Your Spot on a Free Active Colorado Beer Tour?

Rocky trails, rocky heads on beer, and a Rocky Mountain high, what more could you ask for?

Zephyr Adventures, World Class Beer, Draft Magazine, New Belgium Brewing, Untappd, and Beer Bloggers Conference are giving away two spots for four days of craft beer bliss....oh, and some awesome Colorado scenery. Sounds like an incredible experience to share with some fellow craft beer fanatics.

Here are the details and the registration- http://www.zephyradventures.com/coloradogiveaway/

Register to win now and if I get the other spot, I'll throw in some craft beer coaching for you during the trip! Inspirational destination, inspirational experience, and some inspiring coaching for when you get back to your slice of reality.

Here's to a toast on October 8th!

Brooks Carretta- In the Right Place at the Right Time

The Craft Beer Coach sits down with Brooks Carretta, Brewmaster of Eataly Birreria in New York City, to find out what's behind the man and his craft.

Left: Brooks Carretta

Brooks' Background
Brooks was born in Little Rock, Arkansas but spent most of his life growing up in Rome, Italy. When Brooks was seven years old his father decided to move the family there for a fresh start. Brooks grew up as an Italian in Rome and was working at a job that he was not too fond of when he was bitten by the beer bug.

He was visiting a friend in Belgium when he discovered the complex Belgian styles of beer that he likened to the wines of Italy. It was this experience that provided the spark for Brooks to start researching the history and styles of beer. He also began to research and perform homebrewing around the time a craft beer movement was afoot in Rome. He loved the idea of making his own beer in a place that did not have too many styles of beer available at the time. Being part of the passion and innovation of the grassroots movement was another motivating factor for Brooks. Outside of the unfulfilling job he had at that time, Brooks devoted much of his time and money to improving his knowledge and skills on the craft.

It was at this job that he took vacation time to do an internship at a brewery named Birra Del Borgo. He described the internship as the greatest time of his life. A short while after returning to work Brooks was offered a position at Birra del Borgo. He lept at the opportunity. As part of the training in the brewery, Brooks also worked at a beer bar. Brooks shared that this was a particularly great experience as it helped him connect the behind-the-scenes work at the brewery with the front-of-house goal of understanding the customer. He was at Birra Del Borgo just a short time when he was offered the position to brew for the Eataly / Baladin / Del Borgo / Dogfish Head Brewery collaboration in New York City.

"Becoming a brewer was pretty much the best thing that has happened in my life so far."

By the way...as if this is not already obvious...Brooks prefers beer over wine. He likes carbonation. In his words, "Bubbles make you happier anyway."

The Dream

His dream entails continuing his formation as a brewer. As he describes it, it is a discipline you never really get to the top of. There is continuous research on new beers, techniques, and technologies.

"No matter how much technology you apply to brewing...and how much literature there is...to me it still remains something magical."

For Brooks, to understand what is going on when he mashes in...the starches turning to sugar...the fact that it just happens...he finds it amazing. 

He hopes to continue to work with breweries that are project and collaboration oriented. He sees a lot of great potential with what is going on in the industry, especially at Eataly Birreria. Brooks finds it a great accomplishment to have a lot of great minds coming together to share ideas, even compromising a little to fit ideas in with other people's ideas to create something even more unique.

He wants to continue to have the opportunity to try new things and not sit on brewing the same beer day-to-day.

The Passion Behind the Dream

OK, so Brooks' #1 passion is brewing beer. That is as clear as a Bohemian Pilsner. What else?

Brooks likes food. Basically anything that is crafted.  He loves cheese. He appreciates wine but admits he would like to learn more about it. Brooks hones in on the person behind the raw materials...the person transforming the raw materials into something that makes people happy. 

Hmmm. A person? A craft? Raw materials? Transformed into something that makes people happy? 

Staying Motivated

"At the end of the day, through my knowledge and through my skill...and my craft, (my goal) is to get out to people and let them know more about beer, where beer comes from, what the craft beer community does as a whole..."

