German Beers for Summer - Tasting at Hops & Hocks

Come by Hops & Hocks in Bushwick on Friday, 27 June from 6-9pm for a free tasting of some unusual German beers that are perfect for summer. We'll be sampling out the following unique brews:

• Ritterguts Gose - THE classic sour beer from Leipzig brewed with salt and coriander
• The Monarchy Münchhausen - an easy-drinking Münsterland-style sour altbier
• The Monarchy Grodziskie - based on the style once brewed in the Polish town of Grodzisk Weilkopolski, this authentic version is brewed with 100% oak-smoked wheat, Polish hops, willow bark, and the style's original yeast
• Freigeist Abraxxxas - smoked sour wheat beer based on the lost Lichtenhainer style
• Kyritzer Mord & Totschlag - for those who like their beers darker, a full-bodied yet not-too-heavy cross between a schwarzbier and Baltic porter. The name means "Murder & Manslaughter.

Hops & Hocks is located at 2 Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn, not far from the Morgan Ave. stop on the L train.

Tap Takeover & Meet the Brewers - Naparbier

If you missed our Naparbier event last week, there's still time to check out the beers and meet the brewers, this Saturday, 7 June, at Spuyten Duyvil in Williamsburg.

After charging up and down the east coast brewing collaborations with the likes of Pretty Things, Cambridge Brewing, Oxbow, and Weyerbacher, the boys from Naparbier are coming back to NYC for one last party before heading home to Pamplona.

Come and find out about the burgeoning craft beer scene in Spain.

Las cervesas:

• Janis Porter - balanced robust porter with notes of chocolate, nuts, and coffee 
• ZZ+ Amber - malty and well-hopped with Citra, Nelson Sauvin, Topaz, and Chinook  
• Undead - imperial ipa hopped with Columbus, Centennial, Citra, Topaz, Nelson Sauvin, and Motueka. Citrusy and resiny
• Sai Saison - refreshing saison with orange and lemon peels
• Hop Doom - a hop monster with tons of tropical fruit notes and a well-hidden abv, 11.5%
• Pumpkin Tzar - heck, yeah, we're gonna drink a pumpkin imperial stout in June! This is the only keg in NYC of this 11.6% Russian imperial stout brewed with pumpkin and habaneros  

The beers go on at noon and Juan, Alfredo, and Sven will be showing up around 2-3 pm.  Spuyten Duyvil is located at 359 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn. 

Meet the Brewer - Naparbier from Spain

Join us this Tuesday, 27 May, at Jimmy's No. 43 for an informal meet-and-greet with Brewmaster Juan Rodriguez and Sven Bosch from Naparbier. They're in town before heading up and down the east coast brewing collaborations with Pretty Things, Cambridge Brewing, Oxbow, and Weyerbacher.

Naparbier is a co-op brewery located near Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. The name is a combination of Napar, which means Navarra in the Basque language, and the German word for beer. Juan started brewing traditional German beers in 2009 but now brews all styles including pilsner, IPA and imperial IPA, Russian imperial stout, and barleywine. He's also brewed collaborations with a variety of European brewers including Mikkeller, Nøgne Ø, and Beavertown.

We'll be pouring 3 of their beers:

• ZZ+ Amber - malty and well-hopped amber ale
• Naparpils - an easy-drinking, food-friendly, unfiltered pilsner
• Sai Saison - refreshing saison with orange and lemon peels

There will also be a guided beer and cheese pairing using Naparbier beers led by cheesemonger Pamela  Brewer. Get tickets for the pairing here.

Jimmy's No. 43 is located at 43 E. 7th Street and the Napar fellows will be arriving around 7pm following their appearance on Beer Sessions Radio (along with guest Jason Perkins of Allagash). Tune into the Heritage Radio Network to listen live or listen later via iTunes.

Pivovar Kout - Traditional Czech Lager

Just in time for the spring drinking weather we've sent a limited amount of kegs to New York from Pivovar Kout na Sumave in Bohemia, Czech Republic. While written records date the brewery to 1736, it was probably founded in the 16th century. Like many small breweries, Kout was shut down during communism but was recently revived by Jan Skala who worked at the brewery as a young man.

Pivovar Kout brews classic, earthy lagers using local barley, noble hops, and water from their own well. The Kout beers (pronounced "coat") are made from 200 year old recipes and brewed using either double or triple decoction mash. They are also open-fermented and unpasteurized and are therefore meant to be drunk as fresh as possible.  No vintage beer here, please!

The pivo:

• Koutska 10º - a hoppy golden lager, 4%
• Koutska 12º - the flagship beer, a classic traditional Pilsner, 5%

The kegs are popping up at select places around the city. Look for them this weekend at Jimmy's No. 43 in Manhattan, and at Henry Street Ale House and Franny's in Brooklyn.

Amager Sinner Series

Amager Bryghus from Denmark is partially located in a fall-out shelter so we'll be getting beers from them no matter what.  They've just released their "Sinner Series", featuring a beer for each one of the Seven Deadly Sins.  Perhaps not the ideal beverage for Lent, but you could always pop one open and then reflect upon said sins.  As the brewery says, "We’re not proud to be sinners, but at least we’re open about it." 

Look for bottles in your favorite shops and, starting on Sunday, 13 April, drop by Tørst in Greenpoint for a Sin a Day on draft, starting with Greed. Each day a new Sin will be tapped. This is one of only 16 locations around the country to have the entire series on draft.

