From Yonkers & Sixpoint:
Yesterday was a very exciting day at Yonkers Brewing Co. Sixpoint Head Brewer Keir Hamilton came by to help brew our collaboration beer for NYC Beer Week, a big (big) Russian Imperial Stout! We teamed up with the Brooklyn stalwart in a show of solidarity between NYC and "upstate" breweries. We are not the only duo participating in this effort; many other city and state breweries will be collaborating for the week-long celebration of New York Beer, which runs from February 19-28.
One thing that makes us quite proud of this beer is that we pushed our "little brewhouse that could" to the limit. The biggest beer we have brewed at YBC was Coco Caliente, a 10% strong ale brewed with cocoa nibs and chili peppers. This beer may see the likes of 11-12% abv and our system was almost to capacity after we mashed in. However, all the grain fit and we were able to brew the beer (pretty much) without a hitch. This stout should be great for a winter's night: chocolaty, roasty and warming. We can't wait until it's done!
After a long brew day, we hung out, chatted about different brewing techniques and got our beers in. It was awesome having Keir over to the brewery, so a big thanks to him and Sixpoint. Another big shout out must go to Josue and Adam, our brewing interns, who helped Sharif, Mike and Keir all day long.
The first time you will be able to get your hands on a pint of our collab with Sixpoint will be on the NYC Beer Week Opening Bash Cruises (Feb. 20), but stay tuned for details about duel tap takeovers during that week as well.
Collab with Davidson Brothers Brewing
Last Friday, our Head Brewer Sharif traveled to brew a collaboration beer with Davidson Brothers Brewing Company, a traditional English-style brewery in Glens Falls, N.Y. Sharif and Davidson Brothers' Head Brewer Jason Kissinger put their heads together to create an English version of our Vanilla Stout, name TBA.
Sharif and Jason hanging out
Using real vanilla beans in the brew!
Although it should be a delicious beer, the most intriguing part of the project was the system on which is was brewed. Davidson Brothers works on an Alan Pugsly System, one of just 22 left in the U.S. It works with a direct fire brick boil kettle and open fermentation. We also used traditional English Ringwood ale yeast. We will let you know when we get a few kegs of this guy in the tasting room.
Direct fire brick boil kettle
Open fermentation
We are doing ANOTHER collab, a third in the last couple months, this time with Evil Genius Beer out of Pennsylvania tomorrow. I won't spill the beans on the style, but I'll tease it a bit: it's an outside-the-box take on a traditional Belgian-style beer. Let your imagination run wild.
Until next time,
- Nicky Vowels
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