Brooks finds it amazing how competing businesses can join together and do great things. He mentions the groups and the guilds that get together with the goal of spreading knowledge and culture.

Bouncing Back / Staying the Course
Brooks' greatest challenge with brewing came at the beginning of the career. The manual labor required to perform the job had him thinking at times that it was impossible for him to stick with it. Brooks took on and surmounted the challenge by staying focused on the end result..his passion for the product he got to create. He found it very rewarding that regardless of how long the day was, or how hard the manual labor was, he got to enjoy the product that he helped create.

When he moved to New York City to start brewing for Eataly Birreria there were times early on where he felt troubled and challenged about becoming independent with all of the brewing operations for Birreria. He confides that at times he did not think he was going to make it.

"I pretty much freaked out for the first couple of weeks."

Brooks is grateful for the mentoring and knowledge imparted to him along the way. He was able to call upon that during difficult times to pull through the periods of self-doubt. Brooks did not attend any formal brewing school program so all of his learning was hands-on, on-the-job experience. This created a lot of pressure for him. He made some mistakes and got yelled at a few times. Brooks would get through it by calling upon his passion and promising to himself that he would not make that mistake again.

As far as Brooks' own outlook on mistakes...well, I'll just quote his words.

"Some mistakes have to be made to understand things. It's kind of a gateway to further knowledge."

As a mentor, Brooks puts his belief into practice. He shares that he let someone he is mentoring make a few mistakes. His goal is to talk about the mistakes afterward, in order for the person he is mentoring to fully appreciate the impact of the mistake. 

Life Perspective
Brooks struggles a bit on this one. He starts to say something then stops. He says he's afraid he's going to sound cheesy. Slowly an idea builds.

"Pursue your passion. Try to do what you enjoy in life. No matter what you are doing or where you are, you can always...at least...try to be in the right place, at the right time to make things happen."

He's hit that magical flow where an initial "I can't think of anything" becomes a wellspring of very clear and coherent thought. He keeps going. Brooks talks about immersing himself into his passion for brewing- hanging around others who shared his passion, attending events, making connections, networking, etc...

"Until you're somebody you're pretty much nobody...and nobody knows you...so nobody's gonna come knock on your door..."

Psst! He's still going. Brooks continues by sharing how he used his interest in listening to music as another way to expand his network. 

Role Model

He has great respect for the brewers in the industry but he looks outside the industry for inspiration. He mentions that perhaps it might be a musician or a writer but he's quickly off to talking about his father. Brooks talks about how his dad was struggling to achieve what he really wanted to do here in the states and decided to take a big chance with moving the family to Rome for a fresh start. Brooks shares how he himself was struggling at a certain point in his life and came to the decision point to take a chance on a new start.

"It's never too late to start off with something new."

Celebrating Success 

"I usually drink a beer."

For Brooks there is nothing more rewarding than sitting down and having a beer with someone...sharing your thoughts...and patting your back. He's not materialistic. He does not celebrate by going shopping. He does not own an iPhone or iPad. I can attest to this as I notice a plastic layer that is peeling away from his Blackberry. 

A Beer Called Wanda
If Brooks were a style of beer, he would be Eataly Birreria's Wanda. It is an English Mild Ale, with roasted chestnuts from Italy, brewed in New York City. He describes the fit for him as a lot of elements combined and brewing knowledge from different parts of the world into one product. He sees Wanda as defining his own collection of intercontinental brewing experience.

Favorite Brewing Tool or Process Step
Brooks does not hesitate to identify "mashing" as his favorite brewing process step. He seems to be a morning guy. He likes the physical challenge of mashing early in the day. It's the start of a new day and a new batch of beer. For him, it is a focal moment and his favorite part of the day.

"...and just that smell you get..of...freshly cooked oatmeal...that you get." 

So What is Brooks Drinking Right Now?
A Gaffel Kolsch. Brooks discovered his love for beer through the more traditional European styles while he lived in Rome so these are the styles he prefers. Not that he does not like the extremes that American breweries are going to but he likes a beer he can share with his mom, dad, and aunt without wrecking their palate.

