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!