to see some of you there.

 

4th Annual Long Island Real Ale Festival: Mild Preview

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

Last year I attended the Long Island Real Ale Festival with my beer writer hat on. This year, I'll be there as a brewer. On January 6, my brewing buddy, Mike Voigt, and I mashed-in and brewed up a batch of an English-style Mild that we'll be proud to serve at this Saturday's Long Island Real Ale Festival held annually at the Blue Point Brewery in Patchogue.

The beer has been fermenting away at Mike's house for the last couple of weeks and earlier this week it was ready to transfer into the firkin.  We sampled a couple of pints right out of Mike's totally swank 14 gallon stainless steel conical fermenter and pronounced the beer utterly delish.

We've been working on this Mild recipe for a few months. We've brewed two pilot batches and tweaked the recipe to our taste. If you are not familiar with Mild, it's a historic style that isn't brewed too much nowadays because Milds (as the name implies) are low alcohol beers.  They are dark beers (usually) and you'd think that you are looking at a stout or a porter, but a Mild is a beer that you could probably drink all day and never get a buzz. (Okay, I've confused you; why would anyone want to drink beer and not get a buzz?  The taste!)

These low-alcohol Milds were originally brewed as refreshers for laborers who would be working at steel mills or other hot, physically demanding jobs. These workers would sweat out copious amounts of fluid and they would be in serious need of re-hydration to avoid death. The Mild was perfect. These manual laborers could drink ten or fifteen pints of Mild and then get back to work, but refreshed.

In the 21st century, no one (at least not in the "western" world) labors that hard and beers tend to be in the "relaxer" alcohol range (6% ABV and up). But we shouldn't look down our noses at Milds just because they won't knock us on our collective ass.  They are still full-bodied, full-flavored brews. If you don't believe me, then come to the Long Island Real Ale Festival this weekend (January 26, tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door) and we'll prove to you that Milds are just as flavorful as any other beer.

If you'd like to know more about what "real ale" is, then I invite you to listen to a recent episode of Radio Beer Hall (#101) and find out the answer to the question "what is real ale?"

Listen: download the mp3 (6.6 MB, 14:25 mins) [other info]
Subscribe to the beer podcast: regular feed | with iTunes

Next Cask Night at Deks: Oakham Bishop's Farewell

By Donavan Hall, Beer Columnist

A firkin of Oakham Bishops Farewell has just arrived in the US.  This particular firkin is reserved for thirsty Long Island beer enthusiasts. It will be tapped at Deks in Rocky Point on Friday, February 8.

For the last few months Deks has played host to a series of cask nights instigated by the nascent Long Island Malt and Beer Enthusiasts, an organization devoted to the promotion of craft beer culture on Long Island.  I was very happy to see Lenn at the last cask night. (That cask night is also the subject of the 100th episode of my Long Island beer podcast Radio Beer Hall.)

Last September, I wrote about what cask conditioned or real ale is, but some of you might not know what a "cask night" is. If you've never attended such an event, then you'll have a chance early next month.  I'll give you a taste of what to expect at a cask night.

If you arrive when the cask is tapped, you'll get to see the cellarman (or "landlord" or "publican", etc.) tap the cask. The cask sits on top of the bar on a wooden rack known as a stillage. The first thing the cellarman does is drive a soft spile into the top vent of the cask.  After that he'll use his trusty mallet again to drive a tap or spigot into the serving port. All this takes a few minutes and is quite dramatic. When the cask is tapped everyone cheers and the beer starts flowing.

While the cask might be the focus of the event, what's fun about cask nights is the social dimension. Beer lovers from all over Long Island will converge on the pub for the cask night. The topic of conversation usually starts with beer, but as the night goes on you'll have made some new friends.

A cask is usually small enough that it will be finished the same night that it is tapped. Typically, we've been procuring casks that contain 40 pints. The cask of Oakham Bishops Farewell is a full firkin which is about 80 pints. So we hope that you'll come out and help us put this ale to good use.

If you can't wait until the next cask night at Deks, the annual Long Island Real Ale Festival is taking place at the Blue Point Brewing Company on Saturday, January 26. The event starts at 1 p.m. and runs until 5 p.m.

Firkin Friday @ Deks a Huge Success

Home brew champion and LENNDEVOURS contributing columnist Donavan Hall has been inviting me to local beer-related events for some time now. In fact, he'd say that it's been 4 years. I'm not so sure that it's been that long, but it had been way too long before I finally took him up on it and attended Firkin Friday at Deks in Rocky Point, NY on Friday night.

Those in attendance enjoyed the Smuttynose Shoals Pale Ale on cask, as well as several other terrific brews.

It was a pleasure to meet fellow members of the Long Island Beer & Malt Enthusiasts as well. I'm new to the group, but the level of beer knowledge and passion was inspiring to say the least.

I'm proud that I was their for the first 'kicked' cask too. It was all gone by 10 p.m.

The next Firkin Friday is scheduled for Friday, February 8 with a full firkin of Oakham Bishop's Farewell. I'm sure that Donavan will tell us a bit more about this beer as we get closer.

Long Island Beer Event: Cask Night at Deks - Firkin Friday

By Beer Columnist Donavan Hall

Put this on your calendar! Firkin Friday at Deks in Rocky Point will feature a firkin of cask conditioned Oatmeal Stout from Blue Point Brewing Company. The cask will be tapped at 9 p.m. on Friday, September 28, 2007.  If you never had cask conditioned ale, now's your chance.  If you love cask conditioned ale already, come on out and join us.

Cask conditioned ale is a young beer. The brewing process for the ale is the same, but just as the primary fermentation slows, the beer is transferred from the fermenter to a cask where it continues to ferment or condition. The result of this conditioning is that the beer is alive with still active yeast which provides a natural level of carbonation without external pressurization.

Cask conditioned ale can be served (at least) two ways: with a beer engine (or hand pump), or with a stop-cock (gravity fed).  Most cask conditioned ale you get at pubs is served with a beer engine.  The beer engine draws the beer out of the cask and mixes it with air as the beer is dispensed. The beer engine imparts a full, creamy texture to the beer.

Gravity feeding is allowing gravity to push the beer out of the keg into the glass under its own weight.  For our Firkin Friday at Deks, the ale will be gravity fed. Don't worry though, gravity fed beer is the real deal. You'll be tasting the freshest, most honest beer possible; it's a complete different experience than regular draft beer.

Cask conditioned ale is also called "real ale". Our friends in England are fond of their real ale.  One thing I've heard people say about the beer in England is that it is "warm and flat." However, that's a negative way to think about it. The beer is served between 50 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit which is warmer than draft beer by about fifteen degrees, but it's not "warm." The relative flatness I've explained above. The cask conditioned ale has dissolved in it one atmosphere of carbon dioxide rather than two or three.  So instead of thinking "warm and flat" think "full flavored and smooth." The warmer temperature allows you to taste the beer, and the smoothness improves the contact of the beer with your tongue and makes the beer go down easier.

It's important to come out to Deks on that Friday night because there won't be any cask conditioned ale on the next night. The cask is for one night and one night only. The reason for this is that keeping the beer more than one night isn't possible. When the ale is dispensed from the cask, air is allowed into the cask.  This air leads to the oxidization of the ale and makes for a less palatable brew the next day. We want you to experience only the freshest cask conditioned ale possible, so all 80 pints have to go that night.  If we succeed, then we can look forward to more Firkin Fridays. See you there!