Favorite Quotes

Beer- "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" -Ben Franklin

Life- - "Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered. "that is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom." -Antoine de Saint Exupéry

What's Next for Brooks
Very soon Brooks will be returning to the city of his youth. Brooks will be opening the first brewpub in Rome as part of the expanding Eataly Birreria venture. 

" I really feel gifted and lucky and blessed to be able to do that."

Brooks continues his legacy of making sure he is in the right place...at the right time.

A Proper Glass of Pliny the Elder

So, if you read the post about the Brooklyn Homebrew Tour you know that I had a shot at finally tasting this almost-fabled beer but came away with just a swig. Who knows how long it could've been before I had a second chance?

Well I did not have to wait too long afterall. A fellow Brooklyn Brewser read the post and just happened to have a bottle available. He invited me out to Brooklyn to get my Pliny on.

We met tonight at Beer Street. We stole off to the back of the store and were provided glassware by the proprietor.

After reading years of "hype" I came away quite impressed with Pliny the Elder. Its profile has been well documented so no need to go into a full review but I will share what impressed me so much.

The taste profile was rather complex in my opinion. I found the hops to be well balanced with a malty backbone. Only semi-dry with slight sweetness. Just a smidge of alcohol warmth and a tingly spicy finish that lingered. I liked that it did not finish with an intense hop bitterness.

Overall, very well balanced and definitely goes on the "drink again" list....if I can get it. There is no hype in this beer.

Now, any readers out there got a bottle they feel compelled to share?

And a huge thanks to Joe for reaching out to share his bottle with me. It was an incredibly nice gesture.

NYCBG Founders Bash

Steve Hindy does the official introduction to NYCBG.

Steve is speaking about the recent sudden removal by NY state of the fee and tax benefits for in-state brewers. They're working on it.

Jeremy Cowan of Shmaltz Brewing takes over and gives an entertaining pep talk about the NYC brewer guild...now 11 breweries ... And the future of craft beer in NYC. I received an intro to Jeremy and got a tentative green light to interview him as part of the Craft Beer Coach mini-bio series. Fingers crossed that it works out.

Hands down, the most unique and impressive beer of the night...Kelso Rye Aged Rauchbier. It was like an Islay malt (single malt whisky) tempered with the malty sweetness of a Highland single malt. Such a complex and unique flavor profile that I have never had in a beer before. In...cred...i...ble! I want to clone this beer since they don't really produce it commercially. The potential secret- malt smoked with cherry instead of the typical beechwood.

It was a well-attended event but not overly crowded so very enjoyable overall.

Finally, I spoke to Brooks about the one answer he owes me. He swears he is working on it and will have an answer to me in the morning.

Goodnight.

Evil Twin Tasting @BeerStreetNY

Disclaimer: This post contains many crappy, infantile references to poo, or "do-do" if you will. What is it with guys and tongue-in-cheek poo talk anyway?
The Venue

First of, a huge thanks to Beer Street for hosting this tasting event.

Beer Street played host to Jeppe (wait..gotta go look up the full name) Jeppe...Jarnit...Bjerso...got it! and an Evil Twin Brewing tasting event at their Brooklyn bottle shop on Monday, May 21st. The event was well attended with approximately 25 - 30 thirsty patrons. For a $25 admission charge we got Jeppe,  repeat sampling, and a 32 oz. growler of the Evil Twin beer of your choice.

Beer Street has come a long way since I first helped serve beer there at a pre-grand opening party back in November 2011. It is a quaint shop that is not small on the quality and uniqueness of the products it offers. The founder, Lorcan Precious, seems to go out of his way to stock the shelves with brands and styles you won't find in your local neighborhood liquor store.

Beer Street offers samples from the 10 taps and a variety of growler sizes depending on how thirsty you expect to be in the next few days after your visit.

The Evil Twin Beers on Tap

Neither of these gentleman are Melvin, Ron, or Ryan

- Ron and the Beast Ryan- a Saison with a little brett funk. ABV = 7%


- Melvin- American Double IPA. ABV = 9%


- Soft Dookie (or Soft DK..story to follow)- American Imperial Stout. ABV = 10.4%

Jeppe also brought along and talked a bit about other Evil Twin brews available in bottles. They included Russian Roulette, Yin and Yang, Disco Beer, and Biscotti Break.

