Interview with Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery

September 20, 2013
Posted in Greenmarket | Tagged Grains, Beer

 

Garrett Oliver is the brewmaster at the Brooklyn Brewery, author of The Brewmaster’s Table and one of the foremost authorities in the world on the subject of beer. We were thrilled to have Garrett work with regional grain growers and local malting facility, Valley Malt, in order to develop a recipe for Greenmarket Wheat beer.

We asked Garrett a few questions about his experience working with these local ingredients for the first time.

What qualities about the Greenmarket Wheat distinguish it from other beers you’ve brewed? 

GO. Brooklyn once had 48 breweries and made 10% of all the beer in the United States – it was one of the great brewing capitals of the world. But even in those days most of the grains were coming from the Midwest. Greenmarket Wheat is one the first beers made with mostly New York State ingredients in over 100 years. I was one of the founding board members for Slow Food USA, so the opportunity to do this is very exciting for me.

What qualitative comments do you have on the local malt you worked with for the Greenmarket Wheat? Compare its qualities to other malts you’ve worked with. Are there noticeable differences? Does it remind you of any other malts?

GO. Both the malted barley and the un-malted wheat are quite good. They have a round and sweet character. Those flavors come through beautifully into this beer. For the Greenmarket beer I chose the traditional Belgian witbier (white beer) style. There were a number of reasons, but the main reason is that wheat grows well in New York State. Barley is grown in the state, but there are no malting facilities of any size in New York. So it made sense to brew a style that uses raw wheat. Fortunately we were able to find good New York State barley and have it nicely malted (sprouted and dried) by Valley Malt across the border in Hadley, Mass. The beer is about 40% raw wheat and 60% malted barley. Eventually I think we can get the New York State grain content up to 90% or so.

What does it mean to experiment with new malts for a beer? How is it different from experimenting with hops, yeast, or other ingredients that give character to a beer? 

GO. We use a wide variety of malts at Brooklyn Brewery. When we taste a new malt we brew a mini-mash, which extracts all the sugars and aromas from the grains, and taste that. The wheat, from Kevin Richardson of North Country Farms, smells a little like cream of wheat, or like pasta boiling in a pot. The Valley Malt, made from barley grown by Peter Martens, is mildly sweet and very aromatic, a bit like baking biscuits in the oven. We ferment the beer with a Belgian yeast and lightly spice it with orange peel and coriander, which is traditional for this type of beer. Then the beer is bottled completely flat, gaining all of its carbonation through a natural secondary fermentation in the bottle, just like Champagne. So this beer is really old-school, and the techniques we use give it real texture and depth. It’s great with food.

In the past, you have described different beers as being like your favorite albums. Extend your musician/album analogy to the Greenmarket Wheat. What kind of song is it? What are you saying in the song? 

GO. As an artisan, you hope to have a long, interesting career. If things go the way you want, your skills grow over time and your work gains greater and greater depth and quality. It’s sort of like being a jazz musician, and the beers are like songs. And just as I might want to listen to different types of music on different days, I’m going to be in the mood for different beers as well. And I think that the analogy extends into the work itself. Technical ability without soul ends up being empty – that’s what the industrial brewers have. You have to have something to say, and also the skills needed to “say” it. In our beers, I always strive for elegance, no matter what the beer is. And Greenmarket Wheat is a great way to express the principles that Brooklyn Brewery has always stood for. I’m told that we were the first 100% wind-powered building in NYC. This beer gets us closer to being the brewery we want to be.

The Northeast is in the process of rebuilding it’s infrastructure for growing and processing grains. These are still new, young businesses without a track record or expertise and could even be risky to work with if a batch does not work out.  What is it like to work more directly with farmers and maltsters who are developing their own knowledge base and skills?

GO. Valley Malt is more than twice as expensive as any malt we’ve ever purchased, but we understand that the cost is justified. They have to build their malting business up to where they have economy of scale, and we want to support them in that. We have to make sure, along with the grower and the maltster, that what they’re giving us is up to the standards we need in order to make the beer we want. Peter, Andrea and Kevin are all attuned to that aspect of things, so they’re a pleasure to work with. Beer was originally a farm product – real beer is as agricultural a food as you can imagine. New York State once led the nation in hop farming – we’re looking to use New York State hops as well.

