"Jim Patton (February 24, 1953 - October 23, 2012) was a founder of the Abita Brewing Co. in 1986, the first microbrewery in the south, and one of the earliest anywhere."

—Brookston Beer Bulletin.

 

***************

“Born February 24, 1953, Patton earned a bachelor's degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he met his wife of 42 years. His first career was in professorship, earning a doctorate in cultural anthropology from Washington and Lee University in St. Louis, where he was a Dougherty Fellow specializing in Andean agricultural economics.

 

In 1980, Patton took a break from academia to visit friends in Abita Springs, Louisiana for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Soon after he moved to teach at Southeastern and Xavier universities in southern Louisiana.

 

Patton made an abrupt career change, deciding to leave the 'politics in the teaching' to become a full-time brewer, applying his research skills and business acumen to start a company that would become among the cornerstones of the craft beer movement in the United States.

 

'One thing my academic background did teach me was research and study,' Patton told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal in 1994.

 

Abita Brewing Company debuted its first beer on July 4, 1986, and brewed only 1,500 barrels that year. Patton sold the brewery in 1998, but his legacy continued in the recipes for Abita’s flagship beers: Purple Haze, Turbo Dog, Amber, Andygator and Abita root beer. In 2011, Abita brewed over 130,000 barrels, and their product is available in 46 states, making it synonymous with Louisiana and one of the most widely distributed craft beers in the U.S.

 

After leaving Abita, Patton continued his entrepreneurship and brewing knowledge to co-found Zea Rotisserie, a chain of brewpubs in New Orleans, where he was also a brewmaster.

 

Patton went on to brew for Key West Brewery. A San Francisco native, he also returned to northern California to study wine, taking distance learning courses through the University of California-Davis. He was an avid wine maker, working for wineries in Oregon and California.

 

Earlier this year, Patton responded to Brignoni’s ad on probrewer.com seeking a brewmaster. Patton came aboard with Wynwood Brewing in late September. Patton settled into an apartment in the Wynwood district of Miami, where he was attracted by the arts and street culture.

 

When WBC opens later this year or early 2013, it will be the first production craft brewery to open in the city of Miami since Wagner Brewing Company in 1934.

 

Patton was an avid explorer and Sierra Club member. As a teenager, he explored the mountains of his native California on foot, bike and cross-country skiing. In his twenties he hiked the Inca Trail, exploring Patagonia and the caves oof the Maya mountains. He was a champion for peace and passionate defender of wild places and sustainability.

 

An extremely kind man, Patton kept cool and confident during difficult situations, believing that good will eventually triumph.

 

He was a man of many locations throughout the U.S., traversing between Washington state, California, New Orleans, Key West and Miami, keeping an intimate connection to each place. [...]

 

He is survived by his mother, Peggy, his wife, Kathleen, his daughter, Kathryn, his son, Will, and his two sisters, Amy and Betty.”

—Miami New Times

Here's a classic label for Senate beer from 1936, as Washington was emerging from Prohibition. It was printed for the Christian Heurich brewery. Mark Benbow's lavishly illustrated new biography of Heurich is now out: www.amazon.com/Nations-Capital-Brewmaster-Christian-1842-...

Beginning work on a new project. Repurposing this wooden Nickle & Nickle wine crate from Ulele Restaurant in Tampa Heights. This job is for our Brewmaster Tim Shackton's awesome & beautiful wife. Can't wait to show off what's in store!

farm8.staticflickr.com/7435/26941072256_2117025fbd_m.jpg

Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, United States

 

Summary

 

The Romanesque Revival style office building at 31 Belvidere Street is the focal point of the William Ulmer Brewery complex, a reminder of one of Bushwick's, and Brooklyn's, most prominent 19th- and 20th -century industries. The entire complex remains a largely intact example of a late-19 -century brewery designed in the American round arch style, and includes, in addition to the office building, the main brew house (1872) and addition (c.1881), engine and machine houses (Theobald Engelhardt 1885), and stable and storage building (Frederick Wunder 1890).

 

A German emigrant, William Ulmer (1833-1907) began working in a New York City brewery owned by his uncles in the 1850s and later became a partner in the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier brewery, founded in 1871.

 

Within seven years, Ulmer became the sole proprietor of the brewery and under its new name - the William Ulmer Brewery - the business was expanded in the 1880s and 1890s with the construction of ice house, engine-, machine- and wash-room additions, a large storage and stable building, and a handsome Romanesque Revival style office building. Designed by prominent Brooklyn architect Theobald Engelhardt and constructed in 1885, the two-story red brick office building was the architectural highlight of the complex, featuring arched and dormered windows, a squat mansard roof clad in slate, as well as terra-cotta ornament.

 

Divided into three bays, the building's projecting center bay incorporates remarkably crisp red terra-cotta panels that identify the initial of the last name of the owner, the brewery's trademark, and the function of the building, as well as corbelled brickwork and a blind arcade. The office building was separated from the larger brewery by a passage with an elaborate iron gate. Though rusted, the richly embellished gate is historic and possibly original to the structure. The other buildings of the Ulmer brewery complex feature details commonly found on other 19th-century breweries, including round arch-headed and segmentally arch-headed window and door openings, projecting brick pilasters, pedimented parapets and corbelled, denticulated, zigzag-patterned, and channeled decorative brickwork, all characteristic of the American round arch style.

 

Prior to Prohibition, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, many of which were located in Williamsburgh and Bushwick. Ulmer's was one of the more successful and in 1896 the Brooklyn Eagle described him as a millionaire. Under Ulmer, beer production more than quadrupled, reaching over three million gallons annually. Upon his retirement in 1900, the brewery was run by Ulmer's sons-in-law, John W. Weber and John F. Becker. Like many other breweries, the enactment of Prohibition closed the Ulmer brewery.

 

The factory buildings were sold and converted for light manufacturing use, but the family retained ownership of the office building until 1952, using it as an office for their real estate business. The buildings remain largely intact and retain the detailing that defines their history and use.

 

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

 

The History of Brewing in Brooklyn and New York

 

"To speak of the origins of brewing in America is to speak of the origins of the nation itself," stated historian Stanley Baron in his book, Brewed in America. While the first European settlers were dependent on beer shipments brought from England, there are also late-16th- and early-17th-century references to brewers operating in the Massachusetts Bay and Virginia colonies.

 

In many early colonial accounts, beer was considered safer to drink than water, and was consumed by all ages at all times of the day. Sickness, death and failure of some settlements were often attributed to a lack of supplies, including beer. In New Amsterdam, the Dutch, who were "even more partial to beer that the English," discovered that the ingredients for beer could be grown in the new world in 1626, the year Peter Minuit "purchased" Manhattan from Native Americans.

 

Brewing was an active industry in New York City during the 17th century, with small-scale commercial, home, and municipal breweries, including one operated by The Dutch East India Company. By the 1770s, New York City and Philadelphia were established as the colonies' brewing centers.

 

At least two documented commercial brewers operated in Brooklyn during the 18th century, and despite the advantage of abundant fresh water, that number grew very slowly after the turn of the 19th century. Most brews were produced for home consumption or by common brewers for sale in nearby "ordinaries" or taverns.

 

The few commercial brewers produced English style brews, such as ale, porter, stout, and common beer, using top-fermenting yeast. In 1840, a former brewer from Bavaria, John Wagner, who had brought lager beer yeast to this country, opened a small brewery in back of his house in Philadelphia to supply his nearby tavern. From these humble beginnings, the opening of small-scale breweries eventually led to a major switch in the American brewing industry, from English to German brewing techniques and brewery proprietors. While the industry did not change overnight, the introduction of lager beer to the American market coincided with a massive influx of German immigrants in the 1840s that revolutionized the brewing industry in New York City, Brooklyn and other cities where they settled in large numbers. The Germans provided an increased market for beer, and they favored lager:

 

"Lager beer - An effervescent malt beverage, brewed by using the bottom-fermentation process, in which a special yeast settles as residue at the bottom of the brewing vats. The distinctly German beer was popular in German countries in the early nineteenth century, and was introduced in the U.S. probably in the 1840s by John Wagner. Because the process for making this light, sparkling brew involved storage while fermentation occurred [which required cool temperatures], it was termed 'lager,' which is derived from the German verb lagern, meaning to stock or store."

 

While two New York City breweries (George Gillig and F & M Schaefer) began to brew lager in the 1840s, S. Liebmann and Sons Brewery (later renamed Rheingold), founded in 1854, was one of the first to use the bottom fermenting process in Brooklyn. As lager gained popularity beginning in the mid-1850s, the cities where most German immigrants settled became the largest brewing centers in the country, including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St. Louis, as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City and Brooklyn. Several articles in the Brooklyn Eagle from the 1860s and 1870s focused on the growing popularity of lager beer, calling it our "National Beverage," appealing to people of all classes.

 

Using Long Island lake water supplied by a new gravity-fed water system, "by the 1870s Brooklyn had become a major force in American beer brewing, as numerous establishments, largely run by Germans, flourished in the borough's Eastern District (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick)." Between the 1850s and the 1880s, 11 separate breweries operated there in a 14-square block area known as "Brewer's Row." "By the 1880s, 35 breweries had been established in Brooklyn," generating an estimated $8 million in revenue annually. The majority of these firms exclusively brewed lager beer, while the remainder brewed ale or weiss (wheat) beer.

 

Technology and increased demand, as well as taste, influenced the course of the brewing industry in the second half of the 19th century. Like many other industries, the use of steam power and mechanization were common by the second half of the 19th century, altering the earlier "hand-done" brewing process and allowing for greater and more consistent production with the use of less labor.

 

While both processes required boiling and cooling, the German brewing technique differed from the English in requiring cooler temperatures to store the beer. Like the ale breweries, lager breweries operated seasonally (from October to April) but also employed extensive cellars for storage, taking advantage of cooler underground temperatures, and used large blocks of ice to regulate temperature.

 

Changes in refrigeration technology, which was first employed in Brooklyn at S. Liebmann and Sons in 1870, hit most of the breweries in the 1880s, shortening the cooling stages of the brewing process and permitting a longer brewing season. Just as steam power had revolutionized the hand brewing process, in the last years of the 19th century electric power and machinery began to replace the large steam engines.

 

Finally, pasteurization, bottling and later canning, in combination with expanded shipping methods, allowed brewers to branch out beyond local markets. These factors all made it possible for brewers to run larger breweries with greater production and profits, and tended to eliminate the smaller competitors.

 

While the number of breweries increased slowly in the 1880s and 1890s, production continued to steadily increase, driven both by an increased demand and technological advances.

 

Prior to consolidation in 1898, Brooklyn was the fourth most populous city in the country and supported 45 breweries. The prosperity continued in the 20th century, and although the number of breweries declined, the quantity of beer produced continued to grow, reaching its peak, pre-Prohibition, output of 2.5 million barrels in 1907.

 

Bushwick, which was considered a major brewing center from about 1890 until the late 1940s, was supplying almost 10% of all beer consumed in the United States during the height of its production.

 

Eventually, the technological advances that allowed Brooklyn brewers to greatly increase their production ultimately worked against them, as "cheap rail transportation and mechanical refrigeration allowed entrepreneurs in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati to make inroads into the local markets. Successful breweries made larger investments in production and distribution facilities, and small firm disappeared."

 

Still, at the close of the 1910s, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, and 70 breweries in all the boroughs combined.

 

In 1920, the 18 th Amendment, the National Prohibition or Volstead Act closed many of the Brooklyn breweries,11 while others continued to manufacture near beer (less than .05% alcohol,) soft drinks or other food products. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, only 23 of the New York City's (including Brooklyn's) breweries resumed business, with most targeting the local market.

 

Over the next half of a century, brewing in the city declined. Brooklyn's last two breweries closed in 1976 (Rheingold and F & M Schaefer), marking the end of an era. However, about a decade later, during the micro-brewing revolution of 1980s, two Brooklyn entrepreneurs opened the Brooklyn Brewery in 1987. Although their first beers were contract brewed in Utica, New York, the opening of their new brewery in Williamsburg in 1996 revived an industry that once flourished in the borough. The Ulmer complex is a significant reminder of this once important and now reviving Brooklyn industry.

 

The History of the Neighborhood

 

The William Ulmer Brewery is located within the historic boundaries of the town of Bushwick, near the present boundary line between Brooklyn and Queens. Bushwick is one of the earliest colonial settlements in New York, first occupied in the 1630s. One of the original six towns in Brooklyn, it remained a rural farming area until the mid-19th century.

 

The site of the center of the township, the village of Bushwick, is the present intersection of Bushwick Avenue, Old Woodpoint Road, Metropolitan Avenue, Maspeth Avenue, and Humboldt Street. In 1852, Williamsburgh, the western and most populous section of the township, became an independent city, however, its municipal status ended three years later in 1855 when it and all of Bushwick were incorporated within the City of Brooklyn. Thereafter, until Brooklyn's consolidation into Greater New York in 1898, both areas and Greenpoint were known collectively as Brooklyn's Eastern District.

 

Located south of the center of Bushwick village, in the early 19th century, the land around the Ulmer Brewery site was owned by members of the Debevoise family.

 

Charles Debevoise purchased over 45 acres of property near the Bushwick-Newtown border from his brother Francis in 1823, and operated a farm.

 

Like many of his relatives and neighbors, Charles Debevoise was a slave owner. After his death in the 1850s, the Debevoise farm, which had been mapped and lotted in anticipation of sub-divison, was transferred to Charles' children, Jane Stockholm, Elizabeth Debevoise and Abraham Debevoise.

 

During the 1850s Bushwick began to lose its rural, agricultural landscape. Large numbers of Germans immigrated to New York following the political upheavals in central Europe in 1848. Many settled in Williamsburgh and Bushwick and began the development of the area's most famous local industry, brewing. The area boasted a number of features attractive to the brewing industry: an abundant water supply, soil suitable for the construction of underground storage chambers, and convenient water and rail transportation, as well as sufficient local demand. Henry R. Stiles, the notable Brooklyn historian, wrote in 1870:

 

"That quarter of Brooklyn, the Eastern District irreverently designated as Dutchtown, has been for some time the centre of the lager bier manufacturing interest in the Metropolitan District. Here are located some of the largest breweries in existence in the country. Surrounded by a population almost exclusively German, they all enjoy a local patronage to a considerable extent..."