Yep on Jeppe and Evil Twin

But this is Jeppe

Jeppe gave a very entertaining (but not too detailed) background of himself and the beers he brought along for tasting. He thinks he has about 10 beer projects underway across the US and back in Denmark. He is quite unconventional in his approach to craft beer.

He prefers to start off with an end product in mind. From that he creates a recipe...that he soon forgets. By his own admission, don't ever ask him to tell you what hops he used. Jeppe gets it brewing and he's off finding uncanny inspiration for concocting the next beer. Sometimes he will collaborate on a label before deciding what style of beer will occupy the space inside the bottle (eg. Russian Roulette).

Overall, the sense was that Jeppe's talk and presentation was just the right length and the right amount of detail. No question it had a distinct entertainment value. I eavesdropped on a few comments to that effect. It was a very cool and laid back crowd that mostly stuck around for 2 hours or so after Jeppe's presentation.

My impression is that all of the Evil Twin beers being employed to slake the thirst of the attendees were all very well received. I did not have one that I did not like but, for me, the depth and smoothness of the vanilla (without being overly sweet) in the Soft Dookie won me over.

"Yes, I admit it. I am not above drinking dookie water."

The Drop on the Dookie

Growler full of Soft Dookie

As Jeppe explains it, he was changing the diaper of his son and it had the sweet scent of vanilla. That's the thing about Danes, they are always finding the positive in the "shittiest" of situations. Denmark consistently ranks at the top of the Happiest Country list. I should know. I worked for a Danish company for a while and had 8 trips to Copenhagen during that time. They love being happy and drinking beer. I do love the Danes...but enough about me.

While he was trying to sell us on the idea of baby poo smelling like vanilla I was thinking,

"Ummm, that was not my experience with my twin boys. Maybe some serious brett-butt funk, but vanilla? Really? Whatever."

The beer was originally called "Soft Poo" but Jeppe came around to the thought that that might be a bit too literal, thus "Soft Dookie" was born.

In Denmark, there are no regulations around having child-like fun with naming your beer. To sell it in the states, he was required to "drop" the dookie or the beer goes in the crapper with the dookie. That is how we get "Soft DK." I do not know how well Soft DK would sell in Denmark (DK) though?

Melvin and Ron and Ryan were still hanging out when I left about 11 PM. Go meet them at Beer Street. As for the dookie, leave the moist wipes at home. This is one dookie you will want to clean up with your mouth. I wonder if I went too far with that one?

It's a Good Sign

When you go to type "hope" and type "hops" instead. It confirms that your head is in the right place on what you want to do with your life.

Craft Beer Coach Interview #1- Brooks Carretta

I sat down with Brooks Carretta, Brewmaster of Birriera at Eataly, to discover the passion, motivation, and dream behind the brewer. It was rather candid and in-depth as to what makes Brooks tick. He shared some very exciting news about his next big role. Look for the full interview early next week.

The Craft Beer Coach Interview Series

Hotness on a Shelf!

As I have alluded to in past posts, I find the craft beer industry particularly well-suited for finding examples of how to lead a more fulfilling life. The industry is full of passionate, motivated, can-do, innovative, self-sacrificing dreamers. Judgment of others is virtually non-existent. The primary assumptions people make in the industry is, "Yes, I can do that."...and then they set off to do it.

Passion, motivation, goal setting, self-sacrifice for a dream, and non-judgmental thinking are basic tenants of a more fulfilling life. So many of us struggle with these skills and traits everyday. Sometimes all we need is an example of how someone else pushes through.

With that said, I am planning a series of interviews of craft beer industry people to begin to capture the essence of the palpable energy behind the industry.

These interviews will have an interesting spin to them. These are not your father's beer career interviews!

Join the blog or follow me on Twitter @craftbeercoach to be instantly updated when it is posted.