Has the opportunity to talk with the farmers whose products go into your beer deepened your appreciation of your product and what it takes to create a beer? 

GO. We’ve always known many of our people. Until recently, though, many of our suppliers have either been in the Midwest or other countries. In the case of hops, we bought all of our hops through brokers, but we didn’t really know the farmers themselves. That’s’ changed over the past few years. One of our most recent Brewmaster’s Reserve special releases, Scorcher #366, is actually a beer that was made to tell the story of the hop farmers. “#366” is a new hop variety that’s still not commercialized, and this beer features it. People who read about that beer will come away knowing something about the farmers and their work. The idea is to connect the consumer to the farmer, and pass credit for the quality of the beer back down the line to its roots. 

How has the conversation around “local beer” progressed over the past several years? 

GO. In the past we’ve been cautious about promoting what we’re doing with local ingredients and green practices. The reality is that “no good deed goes unpunished” and it’s easy to end up accused of green-washing.  We don’t want to go there. No business is going to be perfect with regards to the environment, but I think we’re doing very well. We’re using wind power, our spent grain goes back to the farms to feed animals, and now we’re able to make beer from ingredients grown on nearby land.

What future do you see for beer with local ingredients, particularly in consumers’ demand for it?

GO. When we’re able to feature NYS bred and grown hops that’ll be a great day. I think it’s coming soon – people are working hard on rebuilding our local hop industry. Back in the day we used to have everything in NYC, and all of our markets were full of local produce. Then, over the last century, we walked away from the farm and away from the producer. We wrapped our lives in plastic and walked away from real food. The food “revolution” that’s happening is actually more of a “renaissance” – it’s a recovery from a broken, unappetizing and unhealthy food system. We’re making great progress, and GrowNYC is a big part of that in NYC. And real beer is good for you. Greenmarket Wheat is unfiltered and chock full of vitamins. Even government health guidelines will tell you that it’s good for you to have a beer every day. So people should drink up!

You can pick up a bottle of Greenmarket Wheat at the Union Square Greenmarket on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It will also be served at the upcoming Farm Aid concert in Saratoga Springs, NY on Saturday, September 21. 

Cover Crops Add to the Sustainability of Greenmarket Farms

September 19, 2013
Posted in Greenmarket | Tagged Grains

Greenmarket farmers are using cover crops to help with soil fertility, soil quality, water management, pest, disease and weed control, as well as income revenue. Cover cropping is an integral part of sustainable farming and when used thoughtfully can greatly improve the viability and resilience of a farm, a key advantage in today's changing climate. With this in mind FARMroots interviewed three Greenmarket farmers, to learn more about their cover cropping practices. 

KEN MIGLIORELLI OF MIGLIORELLI FARMS 

Ken Migliorelli is the owner of Migliorelli farms, a 1000 acre diversified vegetable, fruit, and small grains farm in Northern Dutchess County. Ken and his team grow 400 acres of vegetables, 100 acres of fruit, and 400-500 acres in cover crop, small grains, and pasture. It’s that last 400-500 acres that we focused on for this interview. Read more below: 

When did you start cover cropping?  

Way back in the 90’s me and my father used to argue about cover crop. We were mostly growing rye and his point was that if you plant rye in the spring and think you can plant [a vegetable crop] into that rye later, you’re going to have a mess. The rye will take over. And he had a point. So my dad was in charge, and I had trouble feeding the soil the way I wanted to feed it. He retired in 1999, and when I took over control I started a more extensive cover cropping system. So I’ve been doing it intensively since 2000. My main with cover cropping is feeding the soil, but I also like it for erosion control. 

What are your main cover crops and what do you use them for?

My main cover crops are oats, sorghum Sudan, rye, and hairy vetch and I’ll do different things with them. For example, I had a field that I’m putting into garlic this fall. I put it into Sorghum Sudan earlier, which I took out at the beginning of August and planted oats. The garlic won’t get planted until mid-October and the frost will have already burnt [the oats] down a bit. I plant other fields in oats later in the year, three weeks into August in preparation for next year’s spring planting. Those oats will winter-kill and the field will be ready to be planted in the spring. 