 

A second wave of development in Bushwick began after the construction of the elevated railroad along Myrtle Avenue in 1888, making the area an attractive alternative to congested downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.18 Development, consisting primarily of three-and four-story multiple dwellings, spread eastward toward the Brooklyn-Queens border during the following decade.

 

The population remained largely German until the 1930s and 40s, when Italian-Americans began moving in. Beginning with the brewery workers strike of 1949, the industry began a steady decline. The closing of factories, including the breweries, created an economic depression of the area. In the late 1950s and 1960s, African-Americans and Puerto Ricans immigrated to Bushwick, comprising more than half of its population by 1970.

 

Under the encouragement of real estate agents, many houses changed hands, purchased by low-income families with Federal Housing Authority insured mortgages, who were not necessarily able to maintain their buildings or payments during the economic downturn of the 1970s. New York City's fiscal crisis tightened the budget during this period, cutting essential services to certain communities.

 

Among them were cuts to fire department service in the area, at a time when buildings abandoned by foreclosure were subject to frequent fires, further devastating the neighborhood. Redevelopment efforts began in the 1980s and are still continuing today. According to a 2007 exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society, "today, Bushwick is one of Brooklyn's 'hottest' neighborhoods, abuzz with construction, renovation, and aspiration. With a burgeoning arts scene and convergence of Latin American people, Bushwick is truly one of Brooklyn's most dynamic communities."

 

German Immigration, Brooklyn's Eastern District and Lager Beer

 

From its founding in 1626 by Peter Minuit, a native of the German town of Wesel am Rhein, New York City has had a significant German population. During the 1820s, the first German neighborhood and commercial center developed in the area southeast of City Hall Park and by 1840 there were more than 24,000 Germans living in the city. During the next twenty years, their numbers increased dramatically as "mass transatlantic migration brought another hundred thousand Germans fleeing land shortages, unemployment, famine, and political and religious oppression," with over 1,350,000 immigrating to the United States.

 

To accommodate this growth, new German neighborhoods, developed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the Eastern District of Brooklyn. In the 1870s and 1880s, dislocations caused by the growth of the German Empire brought more new immigrants to the United States while thousands of American-born children of German immigrants established their own homes in these neighborhoods. By settling in areas with such a high concentration of fellow countrymen, it was easy for Germans to maintain their culture and customs, which included German-speaking churches and synagogues, German newspapers, singing societies, Turnvereine, and beer gardens.

 

In Williamsburgh and Bushwick, it was not uncommon for "Eastern District German-Americans to enrich their day with a brew or two. Lager tended to be the normal mealtime beverage, and it most certainly was served all around at picnics, Sunday outings, sporting events and all the other social gatherings that characterized German-American life everywhere these fun-loving people settled in the United States."

 

More than just a component of the German diet, lager beer was an integral part of the customs that new immigrants maintained in the United States. Lager was for socializing, recreating with family, and enjoyed at club meetings. While some of the clubs constructed their own buildings, such as the Eastern District Turnverein and the Arion Singing Society's Arion Hall, beer gardens were also popular meeting spots, providing entertainment and a family retreat, especially in the hot days of summer, unlike saloons, which were notorious for keeping workers away from their families after a day's labor.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery

 

Born in Wurttemberg in 1833, William Ulmer immigrated to New York in the 1850s to work with his two uncles, Henry Clausen Sr. and John F. Betz, in the brewing industry,25 eventually becoming the brewmaster for Clausen's very successful New York firm. In 1871, Ulmer partnered with Anton Vigelius to form the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier Brewery on Belvidere and Beaver Streets in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

 

Born in Bavaria, Anton Vigelius immigrated to Brooklyn in 1840 at the age of 18 and was involved in the produce business prior to opening the brewery. He purchased land at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere Streets from Abraham and Anna Debevoise in 1869, selling a half-interest in the parcel to Ulmer shortly before the construction of the brewery.

 

As evidenced by the marble date stone in the center of its facade, the first building of the Vigelius and Ulmer Brewery was constructed at the site in 1872. Typical of this period, all of the early brewing operations would have taken place in this building, from the storage of grains, to malting, brewing and lagering (or storage) of the beer. Vigelius also constructed a large residence behind the brewery facing Belvidere Street in 1872, following the common practice of 19th-century brewers who lived in or very near their breweries. The early success of the firm was noted in an 1875 article in the Brooklyn Eagle, which cited the Vigelius & Ulmer Brewery

 

among the largest and most noted of the Williamsburgh breweries, and of the 30 to 40 breweries that were then operating in Brooklyn.

 

In December of 1877, Anton Vigelius sold his share of the brewery to Ulmer and retired from brewing, leaving Ulmer the sole proprietor of what had "grown to be one of the largest breweries in Brooklyn."28 Vigelius remained a well-known and active member of the German community as Vice President of the German Savings Bank, a Director of the Broadway (Williamsburg) Bank, and a member of the Arion Singing Society until his death in 1891.

 

Like many other breweries in Brooklyn, New York and throughout the country, the Ulmer brewery complex expanded over time to increase capacity and accommodate technological advances in the industry.

 

Around 1880, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. A testament to the brewery's success, in 1885 a major building campaign was begun that included the brick office building and boiler and machine houses (designed by architect Theobald Engelhardt) facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery that served as a wash house and racking (keg-filling) room. Several years later, brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed a large wagon room, stable, and storage building to replace an existing frame stable building.

 

This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed c.1890, was the last major building constructed at the brewery. By the late 1880s, the William Ulmer Brewery and John Becker (Ulmer's son-in-law who lived in Vigelius's former home adjacent to the brewery, demolished) owned more than half of the block bounded by Beaver Street, Belvidere Street, Broadway and Locust Street.

 

Through the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century, the brewery continued to construct minor additions and interior alterations as needed, including the installation of steel framing for a new 236-barrel cooking tank in the main brew house in 1906, a year before Brooklyn reached its peak beer production. Although specific production statistics have not been found, the regular alterations to the buildings indicates that the Ulmer Brewery continued to be successful and expand production.

 

Upon his retirement in 1900, the William Ulmer Brewery was incorporated with Catharine Ulmer (his wife), John F. Becker and John W. Weber (Ulmer's sons-in-law) as directors and stockholders and his daughters, Catharine Becker and Caroline Weber as additional stockholders. Weber, an attorney by trade, became president and Becker, who had been working for Ulmer for over 20 years as a brewer, was named treasurer.

 

The brewery's success continued, allowing Weber to construct a large home at 101 Eighth Avenue in 1909 (within the Park Slope Historic District), while Becker continued to occupy Vigelius's former home behind the brewery. An active philanthropist who belonged to many charitable organizations, Ulmer died in 1907 at his home at 680 Bushwick Avenue. His wife died the following March, leaving a "large estate."

 

Unlike other 19th- and early 20th -century lager breweries in Brooklyn, no evidence has been found that Ulmer operated an adjacent beer garden or that the brewery sold any bottled or canned beer. Instead, both for personal profit and beer distribution opportunities, Ulmer invested extensively in real estate. By purchasing or building taverns and installing a proprietor, brewers could guarantee that their beer was the only one sold.

 

Advertisements and articles in the Brooklyn Eagle and other publications indicate that Ulmer owned several taverns.

 

In 1893, in consultation with Weber, he opened Ulmer Park along the waterfront in Gravesend. This large resort and hotel featured music, dancing, boating, bathing, a shooting gallery, bowling alley and other attractions, and mostly importantly served as a place for the sale of Ulmer's lager.

 

In 1901 Ulmer purchased Dexter Park, a popular baseball and football stadium located in Woodhaven, Queens, where Sunday "blue laws" were less strictly enforced than in Brooklyn, a clear advantage for lager sales. Additionally, in 1914 the William Ulmer Brewery constructed a pavilion with a restaurant and bar at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills, Queens, at the edge of Forest Park.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery closed with the passing of the Volstead Act, and its buildings were sold. The brewery retained ownership of the office and attached wagon house and storage additions, and maintained the buildings for use as a real estate office. Weber became president of the Ulmer Park Realty Company, owned by his wife and sister-in-law, while Becker, already in his 70s, likely retired. A few years prior to the repeal of Prohibition, in 1930, the company officially changed its name to William Ulmer Incorporated, signifying the company's permanent departure from brewing.

 

The Design of the Ulmer Brewery Buildings

 

The Ulmer Brewery complex consists of the main brew house and addition, office, engine and machine house, and stable and storage building. These buildings and other mid- to late-19th-century Brooklyn breweries show a similarity in form and design and feature details of American round arch design. This American industrial interpretation of the German Renaissance Revival or Rundbogenstil ("round-arch style"), which evolved in Germany in the 1820s, "synthesized classical and medieval architecture—particularly the round-arched elements of those style," according to Bradley.

 

These simply designed factory buildings use corbelled and other decorative brickwork, projecting brick piers, round arch window openings, and had parapets that sometimes varied in height and featured pediments, rather than applied ornament for interest and decoration. (Despite its name, buildings constructed in the American version of the style often used economical segmentally arch-headed window openings.) The

 

style was particularly well-suited to industrial and commercial buildings because of its reliance on brick and locally available stones, simplicity of detail, and structural expressiveness, as well as rapidity of construction, economy of materials and workmanship, durability, ample fenestration, and ease of adding extensions without grossly violating the original building fabric. Brick was the material of choice for most industrial buildings. It was inexpensive, durable, and easily supplied. More important, machine-pressed brick remained "the most fire-resistant building material available prior to the widespread use of concrete."

 

The American round-arch style was widely employed in the United States for factories, breweries, warehouses, and school buildings. Transmitted to this country through the immigration of German and Central European architects in the 1840s, as well as through architectural publications, the influence of the Rundbogenstil is clearly visible is the Ulmer Brewery buildings and other extant former brewery buildings in Brooklyn, many of which were located in the heavily German-populated Eastern District, owned by German immigrants and designed by German-immigrant architects or first generation German-Americans.

 

The first building at the brewery, the main brew house constructed in 1872, features many details characteristic of the American round arch style, including round arch-headed window and segmentally-arch-headed door openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting pilasters, and corbelled brickwork. Historic photos and illustrations of the complex indicate that the main brew house also featured pedimented parapets at the Beaver Street facade and a two-and-a-half-story, mansard-roofed tower, which are typical of 19th-century brewery architecture.

 

Between 1880 and 1885, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. Similar in style to the original building, it featured a pedimented parapet, corbelled brickwork and round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts. Like other 19th-century breweries, all of the operations likely took place in different sections of this four-story main building, which was divided into two buildings on the interior. As production expanded, the c.1881 addition along Beaver Street provided additional space for operations.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that the mashing of the malt and boiling took place on different floors of the building at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere streets, while in the remainder of the main brew house and its addition, ice was used to maintain cooler temperatures for fermenting, a much longer process. For the final step of the brewing process, the Ulmer Brewery took advantage of underground storage; Department of Buildings permits indicate that both sections of the main brew house have deep cellars, 20- and 34-feet deep.

 

The Ulmer brewery began a major building campaign in 1885; construction was begun on the two-story, brick office building and two- and three-story boiler and machine houses facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery. Dictated by expanding brewing capacity and changing brewery technology, the additions were designed by Eastern District architect Theobald Engelhardt.

 

Although not described specifically as brewery architect, Engelhardt worked on a number of brewery commissions and was also a prominent member of the German community. The new boiler and machine house building on Belvidere Street, which was connected to the southwest facade of the main brew house, was designed in the American round arch style, and features many details similar to its adjacent neighbor, including round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting brick pilasters, and a decorative brick cornice.

 

Although it is only three stories in height, the machine house section of the building extends to the height of the four-story brew house, and the brick cornice, which features corbelled, denticulated and zigzag-patterned brickwork, extends across both buildings. This decorative brick cornice, characteristic of the inexpensive ornament applied to American round arch style factories, also extends across the lower, two-story, boiler-house section of the building and its side and rear facades. Designed with practical mechanical needs in mind, to house boilers and machinery, the tall first and second stories of the new building do not align with the adjacent brewery.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that an ice machine was located on the second story of the machine house, showing Ulmer's efforts to keep up to date with the latest brewing industry advances. Although it was not specifically cited in the permit, it is possible that this building was partially designed and constructed to accommodate this new technology. Also included in this building campaign was the construction of one-story addition at the rear of the main brew house that served as a wash house and racking room.

 

Constructed of brick, this addition was demolished in 1923 to allow for the construction of a parking lot in the former brewery courtyard.

 

Brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed the large wagon house, stable and storage building that faces Locust Street for the brewery in 1890. This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed in a similar round arch design as the other brewery buildings, was the last major building constructed at the brewery.

 

The one- and two-story wagon room and stable additions of the same building campaign were constructed as a rear addition to the office building, linking the Belvidere Street building with the new building fronting Locust Street. Both the northwest, Locust Street facade and the northeast, courtyard-facing facade, which was originally visible from Locust and Beaver streets, of the building are fully developed with features characteristic of the American round arch style, including segmentally arch-headed windows and doors with projecting brick lintels at the first floor; round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts at the upper stories; bluestone window sills and string coursing; brick pilasters; and denticulated, channeled and corbelled decorative brickwork. Also characteristic of the style, a tall, pedimented parapet extends above the facade on the Locust Street side of the building and features the remnants of what appears to have been a round, terra-cotta ornament.

 

Original drawings (see illustrations) show that the courtyard-facing facade featured a two-story, central tower or monitor and a shorter tower at the building's northeast corner. (This shorter tower remains with an altered roof and attached fire escape.) The ground floor openings are raised at this facade, likely to accommodate horses, and the northeasternmost door opening (adjacent to the office) is large enough to permit the storage of wagons. By 1910, the Ulmer Brewery was using trucks for delivery, thereby diminishing the need for horses. The upper stories continued to be used for storage and later the third floor of the building was a cooperage.

 

While Ulmer's and other Brooklyn breweries display many Rundbogenstil characteristics, including Philadelphia brick facades with plain pilasters, decorative, patterned brickwork, and of course, round-arched openings accented with archivolts, the more elaborate office building complete with a terracotta company trademark, is the show piece of the brewing complex.

