New York - Breweries and Music #1 - Brooklyn, Cults

I'm going to try something new for this month since the website I linked to in my intro post has pretty much every NY state brewery listed. Also, Brooklyn is home to some really amazing bands, so, I'm going to several short posts and talk about each of the breweries from NY that I've sampled as well as recommend a band from NYC. I'll start with the first brewery I ever tried from New York was Brooklyn Brewery.

http://www.thefoaminghead.com/

Quick Facts:

• They got started in 1987 and have been growing ever since. 
• Their brewmaster, Garret Oliver is one of the most well respected brewmasters in the craft beer industry. 
• In 2003 they made the switch to 100% wind generated electricity. 
• They are distributed to 26 states (mainly the East coast and Midwest) as well as Canada, Europe and Asia.

My first encounter with a Brooklyn Brewery beer was their Local # 1 at a jazz club in Manhattan. Since then I've had 5 of their other beers and, in my opinion, they do really well with their bigger and more creative beers. I'm not that fond of their Pilsner or Lager and their Brown Ale is pretty standard. But the Post Road Pumpkin (in my fridge right now) is a great fall selection, and the Black Chocolate Stout is extremely tasty. Everything else I've yet to tastse, but I've only heard good things about their reserve series and I'd love to try the Monster Barleywine and the Intensified Coffee Stout.

Here is their full line of beers, pulled right from their website;

Core Brands: Brown, IPA, Lager, Pennant Ale, Pilsner, Weisse

Seasonals: Summer Ale, Oktoberfest, Post Road Pumpkin, Winter Ale, Black Chocolate Stout, Monster Ale(Barleywine)
Big Bottles: Local #1 (Golden Ale), Local #2 (Stong Dark Belgian), Pale Weisse-Bock
Brewmasters Reserves: Sorachi Ace, Intensified Coffee Stout, Cuvee De Cardoz (Spiced Wheat), Blunderbuss Old Ale.

Their website is real easy to use and designed nicely. For every beer they have listed, they give the specs of the beer, the history of the style of the beer, and food pairings that go well with the style. Definitely give them a taste next time you catch one on draft. I highly recommend the Black Chocolate Stout for this winter.

My musical selection for the day comes from a band called Cults. They have a 60's era sound and they have gotten a lot of love this year. I think it's pretty well deserved. This is a song called "Go Outside." I also really like "You Know What I Mean."