GrowNYC Grains at Slow Grains 2019

July 9, 2019
Posted in Greenmarket | Tagged Grains, Beer

Slow Grains 2019 - a bi-annual grain conversation, in partnership with GrowNYC Grains

Slow Grains is back! Join us for a dynamic conversation with leaders in the movement to bring small-scale grain growing back to the Northeast. Momentum around locally-grown grains is building – amongst brewers, distillers, bakers, chefs, and home cooks – our collective effort is creating a regional system of growing, processing, and distributing grains. Built into this movement is improved flavor, as well as on-farm diversification and resilience. Farm Breweries have generally lagged behind other sectors due to availability of barley, and limited capacity to malt grains grown in the region. In 2014 Brewers Choice became an event that showcased beer made with regional grains, malted in the northeast. Since then, 12 malting facilities have opened, the number of acres devoted to growing barley has tripled, the number of Farm Brewery licenses has increased by more than 450% and in 2019 the requirement to use New York State ingredients increased to 60%. And best of all, consumers are experiencing a golden era of delicious innovation in their favorite liquid form. Beer. Wow!

Come learn from the pioneering folks working on the Northeast local grain movement – we’ll share what we’ve learned, discuss grains varieties growing in our region, their important role in the building of a sustainable food system, and the infrastructure and distribution challenges involved in these efforts.

Join us on July 17 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for this all-inclusive event with outdoor space, sunset views, live music, and a ton of beer tastings. The Slow Grains' panel discussion will precede the awesome Brewers' Choice 2019 event. Purchase of a ticket allows entry to the event. This year 20 small batch brewers will come together to celebrate local grains and malts with Slow Grains of Slow Food NYC!

WIth much gratitude to Beer Sessions Radio™ and the Good Beer Seal for hosting us at this, the 9th annual NYC Brewer’s Choice™, a featured event of July Good Beer Month.

Tickets are 21+ and over and are All-inclusive Food + Drink

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. 

GrowNYC and Brooklyn Brewery Launch Greenmarket Wheat Beer

June 19, 2013
Posted in Greenmarket | Tagged Grains, Beer

GrowNYC and Brooklyn Brewery are excited to announce the launch of Greenmarket Wheat, a beer collaboration between local farmers, malters, and brewers that captures the flavor of regional agriculture in a bottle.  

Greenmarket Wheat is a wheat beer made with raw wheat from North Country Farm in Watertown, NY, Pilsner Barley Malt from Valley Malt in Hadley, MA, and Wildflower Honey from Tremblay Apiaries, Chemung County, NY. 

The idea for Greenmarket Wheat grew from New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2012 Farm Brewery License legislation aimed at expanding the growth of craft breweries and increase demand for locally grown products to brew beer statewide.

"Our Greenmarket Regional Grains Initiative works with regional farmers to devote more acreage to growing grains. Creating partnerships to move their product into the hands of bakers—and now brewers—has helped their businesses scale up production," said Marcel Van Ooyen, executive director of GrowNYC. "Greenmarket Wheat is a collaboration of local growers, millers, malters and brewers who will all benefit from the sale of this new product, not to mention consumers who can purchase a refreshing ale they can feel good supporting. Shoppers come to the Greenmarket to eat local. Now they can drink local. We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Brooklyn Brewery and our producers to bring local grains into the spotlight."

Greenmarket Wheat will be available for sale by the bottle on Wednesdays and Saturdays at Union Square Greenmarket.

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