Microbrewed Adventures (14 page)

It's still cold cold cold.

We are picked up by local homebrewer Bill Woodring, Dean of Students at the Culinary Institute; Ken Turow; and John Eccles, brewer at Hyde Park Brewery. We travel through the countryside and visit Gloria and Bruce Franconia's Party Creations Homebrew Supply Shop in Red Hook, New York, a small homebrew shop in a converted barn situated in an all-too-pleasant and relaxing backyard forest. It is a comforting destination as well as a great place to buy supplies from knowledgeable and passionate people. Nat Collins, brewmaster at the Woodstock Brewery in Kingston, drops by as we begin enjoying an imperial stout and a big-brew barley wine to the accompaniment of Gloria's praline-drizzled chocolate cream cake. A killer combination!!! We leave with both the imperial stout and the cake recipe.

As I am leaving, a new customer comes in. At my encouragement he
confides, “Well, my mother's brother had a brewery and so I have brewing in my blood.” His grandmother's brother was F. X. Matt of the F. X. Matt Brewing Company in Utica, New York. He had discovered homebrewing through my book in a library when he was in high school.

Nat Collins, Bruce and Gloria Franconia, Woodstock/Redhook, NY

We return in time for dinner at the Hyde Park Brewery, and then quickly stop by our inn for a short hour of downtime. I dare not lie down for fear of falling asleep and never waking up. This is Rip Van Winkle country. So I have a beer, one of many that had already been given me.

In the evening we return to the CIA to meet and talk to 90 members of the student beer society, ALES (Ale and Lager Education Society). We finish a fun evening by 11:30 after watching a few beer videos I'd brought along, tasting and talking beer and food.

Day 4:
Departing the Rhinebeck area, we already miss the hundreds of kindred spirits who are in their own special ways all cultivating a passion for beer and brewing. This morning Sandra and I visit friends at the Egg Farm Dairy in Peekskill, a small organic producer of traditional and local cheeses. We share homebrew, and Jonathan White offers us some of the best cheese I have ever tasted.

By evening there are already eight inches of snow on the ground, but that doesn't seem to have stopped 120 beer enthusiasts from coming to the Hud
son Valley Homebrewers/Woodstock Brewing Company “rendezvous” in Kingston. There is nothing maniacal about the people who turned out this evening. Everyone is dead serious about their love of beer and brewing. Dozens of locally made homebrews, as well as fresh specialties and cask-conditioned ales from the Woodstock Brewing Company cellars, flow freely.

Richie Stolarz, Beers International

Those who attend learn one important lesson: if anyone dares serve me a beer, they had better serve my wife too. More than once she charges to the podium during my presentation to steal my porter, IPA and best bitter, leaving me empty handed, each time to the howling applause of the audience. The last homebrewer who comes up to fill my glass gets it right, one for Sandra and then one for me. I can't really complain about a spouse who in thirst will steal my IPA and enjoy drinking it herself!

Late that night, sleep and bed. How sweet it is, but I'm beginning to wake up wondering where in the world we are.

Day 5:
The snow stopped last night and it's starting to get a bit warmer. We drive down to New Jersey and rendezvous with Richie Stolarz of Beers International. Beer enthusiast extraordinaire Richie had arranged for the evening's sold-out 80-person beer event. There'll be a lot of homebrewers in attendance tonight.

True to anticipation, the evening is overflowing with beer. The venue is the Gaslight Brewery in South Orange. More than 15 beers are formally tasted. Several are homebrews, while most are imported strong Belgian ales. And then there are dozens of beers informally tasted (“Charlie, will you taste my homebrew?”). It's still cold outside, and a winter-warming homebrew is a welcome sight.

Day 6:
We're not even halfway through our journey. With seven days ahead of us, we're still in the “just warming up” mode.

Dropping off our rental car at Newark airport, we haul our luggage (our extra duffel bag for gift T-shirts gets bigger every day) onto a bus and into New York City. The Big Apple homebrewers and microbrewers are waiting with outstretched arms, beer grins and cheer. We stash our belongings at a friend's apartment on the Bowery, have a quick lunch, change clothes and take the subway to Brooklyn Brewery, arriving in time to judge at the Malted Barley Appreciation Society's second annual homebrew competition. There are 420 entries, up from about 250 the year before. Lots of homebrewers, judges, brewers, fun, winners, food and beer stories.

After judging 420 beers it's time for…well, beer and dinner a short walk over to the local beer haven, the Mugz Bar. And that's where and when the evening begins to drift off.

Day 7:
A day off. It rains all day, so we sleep in and relax. We have dim sum in Manhattan and home-prepared mussels, asparagus and Jay Sims's pie-to-die for dinner. And some of her own homebrewed beer, of course.

Day 8:
Three morning business appointments in Manhattan are followed by an afternoon visit to D.B.A. bar in the East Village. With great selections of cask-conditioned beers on draft, this is the real thing and as good as it gets in New York City.

