Does Ralph Macchio Drink Beer?

We hope everyone is doing well and is enjoying our new little shop! We have just a few updates for everyone.....

First on the list, we are very sorry that we have yet to change our sign. We know that some of you have been very confused by the fact that there is still a karate sign outside. We promise we are working as hard as we can. For now please be patient and look for our name on the front door (we promise it's there ).

We also wanted to acknowledge the amazing amount of entries for Homebrew Alley this year! It has nearly doubled from last year and a big thanks is in order for everyone who worked there butts off ( on there days off ) to bring the whole competition together. Congratulations to all the winners and organizers!

We also wanted to let everyone know that we have Wyeast Propagators this weekend. If they sell well we will definitely carry them in the future. We are also still carrying the 2 strains of White Labs, Cry Havoc and California Ale. We also had several Agar Slants this week, but they sold out very quickly, so look for more next week!

We also wanted to let everyone know that we will be taking an extra day off in a few weeks, Tuesday March 2nd to be exact. We will be going on a quick trip to Philly to see a few friends and drink some beer. Fear not we will reopen with our regular hours on Wednesday March 3rd. And we would love some bar suggestions. So please let us know if you have any! We will make sure there is a reminder when we get closer to the date.

Thanks everyone, we will be seeing you around!

Triumph and sorrow......

Thanks for a fantastic first week. We were busier than we ever imagined!

For the poor souls that came on Sunday, we are truly sorry that we were picked clean.

We expect to be restocked on just about everything this coming week.

Don't forget to turn in your entries for Homebrew Alley 4. Judging is this coming Sunday the 31st.

We should have our own sign soon, instead of the old sign. We also have flaked barley, and peat-smoked malt on the way. We will have two new varieties of Stumptown coffee beans as of Tuesday. And in case you haven't heard the news, Wyeast #3711 French Saison yeast is now a permanent part of their lineup, as well as the #1450 Denny's Favorite and the #3763 Roeselare Blend, and are now available year round.

Also, we will soon have a few select varieties of White Labs pitch-able yeast vials... Such as the so-called Charlie Papazian yeast blend "Cry Havoc." Which can be used for lagers as well as ales, depending on your fermentation temperature, as well as the California Ale Yeast. we want to see how these babies are going to sell before we order more, so come and get em while there hot.

Thanks and come again soon.

We are Open!

Today at noon, we officially open for business at our new (and fantastic) location, 163 8th St. (Brooklyn, NY 11215, near the corner of 3rd Ave). We have not yet put up a new awning.... So we apologize for the confusion. We still have the old sign up from the Karate studio. We hope to have the new sign soon.

We also have a new phone number, 718-369-0776, and email address, Brooklynhomebrew@me.com.

We have doubled our grain selection, lowered some prices, increased our hop selection and supply (so we don't run out as often), added more spices & equipment, and we now have honey and Stumptown Coffee beans too!

We ARE SO SORRY! Yellow Truck (frieght company) lost our entire order somewhere in Ohio. So we are going to be very low (if not completely sold out) on LIQUID and DRY MALT EXTRACTS this first weekend. We are very embarrassed, and upset. It will limit how many partial-mash ingredient kits we will have in stock.

We haven't had a chance to updated the products on our web-catalog yet, sorry. So just come by and check it out. There is no need to call-in or email us your order anymore, (unless you would like to of course), just come by anytime during our normal hours. Tuesday-Saturday, 12pm-7pm & Sunday, 12pm - 6pm.

Thanks everyone!

Finish Line

We are so close to completion! Its hard to believe that we have made such a transformation in only two weeks. Though it has primarily been just Danielle and I working on the space, we do have to thank some friends that have helped a great deal.

Nick, Mark, Kevin, Dave, Jacky, Lucas, and Geraldine. We appreciate all of your support. And of course all of our customers too. We are so sorry that we have denied you your brewing necessities for the past week, and we have been away from our phone. But I think you'll find that it has been worth the wait. Thanks everyone, hope to see you Tuesday, and well into the future.

Things are going great so far! We have one more weekend at the old space and then Monday we move everything into the new one! We hope everyone is as excited as we are. Our projected reopening is still Tuesday January 19th, and so far everything is taking about as long as we planned. We will be having a special promotion for everyone who comes to see us and purchases at least $10 worth of goods on our opening day, 5% off everything you buy and a free gift for the first 50 customers!

We got our giant freezer (allowing us to double our hop selection), our grain bins (allowing us to double our grains), and a whole mess of other goodies on the way. We will proudly be carrying Stumptown Coffee, honey and more spices. We even made cotton tote bags with our name on them! It's like were playing ball in the big leagues. We can't wait for everyone to check us out.