 

By the mid-1880s brewers and their architects were already attempting to show the wealth and success of their businesses through their brewery complexes, by creating a highly-visible corporate symbols, which could be used in company advertising. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle from 1886 described the counting houses of the S. Leibmann and Sons, Obermeyer and Liebmann, and Ulmer breweries as "not surpassed by anything of the kind in Broadway or Wall Street."

 

Designed in 1885 by Theobald Engelhardt, the office building features round arch-headed window openings, facade symmetry and a central projecting bay that are all characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style, which was also inspired by French medieval sources and the German Rundbogenstil.

 

Additional Romanesque Revival details include corbelled blind arches that decorate the pedimented parapet and corbelled archivolts. The terra cotta panels on the office building are of particular note. "OFFICE." above the front entry and the trademark "U" identify the original use and owner of the building, while a band of Queen Anne-inspired decorative panels separates the first and second floors. These floral- and foliate-motif panels were likely manufactured by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company, as very similar tiles appear in an 1895 catalog issued by the company. Other decorative details include, at the second floor, a slate-clad, faux mansard roof and projecting dormers, which were historically more decorative, round arch-headed, copper dormers.

 

The finely detailed iron gate, located to the north of the office building, which historically obscured the entry to the brewery courtyard, also features Queen-Anne inspired motifs and is likely original to the building. As previously described, the office was later expanded as part of the construction of the stable building on Locust, with one- and two-story wagon room, storage and stable additions, which were later partially raised one story to allow for additional storage.

  

Later Building History and Alterations

 

The bulk of the brewery complex was sold in the early 1920s. The large stable and storage building on Locust Street was sold in 1921, and resold within two years to the Artcraft Metal Stamping Corp. A manufacturer of light fixtures, the company later changed its name to Artcraft Metal and Electrical Products and occupied the building as a factory until c.1940, at times sharing the space with other metal fabricators and lighting manufacturers. The full height addition to the building at its northeast corner is an elevator shaft that was probably constructed c. 1932.63 Alterations to the Locust Street fenestration, including the enlargement of several openings and the installation of square-headed windows, were completed by c.1940. Artcraft retained ownership of the building until 1944, after which it changed hands several times (likely between tenants) before it was sold to a realty company in 1949. Metal fabricators and clothing manufacturers are listed as occupants there until at least the 1980s.

 

In 2002, a permit was issued by the Department of Buildings approving a change from factory to residential use. The building is currently divided into a several apartments per floor.

 

The main brewery building, including its additions and engine and machine houses along Belvidere Street, was sold in 1922. Brooklyn Department of Buildings records indicate that the Otis Elevator Company filed to install an elevator in the main brewery building a year earlier, perhaps in anticipation of its sale and reuse for another function. Marcus Leavitt, owner of M. Leavitt Flooring Co. purchased the property in 1923 and made alterations to convert the buildings from a brewery to light manufacturing.

 

Among the changes were interior alterations, the replacement of the interior wooden stairs with fire proof equivalents, the installation of metal fire escapes on the Beaver Street and Locust Street-facing side facades, window replacement with steel sash and other fenestration changes. New fireproof stair cases were installed just behind the Beaver and Belvidere Street facades, as evidenced on the exterior by the offset window openings and stair bulkheads at the roof. The enlargement of several of the round arch-headed windows on the Beaver Street facade may have taken place at this time, as well as the bricking up of windows at the first floor of both facades and at the rear facade, and the lengthening of window openings along Belvidere Street for the installation of doors.

 

The additions to the main brew house and storage addition, located to the rear of the Beaver Street facade, were demolished during this period to allow for the construction of the one-story parking garage that occupies most of the former brewery courtyard and has frontage on Locust and Beaver Streets. (This garage remained part of the same tax lot as the brewery buildings until c.1965, but is not included in this designation.)

 

The brewery building's parapet was reconstructed in 1936, replacing the pedimented and decorative brickwork with four-feet of plain brick. A sprinkler system was added in 1952, and the fire escapes and doors to reach them were replaced in 1958. Subsequent alterations have mainly focused on interior and plumbing, heating or other mechanical work.

 

Leavitt sold the property in 1924 to a realty company in which he was a partner and continued to occupy a warehouse there into the 1940s. Other building tenants included mainly clothing, shoe and handbag manufacturers, which occupied the building into the 1980s. Belvedere Improvement Company Inc. sold the property in 1931, and it changed hands again under foreclosure in 1937. It was purchased by Beaver Management Corp. in 1945. Since the 1960s, several deeds have been recorded against the lot, mostly between realty companies. An application, filed to convert part of the building from light manufacturing into residential units in 2001, was disapproved by the Department of Buildings; however, the Department of Finance currently classifies the building as an elevator apartment building with artists-in-residence. Its recent uses include a warehouse for an electronics importing company and studio space for an artist.

 

William Ulmer Incorporated, with Ulmer's grandson William Ulmer Becker as president, sold the office building to William H. Ludwig Inc. in 1952. The Ludwig company, an electrical appliance manufacturer located at 656 Bushwick Avenue, made several alterations to the building, including interior alterations and the construction of a small concrete block addition at the northwest corner of the lot, as well as changing the use of the building from office and brewery to office, factory and storage. William H. Ludwig Inc. retained ownership of the building for ten years before selling it to Twenty Starr Street Corporation, based next door at 21 Belvidere Street. Twenty Starr Street Corp. held the building for over twenty years, part of which time it is said to have been used for lamp manufacturing and storage. The office building was sold to its current owner in 1985.

 

Description

 

All of the main buildings of the Ulmer Brewery complex are extant, and occupy the northern portion of the block bound by Locust, Beaver, and Belvidere streets and Broadway in Bushwick. The complex consists of the main brew house and addition (71-83 Beaver Street), office (31 Belvidere Street), engine and machine house (35-43 Belvidere Street), and stable and storage building (28 Locust Street), occupying three separate tax lots. The buildings were historically situated around a central courtyard, which is now occupied by a one-story parking garage that is not included in this designation.

 

- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, United States

 

Summary

 

The Romanesque Revival style office building at 31 Belvidere Street is the focal point of the William Ulmer Brewery complex, a reminder of one of Bushwick's, and Brooklyn's, most prominent 19th- and 20th -century industries. The entire complex remains a largely intact example of a late-19 -century brewery designed in the American round arch style, and includes, in addition to the office building, the main brew house (1872) and addition (c.1881), engine and machine houses (Theobald Engelhardt 1885), and stable and storage building (Frederick Wunder 1890).

 

A German emigrant, William Ulmer (1833-1907) began working in a New York City brewery owned by his uncles in the 1850s and later became a partner in the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier brewery, founded in 1871.

 

Within seven years, Ulmer became the sole proprietor of the brewery and under its new name - the William Ulmer Brewery - the business was expanded in the 1880s and 1890s with the construction of ice house, engine-, machine- and wash-room additions, a large storage and stable building, and a handsome Romanesque Revival style office building. Designed by prominent Brooklyn architect Theobald Engelhardt and constructed in 1885, the two-story red brick office building was the architectural highlight of the complex, featuring arched and dormered windows, a squat mansard roof clad in slate, as well as terra-cotta ornament.

 

Divided into three bays, the building's projecting center bay incorporates remarkably crisp red terra-cotta panels that identify the initial of the last name of the owner, the brewery's trademark, and the function of the building, as well as corbelled brickwork and a blind arcade. The office building was separated from the larger brewery by a passage with an elaborate iron gate. Though rusted, the richly embellished gate is historic and possibly original to the structure. The other buildings of the Ulmer brewery complex feature details commonly found on other 19th-century breweries, including round arch-headed and segmentally arch-headed window and door openings, projecting brick pilasters, pedimented parapets and corbelled, denticulated, zigzag-patterned, and channeled decorative brickwork, all characteristic of the American round arch style.

 

Prior to Prohibition, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, many of which were located in Williamsburgh and Bushwick. Ulmer's was one of the more successful and in 1896 the Brooklyn Eagle described him as a millionaire. Under Ulmer, beer production more than quadrupled, reaching over three million gallons annually. Upon his retirement in 1900, the brewery was run by Ulmer's sons-in-law, John W. Weber and John F. Becker. Like many other breweries, the enactment of Prohibition closed the Ulmer brewery.

 

The factory buildings were sold and converted for light manufacturing use, but the family retained ownership of the office building until 1952, using it as an office for their real estate business. The buildings remain largely intact and retain the detailing that defines their history and use.

 

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

 

The History of Brewing in Brooklyn and New York

 

"To speak of the origins of brewing in America is to speak of the origins of the nation itself," stated historian Stanley Baron in his book, Brewed in America. While the first European settlers were dependent on beer shipments brought from England, there are also late-16th- and early-17th-century references to brewers operating in the Massachusetts Bay and Virginia colonies.

 

In many early colonial accounts, beer was considered safer to drink than water, and was consumed by all ages at all times of the day. Sickness, death and failure of some settlements were often attributed to a lack of supplies, including beer. In New Amsterdam, the Dutch, who were "even more partial to beer that the English," discovered that the ingredients for beer could be grown in the new world in 1626, the year Peter Minuit "purchased" Manhattan from Native Americans.

 

Brewing was an active industry in New York City during the 17th century, with small-scale commercial, home, and municipal breweries, including one operated by The Dutch East India Company. By the 1770s, New York City and Philadelphia were established as the colonies' brewing centers.

 

At least two documented commercial brewers operated in Brooklyn during the 18th century, and despite the advantage of abundant fresh water, that number grew very slowly after the turn of the 19th century. Most brews were produced for home consumption or by common brewers for sale in nearby "ordinaries" or taverns.

 

The few commercial brewers produced English style brews, such as ale, porter, stout, and common beer, using top-fermenting yeast. In 1840, a former brewer from Bavaria, John Wagner, who had brought lager beer yeast to this country, opened a small brewery in back of his house in Philadelphia to supply his nearby tavern. From these humble beginnings, the opening of small-scale breweries eventually led to a major switch in the American brewing industry, from English to German brewing techniques and brewery proprietors. While the industry did not change overnight, the introduction of lager beer to the American market coincided with a massive influx of German immigrants in the 1840s that revolutionized the brewing industry in New York City, Brooklyn and other cities where they settled in large numbers. The Germans provided an increased market for beer, and they favored lager:

 

"Lager beer - An effervescent malt beverage, brewed by using the bottom-fermentation process, in which a special yeast settles as residue at the bottom of the brewing vats. The distinctly German beer was popular in German countries in the early nineteenth century, and was introduced in the U.S. probably in the 1840s by John Wagner. Because the process for making this light, sparkling brew involved storage while fermentation occurred [which required cool temperatures], it was termed 'lager,' which is derived from the German verb lagern, meaning to stock or store."

 

While two New York City breweries (George Gillig and F & M Schaefer) began to brew lager in the 1840s, S. Liebmann and Sons Brewery (later renamed Rheingold), founded in 1854, was one of the first to use the bottom fermenting process in Brooklyn. As lager gained popularity beginning in the mid-1850s, the cities where most German immigrants settled became the largest brewing centers in the country, including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St. Louis, as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City and Brooklyn. Several articles in the Brooklyn Eagle from the 1860s and 1870s focused on the growing popularity of lager beer, calling it our "National Beverage," appealing to people of all classes.

 

Using Long Island lake water supplied by a new gravity-fed water system, "by the 1870s Brooklyn had become a major force in American beer brewing, as numerous establishments, largely run by Germans, flourished in the borough's Eastern District (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick)." Between the 1850s and the 1880s, 11 separate breweries operated there in a 14-square block area known as "Brewer's Row." "By the 1880s, 35 breweries had been established in Brooklyn," generating an estimated $8 million in revenue annually. The majority of these firms exclusively brewed lager beer, while the remainder brewed ale or weiss (wheat) beer.

 

Technology and increased demand, as well as taste, influenced the course of the brewing industry in the second half of the 19th century. Like many other industries, the use of steam power and mechanization were common by the second half of the 19th century, altering the earlier "hand-done" brewing process and allowing for greater and more consistent production with the use of less labor.

 

While both processes required boiling and cooling, the German brewing technique differed from the English in requiring cooler temperatures to store the beer. Like the ale breweries, lager breweries operated seasonally (from October to April) but also employed extensive cellars for storage, taking advantage of cooler underground temperatures, and used large blocks of ice to regulate temperature.

 

Changes in refrigeration technology, which was first employed in Brooklyn at S. Liebmann and Sons in 1870, hit most of the breweries in the 1880s, shortening the cooling stages of the brewing process and permitting a longer brewing season. Just as steam power had revolutionized the hand brewing process, in the last years of the 19th century electric power and machinery began to replace the large steam engines.

 

Finally, pasteurization, bottling and later canning, in combination with expanded shipping methods, allowed brewers to branch out beyond local markets. These factors all made it possible for brewers to run larger breweries with greater production and profits, and tended to eliminate the smaller competitors.

 

While the number of breweries increased slowly in the 1880s and 1890s, production continued to steadily increase, driven both by an increased demand and technological advances.

 

Prior to consolidation in 1898, Brooklyn was the fourth most populous city in the country and supported 45 breweries. The prosperity continued in the 20th century, and although the number of breweries declined, the quantity of beer produced continued to grow, reaching its peak, pre-Prohibition, output of 2.5 million barrels in 1907.

 

Bushwick, which was considered a major brewing center from about 1890 until the late 1940s, was supplying almost 10% of all beer consumed in the United States during the height of its production.

 

Eventually, the technological advances that allowed Brooklyn brewers to greatly increase their production ultimately worked against them, as "cheap rail transportation and mechanical refrigeration allowed entrepreneurs in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati to make inroads into the local markets. Successful breweries made larger investments in production and distribution facilities, and small firm disappeared."

 

Still, at the close of the 1910s, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, and 70 breweries in all the boroughs combined.

 

In 1920, the 18 th Amendment, the National Prohibition or Volstead Act closed many of the Brooklyn breweries,11 while others continued to manufacture near beer (less than .05% alcohol,) soft drinks or other food products. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, only 23 of the New York City's (including Brooklyn's) breweries resumed business, with most targeting the local market.

 

Over the next half of a century, brewing in the city declined. Brooklyn's last two breweries closed in 1976 (Rheingold and F & M Schaefer), marking the end of an era. However, about a decade later, during the micro-brewing revolution of 1980s, two Brooklyn entrepreneurs opened the Brooklyn Brewery in 1987. Although their first beers were contract brewed in Utica, New York, the opening of their new brewery in Williamsburg in 1996 revived an industry that once flourished in the borough. The Ulmer complex is a significant reminder of this once important and now reviving Brooklyn industry.

