Blog | Super Neat Beer Adventure, Yes!!

Photo: Morrison’s

Morrison’s
430 Woodbury Road
Plainview, NY 11803
(516) 932-3460
morrisonsny.com

Red Fish is dead.

The seafood-specializing restaurant in Plainview will reopen as Morrison’s, “committed to current food trends and a killer bar program,” says Shelby Poole, who co-owns with parents, Artie and Lori Bloom, and husband, Harry Poole (executive chef). The quartet also owns Jackson’s in Commack.

“We focused on fresh, high-quality food at Red Fish, and Morrison’s will carry on that spirit,” says Poole. “If there’s an opportunity to educate our customers on bringing their standards to another level, were going to take it.”

Morrison’s will offer six drafts. The inaugural list includes Low Life, a pilsner from Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø‘s gypsy brewery, Evil Twin Brewing, and Great South Bay Brewery’s first batch of Blood Orange Pale Ale using its new 30-barrel brewhouse.

“I tried to create a list that’s totally accessible to the casual beer drinker, while still providing the geek with something to dance about,” says Poole.

Morrison’s opens on June 13.

Inaugural Draft List

Evil Twin Brewing Low Life
Goose Island Beer Company Sofie
Great South Bay Brewery Blood Orange Pale Ale
Port Jeff Brewing Company Port Jeff Porter
Rocky Point Artisan Brewers Hefeweizen
Westbrook Brewing Company IPA

Photo: Greenport Harbor Brewing Company

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company has created a DEMONIC house beer for Salvation Taco, one of four New York restaurants owned by Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield.

Beelzebub’s narration-invasion is challenged by Niko Krommydas, who threatens threats with his despondent raygun and monotonic chanting.

After several hours of copy-pastes, Beelzebub’s plan is thwarted and the evil deity returns to his fiery lair. Niko Krommydas can now continue to provide his sparse readership with monotonic blogging.

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company has created a house beer for Salvation Taco, one of four New York restaurants owned by Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield. The proprietary liquid, Devil’s Plaything, is a 5.20% ABV IPA brewed with oranges, limes, dried bitter orange peel, and guajillo and Thai bird chiles. The collaboration originated during a conversation between Sam Anderson, bar manager of the neon-drenched taqueria, and Bill Brooks, beer manager of The Breslin Bar & Dining Room.

“We were discussing cocktails and [Anderson] was working on an IPA syrup with serrano peppers,” says Brooks. “I thought it would actually make a great beer, if we could control the amount of heat and bring out some of the berry and fruitier notes of spicy peppers. We wanted something to compliment the food without overpowering guests.”

Brooks contacted Greenport Harbor Brewing Company during New York City Beer Week in February. The Greenport-based brewery, owned by John Liegey and Richard Vanderburgh, is one of Brooks’ favorite purchases for inventory, “especially anything from Project Hoppiness.” The parties joined to discuss the custom beer’s components.

“We blended and tasted spice teas to focus our palates on the different elements we wanted to bring together in the beer,” says Greg Doroski, assistant brewer at Greenport Harbor Brewing Company. “We loved the bright acidity, berry notes, and subtle heat from the blend of chiles and added oranges and dried bitter orange peel to bolster the citrus character.”

Friedman and Bloomfield are also proprietors of The Breslin Bar & Dining Room, The Spotted Pig, and The John Dory Oyster Bar. And each establishment pours a house beer. While Salvation Taco’s pepper-infused exclusive may deter some, Doroski assures Devil’s Plaything IPA won’t destroy palates.

“You won’t need a glass of milk after your first sip to calm the heat,” says Doroski. “I would say it’s an IPA first, with support from the chiles and citrus. As with everything we brew, we sought balance with this beer.”

Devil’s Plaything IPA was released on May 22.

Super Neat Beer Descriptors//Greenport Harbor Brewing Company Devil’s Plaything IPA

Citrus
Spicy
Throat-tingly
Bitter
OJ

Since Fire Island is synonymous with summer, creating a beer dedicated to the 32-mile stretch’s most human-inhabited season seemed inevitable for Fire Island Beer Company. After four years of existence, the inevitable is now pouring.

Fire Island Beer Company has released Sea Salt Ale, a 5.20% ABV blonde ale brewed with Atlantic sea salt.

“It’s a light beer with some salinity, citrus, and a nice fluffy head,” says Bert Fernandez, co-owner. “It’s perfect for the summer.”

Fernandez opened Fire Island Beer Company with his brother, Tom, and cousin, Jeff Glassman, in 2009. The trio started homebrewing in Atlantique, a Fire Island-located community, in 1999 and introduced samples to customers while working at The Shack, a local snack bar.

Sea Salt Ale is only its fifth beer, and the first since releasing Frozen Tail Ale in 2010 (the deer-branded company started with an amber flagship, Lighthouse Ale, and followed with Red Wagon IPA and Pumpkin Barrel Ale). Fernandez has wanted to create a summer beer for two years. They started test-batching Sea Salt Ale in January.

“It was time to start expanding the portfolio, and a summer beer was the next logical season for us,” says Fernandez. “We tried some styles with salt, but we didn’t want to make a gose. A blonde worked real nicely.”

Sea Salt Ale is also the first Fire Island Beer Company liquid contracted by Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford, Connecticut. The 100-barrel brewery, co-owned by Phil Markowski, former brewmaster of Southampton Publick House, is beer-making for others desiring increased production and businesses without a physical space. Fire Island Beer Company, the latter, was previously contracted by Olde Saratoga Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs, New York.