On another note, we wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming beer competition Homebrew Alley. It's sponsored by the NYCHG and there will be hundreds of dollars worth of

prizes. It will be held on January 31st at Chelsea Brewing Company, whom will also be choosing there favorite beer to be brewed right there at the brewery. Everyone should enter if they have something that they believe is delicious. So on the way to the next Homebrewers guild meeting, drop off a few of your brews at Jimmy's. They are a drop off point and they are also offering something special for everyone who drops off there entries.

Thanks for the support, we'll be seeing you around!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Time to Move!

Well we hope the holiday is being as good to you guys as it is to us. We are gearing up for our move as the season comes to an end and we wanted to update everyone on where we are at. We will post our closing days on the front page of the website as we transition. Right now here is what we are looking at:

December 29th through 31st - Open

January 1st - Closed

January 2nd & 3rd - Open

January 4th, 5th & 6th - Closed

January 7th, 8th & 9th - Open

January 10th - 15th - Closed

We are aiming for an opening on Saturday January 16th. If everything goes as planned it shouldn't be a problem, but things alway come up. So wish us luck on the move and we will continue to keep everyone updated as we go! Also, anyone who has an emergency or needs something on the fly while we are closed, should Email us. We will find a way to get you what you need, whether it be meeting us at the old space or the new one.

We also wanted to remind all of you homebrewers that The New York City Homebrewers Guild is having there annual homebrew competition, Homebrew Alley, held at the Chelsea Brewing Company. Anyone can enter, and it only costs you $7 and 2 beers, and there are some very worthwhile prizes. Jimmy's No. 43 is a drop off point, so enter your favorite brew today!

We also wanted to remind everyone about Beer Table's Homebrew Meet-Up on Monday December 28th with a special guest from Sixpoint Craft Ales. We hope to see you guys there.

Lastly.....

Tickets for our homebrew class on January 28th are officially on sale at Whole Foods online. So for those of you who have been asking about classes, now is your chance. The cost is $35 and I know at least a few seats are already gone....

We hope everyone has a great holiday and once again we appreciate everyones support through everything! We can't wait to see everyone in the new space!

So much to talk about.... and so little time....

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We have oodles of fantastic news! First up, we have found our space, signed our lease and plan on beginning our big move January 1st. It is the exact location we have been wanting this whole time, in the Gowanus, so we are extremely excited. Please keep in mind that we are still here for the entire month of December! So come on down and help us make our transition into the larger space a smooth one. We will have more information about the move as we get closer to the date, but we will definitely be having a party, with lots of beer, homebrew to be exact, stay tuned.....

As you all know Christmas is suddenly right around the corner. We have a new kit for anyone who would love to splurge on a gift for there loved one. It is called the Quintessential. It literally includes everything you will need for years of homebrewing success, a wort chiller, a boil pot, and lots more, all for $265 (what a deal!). And if you are just looking for a gift certificate for that special someone, we have them available on the front page of our website for $25, $50, $100 and $200.

Lots of people have also been asking about classes. Our next class is going to be on January 28th, at the Whole Foods Bowery location in the culinary center. Keep an eye out on there calender to see when tickets go on sale.

Some more fun news.... Justin and Tricia at Beer Table have been throwing around the idea of a South Brooklyn Homebrew club for a little while. A lot of you have been asking us if it could ever happen... and it looks like it will. The first Homebrew Workshop will be at Beer Table, Monday December 28th at 9pm (free), and this will likely be a monthly occurrence, with a professional on hand to answer questions. So grab your homebrew and we will see you there. Beer Table is also taking requests if anyone is looking for bottles, you can pick them up at the meeting (the bottles are awesome by the way), so shoot them an Email if your interested.

We are currently taking requests for things you would like us to carry in our new space. We are making our very own wish list which includes doubling our grain variety, finally carrying coffee and honey, and also expanding our spice selection (along with lots more equipment). We are taking a hiatus on adding any new products after this week but we are finally carrying Briess C-80 (crystal malt) and Oxygenation systems. We look forward to seeing everyone at the new space and we will be in touch!

P.S. Come see the lighting of the bottle tree this weekend!

Through the Looking Glass in 2 Pints or Less. Or... What's Wrong with My Camera?

I had one of the most unique beers of my life yesterday. I wish I could remember what it was called, but it clouded my mind and judgement too much. Oh well. I'm sure you have all had similar experiences at some point in your lives.