As I come up from the subway in the evening I notice the first full moon of March high above. Perhaps it's the first time I've glanced up from a beer in eight days.

Later in the evening I host a Café Centro (at Grand Central Station–Met Life Building) gourmet beer dinner organized by Steve Hindy and the good folks at Brooklyn Brewing Company. Great food and great beer are enjoyed by the attending homebrewers and beer enthusiasts.

Day 9:
Packed and out of the apartment by 8:30
A.M
. Tony Forder, publisher of
Ale Street News
and co–media sponsor of our “beer to heaven” tour, picks us up, and we're suddenly on the road to Connecticut. Our first stop is at Hartford's Troutfish Brewery and Restaurant for a lunch with American Homebrewers Association members and homebrew enthusiasts. There, Bill Metzger, publisher of
Yankee Brew News
and co–media sponsor of the tour, joins us. Lunch is over, but the afternoon beers have just begun. We are soon off to Connecticut's first brewpub, the Hartford Brewery. Afterward we walk over to Ron Page's realm, the relatively new City Steam Brewery and Restaurant.

Paul Zocco, our driving and organizational host of the day, continues to herd us forward as we migrate to a small homebrew shop in East Hartford for a sampling of beers.

We stop briefly to pick up our rental car for the next five days. There's no time to waste, as we're instantly off to the Hop River Homebrew “Clubhouse” for a quick peek at a great little home brewery and meeting site.

It is 5:45 and we are in the small town of Willimantic, checking into our bed-and-breakfast accommodations. After a 15-minute catnap and a change of clothes, we crawl to the Willimantic Brewery and Main Street Café to be greeted by a packed house of 80-plus American Homebrewers Association members and beer enthusiasts. The brewery is in a historic post office building. The grand ceilings, artwork, sight of brewing kettles and excitement of the evening instantly rejuvenate both Sandra and me. The specially prepared beer dinner is superb and is complemented with beers exquisite. If ever there is doubt that small-town America cannot support a small brewery, visit Willi
mantic. The hospitality, food and beer are worth the journey. The energy is uplifting, and Sandra and I enjoy the company well into the night.

Ron Page and Tony Forder “fluting” in the City Steam Brewery, Hartford

Day 10:
A short trip down the road we make a quick morning stop at the under-consideration Old Wyndham Brewery, located at a picturesque mill site along the Shetucket River. Then we drive northeast to Natick, Massachusetts, for a lunch visit at Barley Corn Craft Brew “Brew-on-Premise” and Homebrew Supply. There are lots of customers, and a sunny day greets us in downtown Natick. By 2
P.M
. we're leaving, driving off toward Worcester, Massachusetts.

We check in at the no-frills Super 8 somewhere motel along an interstate, then have dinner with Phil Tetarult, president of the WIZARDS homebrew club, Brian Powers (Strangebrew Homebrew Shop) and Bruce Susel (Vinotheque) at the Gentle Lentil, a super restaurant serving natural and locally made cuisine. Greg Hagopian, the owner, is an enthusiastic homebrewer, and it shows in his restaurant.

This evening's gig is at the Plantation Club Draft House for a speaking engagement and more beer tasting with about 100 American Homebrewers Association members, homebrewers, beer enthusiasts and shop owners. Outside it's cold and pouring buckets of rain, but it doesn't matter—we're warming with beer and friends.

Day 11:
Yet again we head north, this time to Manchester, New Hampshire. By noon we arrive for a grand reception at Steve and Darlene Fried-man's Red White and Brew Brew-on-Premise and Homebrew Shop. Television, newspapers, brewspapers and 40 to 50 local American Homebrewers Association members, beer enthusiasts and homebrewers are on hand for two and a half hours. The hospitality is so good, we have a hard time getting away for our next destination.

We need to be in Portsmouth this evening. Taking a wrong turn, we end up driving the scenic route along the coast. It's nice to see the ocean, even in all of its grayness. It continues to be cold and raining. We check in at the local inn at 5:55
P.M
. With no time to change, we walk down the cold and windy streets of Portsmouth to Don Wagoner's Stout Billy homebrew shop. Some good beer, cider and lots of great customers are there to greet us before Don whisks us away to the nearby Redhook Brewery, perhaps America's most state-of-the-art brewhouse and craft brewery. At this point I make the very accurate observation that 99 percent of all of the craft breweries in America are run by former homebrewers, including the good folks at Redhook. Now that's something special. It says a lot about why craft microbrewed beer is so special.

After a few good beers, including Red Hook Ale and Black Hook Ale, in their hospitality and restaurant area, there's no time to waste. It's onward to a 7
P.M
. appearance at Peter Egelston's Portsmouth Brewery for food, drink and
addressing homebrewers gathered for the evening. It's a fun place with great beer and a homebrew-friendly management.