I also plant some fields with oats early in the spring; fields that I know are going to be out of production all year. Oats like cool soil, so they get planted in the spring, in March. Sorghum Sudan likes warmer soil, so they get planted in the summer, or mid May. Then at the beginning of August I take that out and plant a hairy vetch/rye mixture (50/50). So for ground that I’m leaving out of production all year I have three different cover crops. 

What kind of positive results have you seen from using cover crops intensively over the past 13 years?

Sorghum Sudan grows a lot of roots and has a lot of mass. I’ve seen my organic matter creep up over the years. When I started cover cropping intensively in 2000 my organic matter was at about 1.5%, and now, 13 years later, it’s up around 3-4%. It might not seem like a lot but it is. The Sorghum Sudan has a lot to do with that. Every time you plow you are burning carbon and you need to get that back in. I’ve seen a steady increase in my yields since I’ve been cover cropping. 

Where do you see your cover cropping development going over the next few years? 

My aunt and uncle bought a dairy farm recently that came with the haying equipment, hay customers, and hay fields. Before I had access to that equipment and those fields I was in a 1-2 year rotation with cover crops. Now I’m in a 3-4 year rotation. I have about 80-100 acres in alfalfa which I use both for nitrogen fixation and for hay. 

I am also getting more into the production of small grains for income generation. I grow rye and vetch for seed which I combine and sell to other small farms in the region and I think I’ll continue to do that. I also just sold 8 tons of rye to a distillery across the river and I have two breweries looking for barley. I grow some wheat now and I’ll be putting in barley soon. 

I’m continuing to try and grow cover crops in between my plastic. In ’09 it was a little bit of a nightmare but I’m trying it again. We had a twilight meeting a couple of weeks back and there were a lot of organic farmers on my farm talking about their own ideas in growing cover crop in between plastic. It was a nice collaboration and good to see a mixture of folks talking about the same thing. 

Of the 1000 acres that I farm, 500 are in pasture and cover crops. That’s 50% of my farm and I don’t see that changing. It’s very important to me. My daughter is studying plant science right now and I think she understands better now what I’ve been trying to do. That’s exciting. 

___________________________________________________________

MORSE PITTS OF WINDFALL FARMS 

Morse Pitts, owner of Windfall Farms, has been growing cover crop on his farm ever since he first started his business 32 years ago. He plants a combination of red clover, winter rye, buckwheat, and oats for a wide variety of reasons. Read more about Morse’s cover cropping below:

I drill red clover in the fall and I mix it in with things from the mustard family like arugula, tat soi and last year we did a lot of turnips. I’ll harvest the cold-hearty mustard family stuff for sale at markets, and let the clover continue to grow. For me, clover is mostly a soil amendment, like a fertilizer. This year I’m going with red clover because it’s what’s available, but I’ve done white in the past. 

The clover over-winters, and we wait until there is a good stand in the summer time to take it down. That leaves the field out of production for a few months in the spring, but I’m lucky enough to have enough land to make it work.

I also plant winter rye in the fall in pretty much any place where a crop has finished and I’m not planning on planting anything for late-fall or winter harvest. Rye is both a fertilizer and good for holding the soil, erosion control. I till that in the spring before it goes to seed. Sometimes, if the stand is good enough, we can use it for mulch (hay).

During the summer if there is any time when a field is being left open, I plant buckwheat. I like buckwheat because it keeps the weeds down. It’s good for bees but they can be an issue when you’re trying to till the field. You also have to be careful to not let it go to seed because it grows so fast.

Any space that I don’t use right away during the spring goes into oats, which is a good holding cover crop for just before something else is planted.

Oh, and did I mention weeds? Weeds are by far our number one cover crop. We love our weeds!

___________________________________________________________

RICHARDS GILES OF LUCKY DOG FARM

Richard Giles owns and operates Lucky Dog farm in Deleware county, a 150 acre organic diversified vegetable farm. He grows 60 acres of vegetables and the rest he puts into pasture and cover crop. He also has some of his land that is kept in permanent sod that his chops up for his compost pile. Learn more about his cover cropping techniques below. 

When did you start cover cropping? 

I’ve used cover crops since I’ve been on this farm and we started in 2000. We started cover cropping our first fall with some help from the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC). They have always promoted cover cropping. Since then, as we’ve taken on more land, we make it a habit to cover everything. 