In completely unrelated news, I have a new camera that I was trying to get the hang of..... on the way home from Wonderland (Manhattan) last night. Since I have no content of much value to put into this post, I thought I would just post some random photos. I have been old fashioned and stubborn..... slow to fully accept and embrace digital photography. But I must say that I have changed my mind. I am finally able to appreciate the "fruits of progress."

*Warning!- These photos are entirely unimpressive unless they are viewed through absinthe-colored glasses .

We hope to have some good news to report after Thanksgiving. We wish everyone a great holiday next week!

And just a reminder, we are Closed Tuesday Nov. 24 , through Friday Nov. 27

We will be open on Saturday and Sunday following Thanksgiving.

One gallon glass fermenters (great for test batches, or making some hard cider), 3 gallon carboys, 3 gallon Better Bottles, Turkey and more!

We hope everyone is having a good November and getting ready for some Thanksgiving fun! We did want to remind everyone that we will be closed for 4 days the week of Thanksgiving, so don't forget to check the website!

For those of you who love beer can chicken

(and have always dreamed about what it would be like on steroids), or you are looking for the next best thing since the Turducken, then the Turkey Cannon is for you! I think it's going on our christmas list!

Other than the holiday season approaching quickly, we have lots of fun stuff going on in the store. We finally accept credit cards! Yeh! And we have lots of new products. We now have more all-grain friendly equipment, such as stainless steel ball-valves (spigots) so you can convert a 5 gallon or 10 gallon Rubbermaid water cooler into a Mash/Lauter Tun. When combined with a bazooka screen, you'll be all-grain brewing in no time.

Also, we now have environmentally friendly, LEAD-FREE Hydrometers and LEAD & MERCURY-FREE Thermometers. So if you break one by mistake, you won't have poisonous metals in your wort, or be adding more toxins to the local water supply & landfill.

Replacement gaskets, and "poppet" valves for Cornelius Kegs are now available.

Other new products include a Pure Oxygen System so you can be sure that your yeast is getting plenty of oxygen. It includes all the necessary tubing, plus a regulator, sanitary air filter, and a .5 micron stainless steel aeration stone. Just connect a small disposable pure oxygen tank that's available at Lowe's, and oxygenate your wort for 1-2 minutes.

We have the Fermtech Wine thief/Hydrometer test jar combo. You can put your hydrometer right inside the thief, insert it into your fermenter for a sample, take the gravity reading, then safely (assuming you have properly sanitized your gear) return the sample back into your fermenter.

There are many other new products, too numerous to mention them all here. New grain malts too including some Belgian Special B and Aromatic malt! And an ever-expanding list of hops. Check our web catalog for the low down.

We can't say it enough, THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! We know that we aren't the most convenient location for many of you, but without you we wouldn't be able to exist. We appreciate your patience while we grow. We just need all of you to keep making the trek down to Sunset Park for about 8 more weeks. Then we will make the big move to a better space that is sure to be more accessible to most of you. AND will allow us to better serve you, and offer a much wider variety of grains and equipment.

Email us photos of your homebrewing set-ups, finished beers, or still fermenting brews! We want to post some of them on our blog.

Just a 4 minute walk from the 59th St N R station, or the 53rd St R station!

Only 30 minutes or less from Union Square by way of the N express!

Halloween, Beer, Rock and Roll.

Sorry there has been such a HUGE lag in between posts. We have been really busy. Thanks to all of you guys it looks like moving into a bigger space is going to happen sooner then later. So keep your eyes open for January!

It case you guys haven't realized it, fall is pretty much the best season ever. The temperatures have been great for brewing and drinking lots of beer. And it's almost Halloween! There is nothing quite like carving a pumpkin and drinking a beer. Or getting dressed up in a costume, going to see an amazing band, and also drinking lots of beer. And while Schlitz is an American classic.... (please refer to the picture above) there are even better brews for pumpkin carving parties.

Our favorite halloween brew is definitely Southern Tier's Pumking Ale. While we must agree there are some really awful pumpkin ales floating around out there (you know who you are), this beer kicks all their butts. It is truly like eating a slice of pumpkin pie.

And not that gross store bought pumpkin pie, but like the Thomas Keller of pumpkin pies. So please purchase yourself a glass next time you see it at a bar or get a bottle when you see it at the grocery store. I think even the skeptics would be pleasantly surprised.

