A Mini-tour of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and of the Brooklyn Brewery
Written: Jun 23 '02 (Updated Jul 01 '02)
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Pros: Free, find out what a microbrewery looks like.
Cons: Location is a bit out of the way.
The Bottom Line: Located in a quiet industrial, and residential neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Brewery has been reviving theart of traditional beer making in a city where brewing was once king.
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| soothsayer's Full Review: Brooklyn Brewery |
Williamsburg certainly has its charms, and its flaws. I first visited the area not too long ago. I wanted to learn more about it, having known little about it. It was home to a tight-knit community of Hispanic, Orthodox Jews, and Polish families; there was a sizeable artist community; the Brooklyn Brewery was located here; and plus the fact you could walk across the Williamsburg Bridge from the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Williamsburg, as I discovered, is pretty gritty, especially when you walk off the bridge and look around. Sugar factories, mills, breweries, and shipyards were all once part of life here. Today, only a handful of the old factories remain, but the area (along the river) still remains heavily industrialized. On Kent Street, Domino Sugar still produces sugar from its monstrous turn of the century brick factory; the sugar is often loaded onto cargo ships docked at its quay. The Brooklyn Navy Yard, to the south, although not producing battleships anymore, is instead home to various modern day manufacturers. The more livable areas are located to the north, and to the east. If you walk north along Berry, or Bedford -- toward McCarren Park, and the neighborhood of Greenpoint -- somewhere along the way you may want to detour for a look at the Brooklyn Brewery.
The Brewery
Established in 1988, the Brooklyn Brewery started brewing traditional style beers of quality for a regional market. The Brewery’s first lager style beers were contract brewed by F.X. Matt in Utica, NY. It wasn’t until 1996 did they open up shop in Brooklyn, 20 years after Schaefer, and Rheingold, the last two -- of the original 48 -- Brooklyn-based breweries (11 of them in Williamsburg), closed their doors.
Housed in an old steel foundry, circa 1860, the interior of the brewery has been restored to its original bare brick and wood timber interior. Four gleaming stainless steel fermentation tanks, accented with copper banding, greet visitors when they walk in through the 15-foot tall front doors. To the left, the space opens up into a large comfortably lit tasting room complete with a tapping station, and pool table. The space doubles as an art gallery for local artists, rental space for catered events; and on Friday evenings, happy hour. To the right, behind wooden pallets of malt, and a few kegs stacked at the ready, is the airy, and sunlit, brew room. Here, the four brewers of the Brooklyn Brewery craft their stuff.
It certainly is a small micro operation. The brewery features 12 fermentation vessels, a mash/lauter tun, hopper, and a brew kettle -- all stainless steel, and copper accented for style. A schedule taped to a wall details what will be made that day. Approximately one-third of the Brewery’s total capacity is brewed here, and it is where the seasonal, and specialty beers like the Post Road Pumpkin Ale, and the Brooklyn Monster Barleywine are made. The other two-thirds capacity continues to be contract brewed by F.X. Matt in Utica. There, they bottle Brooklyn Lager, and Pils. By 2004, the brewery expects production to double as they expand to a warehouse next door and add in 8 more fermentation units.
Visitors who take the brewery tour will discover that it is just 15 minutes long, are shown the brew room, and how beer is made. There is also a small wall displaying old glass beer bottles; that’s pretty much it, its kind of lousy, but hey, it’s free, and it’s located in New York. At the end of the tour visitors can sample two beers of their choice for free; but to buy a full glass costs $3.00, or 2 for $5.00.
For alternatives, one can head over to Mugs Ale house on Bedford Ave, and N. 10th Street to sample the two-dozen beers they have on tap. Or you can head down Berry Street to N. 9th Street for two other places; Oznot’s Dish, a bistro and wine bar; and the Brooklyn Ale House across the street.
Tours of the brewery are conducted every Saturday from 12 - 5pm on the hour. The tasting room is open on Fridays for happy hour from 6 - 9pm.
Address: 79 N. 11th Street. Brooklyn, NY. 11211.
Phone: 718 486 7422
Directions: By Subway, take the L Train to Bedford Avenue. Walk four blocks north to N. 11th St, and then left for one block and a half. By Bus, the B61 bus stops nearby on Bedford. By Car, directions complete with maps, and other info are available from their website http://www.brooklynbrewery.com
Recommended:
Yes
Tours Offered: Yes
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