The Cortland hosts a kickoff for Fire Island Beer Company Sea Salt Ale at the YMCA Boulton Center on June 05. The event also features a screening of the 1985 film, The Goonies.

NEVER SAY DIE.

Tickets

I dislike lists. I also dislike American Pickers, a reality television series on A&E documenting the backroad barn-antiquing of Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz.

[Contemplation.]

I actually like American Pickers and enjoy Mike Wolfe’s intensely frightening narratives. The list-hating, however, is legitimate.

[Contemplation.]

I actually like lists. The list below provides five of my beer misses during Long Island Craft Beer Week, accompanied by corresponding cause. I dislike missing beer.

1) Black Forest Brew Haus//Fritz :: 6.70% ABV
An homage to Frederick Louis “Fritz” Maytag III, former owner of Anchor Brewing Company, and the brewery’s flagship, Anchor Steam Beer, Fritz is a California common brewed with rye malt. The rye “occupies 10% of the grain bill and lends a slight spiciness,” says Joseph Hayes, brewmaster of Black Forest Brew Haus.

Fritz debuted at Great South Bay Brewery’s Bay Fest on May 11 and was released at the German-style brewpub on May 18.

Reason For Miss

An unsuccessful attempt at avoiding people, and subsequently, conversations, at Bay Fest.

2) Blind Bat Brewery//Spring Folly :: 8.50% ABV
The Belgian-inspired sister of Hell Gate Golden Ale, Blind Bat Brewery‘s Spring Folly also debuted at Bay Fest on May 11. Though “not defined to any style,” says Paul Dlugokencky, owner and brewmaster, Spring Folly is brewed with coriander and possesses “strawberry, pomegranate, and citrus flavors, due to the yeast and fermentation.”

Dlugokencky will brew another batch, once its recipe and label are government-approved.

Reason For Miss

People. Conversations. Again.

3) Maine Beer Company//Pilot 1 :: 5.20% ABV
The Black Sheep Ale House hosted an event with Maine Beer Company on May 16, featuring six beers and cheese from Westbrook, Maine’s Silvery Moon Creamery. The former included two unreleased, small-batch experiments: Pilot 1 and Pilot 2.

“The pilot beers are an avenue for the brewers to experiment with style and technique, and may result in a new addition to the lineup,” says Vincent Minutella, owner of The Black Sheep Ale House. “They don’t normally leave the tasting room.”

Pilot 1 is a pale ale brewed with Citra and Simcoe hops, providing a “hoppy, pungent nose of citrus and tropical fruits.”

Reason For Miss
I was studying for my pilot’s license, which included the creation of several lists. Because I like lists.

4) Port Jeff Brewing Company//Party Boat IPA (Dry-Hopped w/Nugget) :: 7.70% ABV
Released on May 11, Party Boat IPA “packs intense citrus flavors, which really balances the bitterness,” says Michael Philbrick, owner and brewmaster. Since Party Boat IPA’s initial batch was Nugget-lacking, Port Jeff Brewing Company dry-hopped with the variety for its first cask appearance at Hoptron Brewtique on May 14.

“Nugget is used primarily for bittering, but as an aromatic, it throws some nice herbal tones into the mix,” says Philbrick. “It’s hard to have anything shine over Party Boat IPA’s sinister citrus backbone, but it did add a nice element.”

Reason For Miss

Two hundred and ten minutes of traffic during my drive from Brooklyn to Patchogue. You are unbearable, Belt Parkway.

5) Long Ireland Beer Company//Whiskey Barrel-Aged ESB :: 6.00% ABV
The Riverhead-based brewery acquired 12 whiskey barrels from Baiting Hollow distillery, Long Island Spirits, and filled them with Celtic Ale, Breakfast Stout, and ESB. The latter, which “tasted delicious and had some nice vanilla notes from the barrel,” says Greg Martin, co-owner of Long Ireland Beer Company, poured at T.J. Finley‘s Cask Fest on May 18.

Reason For Miss

Attended the LICBW Golf Invitational at Blackwell’s at Great Rock Golf Club and golf-carted the course with Long Ireland Beer Company. The vehicle possessed more kegs than seatbelts.

Morticia Addams, the goth-vamp matriarch of The Addams Family, is noticeably pale. Barrier Brewing Company‘s Morticia Imperial Stout, conversely, is not.

The latter, a raven-colored 9.50% ABV imperial stout, was placed in 1,111 bottles and released at the Oceanside-based brewery on May 17 amid cobwebs, coffins, and other humorous macabre paraphernalia. Though Morticia Imperial Stout debuted at Barrier Brewing Company’s first location, 3595 Lawson Boulevard, in 2011 (the brewery moved to 3001 New Street A2 in 2012), the beer has not appeared since. The latest batch possesses an identical recipe, but was also bottle-conditioned with maple syrup.

“The beer was a little too hoppy, so we brewed another batch and blended them,” says Evan Klein, co-owner of Barrier Brewing Company. “I was really pleased once it was bottled with the addition of syrup.”

Morticia Imperial Stout is Barrier Brewing Company’s third bottled release. Zythossaurus, a 10.00% ABV imperial pale ale brewed with all Zythos hops, was released on March 29.

Super Neat Beer Descriptors//Barrier Brewing Company Morticia Imperial Stout

Rich
Syrup-olasses
Lil’hoppy
Chocolate
Bitter