As mentioned earlier..... the store is growing like mad. We have a few more recipe kits, lots of spices, the addition of 2000ML flasks and lots of other things. As always if you don't see something that you need, please let us know. We need to know everything you guys want us to carry in the bigger space! So please don't be scared to Email us. And in milling news, we are about to motorize it, making your wait shorter and our lives a whole heck of a lot easier.

We know that Thanksgiving is also right around the corner so we decided to list our holiday schedule. Here we go....

CLOSED

Tuesday November 24th - Friday November 27th

we will reopen with our normal hours November 28th

CLOSED

Thursday December 24th & Friday December 25th

For the ENTIRE month of December we will be extending our hours. So we will be open from Noon - 8PM Tuesday thru Sunday.

We hope this isn't all too confusing! It will be posted on the front page of our website until the end of the year. Thanks for all of the support everyone!

The Mortadella of Hot Dogs!

So besides our normal update about things going on in the store, we wanted to give a shout out to, what are in our opinion, the finest hot dogs in Brooklyn. The folks over at Bark know what they are doing. Not only are they serving some amazing, homemade hot dogs, but the guys at Six Point Brewery managed to create the perfect hot dog beer, Bark's very own Red Ale. You can only get this delicious beer at Bark. Summer might be over, but hot dogs and beer should officially be added to your year round diet.

In business news, we have been super busy! Flying through products so fast!

We also have a whole mess of new products. We happy to announce the arrival of our first batch of this seasons new harvest hops. The prices are cheaper and the hops are finer. We have pellets and whole leaf and they smell fantastic! They are still packed in oxygen-barrier bags that are purged with inert gas, and then vacuum sealed, to preserve the hops original character. The only difference in packaging is that the bags are not light proof. However, since our hops are always stored in a dark freezer, and away from any fluorescent lights, that isn't an issue. Plus, you will be able to see the hops before you buy.

We have changed extract companies! We now carry Briess extracts! Right from its birthplace in Wisconsin into our hands. As fresh as they get. Each extract is individually packaged for us by the manufacturer in vapor resistant bags. Rather than bulk liquid extracts shipped from Europe, which then sits in a warehouse for weeks or months, before being sold...

We also have some new grains, rice hulls, corks for belgian bottles, Erlenmeyer Flasks on the way, and finally a Wine Equipment kit. We have also added a new Beer Equipment kit that only cost $40. It is called the Bare Bones, and it's for all you folks out there looking to try out homebrewing, without making too big of a commitment.

Besides the large selection of new products we have added, we have also added a new Search Box to the site, making it far more convenient to just look for a specific product. Since we have already began receiving Gift Certificate requests for the Holidays (oh no, is it that time already!), we have added a simple button to our Homepage allowing you to purchase Gift Certificates easily. Thanks everyone, we will be seeing you around....

Organic Hops, CO2, Test your Beer Knowledge.

Check out our web-catalog if you haven't in a few days... We've added a few new Malts and Wyeast yeast strains. Just to name a couple: 3278 Belgian Lambic Blend and 2206 Bavarian Lager.

Just a reminder to some new comers, everything that you see on our web-catalog is available for purchase 6 days a week at our store. Some items are very popular and sell out fast, so feel free to phone first to be sure what you need is in stock. We will always try to accommodate your needs; if you want something that you don't see in our catalog, just ask. Chances are we can get it, usually in a week or less.

If you haven't visited the Great Brewers website yet, you should. Along with other great content, the Great Beer Test is a fun and challenging way to test your beer IQ. This isn't some watered down Facebook-style, "Will you survive the twinkie famine" quiz... This is a full-bodied beer test. Everything from beer history to brewing techniques. 50 to 100 questions. If you don't have an account at GreatBrewers.com, then you must create one....

Word on the street is that Simplex Fire Extinguisher Co. located at 1621 Mcdonald Ave, Brooklyn, NY‎ - (718) 998-1250 will REFILL your CO2 tank. No exchange required! They will fill your nice shiny 5 lb gas tank for $15.oo. Thanks for the tip D.S!

We heard your cries New York. From now on, nearly every hop that we sell comes to us directly from the Yakima Valley in Washington. From the vines right to us. These hops come direct from the farms, rather than a wholesalers' warehouse. All of our pelletized hops too. We will be able to package the hops at their peak of freshness. Homebrewers will get even fresher hops than before, and most importantly, at about half the price! All of our hops are still packaged in oxygen barrier bags that are first purged with inert gas, and then vacuum sealed and stored in the freezer.

And finally, congratulations to all of the winners of last weeks homebrew competitions! You guys all did really great. We are already looking forward to the competitions the next time around.

Happy Beer Week!