 

The History of the Neighborhood

 

The William Ulmer Brewery is located within the historic boundaries of the town of Bushwick, near the present boundary line between Brooklyn and Queens. Bushwick is one of the earliest colonial settlements in New York, first occupied in the 1630s. One of the original six towns in Brooklyn, it remained a rural farming area until the mid-19th century.

 

The site of the center of the township, the village of Bushwick, is the present intersection of Bushwick Avenue, Old Woodpoint Road, Metropolitan Avenue, Maspeth Avenue, and Humboldt Street. In 1852, Williamsburgh, the western and most populous section of the township, became an independent city, however, its municipal status ended three years later in 1855 when it and all of Bushwick were incorporated within the City of Brooklyn. Thereafter, until Brooklyn's consolidation into Greater New York in 1898, both areas and Greenpoint were known collectively as Brooklyn's Eastern District.

 

Located south of the center of Bushwick village, in the early 19th century, the land around the Ulmer Brewery site was owned by members of the Debevoise family.

 

Charles Debevoise purchased over 45 acres of property near the Bushwick-Newtown border from his brother Francis in 1823, and operated a farm.

 

Like many of his relatives and neighbors, Charles Debevoise was a slave owner. After his death in the 1850s, the Debevoise farm, which had been mapped and lotted in anticipation of sub-divison, was transferred to Charles' children, Jane Stockholm, Elizabeth Debevoise and Abraham Debevoise.

 

During the 1850s Bushwick began to lose its rural, agricultural landscape. Large numbers of Germans immigrated to New York following the political upheavals in central Europe in 1848. Many settled in Williamsburgh and Bushwick and began the development of the area's most famous local industry, brewing. The area boasted a number of features attractive to the brewing industry: an abundant water supply, soil suitable for the construction of underground storage chambers, and convenient water and rail transportation, as well as sufficient local demand. Henry R. Stiles, the notable Brooklyn historian, wrote in 1870:

 

"That quarter of Brooklyn, the Eastern District irreverently designated as Dutchtown, has been for some time the centre of the lager bier manufacturing interest in the Metropolitan District. Here are located some of the largest breweries in existence in the country. Surrounded by a population almost exclusively German, they all enjoy a local patronage to a considerable extent..."

 

A second wave of development in Bushwick began after the construction of the elevated railroad along Myrtle Avenue in 1888, making the area an attractive alternative to congested downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.18 Development, consisting primarily of three-and four-story multiple dwellings, spread eastward toward the Brooklyn-Queens border during the following decade.

 

The population remained largely German until the 1930s and 40s, when Italian-Americans began moving in. Beginning with the brewery workers strike of 1949, the industry began a steady decline. The closing of factories, including the breweries, created an economic depression of the area. In the late 1950s and 1960s, African-Americans and Puerto Ricans immigrated to Bushwick, comprising more than half of its population by 1970.

 

Under the encouragement of real estate agents, many houses changed hands, purchased by low-income families with Federal Housing Authority insured mortgages, who were not necessarily able to maintain their buildings or payments during the economic downturn of the 1970s. New York City's fiscal crisis tightened the budget during this period, cutting essential services to certain communities.

 

Among them were cuts to fire department service in the area, at a time when buildings abandoned by foreclosure were subject to frequent fires, further devastating the neighborhood. Redevelopment efforts began in the 1980s and are still continuing today. According to a 2007 exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society, "today, Bushwick is one of Brooklyn's 'hottest' neighborhoods, abuzz with construction, renovation, and aspiration. With a burgeoning arts scene and convergence of Latin American people, Bushwick is truly one of Brooklyn's most dynamic communities."

 

German Immigration, Brooklyn's Eastern District and Lager Beer

 

From its founding in 1626 by Peter Minuit, a native of the German town of Wesel am Rhein, New York City has had a significant German population. During the 1820s, the first German neighborhood and commercial center developed in the area southeast of City Hall Park and by 1840 there were more than 24,000 Germans living in the city. During the next twenty years, their numbers increased dramatically as "mass transatlantic migration brought another hundred thousand Germans fleeing land shortages, unemployment, famine, and political and religious oppression," with over 1,350,000 immigrating to the United States.

 

To accommodate this growth, new German neighborhoods, developed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the Eastern District of Brooklyn. In the 1870s and 1880s, dislocations caused by the growth of the German Empire brought more new immigrants to the United States while thousands of American-born children of German immigrants established their own homes in these neighborhoods. By settling in areas with such a high concentration of fellow countrymen, it was easy for Germans to maintain their culture and customs, which included German-speaking churches and synagogues, German newspapers, singing societies, Turnvereine, and beer gardens.

 

In Williamsburgh and Bushwick, it was not uncommon for "Eastern District German-Americans to enrich their day with a brew or two. Lager tended to be the normal mealtime beverage, and it most certainly was served all around at picnics, Sunday outings, sporting events and all the other social gatherings that characterized German-American life everywhere these fun-loving people settled in the United States."

 

More than just a component of the German diet, lager beer was an integral part of the customs that new immigrants maintained in the United States. Lager was for socializing, recreating with family, and enjoyed at club meetings. While some of the clubs constructed their own buildings, such as the Eastern District Turnverein and the Arion Singing Society's Arion Hall, beer gardens were also popular meeting spots, providing entertainment and a family retreat, especially in the hot days of summer, unlike saloons, which were notorious for keeping workers away from their families after a day's labor.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery

 

Born in Wurttemberg in 1833, William Ulmer immigrated to New York in the 1850s to work with his two uncles, Henry Clausen Sr. and John F. Betz, in the brewing industry,25 eventually becoming the brewmaster for Clausen's very successful New York firm. In 1871, Ulmer partnered with Anton Vigelius to form the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier Brewery on Belvidere and Beaver Streets in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

 

Born in Bavaria, Anton Vigelius immigrated to Brooklyn in 1840 at the age of 18 and was involved in the produce business prior to opening the brewery. He purchased land at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere Streets from Abraham and Anna Debevoise in 1869, selling a half-interest in the parcel to Ulmer shortly before the construction of the brewery.

 

As evidenced by the marble date stone in the center of its facade, the first building of the Vigelius and Ulmer Brewery was constructed at the site in 1872. Typical of this period, all of the early brewing operations would have taken place in this building, from the storage of grains, to malting, brewing and lagering (or storage) of the beer. Vigelius also constructed a large residence behind the brewery facing Belvidere Street in 1872, following the common practice of 19th-century brewers who lived in or very near their breweries. The early success of the firm was noted in an 1875 article in the Brooklyn Eagle, which cited the Vigelius & Ulmer Brewery

 

among the largest and most noted of the Williamsburgh breweries, and of the 30 to 40 breweries that were then operating in Brooklyn.

 

In December of 1877, Anton Vigelius sold his share of the brewery to Ulmer and retired from brewing, leaving Ulmer the sole proprietor of what had "grown to be one of the largest breweries in Brooklyn."28 Vigelius remained a well-known and active member of the German community as Vice President of the German Savings Bank, a Director of the Broadway (Williamsburg) Bank, and a member of the Arion Singing Society until his death in 1891.

 

Like many other breweries in Brooklyn, New York and throughout the country, the Ulmer brewery complex expanded over time to increase capacity and accommodate technological advances in the industry.

 

Around 1880, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. A testament to the brewery's success, in 1885 a major building campaign was begun that included the brick office building and boiler and machine houses (designed by architect Theobald Engelhardt) facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery that served as a wash house and racking (keg-filling) room. Several years later, brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed a large wagon room, stable, and storage building to replace an existing frame stable building.

 

This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed c.1890, was the last major building constructed at the brewery. By the late 1880s, the William Ulmer Brewery and John Becker (Ulmer's son-in-law who lived in Vigelius's former home adjacent to the brewery, demolished) owned more than half of the block bounded by Beaver Street, Belvidere Street, Broadway and Locust Street.

 

Through the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century, the brewery continued to construct minor additions and interior alterations as needed, including the installation of steel framing for a new 236-barrel cooking tank in the main brew house in 1906, a year before Brooklyn reached its peak beer production. Although specific production statistics have not been found, the regular alterations to the buildings indicates that the Ulmer Brewery continued to be successful and expand production.

 

Upon his retirement in 1900, the William Ulmer Brewery was incorporated with Catharine Ulmer (his wife), John F. Becker and John W. Weber (Ulmer's sons-in-law) as directors and stockholders and his daughters, Catharine Becker and Caroline Weber as additional stockholders. Weber, an attorney by trade, became president and Becker, who had been working for Ulmer for over 20 years as a brewer, was named treasurer.

 

The brewery's success continued, allowing Weber to construct a large home at 101 Eighth Avenue in 1909 (within the Park Slope Historic District), while Becker continued to occupy Vigelius's former home behind the brewery. An active philanthropist who belonged to many charitable organizations, Ulmer died in 1907 at his home at 680 Bushwick Avenue. His wife died the following March, leaving a "large estate."

 

Unlike other 19th- and early 20th -century lager breweries in Brooklyn, no evidence has been found that Ulmer operated an adjacent beer garden or that the brewery sold any bottled or canned beer. Instead, both for personal profit and beer distribution opportunities, Ulmer invested extensively in real estate. By purchasing or building taverns and installing a proprietor, brewers could guarantee that their beer was the only one sold.

 

Advertisements and articles in the Brooklyn Eagle and other publications indicate that Ulmer owned several taverns.

 

In 1893, in consultation with Weber, he opened Ulmer Park along the waterfront in Gravesend. This large resort and hotel featured music, dancing, boating, bathing, a shooting gallery, bowling alley and other attractions, and mostly importantly served as a place for the sale of Ulmer's lager.

 

In 1901 Ulmer purchased Dexter Park, a popular baseball and football stadium located in Woodhaven, Queens, where Sunday "blue laws" were less strictly enforced than in Brooklyn, a clear advantage for lager sales. Additionally, in 1914 the William Ulmer Brewery constructed a pavilion with a restaurant and bar at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills, Queens, at the edge of Forest Park.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery closed with the passing of the Volstead Act, and its buildings were sold. The brewery retained ownership of the office and attached wagon house and storage additions, and maintained the buildings for use as a real estate office. Weber became president of the Ulmer Park Realty Company, owned by his wife and sister-in-law, while Becker, already in his 70s, likely retired. A few years prior to the repeal of Prohibition, in 1930, the company officially changed its name to William Ulmer Incorporated, signifying the company's permanent departure from brewing.

 

The Design of the Ulmer Brewery Buildings

 

The Ulmer Brewery complex consists of the main brew house and addition, office, engine and machine house, and stable and storage building. These buildings and other mid- to late-19th-century Brooklyn breweries show a similarity in form and design and feature details of American round arch design. This American industrial interpretation of the German Renaissance Revival or Rundbogenstil ("round-arch style"), which evolved in Germany in the 1820s, "synthesized classical and medieval architecture—particularly the round-arched elements of those style," according to Bradley.

 

These simply designed factory buildings use corbelled and other decorative brickwork, projecting brick piers, round arch window openings, and had parapets that sometimes varied in height and featured pediments, rather than applied ornament for interest and decoration. (Despite its name, buildings constructed in the American version of the style often used economical segmentally arch-headed window openings.) The

 

style was particularly well-suited to industrial and commercial buildings because of its reliance on brick and locally available stones, simplicity of detail, and structural expressiveness, as well as rapidity of construction, economy of materials and workmanship, durability, ample fenestration, and ease of adding extensions without grossly violating the original building fabric. Brick was the material of choice for most industrial buildings. It was inexpensive, durable, and easily supplied. More important, machine-pressed brick remained "the most fire-resistant building material available prior to the widespread use of concrete."

 

The American round-arch style was widely employed in the United States for factories, breweries, warehouses, and school buildings. Transmitted to this country through the immigration of German and Central European architects in the 1840s, as well as through architectural publications, the influence of the Rundbogenstil is clearly visible is the Ulmer Brewery buildings and other extant former brewery buildings in Brooklyn, many of which were located in the heavily German-populated Eastern District, owned by German immigrants and designed by German-immigrant architects or first generation German-Americans.

 

The first building at the brewery, the main brew house constructed in 1872, features many details characteristic of the American round arch style, including round arch-headed window and segmentally-arch-headed door openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting pilasters, and corbelled brickwork. Historic photos and illustrations of the complex indicate that the main brew house also featured pedimented parapets at the Beaver Street facade and a two-and-a-half-story, mansard-roofed tower, which are typical of 19th-century brewery architecture.

 

Between 1880 and 1885, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. Similar in style to the original building, it featured a pedimented parapet, corbelled brickwork and round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts. Like other 19th-century breweries, all of the operations likely took place in different sections of this four-story main building, which was divided into two buildings on the interior. As production expanded, the c.1881 addition along Beaver Street provided additional space for operations.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that the mashing of the malt and boiling took place on different floors of the building at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere streets, while in the remainder of the main brew house and its addition, ice was used to maintain cooler temperatures for fermenting, a much longer process. For the final step of the brewing process, the Ulmer Brewery took advantage of underground storage; Department of Buildings permits indicate that both sections of the main brew house have deep cellars, 20- and 34-feet deep.

 

The Ulmer brewery began a major building campaign in 1885; construction was begun on the two-story, brick office building and two- and three-story boiler and machine houses facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery. Dictated by expanding brewing capacity and changing brewery technology, the additions were designed by Eastern District architect Theobald Engelhardt.

 

Although not described specifically as brewery architect, Engelhardt worked on a number of brewery commissions and was also a prominent member of the German community. The new boiler and machine house building on Belvidere Street, which was connected to the southwest facade of the main brew house, was designed in the American round arch style, and features many details similar to its adjacent neighbor, including round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting brick pilasters, and a decorative brick cornice.