The beers/sins:

• Envy - West Coast IPA, 6.5%. "Cain is said to have murdered his brother out of envy. At Amager Bryghus we believe that murder is taking things a bit far. However, we admit to being envious because we weren’t the first brewer to come up with the beer style we admire the most: a crisp and hopped up West Coast IPA."
• Gluttony - Imperial IPA, 9.4%. "At the Amager brewery we are comfortably situated far away from small-town modesty; we are not afraid of excess, and the term “moderation” is simply not found in our vocabulary. To us, gluttony is considered a virtue rather than a sin - at least when it comes to one thing: hops! While making this beer we targeted the hops which shone brightest in our hop room, as if they were almost begging to be used in copious quantities. And that is what we did, as befits a Double IPA of the highest caliber. We have squandered to a sinful degree - and we love it."
• Greed - German-style Pilsner, 4.6%. "We asked our smartass marketing director what beer would be a good choice for the sin of Greed. He only pondered for a sec and then said: 'We should simply do as all the big players do: make a cheapass beer and sell it at a premium price – that’s greed for you alright'. Our marketing director is a smart guy, so of course we did what he said. We even put a picture of him on the label. The beer however turned out pretty badass. It’s a straight up German Pilsener without any fuss."
• Sloth - American Pale Ale, 6%. "We’re hardworking people here at Amager Bryghus. Only once in a while are we lazy bastards. But it happens. We have to admit that we were lazy when we designed this beer. One malt, one hop – albeit a good one – and then our house yeast. Well, how hard can it possibly be to create a sessionable American Pale Ale? And that’s what we’re offering you here. Sometimes brewing is hard work. Sometimes it’s a work of art. And then sometimes it’s a walk in the park. Take a stroll, sit and relax on a park bench in the sun and be lazy with us." 
• Wrath - Barrel-aged Saison, 6.5%.  "Saisons are in. Saisons are hip. It’s as simple as that. So far, no one has come up with a good explanation as to why this very traditional Belgian farmhouse style has suddenly skyrocketed in popularity amongst the in-crowd of the beer geek nation. Except, of course, for the fact it’s simply a very delicate drink in all of its refined simplicity. But we’ve committed a sin. We couldn’t resist. We poured our Amager Saison into a red wine barrel. We hope the soft tannins from the wood and the noble Pinot Noir grapes add a juicy extra twist. By doing so, we may bring the wrath of Saison fundamentalists upon ourselves. But frankly, we don’t give a damn!" 
• Pride - Imperial Stout, 10%. "We thought about this for a long time: what kind of beer would give us the utmost feeling of pride in The Sinner Series? Well, if you know Amager Bryghus you already know that Imperial Stouts have a special place in our hearts. So “Pride” simply had to be an Imperial Stout. What is special about this take on the style is that we boiled the h… out of it. Actually we boiled it for 6 hours, making for a richer and fuller version.  We would never dare calling this the perfect Imperial Stout - that would be taking pride way too close to hubris! But we hope you enjoy it nonetheless."
• Lust - Belgian Strong Ale, 9.2%. "This beer is so rich, so sweet and so luscious, that we wouldn’t hesitate calling it pure lust in a bottle. This beer is so lustful that we cannot vouch for the consequences if you serve this to your girlfriend over a candlelight dinner. This may very well result in a lifelong payment of child support. We have brewed a beer with the most sensual of sugars we could find at our local grocery store. We were tempted to spice it up with well-renowned aphrodisiacs like Spanish fly or oysters, but frankly we didn’t see the need for it."

Mikkelle Week at Adobe Blues

The annual Mikkeller Week starts on Monday, 7 April at Adobe Blues on Staten Island. They've squirreled away cases for a while now in anticipation of the event and will also have 3 beers on tap. In addition, they've got some vintage bottles that they'll bring out each day for one day only.

On tap:

• Black Hole - imperial stout
• Arh Hvad?! - a tribute to Orval. The name means "oh, what?!" in Danish and is also close to the Danish pronunciation of Orval.
• American Style - collaboration with Prairie Artisan Ales, a dry-hopped, west coast-style IPA fermented 100% with Brettanomyces 

In bottles:

• It’s Alive! White Wine Edition - wild ale aged in white wine barrels
• It’s Alive! Grand Marnier Edition - aged in Grand Marnier barrels
• AK Alive! - version of It's Alive brewed at Anchorage Brewing Company
• Big Worse Red Wine - barleywine aged in red wine barrels.
• Fresler - dopplebock
• Texas Ranger - chipotle porter
• Orange Yuzu Glad I Said Porter - porter brewed with yuzu
• Jackie Brown - hoppy brown ale
• Wheat is the New Hops Chardonnay Aged - IPA brewed wheat and fremented with brettanomyces yeast, in collaboration with Grassroots
• SpontanNoble - spontaneously-fermented SpontanAle, aged in Sauternes barrels

Adobe Blues is located at 63 Lafayette Avenue on Staten Island.

Nøgne Ø at Spuyten Duyvil

When:  Saturday, 5 April, 12pm onwards
Where:  Spuyten Duyvil, 359 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn

Also making their way to the Craft Brewers Conference next week are Tore and Tom from Norway's Nøgne Ø brewery. Let's hope for a sunny spring day when they drop by Spuyten Duyvil on Saturday afternoon so we can do some outdoor drinking. The taps start flowing at noon and Tore and Tom will get there around 2pm. Just to play it safe we've got some big beers in case it ends up cold and snowy and some lighter ones to hopefully usher in the warmer weather.

The list:

• Citrus Hystrix - IPA with kaffir lime and tangerine
• Premiant - imperial pils brewed with the new Premiant hop
• Porter - with flavors of coffee and dried fruit
• Imperial Stout - just the way the Tsar would have liked it - a dark, rich ale with generous sweetness and roasted malt bitterness
• Two Captains - double IPA with fruity and resiny hops
• India Saison - brewed with Australian hops, giving the beer tropical fruit notes.

and in bottles:

• Horizon Tokyo Black - 16% imperial stout
• Tindved - sour ale with sea buckthorn