Craft Beer Week is here! We bought our Passports the other day, and are really excited to use them! We highly recommend them. There are so many great deals, and some of the deals last all year! Plus $2 Pints at a bazillion bars!

Tonight we will begin our long week of beer drinking at Jimmy's No43, with the tapping of the NY3 Casks, free for Passport holders, and part of the Gotham Cask Festival. The NY3 has been custom brewed just for Beer Week. It's collaboration of Captain Lawrence, Ithaca, and Southhampton. The beer is a Belgian Style Amber, made with neighboring honey from each brewery, and it sounds so delicious! Everyone can buy this beer at bars through the city during Beer Week, so go find some, please. Make sure to check out all the events for Craft Beer Week here.

The shop will be closed this Sunday, due to the large amount of beer events we will be part of. We apologize ahead of time for an inconveniences we might cause!

We have added a few new items to the website such as a few adjuncts and The Carbonator. We will be adding sodas extracts in a few days, as well as introducing our first wine equipment kits. So check back!

Also, good luck to everyone who is competing this weekend in one of the homebrew competitions. We look forward to trying your brews! And if your not competing, don't forget to buy your tickets....

Chew N' Brew

Brooklyn Cheese Experiment

Competition time!

Sunday September 13th is a VERY busy day. Craft Beer Week will be in full swing by then, and there will also be 2 Brooklyn homebrew competitions. The first one will be the Chew N Brew, located at The Diamond in Greenpoint. 8 teams will be pairing there homebrew with a homemade snack. Tickets are $25, and 90% of the sales go to BARC animal shelter in Williamsburg. We didn't get to attend the Chew N Brew last year, so we are very excited to be apart of it this year. You should join us in our excitement.....

The next competition is The Brooklyn Cheese Experiment. These guys did a really great job with the Beer Experiment that was held in June. The competition is being held at The Bell House again, which is an awesome venue. This time around the Amateur Chefs will be cooking up some cheesy delights, while local local homebrewers will be serving up the brews. The audience gets to vote for their favorite as well a panel of judges. There is also an after party including more beer and cheese. Tickets in advance are $20, and they sold out last time, so buy some ASAP!

Everything here at the store has been going great. People seem to be gearing up for there fall brews. We have just finished our first batch of Root Beer, and its really delicious. We will likely have some extract Root Beer and Ginger Beer kits for sale next week, so look out for them. We have justed launched our spice collection. It's small right now but will increase in the future, check it out here. We have also added a few new grains, and yeast strains, and will be adding more soon. The site has changed a little bit, so hopefully it is easier to navigate. Thanks everyone, and we will see you Wednesday at the MBAS meeting at Mugs!

Fresh Brooklyn Grown Hops

We just wanted to thank one of our customers for bringing us these beautiful Cascade hops, that he grew in his backyard right here in Brooklyn. We love presents!

Thanks again Matt.

So next spring we should all consider planting a small hop crop in our yards, if you have a yard that is (we know that we don't). One plant can produce enough to keep one brewer supplied all year long. Unless you happen to be a very prolific homebrewer. Then you may need several plants.

Hey everyone! We want to thank all of our customers for getting us off to a great start, and helping us to grow quickly. If you homebrewers keep multiplying, we'll have that store up and running in no time. Thanks for all the support!

Craft Beer Week!

Hey Everyone! Our Homebrew class is completed, and it's time to move on to the next big thing. Beginning September 11, is the 2nd Annual NY Craft Beer Week. We insist that everyone go to at least one event. Better yet buy one of the Passports, and get beer deals on tons of bars and lots of the festivities. You can drink yourself silly for the whole week! We can't wait for the Scary-Dive Bar Crawl or the Bike Brooklyn Beer Blitz. We hope to see some of you guys there.

And in homebrew supply news.....

We have redesigned our website! It looks much prettier now. It's also easier to navigate and look through the Products in stock. We have added some Gambrinus Munich malt, 6.5 gal Carboy's, Better Bottles and some Nottingham Ale dry yeast. So don't forget to check it out!

Tomorrow we will begin our protype Pumpkin Ale recipe kit! Fall is (sort of) around the corner and we can't wait!

We also wanted to let everyone know that we have been selling out of Equipment kits SO fast! We are so excited about all of the new homebrewers. We will continue to do our best keeping the kits in stock and look forward to bringing NYC a whole mess of new homebrewers.

And lastly, we were wondering if anyone knew a place that would refill CO2 tanks, without making you trade your nice, shiny new one for one of there old, cruddy ones. If so send us an Email. Thanks Everyone!