 

Although it is only three stories in height, the machine house section of the building extends to the height of the four-story brew house, and the brick cornice, which features corbelled, denticulated and zigzag-patterned brickwork, extends across both buildings. This decorative brick cornice, characteristic of the inexpensive ornament applied to American round arch style factories, also extends across the lower, two-story, boiler-house section of the building and its side and rear facades. Designed with practical mechanical needs in mind, to house boilers and machinery, the tall first and second stories of the new building do not align with the adjacent brewery.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that an ice machine was located on the second story of the machine house, showing Ulmer's efforts to keep up to date with the latest brewing industry advances. Although it was not specifically cited in the permit, it is possible that this building was partially designed and constructed to accommodate this new technology. Also included in this building campaign was the construction of one-story addition at the rear of the main brew house that served as a wash house and racking room.

 

Constructed of brick, this addition was demolished in 1923 to allow for the construction of a parking lot in the former brewery courtyard.

 

Brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed the large wagon house, stable and storage building that faces Locust Street for the brewery in 1890. This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed in a similar round arch design as the other brewery buildings, was the last major building constructed at the brewery.

 

The one- and two-story wagon room and stable additions of the same building campaign were constructed as a rear addition to the office building, linking the Belvidere Street building with the new building fronting Locust Street. Both the northwest, Locust Street facade and the northeast, courtyard-facing facade, which was originally visible from Locust and Beaver streets, of the building are fully developed with features characteristic of the American round arch style, including segmentally arch-headed windows and doors with projecting brick lintels at the first floor; round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts at the upper stories; bluestone window sills and string coursing; brick pilasters; and denticulated, channeled and corbelled decorative brickwork. Also characteristic of the style, a tall, pedimented parapet extends above the facade on the Locust Street side of the building and features the remnants of what appears to have been a round, terra-cotta ornament.

 

Original drawings (see illustrations) show that the courtyard-facing facade featured a two-story, central tower or monitor and a shorter tower at the building's northeast corner. (This shorter tower remains with an altered roof and attached fire escape.) The ground floor openings are raised at this facade, likely to accommodate horses, and the northeasternmost door opening (adjacent to the office) is large enough to permit the storage of wagons. By 1910, the Ulmer Brewery was using trucks for delivery, thereby diminishing the need for horses. The upper stories continued to be used for storage and later the third floor of the building was a cooperage.

 

While Ulmer's and other Brooklyn breweries display many Rundbogenstil characteristics, including Philadelphia brick facades with plain pilasters, decorative, patterned brickwork, and of course, round-arched openings accented with archivolts, the more elaborate office building complete with a terracotta company trademark, is the show piece of the brewing complex.

 

By the mid-1880s brewers and their architects were already attempting to show the wealth and success of their businesses through their brewery complexes, by creating a highly-visible corporate symbols, which could be used in company advertising. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle from 1886 described the counting houses of the S. Leibmann and Sons, Obermeyer and Liebmann, and Ulmer breweries as "not surpassed by anything of the kind in Broadway or Wall Street."

 

Designed in 1885 by Theobald Engelhardt, the office building features round arch-headed window openings, facade symmetry and a central projecting bay that are all characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style, which was also inspired by French medieval sources and the German Rundbogenstil.

 

Additional Romanesque Revival details include corbelled blind arches that decorate the pedimented parapet and corbelled archivolts. The terra cotta panels on the office building are of particular note. "OFFICE." above the front entry and the trademark "U" identify the original use and owner of the building, while a band of Queen Anne-inspired decorative panels separates the first and second floors. These floral- and foliate-motif panels were likely manufactured by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company, as very similar tiles appear in an 1895 catalog issued by the company. Other decorative details include, at the second floor, a slate-clad, faux mansard roof and projecting dormers, which were historically more decorative, round arch-headed, copper dormers.

 

The finely detailed iron gate, located to the north of the office building, which historically obscured the entry to the brewery courtyard, also features Queen-Anne inspired motifs and is likely original to the building. As previously described, the office was later expanded as part of the construction of the stable building on Locust, with one- and two-story wagon room, storage and stable additions, which were later partially raised one story to allow for additional storage.

  

Later Building History and Alterations

 

The bulk of the brewery complex was sold in the early 1920s. The large stable and storage building on Locust Street was sold in 1921, and resold within two years to the Artcraft Metal Stamping Corp. A manufacturer of light fixtures, the company later changed its name to Artcraft Metal and Electrical Products and occupied the building as a factory until c.1940, at times sharing the space with other metal fabricators and lighting manufacturers. The full height addition to the building at its northeast corner is an elevator shaft that was probably constructed c. 1932.63 Alterations to the Locust Street fenestration, including the enlargement of several openings and the installation of square-headed windows, were completed by c.1940. Artcraft retained ownership of the building until 1944, after which it changed hands several times (likely between tenants) before it was sold to a realty company in 1949. Metal fabricators and clothing manufacturers are listed as occupants there until at least the 1980s.

 

In 2002, a permit was issued by the Department of Buildings approving a change from factory to residential use. The building is currently divided into a several apartments per floor.

 

The main brewery building, including its additions and engine and machine houses along Belvidere Street, was sold in 1922. Brooklyn Department of Buildings records indicate that the Otis Elevator Company filed to install an elevator in the main brewery building a year earlier, perhaps in anticipation of its sale and reuse for another function. Marcus Leavitt, owner of M. Leavitt Flooring Co. purchased the property in 1923 and made alterations to convert the buildings from a brewery to light manufacturing.

 

Among the changes were interior alterations, the replacement of the interior wooden stairs with fire proof equivalents, the installation of metal fire escapes on the Beaver Street and Locust Street-facing side facades, window replacement with steel sash and other fenestration changes. New fireproof stair cases were installed just behind the Beaver and Belvidere Street facades, as evidenced on the exterior by the offset window openings and stair bulkheads at the roof. The enlargement of several of the round arch-headed windows on the Beaver Street facade may have taken place at this time, as well as the bricking up of windows at the first floor of both facades and at the rear facade, and the lengthening of window openings along Belvidere Street for the installation of doors.

 

The additions to the main brew house and storage addition, located to the rear of the Beaver Street facade, were demolished during this period to allow for the construction of the one-story parking garage that occupies most of the former brewery courtyard and has frontage on Locust and Beaver Streets. (This garage remained part of the same tax lot as the brewery buildings until c.1965, but is not included in this designation.)

 

The brewery building's parapet was reconstructed in 1936, replacing the pedimented and decorative brickwork with four-feet of plain brick. A sprinkler system was added in 1952, and the fire escapes and doors to reach them were replaced in 1958. Subsequent alterations have mainly focused on interior and plumbing, heating or other mechanical work.

 

Leavitt sold the property in 1924 to a realty company in which he was a partner and continued to occupy a warehouse there into the 1940s. Other building tenants included mainly clothing, shoe and handbag manufacturers, which occupied the building into the 1980s. Belvedere Improvement Company Inc. sold the property in 1931, and it changed hands again under foreclosure in 1937. It was purchased by Beaver Management Corp. in 1945. Since the 1960s, several deeds have been recorded against the lot, mostly between realty companies. An application, filed to convert part of the building from light manufacturing into residential units in 2001, was disapproved by the Department of Buildings; however, the Department of Finance currently classifies the building as an elevator apartment building with artists-in-residence. Its recent uses include a warehouse for an electronics importing company and studio space for an artist.

 

William Ulmer Incorporated, with Ulmer's grandson William Ulmer Becker as president, sold the office building to William H. Ludwig Inc. in 1952. The Ludwig company, an electrical appliance manufacturer located at 656 Bushwick Avenue, made several alterations to the building, including interior alterations and the construction of a small concrete block addition at the northwest corner of the lot, as well as changing the use of the building from office and brewery to office, factory and storage. William H. Ludwig Inc. retained ownership of the building for ten years before selling it to Twenty Starr Street Corporation, based next door at 21 Belvidere Street. Twenty Starr Street Corp. held the building for over twenty years, part of which time it is said to have been used for lamp manufacturing and storage. The office building was sold to its current owner in 1985.

 

Description

 

All of the main buildings of the Ulmer Brewery complex are extant, and occupy the northern portion of the block bound by Locust, Beaver, and Belvidere streets and Broadway in Bushwick. The complex consists of the main brew house and addition (71-83 Beaver Street), office (31 Belvidere Street), engine and machine house (35-43 Belvidere Street), and stable and storage building (28 Locust Street), occupying three separate tax lots. The buildings were historically situated around a central courtyard, which is now occupied by a one-story parking garage that is not included in this designation.

 

- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

Raining after dark from the Brewmasters Bridge over the Birmingham Canal Navigations Mainline.

  

Taking the shortcut past the ICC Energy Centre from Cambridge Street to Central Square at Brindleyplace as The ICC Mall from Centenary Square is still closed (I think).

  

Not many people about, even before 5pm.

  

Restaurants have to be take away only in Tier 3. But who will eat restaurant food outside in this weather?

  

Christmas lights on the Brindleyplace Bridge.

Photos Courtesy of Brittany Purlee

 

Our week of cultural happenings gets off and running with this agrarian dining experience. Through roaming culinary events, Dinner on the Farm works to connect people back to the land and to the farmers and artisans who are making our communities a better place to live. There will be lots of deliciousness, interesting neighbors and enough beer for all.

 

Meet the Makers

Enjoy Brooklyn Brewery beer and local delicacies by featured artisans including Chicago Honey Co-op, West Loop Salumi, Crumb Bread and Edible Chicago.

 

Farm Tour

Get to know your Growing Power farmer, and learn how your food is grown on a private tour with Gillian Knight & Tyres Walker.

 

Feast

Savor a family style meal created by Chef Nicole Pederson of Found, Chef Jared Wentworth of Longman & Eagle and Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson.

 

Merriment

Spend the afternoon with friends and family playing classic backyard games, and listening to live music by The Golden Horse Ranch Band.

 

Family friendly.

 

We first connected with Dinner on the Farm founder Monica Walch while producing last year's Slow Supper in the Twin Cities . She has since joined our colorful cast to create unique local food experiences designed to celebrate farms, chefs and food entrepreneurs who are dedicated to good, sustainable food for the 2014 tour.

 

A portion of the proceeds benefits Slow Food Chicago.

 

See the Dinner on the Farm menu and the stories behind the rest of our Nashville collaborators below.

 

Passed Appetizer

Gunthorp farms with yard bird, fried hot sauce, high life gel, ranch farce, charred tropea onions, dill pollen

 

Main

Meatballs with jerusalem artichoke puree, syrup and chips

Grilled perch

 

Sides

Herbed sourdough focaccia with roasted cippolini onions

Hearty green leaf salad with miso vinaigrette, shallots and toasted pecans

Carrot and Harissa salad with frisse, pumpkin seeds and cilantro

Grilled beets with prairie fruits and farm goat cheese

 

Dessert

Strawberry short cake with biscuits, strawberry jam, rhubarb sauce and sorrel whipped cream

 

Beer

Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Summer Ale

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew supports local food systems in communities across the country. Hired by The Brewery in 2013, Andrew demonstrates and embodies Brookln Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Chef Andrew also has powerful hands. Come see what they can do.

 

Longman & Eagle Chef Jared Wentworth has four years of Michelin stars and twelve years of Executive Chef experience to back his work at Longman & Eagle, as well as his newest restaurant, Dusek's. Wentworth, despite his unwavering devotion to foie gras, believes food should be accessible and affordable to all--hence Longman & Eagle's famous $3 whiskey selection. Wentworth's menus focus on seasonality and sustainability, and all taste really, really good with beer.

 

Found Kitchen Chef Nicole Pederson spent time in Mash-alum Marcus Samuelsson's kitchen at Affinia and Danny Meyer's Gramercy Tavern before moving on to C-House, where she operated as Executive Chef. Now at Found, Pederson focuses on pure flavors, simplicity, and seasonality in her cuisine, as seen in Found's produce-centric menu.

 

Growing Power's Iron Street Farm is a 7-acre site on Chicago’s south side that produces local, healthy, and sustainable food year-round with a focus on serving, training, and engaging vulnerable populations. Growing Power aims to transforms communities by supporting people from diverse backgrounds and the environments in which they live through the development of Community Food Systems. These systems provide high-quality, safe, healthy, affordable food for all residents in the community. In 2013, Growing Power trained and employed over 300 at-risk youth in urban agriculture and community food system development.

 

edible Chicago connects readers with our city’s unique food culture.

 

Chicago Honey Co-op has formed a long term relationship within the community with emphasis on education, healthy eating and awareness of the natural environment.

 

Crumb baker and owner Anne Kostroski uses organic flours from Illinois, Wisconsin and North Dakota, cheeses from Wisconsin and best of all, the amazing seasonal produce found here at the Midwest farmers markets.

 

West Loop Salumi is the first Illinois USDA certified salumeria and uses Midwestern meat, including heritage Berkshire hogs from family co-op farms and whole-milk-fed heritage hogs from Wisconsin.

  

"One of the things that makes Dinner on the Farm truly special is that it really manages to capture that classic romantic feel. You can easily hunker down on a blanket with a significant other and just take in the scenic farm view or you can bring the entire family for a good old-fashioned community-style get together."

 

-- CityPages, Minneapolis

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

A glass of Schneider Weisse Hopfenweisse from Weissbierbrauerei G. Schneider & Sohn in Kelheim, Germany, from draft at Håndverkerstuene in Oslo.

 

Schneider Weisse Tap 5 Meine Hopfenweisse is based on the recipe developed by Schneider brewmaster Hans-Peter Drexler and Brooklyn brewmaster Garrett Oliver for their 2008 collaboration brew Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse. This beer is an 8.2% abv weizen bock, dry-hopped with Hallertauer Saphir.

 

The beer poured a cloudy orange brown color with a small white head. Aroma of sweet malts with notes of floral hops and bready yeast. Mouthfeel was medium heavy, with some sticky sweetness and a nice carbonation. Flavor started out with sweet caramel malt and a wheat beer yeast note, typically banana. The hops were mild but added som bitterness to the finish. A good but not outstanding weizenbock.

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, United States

 

Summary

 

The Romanesque Revival style office building at 31 Belvidere Street is the focal point of the William Ulmer Brewery complex, a reminder of one of Bushwick's, and Brooklyn's, most prominent 19th- and 20th -century industries. The entire complex remains a largely intact example of a late-19 -century brewery designed in the American round arch style, and includes, in addition to the office building, the main brew house (1872) and addition (c.1881), engine and machine houses (Theobald Engelhardt 1885), and stable and storage building (Frederick Wunder 1890).