Prost!

Periodic Table of Beer Styles

As I studied for the Cicerone exam I wondered why no one had created a visual aid for beer styles. Well I found one for the quantitative aspects of beer. This should be helpful to others.

Cicerone Certified Beer Server

1st step toward building a craft beer career portfolio.

2nd Stop on the Brooklyn Homebrew Tour

I had the pleasure of co-hosting the second stop of the Brooklyn Homebrew Tour, as organized and led by Joshua M. Bernstein, on Saturday, May 12th. A homebrew tour is a bit like a homebrew "personal residence" crawl....a "pub crawl" for the homebrewing set if you will.

This particular tour featured the homebrewing talents of three Brooklyn Brewsers Homebrew Club (BBHC) members- Ryan McMahon, Pete Lengyel, and Kyler Serfass. I brought along my recently bottled Hickory Chicory Rauch to make it four BBHC brewers on the tasting bill.

The Homebrewer

The second stop of the tour featured Pete Lengyel. Pete is a graduate of the American Brewer's Guild and is a rather prolific homebrewer. Pete was my introduction into BBHC. He had about 30 people coming over at 2 PM to sample his homebrews and he needed some knowledgeable and passionate assistance pouring beers. Shameless plug...I am currently studying to become a Cicerone Certified Beer Server. I jump at any chance to be a humble servant to craft beer fans (bows to legion of craft beer fans.)

I arrive to find Pete busily straightening up and pacing back and forth in great anticipation. He pours me samples of what's on tap today and gives me the run down on the styles. It's got to be daunting to volunteer to let nearly 30 strangers into your apartment to drink your pride and joy. But that's the great thing about the hombrewing and craft beer crowd; it is largely built upon trust, collaboration, good times, and selflessness. 

It's getting past 2 PM, the tour group is running behind. This only adds to Pete's anticipation. He quizzes me repeatedly about any off flavors in his beers. I am not the most trained palate but I reassure him that they all taste great...as they always do. We share some small craft beer talk to ease the tension. I feel it too. Every now and then I go to the bedroom window just to see if I can spot a throng of happy, perhaps slightly buzzed expressions, coming down the street. Nope, not yet.

Pete's phone buzzes. They're outside.

The Homebrews

Single hopped Citra IPA- Maris Otter, Munich malt, CaraMunich. Citra hops in kettle, hopback, and dry hop. ABV= 5.6%

Belgian IPA- Orval yeast. 2 row and Munich malt. Victory, Pale Wheat Horizon for bittering. Cascade and Centennial late addition hops. ABV= 6.6%

Anglo-American Stout (English yeast and hops with American aggressiveness)- English pale malt, English Crystal 60, English chocolate malt, roasted barley. Magnum for bittering. Kent Goldings and Williamette in the hopback. ABV= 7%

Hickory Chicory Rauch - A German, beechwood smoked lager brewed with chicory root and diffused with vanilla vodka-soaked hickory chips for 2 week during secondary fermentation. Bottle conditioned with Turbinado sugar. ABV= 5.1%

The Tour (and the pour) is On

I am at my station...the chest freezer with 3 Corny kegs and two brown bombers of Rauchbier. While I am gripping the tap faucet firmly, Pete opens the door. A throng of bright, happy, and eager faces pour in. They just keep coming! I can no longer see Pete. I've lost the fearless leader! A "deer in headlights" sense washes over me. Fortunately these are craft beer fans and not wolves. Otherwise I might've been dragged off so that the pack can have at the food source. Eventually there is a catcall to start serving beer and I come back around to semi-consciousness to start pouring.

I focus on practicing the perfect pour- 1" above the cup, 45 degree angle to mid cup and then down the middle to build a nice head on each one. And do not touch the spigot to the cup! I pour about 30 beers in 5 minutes, Phew! Every thirst is quenched with the Citra IPA. Before I can gather my thoughts, they are back for more! On to the Belgian IPA while fielding questions about homebrewing and the beers being served. Requests for the stout soon follow. Pete's in the kitchen explaining his homebrew setup. Another round of 30 pours. The crowd is super friendly and cool.

