My Beer History

I've been brewing beer at my apartment in the Greenwood Heights section of Brooklyn for a little more than a year, but my interest in fermented food goes back a little further. Introduced to the finer points of cheese making and saurkraut production by friends and coworkers at the Union Square greenmarket in Manhattan, I picked up Wild Fermentation by the incredible Sandor Ellix Katz. Katz' book is an amazing collection of recipes and a history of fermented foods, as well as a manifesto on healthy living and community building. I couldn't recommend it more.

From there, I moved on to fruit wines and ciders before brewing my first batch of ale from a recipe in Charlie Papazian's epochal The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. In the past year, I've brewed a wide range of beers and progressed from extract, to partial-mash and, finally, all-grain brewing. My good friend Glenn Robinson captured my first attempt at all-grain brewing back in January '09 and posted his photos and my descriptions here.

What stared out as a solitary endeavor quickly grew into something more. I met experienced homebrewers living right in my neighborhood who, in turn, suggested reaching out to the brewers at Six Point brewery in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The pros at Six Point have provided advice and supplies that have been invaluable to my brewing endeavors. I've also begun providing beer for events put on by Bags For The People, a great organization based in Brooklyn, and branching out and experimenting with classic beer styles. My most recent batch is a stout with brewed coffee that I blogged about here.

Thanks for visiting.