 

A German emigrant, William Ulmer (1833-1907) began working in a New York City brewery owned by his uncles in the 1850s and later became a partner in the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier brewery, founded in 1871.

 

Within seven years, Ulmer became the sole proprietor of the brewery and under its new name - the William Ulmer Brewery - the business was expanded in the 1880s and 1890s with the construction of ice house, engine-, machine- and wash-room additions, a large storage and stable building, and a handsome Romanesque Revival style office building. Designed by prominent Brooklyn architect Theobald Engelhardt and constructed in 1885, the two-story red brick office building was the architectural highlight of the complex, featuring arched and dormered windows, a squat mansard roof clad in slate, as well as terra-cotta ornament.

 

Divided into three bays, the building's projecting center bay incorporates remarkably crisp red terra-cotta panels that identify the initial of the last name of the owner, the brewery's trademark, and the function of the building, as well as corbelled brickwork and a blind arcade. The office building was separated from the larger brewery by a passage with an elaborate iron gate. Though rusted, the richly embellished gate is historic and possibly original to the structure. The other buildings of the Ulmer brewery complex feature details commonly found on other 19th-century breweries, including round arch-headed and segmentally arch-headed window and door openings, projecting brick pilasters, pedimented parapets and corbelled, denticulated, zigzag-patterned, and channeled decorative brickwork, all characteristic of the American round arch style.

 

Prior to Prohibition, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, many of which were located in Williamsburgh and Bushwick. Ulmer's was one of the more successful and in 1896 the Brooklyn Eagle described him as a millionaire. Under Ulmer, beer production more than quadrupled, reaching over three million gallons annually. Upon his retirement in 1900, the brewery was run by Ulmer's sons-in-law, John W. Weber and John F. Becker. Like many other breweries, the enactment of Prohibition closed the Ulmer brewery.

 

The factory buildings were sold and converted for light manufacturing use, but the family retained ownership of the office building until 1952, using it as an office for their real estate business. The buildings remain largely intact and retain the detailing that defines their history and use.

 

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

 

The History of Brewing in Brooklyn and New York

 

"To speak of the origins of brewing in America is to speak of the origins of the nation itself," stated historian Stanley Baron in his book, Brewed in America. While the first European settlers were dependent on beer shipments brought from England, there are also late-16th- and early-17th-century references to brewers operating in the Massachusetts Bay and Virginia colonies.

 

In many early colonial accounts, beer was considered safer to drink than water, and was consumed by all ages at all times of the day. Sickness, death and failure of some settlements were often attributed to a lack of supplies, including beer. In New Amsterdam, the Dutch, who were "even more partial to beer that the English," discovered that the ingredients for beer could be grown in the new world in 1626, the year Peter Minuit "purchased" Manhattan from Native Americans.

 

Brewing was an active industry in New York City during the 17th century, with small-scale commercial, home, and municipal breweries, including one operated by The Dutch East India Company. By the 1770s, New York City and Philadelphia were established as the colonies' brewing centers.

 

At least two documented commercial brewers operated in Brooklyn during the 18th century, and despite the advantage of abundant fresh water, that number grew very slowly after the turn of the 19th century. Most brews were produced for home consumption or by common brewers for sale in nearby "ordinaries" or taverns.

 

The few commercial brewers produced English style brews, such as ale, porter, stout, and common beer, using top-fermenting yeast. In 1840, a former brewer from Bavaria, John Wagner, who had brought lager beer yeast to this country, opened a small brewery in back of his house in Philadelphia to supply his nearby tavern. From these humble beginnings, the opening of small-scale breweries eventually led to a major switch in the American brewing industry, from English to German brewing techniques and brewery proprietors. While the industry did not change overnight, the introduction of lager beer to the American market coincided with a massive influx of German immigrants in the 1840s that revolutionized the brewing industry in New York City, Brooklyn and other cities where they settled in large numbers. The Germans provided an increased market for beer, and they favored lager:

 

"Lager beer - An effervescent malt beverage, brewed by using the bottom-fermentation process, in which a special yeast settles as residue at the bottom of the brewing vats. The distinctly German beer was popular in German countries in the early nineteenth century, and was introduced in the U.S. probably in the 1840s by John Wagner. Because the process for making this light, sparkling brew involved storage while fermentation occurred [which required cool temperatures], it was termed 'lager,' which is derived from the German verb lagern, meaning to stock or store."

 

While two New York City breweries (George Gillig and F & M Schaefer) began to brew lager in the 1840s, S. Liebmann and Sons Brewery (later renamed Rheingold), founded in 1854, was one of the first to use the bottom fermenting process in Brooklyn. As lager gained popularity beginning in the mid-1850s, the cities where most German immigrants settled became the largest brewing centers in the country, including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St. Louis, as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City and Brooklyn. Several articles in the Brooklyn Eagle from the 1860s and 1870s focused on the growing popularity of lager beer, calling it our "National Beverage," appealing to people of all classes.

 

Using Long Island lake water supplied by a new gravity-fed water system, "by the 1870s Brooklyn had become a major force in American beer brewing, as numerous establishments, largely run by Germans, flourished in the borough's Eastern District (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick)." Between the 1850s and the 1880s, 11 separate breweries operated there in a 14-square block area known as "Brewer's Row." "By the 1880s, 35 breweries had been established in Brooklyn," generating an estimated $8 million in revenue annually. The majority of these firms exclusively brewed lager beer, while the remainder brewed ale or weiss (wheat) beer.

 

Technology and increased demand, as well as taste, influenced the course of the brewing industry in the second half of the 19th century. Like many other industries, the use of steam power and mechanization were common by the second half of the 19th century, altering the earlier "hand-done" brewing process and allowing for greater and more consistent production with the use of less labor.

 

While both processes required boiling and cooling, the German brewing technique differed from the English in requiring cooler temperatures to store the beer. Like the ale breweries, lager breweries operated seasonally (from October to April) but also employed extensive cellars for storage, taking advantage of cooler underground temperatures, and used large blocks of ice to regulate temperature.

 

Changes in refrigeration technology, which was first employed in Brooklyn at S. Liebmann and Sons in 1870, hit most of the breweries in the 1880s, shortening the cooling stages of the brewing process and permitting a longer brewing season. Just as steam power had revolutionized the hand brewing process, in the last years of the 19th century electric power and machinery began to replace the large steam engines.

 

Finally, pasteurization, bottling and later canning, in combination with expanded shipping methods, allowed brewers to branch out beyond local markets. These factors all made it possible for brewers to run larger breweries with greater production and profits, and tended to eliminate the smaller competitors.

 

While the number of breweries increased slowly in the 1880s and 1890s, production continued to steadily increase, driven both by an increased demand and technological advances.

 

Prior to consolidation in 1898, Brooklyn was the fourth most populous city in the country and supported 45 breweries. The prosperity continued in the 20th century, and although the number of breweries declined, the quantity of beer produced continued to grow, reaching its peak, pre-Prohibition, output of 2.5 million barrels in 1907.

 

Bushwick, which was considered a major brewing center from about 1890 until the late 1940s, was supplying almost 10% of all beer consumed in the United States during the height of its production.

 

Eventually, the technological advances that allowed Brooklyn brewers to greatly increase their production ultimately worked against them, as "cheap rail transportation and mechanical refrigeration allowed entrepreneurs in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati to make inroads into the local markets. Successful breweries made larger investments in production and distribution facilities, and small firm disappeared."

 

Still, at the close of the 1910s, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, and 70 breweries in all the boroughs combined.

 

In 1920, the 18 th Amendment, the National Prohibition or Volstead Act closed many of the Brooklyn breweries,11 while others continued to manufacture near beer (less than .05% alcohol,) soft drinks or other food products. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, only 23 of the New York City's (including Brooklyn's) breweries resumed business, with most targeting the local market.

 

Over the next half of a century, brewing in the city declined. Brooklyn's last two breweries closed in 1976 (Rheingold and F & M Schaefer), marking the end of an era. However, about a decade later, during the micro-brewing revolution of 1980s, two Brooklyn entrepreneurs opened the Brooklyn Brewery in 1987. Although their first beers were contract brewed in Utica, New York, the opening of their new brewery in Williamsburg in 1996 revived an industry that once flourished in the borough. The Ulmer complex is a significant reminder of this once important and now reviving Brooklyn industry.

 

The History of the Neighborhood

 

The William Ulmer Brewery is located within the historic boundaries of the town of Bushwick, near the present boundary line between Brooklyn and Queens. Bushwick is one of the earliest colonial settlements in New York, first occupied in the 1630s. One of the original six towns in Brooklyn, it remained a rural farming area until the mid-19th century.

 

The site of the center of the township, the village of Bushwick, is the present intersection of Bushwick Avenue, Old Woodpoint Road, Metropolitan Avenue, Maspeth Avenue, and Humboldt Street. In 1852, Williamsburgh, the western and most populous section of the township, became an independent city, however, its municipal status ended three years later in 1855 when it and all of Bushwick were incorporated within the City of Brooklyn. Thereafter, until Brooklyn's consolidation into Greater New York in 1898, both areas and Greenpoint were known collectively as Brooklyn's Eastern District.

 

Located south of the center of Bushwick village, in the early 19th century, the land around the Ulmer Brewery site was owned by members of the Debevoise family.

 

Charles Debevoise purchased over 45 acres of property near the Bushwick-Newtown border from his brother Francis in 1823, and operated a farm.

 

Like many of his relatives and neighbors, Charles Debevoise was a slave owner. After his death in the 1850s, the Debevoise farm, which had been mapped and lotted in anticipation of sub-divison, was transferred to Charles' children, Jane Stockholm, Elizabeth Debevoise and Abraham Debevoise.

 

During the 1850s Bushwick began to lose its rural, agricultural landscape. Large numbers of Germans immigrated to New York following the political upheavals in central Europe in 1848. Many settled in Williamsburgh and Bushwick and began the development of the area's most famous local industry, brewing. The area boasted a number of features attractive to the brewing industry: an abundant water supply, soil suitable for the construction of underground storage chambers, and convenient water and rail transportation, as well as sufficient local demand. Henry R. Stiles, the notable Brooklyn historian, wrote in 1870:

 

"That quarter of Brooklyn, the Eastern District irreverently designated as Dutchtown, has been for some time the centre of the lager bier manufacturing interest in the Metropolitan District. Here are located some of the largest breweries in existence in the country. Surrounded by a population almost exclusively German, they all enjoy a local patronage to a considerable extent..."

 

A second wave of development in Bushwick began after the construction of the elevated railroad along Myrtle Avenue in 1888, making the area an attractive alternative to congested downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.18 Development, consisting primarily of three-and four-story multiple dwellings, spread eastward toward the Brooklyn-Queens border during the following decade.

 

The population remained largely German until the 1930s and 40s, when Italian-Americans began moving in. Beginning with the brewery workers strike of 1949, the industry began a steady decline. The closing of factories, including the breweries, created an economic depression of the area. In the late 1950s and 1960s, African-Americans and Puerto Ricans immigrated to Bushwick, comprising more than half of its population by 1970.

 

Under the encouragement of real estate agents, many houses changed hands, purchased by low-income families with Federal Housing Authority insured mortgages, who were not necessarily able to maintain their buildings or payments during the economic downturn of the 1970s. New York City's fiscal crisis tightened the budget during this period, cutting essential services to certain communities.

 

Among them were cuts to fire department service in the area, at a time when buildings abandoned by foreclosure were subject to frequent fires, further devastating the neighborhood. Redevelopment efforts began in the 1980s and are still continuing today. According to a 2007 exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society, "today, Bushwick is one of Brooklyn's 'hottest' neighborhoods, abuzz with construction, renovation, and aspiration. With a burgeoning arts scene and convergence of Latin American people, Bushwick is truly one of Brooklyn's most dynamic communities."

 

German Immigration, Brooklyn's Eastern District and Lager Beer

 

From its founding in 1626 by Peter Minuit, a native of the German town of Wesel am Rhein, New York City has had a significant German population. During the 1820s, the first German neighborhood and commercial center developed in the area southeast of City Hall Park and by 1840 there were more than 24,000 Germans living in the city. During the next twenty years, their numbers increased dramatically as "mass transatlantic migration brought another hundred thousand Germans fleeing land shortages, unemployment, famine, and political and religious oppression," with over 1,350,000 immigrating to the United States.

 

To accommodate this growth, new German neighborhoods, developed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the Eastern District of Brooklyn. In the 1870s and 1880s, dislocations caused by the growth of the German Empire brought more new immigrants to the United States while thousands of American-born children of German immigrants established their own homes in these neighborhoods. By settling in areas with such a high concentration of fellow countrymen, it was easy for Germans to maintain their culture and customs, which included German-speaking churches and synagogues, German newspapers, singing societies, Turnvereine, and beer gardens.

 

In Williamsburgh and Bushwick, it was not uncommon for "Eastern District German-Americans to enrich their day with a brew or two. Lager tended to be the normal mealtime beverage, and it most certainly was served all around at picnics, Sunday outings, sporting events and all the other social gatherings that characterized German-American life everywhere these fun-loving people settled in the United States."

 

More than just a component of the German diet, lager beer was an integral part of the customs that new immigrants maintained in the United States. Lager was for socializing, recreating with family, and enjoyed at club meetings. While some of the clubs constructed their own buildings, such as the Eastern District Turnverein and the Arion Singing Society's Arion Hall, beer gardens were also popular meeting spots, providing entertainment and a family retreat, especially in the hot days of summer, unlike saloons, which were notorious for keeping workers away from their families after a day's labor.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery

 

Born in Wurttemberg in 1833, William Ulmer immigrated to New York in the 1850s to work with his two uncles, Henry Clausen Sr. and John F. Betz, in the brewing industry,25 eventually becoming the brewmaster for Clausen's very successful New York firm. In 1871, Ulmer partnered with Anton Vigelius to form the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier Brewery on Belvidere and Beaver Streets in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

 

Born in Bavaria, Anton Vigelius immigrated to Brooklyn in 1840 at the age of 18 and was involved in the produce business prior to opening the brewery. He purchased land at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere Streets from Abraham and Anna Debevoise in 1869, selling a half-interest in the parcel to Ulmer shortly before the construction of the brewery.