I am so busy pouring Pete's great brews I almost forget to serve the Rauchbier. Two bottles gone in 5 minutes. Word got out to other parts of the apartment and others come forward for a sample but had to be told the Rauch was for naught. Lots of very positive feedback for this budding home brewer.

I get away from the kegs for a minute here and there but ultimately serve over 60 beers during the tasting. As I was serving I notice two bottles of Pliny the Elder sitting on the Kegerator next to the chest freezer. Now I have heard all of the raving about this beer but I have never had it. I watch the bottles as I am intent on getting a taste. Good! They are still half full. I keep pouring beers. You know what happens next. I finally get to step away and remind myself to try it but now the bottles are empty. This elder did not get any Pliny. I grab a cup and dribble out the last drops of Pliny just so I can say I have had it. It was not enough to really savor but what I did get tasted good enough.

Just past an hour into the tasting I step away to talk to people. I go to talk to a guy who shared with me that he prefers sweeter, maltier beers, especially stouts. I share his sentiment. In the craze of hop bitterness, it is hard to find others who prefer a maltier profile in a beer. He is here from Sacramento with his wife. The tour was already sold out when he caught wind of it after arriving in town. Guess how he and his wife got in on the tour? It rhymes with "tiny the melder."

It turns out they travel with a cooler full of West Cost beers to trade, share, or even to "bribe" their way into events. They were looking for suggestions for what to fill the cooler with to take back home. I recommended Beer Street and Brouwerij Lane as local possibilities. To my surprise, a tour member joins the conversation to recommend a New Jersey brewery! What?! A NYC craft beer fan recommending Kane Brewing of Ocean, NJ to Californian craft beer enthusiasts! I couldn't be more proud to be a Jersey resident and craft beer enthusiast.

Beer Run- By the way, I went to a Kane tap takeover last week and they have a respectable and delicious young portfolio. A Kane tour and tasting would make a great day trip for NYC craft beer peeps. Hint, hint. To follow the exploding NJ craft beer scene, check out New Jersey Craft Beer Club. You will be pleasantly surprised. One love craft beer friends...one love.

Back to the Tour

So the time has come to say goodbye to our new friends. Dozens of beers served and not one spilled. It's about 4 PM and the tour group is off to the final tour stop. What an awesome experience and great group of beer fans. No kegs were kicked but lots of delicious beer and positive feedback for Pete's brews was served. Josh does a great job of rounding up the herd and leading them out of the apartment with his generic "Beer" can on a metal poker. The crowd is gone and Pete and I start to clean up....wait!...a craft beer straggler is coming out of the bathroom at the far end of the apartment. He runs out the door to catch up to the group. One man almost left behind. But this is the craft beer community. We would've kept him hydrated until his rescue party arrived.

We return to Pete's apartment for some dinner and a couple more beers after a tour of Cacao Prieto. It's after 7 PM. Ryan comes over to share his experience as the first stop on the tour. Word on the street is that the tour group is still at Kyler's place. There is a short sense of pity for Kyler but we realize he is probably having a blast sharing his beer (a few competition winners lately!) with an apartment full of craft and home brew fanatics.

The Tour Guide
A quick snippet on Joshua. He describes himself as a Brooklyn-based beer, food, travel, and bicycling journalist. It is not clear if he does all of these activities independent of each other or all at once. Either way, that's quite a bit of talent. Anyway, Joshua started conducting homebrew tours in 2009 throughout NYC and I highly recommend joining one...or two. Maybe I will meet you on the next one?

The Brooklyn Brewsers Tour Cacao Prieto

The Brooklyn Brewsers had the privilege to tour Cacao Prieto in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Cacao Prieto is a combination; single origin, bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer and a small-batch rum distiller.

