Brooklyn Brewery AMA Bionda

This past Monday eve I was graciously invited to the Brooklyn Brewery to help them celebrate their newest release and latest collaboration, AMA Bionda.



Here's the official description from the Brewery:

Brewed by Amarcord Brewery in the small medieval town of Apecchio, Italy, AMA Bionda is a beer made specifically for the Italian dinner table. Designed by Brooklyn Brewmaster Garrett Oliver, this golden beer is born of aromatic malts, three types of hops, Italian Orange Blossom honey from Sicily, and water from springs that date to Roman times. Ama means “loves” in Italian, and AMA Bionda loves Italian food as much as we do. Join us in Brooklyn to celebrate this landmark collaboration and welcome AMA to the United States with much food, drink and revelry.

And boy did we have a chance to pair it with some fine Italian foods. This release party took on a bit of a different feel from other ones, as candles lit the displays of the new bottled beer and waiters ventured around the party with delicious hors d'oeuvres.like Italian meats and cheeses.



Its hard to describe this beer. It's on the lighter side with a tinge of orange citrus from the Orange Blossom honey, but it did seem like a great beer to have on the dinner table. I'm hoping to be able to pair this with a nice chicken and pasta dish when the bottles hit the shelves.



Brooklyn Brewery President Steve Hindy and Brewmaster Garrett Oliver each took their turn addressing the crowd about how much fun this collaboration was for them. Even Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz made an appearance.




Meatsticks!

The Oxford Companion to Beer

On top of Brooklyn Brewery's newest bottled adventure, Brewmaster Garrett Oliver recently released The Oxford Companion to Beer which is literally a complete encyclopedia of all things beer. This book is for anyone from the beer novice to the Certified Cicerone. You may remember my coverage of The Companion's release party in September, but I've only been able to get my hands on the book recently. Let me tell you, this is a must-have for any craft beer fan. What am I saying? If you're reading this, I'm willing to be you already have it.

As a compendium to the companion of the companion, I thought you might like this video of Garrett talking about the book:



If you want to see more of Garrett discussing beer in general, check this out.

Brooklyn Brewery The Companion Release Party

This past Monday evening I was graciously invited to attend the release party for the latest in the Brooklyn Brewery's Brewmaster Reserve series, The Companion. It may sound a bit like a strange name until you learn that its literally the companion to Brooklyn Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's newest achievement, The Oxford Companion to Beer. The beer itself is a 9.1% wheat wine brewed with 55% wheat malt to give it a light fruitiness you wouldn't normally expect. You'll notice that it doesn't taste like its 9% so take it slow!



Garrett addresses the crowd about the importance of beer.



I'm patiently waiting for my copy of the near-1000 page hardcover book to arrive. Once it does I'll post a more comprehensive look inside.



Four giant fermenters greet you as you step through the main entrance at the Brooklyn Brewery.





New to me! Since the last time I visited the brewery, their expansion has continued at a rapid pace. ABout where you see that mass of piping used to stand a full wall. Now it is gone and even larger fermenters have been set up toward the back of the brewery. Expansion = More Beer = Good.



Another cool addition to the brewery is this wall installation which features some of the brewery's history in photos.



Cheers!