 

As evidenced by the marble date stone in the center of its facade, the first building of the Vigelius and Ulmer Brewery was constructed at the site in 1872. Typical of this period, all of the early brewing operations would have taken place in this building, from the storage of grains, to malting, brewing and lagering (or storage) of the beer. Vigelius also constructed a large residence behind the brewery facing Belvidere Street in 1872, following the common practice of 19th-century brewers who lived in or very near their breweries. The early success of the firm was noted in an 1875 article in the Brooklyn Eagle, which cited the Vigelius & Ulmer Brewery

 

among the largest and most noted of the Williamsburgh breweries, and of the 30 to 40 breweries that were then operating in Brooklyn.

 

In December of 1877, Anton Vigelius sold his share of the brewery to Ulmer and retired from brewing, leaving Ulmer the sole proprietor of what had "grown to be one of the largest breweries in Brooklyn."28 Vigelius remained a well-known and active member of the German community as Vice President of the German Savings Bank, a Director of the Broadway (Williamsburg) Bank, and a member of the Arion Singing Society until his death in 1891.

 

Like many other breweries in Brooklyn, New York and throughout the country, the Ulmer brewery complex expanded over time to increase capacity and accommodate technological advances in the industry.

 

Around 1880, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. A testament to the brewery's success, in 1885 a major building campaign was begun that included the brick office building and boiler and machine houses (designed by architect Theobald Engelhardt) facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery that served as a wash house and racking (keg-filling) room. Several years later, brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed a large wagon room, stable, and storage building to replace an existing frame stable building.

 

This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed c.1890, was the last major building constructed at the brewery. By the late 1880s, the William Ulmer Brewery and John Becker (Ulmer's son-in-law who lived in Vigelius's former home adjacent to the brewery, demolished) owned more than half of the block bounded by Beaver Street, Belvidere Street, Broadway and Locust Street.

 

Through the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century, the brewery continued to construct minor additions and interior alterations as needed, including the installation of steel framing for a new 236-barrel cooking tank in the main brew house in 1906, a year before Brooklyn reached its peak beer production. Although specific production statistics have not been found, the regular alterations to the buildings indicates that the Ulmer Brewery continued to be successful and expand production.

 

Upon his retirement in 1900, the William Ulmer Brewery was incorporated with Catharine Ulmer (his wife), John F. Becker and John W. Weber (Ulmer's sons-in-law) as directors and stockholders and his daughters, Catharine Becker and Caroline Weber as additional stockholders. Weber, an attorney by trade, became president and Becker, who had been working for Ulmer for over 20 years as a brewer, was named treasurer.

 

The brewery's success continued, allowing Weber to construct a large home at 101 Eighth Avenue in 1909 (within the Park Slope Historic District), while Becker continued to occupy Vigelius's former home behind the brewery. An active philanthropist who belonged to many charitable organizations, Ulmer died in 1907 at his home at 680 Bushwick Avenue. His wife died the following March, leaving a "large estate."

 

Unlike other 19th- and early 20th -century lager breweries in Brooklyn, no evidence has been found that Ulmer operated an adjacent beer garden or that the brewery sold any bottled or canned beer. Instead, both for personal profit and beer distribution opportunities, Ulmer invested extensively in real estate. By purchasing or building taverns and installing a proprietor, brewers could guarantee that their beer was the only one sold.

 

Advertisements and articles in the Brooklyn Eagle and other publications indicate that Ulmer owned several taverns.

 

In 1893, in consultation with Weber, he opened Ulmer Park along the waterfront in Gravesend. This large resort and hotel featured music, dancing, boating, bathing, a shooting gallery, bowling alley and other attractions, and mostly importantly served as a place for the sale of Ulmer's lager.

 

In 1901 Ulmer purchased Dexter Park, a popular baseball and football stadium located in Woodhaven, Queens, where Sunday "blue laws" were less strictly enforced than in Brooklyn, a clear advantage for lager sales. Additionally, in 1914 the William Ulmer Brewery constructed a pavilion with a restaurant and bar at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills, Queens, at the edge of Forest Park.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery closed with the passing of the Volstead Act, and its buildings were sold. The brewery retained ownership of the office and attached wagon house and storage additions, and maintained the buildings for use as a real estate office. Weber became president of the Ulmer Park Realty Company, owned by his wife and sister-in-law, while Becker, already in his 70s, likely retired. A few years prior to the repeal of Prohibition, in 1930, the company officially changed its name to William Ulmer Incorporated, signifying the company's permanent departure from brewing.

 

The Design of the Ulmer Brewery Buildings

 

The Ulmer Brewery complex consists of the main brew house and addition, office, engine and machine house, and stable and storage building. These buildings and other mid- to late-19th-century Brooklyn breweries show a similarity in form and design and feature details of American round arch design. This American industrial interpretation of the German Renaissance Revival or Rundbogenstil ("round-arch style"), which evolved in Germany in the 1820s, "synthesized classical and medieval architecture—particularly the round-arched elements of those style," according to Bradley.

 

These simply designed factory buildings use corbelled and other decorative brickwork, projecting brick piers, round arch window openings, and had parapets that sometimes varied in height and featured pediments, rather than applied ornament for interest and decoration. (Despite its name, buildings constructed in the American version of the style often used economical segmentally arch-headed window openings.) The

 

style was particularly well-suited to industrial and commercial buildings because of its reliance on brick and locally available stones, simplicity of detail, and structural expressiveness, as well as rapidity of construction, economy of materials and workmanship, durability, ample fenestration, and ease of adding extensions without grossly violating the original building fabric. Brick was the material of choice for most industrial buildings. It was inexpensive, durable, and easily supplied. More important, machine-pressed brick remained "the most fire-resistant building material available prior to the widespread use of concrete."

 

The American round-arch style was widely employed in the United States for factories, breweries, warehouses, and school buildings. Transmitted to this country through the immigration of German and Central European architects in the 1840s, as well as through architectural publications, the influence of the Rundbogenstil is clearly visible is the Ulmer Brewery buildings and other extant former brewery buildings in Brooklyn, many of which were located in the heavily German-populated Eastern District, owned by German immigrants and designed by German-immigrant architects or first generation German-Americans.

 

The first building at the brewery, the main brew house constructed in 1872, features many details characteristic of the American round arch style, including round arch-headed window and segmentally-arch-headed door openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting pilasters, and corbelled brickwork. Historic photos and illustrations of the complex indicate that the main brew house also featured pedimented parapets at the Beaver Street facade and a two-and-a-half-story, mansard-roofed tower, which are typical of 19th-century brewery architecture.

 

Between 1880 and 1885, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. Similar in style to the original building, it featured a pedimented parapet, corbelled brickwork and round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts. Like other 19th-century breweries, all of the operations likely took place in different sections of this four-story main building, which was divided into two buildings on the interior. As production expanded, the c.1881 addition along Beaver Street provided additional space for operations.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that the mashing of the malt and boiling took place on different floors of the building at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere streets, while in the remainder of the main brew house and its addition, ice was used to maintain cooler temperatures for fermenting, a much longer process. For the final step of the brewing process, the Ulmer Brewery took advantage of underground storage; Department of Buildings permits indicate that both sections of the main brew house have deep cellars, 20- and 34-feet deep.

 

The Ulmer brewery began a major building campaign in 1885; construction was begun on the two-story, brick office building and two- and three-story boiler and machine houses facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery. Dictated by expanding brewing capacity and changing brewery technology, the additions were designed by Eastern District architect Theobald Engelhardt.

 

Although not described specifically as brewery architect, Engelhardt worked on a number of brewery commissions and was also a prominent member of the German community. The new boiler and machine house building on Belvidere Street, which was connected to the southwest facade of the main brew house, was designed in the American round arch style, and features many details similar to its adjacent neighbor, including round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting brick pilasters, and a decorative brick cornice.

 

Although it is only three stories in height, the machine house section of the building extends to the height of the four-story brew house, and the brick cornice, which features corbelled, denticulated and zigzag-patterned brickwork, extends across both buildings. This decorative brick cornice, characteristic of the inexpensive ornament applied to American round arch style factories, also extends across the lower, two-story, boiler-house section of the building and its side and rear facades. Designed with practical mechanical needs in mind, to house boilers and machinery, the tall first and second stories of the new building do not align with the adjacent brewery.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that an ice machine was located on the second story of the machine house, showing Ulmer's efforts to keep up to date with the latest brewing industry advances. Although it was not specifically cited in the permit, it is possible that this building was partially designed and constructed to accommodate this new technology. Also included in this building campaign was the construction of one-story addition at the rear of the main brew house that served as a wash house and racking room.

 

Constructed of brick, this addition was demolished in 1923 to allow for the construction of a parking lot in the former brewery courtyard.

 

Brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed the large wagon house, stable and storage building that faces Locust Street for the brewery in 1890. This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed in a similar round arch design as the other brewery buildings, was the last major building constructed at the brewery.

 

The one- and two-story wagon room and stable additions of the same building campaign were constructed as a rear addition to the office building, linking the Belvidere Street building with the new building fronting Locust Street. Both the northwest, Locust Street facade and the northeast, courtyard-facing facade, which was originally visible from Locust and Beaver streets, of the building are fully developed with features characteristic of the American round arch style, including segmentally arch-headed windows and doors with projecting brick lintels at the first floor; round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts at the upper stories; bluestone window sills and string coursing; brick pilasters; and denticulated, channeled and corbelled decorative brickwork. Also characteristic of the style, a tall, pedimented parapet extends above the facade on the Locust Street side of the building and features the remnants of what appears to have been a round, terra-cotta ornament.

 

Original drawings (see illustrations) show that the courtyard-facing facade featured a two-story, central tower or monitor and a shorter tower at the building's northeast corner. (This shorter tower remains with an altered roof and attached fire escape.) The ground floor openings are raised at this facade, likely to accommodate horses, and the northeasternmost door opening (adjacent to the office) is large enough to permit the storage of wagons. By 1910, the Ulmer Brewery was using trucks for delivery, thereby diminishing the need for horses. The upper stories continued to be used for storage and later the third floor of the building was a cooperage.

 

While Ulmer's and other Brooklyn breweries display many Rundbogenstil characteristics, including Philadelphia brick facades with plain pilasters, decorative, patterned brickwork, and of course, round-arched openings accented with archivolts, the more elaborate office building complete with a terracotta company trademark, is the show piece of the brewing complex.

 

By the mid-1880s brewers and their architects were already attempting to show the wealth and success of their businesses through their brewery complexes, by creating a highly-visible corporate symbols, which could be used in company advertising. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle from 1886 described the counting houses of the S. Leibmann and Sons, Obermeyer and Liebmann, and Ulmer breweries as "not surpassed by anything of the kind in Broadway or Wall Street."

 

Designed in 1885 by Theobald Engelhardt, the office building features round arch-headed window openings, facade symmetry and a central projecting bay that are all characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style, which was also inspired by French medieval sources and the German Rundbogenstil.

 

Additional Romanesque Revival details include corbelled blind arches that decorate the pedimented parapet and corbelled archivolts. The terra cotta panels on the office building are of particular note. "OFFICE." above the front entry and the trademark "U" identify the original use and owner of the building, while a band of Queen Anne-inspired decorative panels separates the first and second floors. These floral- and foliate-motif panels were likely manufactured by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company, as very similar tiles appear in an 1895 catalog issued by the company. Other decorative details include, at the second floor, a slate-clad, faux mansard roof and projecting dormers, which were historically more decorative, round arch-headed, copper dormers.

 

The finely detailed iron gate, located to the north of the office building, which historically obscured the entry to the brewery courtyard, also features Queen-Anne inspired motifs and is likely original to the building. As previously described, the office was later expanded as part of the construction of the stable building on Locust, with one- and two-story wagon room, storage and stable additions, which were later partially raised one story to allow for additional storage.

  

Later Building History and Alterations

 

The bulk of the brewery complex was sold in the early 1920s. The large stable and storage building on Locust Street was sold in 1921, and resold within two years to the Artcraft Metal Stamping Corp. A manufacturer of light fixtures, the company later changed its name to Artcraft Metal and Electrical Products and occupied the building as a factory until c.1940, at times sharing the space with other metal fabricators and lighting manufacturers. The full height addition to the building at its northeast corner is an elevator shaft that was probably constructed c. 1932.63 Alterations to the Locust Street fenestration, including the enlargement of several openings and the installation of square-headed windows, were completed by c.1940. Artcraft retained ownership of the building until 1944, after which it changed hands several times (likely between tenants) before it was sold to a realty company in 1949. Metal fabricators and clothing manufacturers are listed as occupants there until at least the 1980s.

 

In 2002, a permit was issued by the Department of Buildings approving a change from factory to residential use. The building is currently divided into a several apartments per floor.

 

The main brewery building, including its additions and engine and machine houses along Belvidere Street, was sold in 1922. Brooklyn Department of Buildings records indicate that the Otis Elevator Company filed to install an elevator in the main brewery building a year earlier, perhaps in anticipation of its sale and reuse for another function. Marcus Leavitt, owner of M. Leavitt Flooring Co. purchased the property in 1923 and made alterations to convert the buildings from a brewery to light manufacturing.

 

Among the changes were interior alterations, the replacement of the interior wooden stairs with fire proof equivalents, the installation of metal fire escapes on the Beaver Street and Locust Street-facing side facades, window replacement with steel sash and other fenestration changes. New fireproof stair cases were installed just behind the Beaver and Belvidere Street facades, as evidenced on the exterior by the offset window openings and stair bulkheads at the roof. The enlargement of several of the round arch-headed windows on the Beaver Street facade may have taken place at this time, as well as the bricking up of windows at the first floor of both facades and at the rear facade, and the lengthening of window openings along Belvidere Street for the installation of doors.

 

The additions to the main brew house and storage addition, located to the rear of the Beaver Street facade, were demolished during this period to allow for the construction of the one-story parking garage that occupies most of the former brewery courtyard and has frontage on Locust and Beaver Streets. (This garage remained part of the same tax lot as the brewery buildings until c.1965, but is not included in this designation.)

 

The brewery building's parapet was reconstructed in 1936, replacing the pedimented and decorative brickwork with four-feet of plain brick. A sprinkler system was added in 1952, and the fire escapes and doors to reach them were replaced in 1958. Subsequent alterations have mainly focused on interior and plumbing, heating or other mechanical work.