The Aesthetic

First off, the street was very lively with a large overflow crowd of patrons enjoying a beautiful day in the bar next door. Cacao Prieto is in a charming, re-purposed warehouse space that is replete with many focal points of eye candy. Brick walls and wide plank hardwood floors blend nicely with more modern, segmented glass walls that divide the retail space from the production space. Just beyond the retail space, the copper distiller looms like a shimmering sculpture...but more on that later. At the rear of the production space there is a inner courtyard with a tree juxtaposed against industrial facades. If you are into aesthetics, this is a great space to see in person.

The retail space contained two long glass display cases. One contained a display of varieties of corn, as a precursor to forthcoming whiskey production I believe, as well as several bottles of cacao rum. Behind the case, the wall is lined with Cacao Prieto barrels. The other case contained chocolate bars and bon bons, as  well as sampler bottles of cacao rum, all produced on location.

The collection of equipment alone is worth seeing. Historic machines such as an 1895 Melange right alongside the Vortex Winnower invented by the founder.

In the corner of the retail space, vintage Vincent and Triumph motorcycles added yet another focal point of eye candy.

The Tour

Our tour was led by Alex Clark, Cacao Prieto Sales Manager. Alex provided us a very informative, and "colorfully worded" description of each step of cacao processing. And the English accent was a nice touch! As explained by Alex, the cacao is single origin, organic cacao sourced from Dan Prieto Preston's (Founder and CEO) family farm in the Dominican Republic. It was very interesting to learn about the process of transforming cacao beans into rich, luscious chocolate treats...but being brewers we were most interested in the rum distilling part of the tour. We still love you chocolate!

One very interesting point that Alex made is that you should never eat raw cacao as it contains 6-12 pathogens in the raw form.

 There is a simple description for the distiller setup...sexy-shimmering-copper-and-hammered-steel-rum-distilling-temptress! Ooof! Di-still my beating heart! It was designed by Dan (Chief Tinkerer) and manufactured in Germany and has been operational just for the past couple of months. Alex explained that the "swan neck" at the top of the kettle apparatus was designed by Dan. A beautiful touch. To the right of the swan neck is a botanical bucket (Hop Rocket or Randall for us home brewers) that can be used to impart botanical essences into the distillation. I am not going to go into great detail on the operational aspects of the distiller (Hello, when do we get to taste it!?). Essentially the rum has to make it to the top of the distillation columns to become the rum that makes it into product. Rum that is not ready trickles back           down the columns to be re-distilled. A step you can watch through the lighted column ports.

Note to the right- As I shared with Alex, the distillation columns process reminds me of the "He-man" sledgehammer carnival game...i.e. get it to the top to win the big prize.





The Taste

Alex's first offer was an undiluted rum that was run off earlier that day. Whew! 90% alcohol, 180 Proof. 'Nuf said! Aroma you ask? Straight up paint-stripping alcohol. Taste? Liquid fire in a thimble-sized sampler. Scorched earth dryness and heat.

Alex then offered up some water to dilute the rum. Wow! The rum opened up to an incredible floral bouquet. For me, it was like walking into a florist shop. Honeysuckle, rose, lily, etc...so many complex floral essences going on. I loved holding a sip in my mouth and just blowing air across the rum to just keep the floral waves washing back and forth. Incredible! But we are not even at the best part yet.

Remember the cacao? Yeah, ummm...they put that in the rum. Sublime! Amazing! Cacao Prieto is the only rum distiller marrying rum with cacao to date. The aroma is an intoxicating roasty chocolateness. It tastes so simple and so pure. A perfect combination of lightly bitter chocolate and organic sweetness. The Don Estaban version contains organic sugar cane from the Dominican Republic. The Don Rafael version is unsweetened so predominately has a slight cacao bitterness profile. Both were amazing in their own right. I brought home a bottle of the Don Estaban.

One final interesting experience during the tasting was a line of glasses containing timed run-offs of a distillation. These are for olfactory experiences only as they contain some by-products that will make for a bad day if ingested as it was explained by Alex. The first sample at 5 minutes smelled a lot like raw pumpkin. At about 40 minutes, a stronger alcohol astringency starts to dominate and continues to build through samples taken every 5 minutes for 130 minutes.