What are your main cover crops and what do you use them for?

We're in a flood plain which gives us great soil but means that we’re very prone to flooding. So we have another reason (besides soil fertility) for cover cropping. We try not to keep any ground bare. 

We use mostly winter rye mixed with hairy vetch. The rye has a really dense mass of roots so it’s great at soil holding. We also use it as a green manure, and use a neighbor’s combine to harvest our own seed for future plantings. We also have a distiller right here in Walton who makes whiskey using our rye. So that’s another goal, turn more cover crops into cash crops. Rye also make a great chop for compost, so we’ll chip it up and put into the compost pile. Being an organic farm we make our own compost.  

Over the past couple of years we’ve started planting a little wheat and we’ve been expanding our acreage. We have about 20 acres of wheat this year, which is cover and cash crop. It’s dual purpose. We’re milling flour up here. I’ve sold wheat as commodity but never been to the mill with it like this. Like anything else there’s a lot to it. We have a pasta maker who uses it and we’re selling  it at farmers markets too. People are also really excited about the wheat berries. That’s the nice thing about selling in New York City. People are willing to try new things. 

We’ve also used oats in places that weren’t so much a flood risk. We plant the oats in the fall allowing them some good growth and then they winter kill. That leaves a really nice place for a spring planting. We also have started planting clovers in with the oat crop in some cases. We grow that all the way through the next season and when things come in behind that there is real nice nitrogen fixation. We leave fields like that out of production for almost a whole year. 

What kind of positive results have you seen from using cover crops intensively over the past 13 years?

Erosion control is the easy one. Just this fall we had rye that had only been up for 3-4 weeks and we got a fall flood. Just 3-4 weeks of growth from the rye and we could see down through the water that the plants had taken root and were holding the soil in place. So just that growth helped us a lot. Its dramatic how much it holds. 

We’ve also tried to build new organic matter using cover crops. Plowing in a heavy gross crop like rye is a great way to do that. We see internal drainage benefits and see benefits with the roots of our crop plants.

Where do you see your cover cropping development going over the next few years? 

We’ve got a no-till drill that a guy up here rents to us, so we’ve started doing some [rye drilling] to come in behind crops when we’re late or have just harvested. The beans for example, we will get a frost tonight and probably lose the crop, but we can come in with the seed drill and plant rye directly into the beans without tilling. Basically we’re trying to get cover crop on every inch of the land that we’ve got here. 

 

Fall Cookbook Signings at the Union Square Greenmarket

September 9, 2013

This fall, meet some your favorite cookbook authors, chefs and food world luminaries as they sell their cookbooks at the Union Square Greenmarket

Saturday, September 14, 10 - 2 p.m.
Book signing with Hiroko Shimbo, author of Hiroko's American Kitchen and Hiroko's Kitchen.

Wednesday, September 18, 10 – 1 p.m.
Book signing with Miriam Rubin, author of Tomatoes

Saturday, September 28, 10 - 1 p.m.
Book signing with Liz Neumark, author of Sylvia's Table 

Saturday, October 12th, 11 – 2 p.m.
Book signing with Dina Falconi, author, and Wendy Hollender, illustrator of Foraging & Feasting

Saturday, November 2, 11 - 2 p.m. 
Book signing with Michael Anthony, head chef at Gramercy Tavern

Greenmarket book signings are hosted in partnership with Food Book Fair

Pop Up Greenmarket hosted by Tishman Speyer on Hudson St 9/17 & 9/18

September 9, 2013
Posted in Greenmarket
 
Greenmarket and Tishman Speyer will open a pop-up Greenmarket at 375 Hudson Street in downtown Manhattan. The 2-day market will be home to regionally grown fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, flowers and baked goods. Access is free and open to the public.
 
Two days only! Hudson & West Houston St, Manhattan 8am - 5pm Tuesday, September 17 and Wednesday, September 18 
 
Farms Attending
 
Millport Dairy Cheddar cheese, eggs and meat from Lancaster County, PA 
Paumanok Vineyards Wine from Suffolk County, NY
Beth's Farm Kitchen Jams, preserves, chutneys, and pickled vegetables from Columbia County, New York.
Las Delicias Patisserie Baked goods from Bronx County, New York

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