New Brooklyn Brewery Beer Detonates in Prospect Park

Holding a launch party for its latest Brewmaster's Reserve release, Detonation Ale, at Prospect Park's Boat House was a pretty savvy idea from a marketing angle. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, dumping torrents of rain into the mossy lake that borders the Boat House, and effectively creating the most muggy, hot and uncomfortable day yet in August.

The beer, however, mitigated matters. Brooklyn Brewery called Detonation the "big brother" of Blast!, a  robust IPA it trots out every not and then. It's well-named. The beer's alcohol content is a whopping 9.2%. But you don't taste it when you drink it. The amber-colored, medium-bodied, hoppy ale goes down pretty sweet, it's alcoholic potency "detonating" later. They use seven different kinds of American hops it this, and three malts, two British and one German. Worth a try if you see it around.

Sixpoint Beer, Now Made in Pennsylvania

Sixpoint Ales, the massively popular brewer headquartered in Red Hook, has made a career out of marketing its Brooklyn roots, becoming the darling of Kings County locavores over the past few years. It's well-hone image—not to mention its many excellent beers—have led to soaring demand. So much so that it long outgrew it tiny digs on Van Dyke Street. Since late 2007, many Sixpoint ales have been brewed at the larger Green Point Beerworks, on Waverly Avenue in Clinton Hill, home of Kelly Taylor rival Brooklyn brew-line Kelso. But that was still Brooklyn.

Now, for the first time, some Sixpoint beer will be made outside of the borough. Eater reports that owner Shane Welch has moved a portion of Sixpoint's production to the Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Welch confirmed the move. "Shane also tells us that they are considering two other options and that there is a 'different and unique project on the horizon' but doesn't reveal any details."

The development is particularly interesting because Sixpoint has often boasted of their utter Brooklynishness, faulting competitor Brooklyn Brewery for not really being a Brooklyn brewery because much of its bottled product has been made by contract in Utica. I suspect Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver is having a good laugh over this.

Brooklyn Brewery Reaches Into the Cookie Jar

Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver has come up with something particularly comforting for his winter-months edition of the Brewmaster's Reserve, the limited-edition beer he whips up every two months of so.

The grew is called Cookie Jar Porter. "One of our brewer's is friends with somebody who works for a bakery in Jersey City called Feed Your Soul," said Oliver. "They make these stupendous oatmeal cookies. We were sitting around eating them one day and we said, 'Wouldn't it be really cool if a beer tasted just like these cookies?' So, now one does."

The beer is made with toasted oats, roasted malt, brown sugar, whole vanilla beer, and raisin puree. "It's an oatmeal raisin beer," said Oliver.

The Beer That Tastes Like a Manhattan

Last week, I took Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver up on a long-standing invitation to tour the Williamsburg brewery.

I chose a good time to visit. As many have read recently, Oliver—inspired by the bartender Don Lee's bacon-infused bourbon Manhattan at PDT—is in the process of trying a create a bacon-infused beer. Like Lee, he is employing the ballyhooed bacon of Allan Benton. So, when I arrived, the entire brewery on 11th Street smelled of breakfast. Oliver allowed me a whiff of the special, smokey-smelling malt he's using for the beer, as well as the Benton's derived bacon fat, explaining that the two, put together, will create the illusion of bacon.

I'm hoping to tasted some of this Frankenstein creation when it's ready, but that may be a long shot. Oliver explained that he's only making 25 cases and it won't likely be made available to the consumer.

But, that's OK. Oliver is constantly inventing new potions, and many are available to the thirsty masses. The rate of creation is due mainly to the Brewmaster's Reserve series. Oliver comes up with a new beer every two months (that's six times a year), which is released in limited qualities in keg form and available at select bars.

Oliver is apparently currently obsessed with making beers taste like things that they are not, because the next Brewmaster's Reserve, called The Manhattan Project and due out on Sept. 15, is being made to taste like a Manhattan Cocktail.

Let's say that again. It's a beer that tastes like a Manhattan Cocktail.

Oliver said this is the first time he's used a cocktail (his favorite cocktail, FYI) as a model for a beer. (Cocktail expert David Wondrich is providing some counsel and advice.) Here's the plan. Thirty percent of the mash will be rye. Thirty percent of the beer will be aged in rye barrels from Rittenhouse. The wash will also be infused with a variety of herbs commonly found in vermouth. Also, some cherry juice many be involved in there somewhere.

Sounds delicious to me.