The Verdict

Great aesthetic, lots of visual appeal, informative tour, and an interesting and delicious tasting make for a great place to spend part of a beautiful, sunny day...or cold and damp day for that matter as the rum will chase off the chill in no time. And bring home some scrumptious chocolate bars or bon bons for the non-drinker in the family or to go with that bottle of Cacao Prieto Rum you just could not pass up.

Cacao Prieto is ringing the bell and taking home the "big stuffed animal" in the He-man Sledgehammer carnival game.

Get thee to Cacao Prieto...Pronto!

Cacao Prieto is located at 218 Conover St in Red Hook Brooklyn. Website- http://cacaoprieto.com/

Thanks to New Jersey Craft Beer, Samuel Merritt, and Morris Tap and Grill

Just a quick shout-out to the wonderful hosts of the Beer Sommelier training yesterday.

As someone who has decided to pursue his passion for the craft beer industry, the presentation of the training event provided me with my first significant step toward fulfilling that passion.

Samuel Merritt, of Samuel Merritt's Civilization of Beer, conducted a very informative and engaging presentation on the knowledge needed to take the Cicerone Certified Beer Server Exam. You can tell he really enjoys sharing his knowledge about great beer service. I feel much more prepared to take the exam.

New Jersey Craft Beer co-hosted the event and are to be commended for giving many craft beer lovers and industry workers (and a wine guy) such a great opportunity to learn much about great beer service in one concerted session. I hope there will be many more sessions like these, if not geared solely toward taking a certification exam, then just to bring people together to talk about industry developments. And many thanks for getting the NJ craft beer scene on the radar. As I shared with Mike and Os, I did not know so much was going on in the Garden State before NJCB came along.

Last but not least, a gracious thanks to Morris Tap and Grill for providing the venue...and for feeding us delicious food and slaking our thirst. I love the restaurant's rustic aesthetic and the incredible craft beer menu. My favorite discovery was sipping the Green Flash West Coast IPA just before a bite of the Braised Short Rib. Wow! The IPA made the short rib flavor really come alive! Go and try it for yourself.

One other thing. The craft beer community is a major reason for my change in career path. I am on a personal mission to immerse myself in positivity, innovation, and passion. The craft beer industry is a "Yes We Can" industry that is blazing a trail of innovation. And never before have I interacted with such a collaborative, passionate, positive and personable collective of people.

Cheers!

A Life Lesson in Adam Yauch's Death

Adam Yauch, "MCA" of The Beastie Boys, has passed away at the way-too-early age of 47.

There have been numerous others passing away too young but I would like to use Adam's death to push an agenda.

The agenda is simple...and the most important thing you can do in your life besides being compassionate and empathetic. Doing this one thing can actually make you more compassionate and empathetic.


Find something as a profession that lights a fire in you and then go out and make it happen. Now!

I have to think that Adam embraced his passion and lived his life to the fullest extent he knew how. It's extremely sad to hear about such passionate and talented people passing away too young but perhaps he felt quite fulfilled by what he accomplished.

You do not know how much time you have to get that passion, joy, and excitement back if you are not already pursuing it.

In my own case, like many of us I spent many years pursuing paths that really held no passion for me. I am just starting now with pursuing a career that lights a fire in me. I am just a couple years younger than Adam. There was a chance that I never got this opportunity. The really cool part is that just making the change may be enough to provide you with most of the self fulfillment you need to regain. It has for me.

You spend way too many hours at work to not be passionate about what you are doing for a career. If you know where that fire is, grab a dead stick and stick it in that fire. Get a good flame on the end of the stick and don't let anyone's wind try to blow it out as you take it home to start your own fire. New life can spring from a dead stick. If you don't know where that fire is, start gathering the ingredients you need to start your own fire.

Get the fire going before the heavy rains come.

RIP Adam Yauch.

Where's the Trub in the Shelton Brothers Story?

We all need to take a moment to drop some finnings into this brewing story. The finnings will help remove all of the assumptions and blame clouding up this potential great brew.

Settle out the assumptions and blame and then ask yourself this question-

Do you penalize Peter because Paul complained?

I think you will find the trub in the answer.