Brew MASTER!

As you all know I work for Shmaltz Brewing Company repping in lower Manhattan and Queens with parts of Brooklyn too. Well, on Sundays I work at our World's Smallest Brewery down at Coney Island next to the side show. I love spending my Sundays down there. it is so nostalgic and despite its outward appearance, really has a rich culture and heritage to share.

With just starting up this Brewery (one gallon batches at a time) it has been difficult to get a guest brewer down to Coney on Sundays. We always have our Brewers in there on Friday and Saturday. I got to the point where I was getting fed up with sitting at Coney selling Merch and talking about the brewery and the brewing process. Hell, I figured I had a pretty good handle on it, and although I had never tried my hand at whole grain brewing, now was the time. I planned it out to do an IPA and headed down to Coney to check out our Hop situation. In the fridge we did not have the Simcoe hops I was hoping for so I decided it would still go over well if I used Cascade since the two have many similar qualities. We were all set with Amarillo and the grains we needed so we were off! My two friends Anthony and Eric came down to help and hang out (this place has become a popular hang out spot).

We started brewing and measuring and hoping we were doing everything right. Next was to settle on a name for this adventure. We peered around the shop and out into the streets filled with summer vacationers. We wanted to use I. P. A. for something so the ideas were flowing, however they weren't good. Due to our uncertainty about our final product I eventually decided with the approval of the dudes "Coney I.sland P.otentially A.wesome IPA" . Previous to this decision the 'a' was actually for awful, but with a little pep talk with the optimism of Anthony I was able to agree that indeed it would be awesome.

We finished up, pitched the yeast and took some photos. Then into the cooler at a steady temp and hope that there were enough sugars for fermentation to take place. Our OG was 1030 at this point... not too shabby for a first go.

Farm Life

While balancing my two jobs, my attempt at a social life, and building new hobbies I decided I needed an escape from city life. I was trying to find something new and interesting that I could get to via ZipCar or train, as I do not have a car of my own. Recently I have started pickling so I decided to try to find a farm nearby where I could buy fresh produce and possibly pick it myself so I could make delicious relishes, pickles, and chutneys.

While my search seemed tireless, I suddenly came upon this hidden gem. Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. They are a sustainable farm and education center with a 4 star restaurant using all farm fresh ingredients. My interest was even more peaked when I found that there would be a reading that day from a famous author, Brad Kessler, about owning a goat farm and making goat cheese, and more yet, bringing samples of his cheese. Heaven.

I loaded up a bag with the essentials; book, camera, lenses, notebook and pen, cell phone(out of necessity), cash, and a hat to shield from the sun as I walked about the farm. I was ready. I headed into the city to catch the Metro North upstate.

While aboard the train, which only cost $16.50 round-trip, I started to get really excited. The train was empty and I was able to read in peace. All of a sudden at our next stop hundreds of people boarded the train and I was so surprised as I was now sharing a six seater space with 5 small children. Turns out it was game day at Yankee Stadium. To my relief they all got off one stop later and I was back to my serene setting and escape of the city.

When I arrived at the Tarrytown station I promptly found a cab to take me the rest of the journey up into the rolling hill and on to Stone Barns. As we approached and came up the drive I saw the old stone barn and was taken aback by it's sheer beauty. I had learned this week that the owners of the Restaurant I work at got married here, so I knew it would be beautiful but I was not expecting this. It looked like a castle, it's old silos like towers for young maidens to let down their hair awaiting a prince to save them. It's gates and walls perfect for climbing as the dragon was slayed, and it's rivers and streams like mini-motes protecting and providing for all the community.

What a beautiful place! I was in love already and I hadn't even stepped foot on the fertile ground still covered in wet dew from the night before.

I got out of the car and started my exploration. I went into the vegetable garden and then on to the bee hives where they harvest fresh honey. No one seemed to be walking around the farm today even though the parking lot was packed. I think it was the restaurant visitors that came only to wine and dine. I laid on the ground with the chickens. Took their photos. Who said dinosaurs are extinct?

I saw two corgis, still wet from their afternoon swim in the lake. I started walking towards the pigs and the greenhouses amazed at the sheer size of this farm and the quiet that came along with it. I was around fewer and fewer people and suddenly I was completely alone. Standing in a forest. Cool breeze and hot sun streaming in fighting its way to the forrest floor. I found myself in the nature preserve behind the farm. The cicadas were playing their famous song of summer all around me. I drank cold water from bamboo, its taste so pure, so clean, so cold on my lips.

I was sure of it now, I am not only a city girl. I never was. This is the closest we can be to our ancestors, our past; humanity.

I trolled back up the trails, past the berkshire pigs, past the molting geese, up the hill and to the barn for the reading of "Goat Song". His words were of my thoughts precisely. We were losing a sense of what we always were. living from things we produced. He was seeking to change that for himself, as am I. And his cheese tasted of that labor. Honest, care, faithful.

This was one day I needed.