 

Leavitt sold the property in 1924 to a realty company in which he was a partner and continued to occupy a warehouse there into the 1940s. Other building tenants included mainly clothing, shoe and handbag manufacturers, which occupied the building into the 1980s. Belvedere Improvement Company Inc. sold the property in 1931, and it changed hands again under foreclosure in 1937. It was purchased by Beaver Management Corp. in 1945. Since the 1960s, several deeds have been recorded against the lot, mostly between realty companies. An application, filed to convert part of the building from light manufacturing into residential units in 2001, was disapproved by the Department of Buildings; however, the Department of Finance currently classifies the building as an elevator apartment building with artists-in-residence. Its recent uses include a warehouse for an electronics importing company and studio space for an artist.

 

William Ulmer Incorporated, with Ulmer's grandson William Ulmer Becker as president, sold the office building to William H. Ludwig Inc. in 1952. The Ludwig company, an electrical appliance manufacturer located at 656 Bushwick Avenue, made several alterations to the building, including interior alterations and the construction of a small concrete block addition at the northwest corner of the lot, as well as changing the use of the building from office and brewery to office, factory and storage. William H. Ludwig Inc. retained ownership of the building for ten years before selling it to Twenty Starr Street Corporation, based next door at 21 Belvidere Street. Twenty Starr Street Corp. held the building for over twenty years, part of which time it is said to have been used for lamp manufacturing and storage. The office building was sold to its current owner in 1985.

 

Description

 

All of the main buildings of the Ulmer Brewery complex are extant, and occupy the northern portion of the block bound by Locust, Beaver, and Belvidere streets and Broadway in Bushwick. The complex consists of the main brew house and addition (71-83 Beaver Street), office (31 Belvidere Street), engine and machine house (35-43 Belvidere Street), and stable and storage building (28 Locust Street), occupying three separate tax lots. The buildings were historically situated around a central courtyard, which is now occupied by a one-story parking garage that is not included in this designation.

 

- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

A glass of Beer There Tribute Ale at Schouskjelleren in Oslo.

 

Beer There is a 6,5% abv stout brewed by Danish gypsy brewer Christian Skovdal Andersen of Beer Here fame and Schouskjelleren brewmaster John Hudson at Schouskjelleren in mid October 2011.

 

It poured black with a light brown head. It sported a nice aroma of black chocolate and coffee. Also hints of yeast (the beer was fresh from the tank). The mouthfeel was medium heavy with a smooth, creamy texture. The flavor followed up the aroma with a rich cocoa taste, coffee and a mild vanilla tone. Yummy.

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Photos Courtesy of Brittany Purlee

 

Our week of cultural happenings gets off and running with this agrarian dining experience. Through roaming culinary events, Dinner on the Farm works to connect people back to the land and to the farmers and artisans who are making our communities a better place to live. There will be lots of deliciousness, interesting neighbors and enough beer for all.

 

Meet the Makers

Enjoy Brooklyn Brewery beer and local delicacies by featured artisans including Chicago Honey Co-op, West Loop Salumi, Crumb Bread and Edible Chicago.

 

Farm Tour

Get to know your Growing Power farmer, and learn how your food is grown on a private tour with Gillian Knight & Tyres Walker.

 

Feast

Savor a family style meal created by Chef Nicole Pederson of Found, Chef Jared Wentworth of Longman & Eagle and Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson.

 

Merriment

Spend the afternoon with friends and family playing classic backyard games, and listening to live music by The Golden Horse Ranch Band.

 

Family friendly.

 

We first connected with Dinner on the Farm founder Monica Walch while producing last year's Slow Supper in the Twin Cities . She has since joined our colorful cast to create unique local food experiences designed to celebrate farms, chefs and food entrepreneurs who are dedicated to good, sustainable food for the 2014 tour.

 

A portion of the proceeds benefits Slow Food Chicago.

 

See the Dinner on the Farm menu and the stories behind the rest of our Nashville collaborators below.

 

Passed Appetizer

Gunthorp farms with yard bird, fried hot sauce, high life gel, ranch farce, charred tropea onions, dill pollen

 

Main

Meatballs with jerusalem artichoke puree, syrup and chips

Grilled perch

 

Sides

Herbed sourdough focaccia with roasted cippolini onions

Hearty green leaf salad with miso vinaigrette, shallots and toasted pecans

Carrot and Harissa salad with frisse, pumpkin seeds and cilantro

Grilled beets with prairie fruits and farm goat cheese

 

Dessert

Strawberry short cake with biscuits, strawberry jam, rhubarb sauce and sorrel whipped cream

 

Beer

Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Summer Ale

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew supports local food systems in communities across the country. Hired by The Brewery in 2013, Andrew demonstrates and embodies Brookln Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Chef Andrew also has powerful hands. Come see what they can do.

 

Longman & Eagle Chef Jared Wentworth has four years of Michelin stars and twelve years of Executive Chef experience to back his work at Longman & Eagle, as well as his newest restaurant, Dusek's. Wentworth, despite his unwavering devotion to foie gras, believes food should be accessible and affordable to all--hence Longman & Eagle's famous $3 whiskey selection. Wentworth's menus focus on seasonality and sustainability, and all taste really, really good with beer.

 

Found Kitchen Chef Nicole Pederson spent time in Mash-alum Marcus Samuelsson's kitchen at Affinia and Danny Meyer's Gramercy Tavern before moving on to C-House, where she operated as Executive Chef. Now at Found, Pederson focuses on pure flavors, simplicity, and seasonality in her cuisine, as seen in Found's produce-centric menu.

 

Growing Power's Iron Street Farm is a 7-acre site on Chicago’s south side that produces local, healthy, and sustainable food year-round with a focus on serving, training, and engaging vulnerable populations. Growing Power aims to transforms communities by supporting people from diverse backgrounds and the environments in which they live through the development of Community Food Systems. These systems provide high-quality, safe, healthy, affordable food for all residents in the community. In 2013, Growing Power trained and employed over 300 at-risk youth in urban agriculture and community food system development.

 

edible Chicago connects readers with our city’s unique food culture.

 

Chicago Honey Co-op has formed a long term relationship within the community with emphasis on education, healthy eating and awareness of the natural environment.

 

Crumb baker and owner Anne Kostroski uses organic flours from Illinois, Wisconsin and North Dakota, cheeses from Wisconsin and best of all, the amazing seasonal produce found here at the Midwest farmers markets.

 

West Loop Salumi is the first Illinois USDA certified salumeria and uses Midwestern meat, including heritage Berkshire hogs from family co-op farms and whole-milk-fed heritage hogs from Wisconsin.

  

"One of the things that makes Dinner on the Farm truly special is that it really manages to capture that classic romantic feel. You can easily hunker down on a blanket with a significant other and just take in the scenic farm view or you can bring the entire family for a good old-fashioned community-style get together."

 

-- CityPages, Minneapolis

Dave Byrn, head brewmaster at Pasteur Street Brewing Company pours out its brand new Belgian Blonde. Our group from the US consulate was the first to taste it.

Bill Siebel, leader of historic Chicago beer brewing school, dies at 69.

 

"Bill Siebel was the fourth generation of his family to head [the Siebel Institute of Technology], a Chicago beer-brewing school that has produced tens of thousands of alums with surnames such as Busch, Coors, Pabst, Stroh, and Floyd — as in 3 Floyds Brewing Co.

 

It wouldn’t be exaggerating to call him a member of the “First Family” of beer education in the U.S., said Charlie Papazian, president and founder of Denver’s Great American Beer Festival, the nation’s largest.

 

Mr. Siebel, who had esophageal cancer, died on November 8, 2015, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital [in Chicago, Illinois]. He was 69.

 

Bill Siebel was chairman and CEO of the Siebel Institute of Technology, established in Chicago in 1872 by his great-grandfather, Dusseldorf-born immigrant John Ewald Siebel. It bills itself as the oldest brewing school in the Americas. “There is one, based in Germany, established before us,” said Keith Lemcke, vice president of the institute, 900 N. Branch St.

 

“It’s been a continuous run,” Lemcke said, “except for this inconvenient time we call ‘Prohibition.’ ” During Prohibition, it kept going as a school of baking — which, like brewing, uses yeast.

 

Siebel Institute students, Lemcke said, have included August Busch III of Anheuser-Busch; John Mallett of Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo; the father and grandfather of Samuel Adams brewer Jim Koch; and Greg Hall, a brewmaster at Goose Island Beer Company and son of Goose Island founder John Hall [and me, if not in that same echelon!].

 

“The contributions that the Siebel Institute has made to brewing — and to training craft brewers — in its long history, are far too numerous to count,” said Koch of Samuel Adams. “I’m a sixth-generation brewer, and my father graduated from Siebel in 1948 and my grandfather in 1908. . . . The industry has lost a great one.”

 

The family school is “the longest-living institution that has served as an educational institution for brewers in the United States,” Papazian said. “They’ve gone through a lot of transitions, from the small breweries going out of business in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, to embracing the small craft brewers that were emerging in the ’70s and ’80s, welcoming them, and offering them educational opportunities. Bill was involved with that transition.”

 

“Many of our employees are graduates of Siebel Institute, and the impact the school has made on the beer community is impressive,” said Ken Stout, general manager of Goose Island Beer Company. “A great industry leader has been lost, and we’ll miss him dearly.”

 

Bill Siebel and his brother, Ron, grew up near Devon and Caldwell in Edgebrook, and at the Southwest edge of the Evanston Golf Club in Skokie, where one of the tees was behind their home. A highlight of their youth was spending summers with their mother, Mary, at Paradise Ranch near Colorado Springs, while their father, Raymond, commuted back and forth from the Siebel Institute in Chicago. The Siebel boys became accomplished horseback riders.

 

They attended grade school at the old Bishop Quarter Military Academy in Oak Park. Bill Siebel graduated from Florida’s Admiral Farragut Academy and the University of Miami. He served in the Navy, rising to lieutenant, before returning to Chicago — and the family beer school — in 1971, said his wife, Barbara Wright Siebel.

 

Both brothers attended the Siebel Institute, where a variety of classes, diplomas and certificates focus on yeast, malt, fermentation, biological science, quality control, engineering and packaging. “One of my classmates in 1967 was August Pabst, and August Busch III was a few years before,” Ron Siebel said.

 

For decades, the school and laboratory were located at 4055 W. Peterson, where the Siebels had a brewing library and a second-floor bierstube with heirloom steins.

 

After their father and uncle sold the business, “Bill and I were successful in getting it back,” Ron Siebel said. “We got it back in the family hands, and it stayed there until [Bill] retired and wanted to liquidate his holdings in the institute.” Today, the school is owned by Lallemand, a Canadian yeast company.

 

Ron Siebel focused on selling products such as stabilizers, which preserve clarity in beer. “Bill was ‘Mr. Inside.’ He was very good with numbers,” his brother said. Because of him, “The business was always on a steady course.”

 

Bill Siebel retired in 2000, Lemcke said.

 

He restored himself and reveled in nature, hiking, and watching birds and animals. For their honeymoon, Bill and Barbara Siebel canoed nine days on the U.S.-Canadian Boundary Waters. And for 20 years, they canoed in Ely, Minnesota, where he enjoyed spotting bear and moose. He also loved reading Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

 

A memorial service is planned from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on November 22, 2015 at the Siebel Institute of Technology, 900 N. Branch Street [Chicago, Illinois]."

— Chicago Sun-Times

16 November 2015.

 

***************

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See where this picture was taken. [?]

Brewer Steve Jones displays his heraldic tatt.

 

"Three Lions is a heraldic symbol adopted by the British Royal family (Richard The Lionheart etc). Nowadays it's worn by English National teams (football, rugby etc.). I originally brewed it as a one off in support of our Rugby team in the Rugby World Cup a few years ago. Everyone loved it and it stayed on tap. It's a nod to my heritage and I thought suited the beer style: big, bold, full bodied ale. I'm proud of my roots and the beer ... which is why I had the 3 Lions tattoo'd on my arm!"

 

***************

Steve Jones, brewmaster for Oliver Breweries (at Pratt Street Alehouse, the former Wharf Rat, in Baltimore) traveled to Public House No. 7, in Seven Corners, Virginia, to tap a firkin of his Ironman Pale Ale, dry-hopped with Bramling Cross.

 

Falls Church, Virginia.

11 May 2011.

 

***************

Photo by Yours For Good Fermentables.com.

May be reprinted only for non-commercial purposes. Commercial use requires permission, as per Creative Commons.

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

October 10, 2021 - "Front & Fulton is a historic redevelopment of the L. Hoster Brewery into a mixed-use project in the Brewery District of Columbus, Ohio. The area has a history stretching nearly 200 years. It is bounded by Interstate 70 on the north, South Pearl Street on the east, Greenlawn Avenue on the south, and the Scioto River on the west.

​

In the early 1800s, immigrants settled on pastures and farmlands in the area known as South Columbus. Utilizing their skills as stone masons, brewers, and other trades, these immigrants established a community that would eventually be known as German Village and the Brewery District.

 

The Project was originally the first brewery, City Brewery, and was opened by German immigrant Louis Hoster in 1836. Over the next three decades, five more breweries would locate in the area. At the height of its success, there were five breweries located in the area.

 

German Village was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 1974, becoming the list's largest privately funded preservation district, and in 2007, was made a Preserve America Community by the White House. On November 28, 1980, its boundaries increased, and today it is one of the world's premier historic restorations.

 

Stage Capital Partners acquired the property in 2018 and has been working on redeveloping the property, in collaboration with McCabe Companies, into a mixed-use project that will become a destination for anyone visiting and living in the Columbus region. Previous text from the following website: www.stagecapitalpartners.com/477-front-street

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

A glass of Mack Vinterland IPA at Blå Rock Café in Tromsø, Norway.

 

Mack Vinterland IPA is a 6.7% abv india pale ale brewed with four types of malt and five different hops, from England, USA and New Zealand, at the 1000 liter micro brewery (the future Ludwig Mack Brygghus) at Mack Bryggeri in Tromsø. This brewery gives Mack's brewmaster the chance to play with new recipes, such as this beer.

 

The beer poured a slightly hazy orange color with a white head. It sported a rich aroma, a bit perfumy with notes of lychee and mango. Mouthfeel was medium with a creamy texture. The flavor followed up the aroma with a rich tropical fruit character, again ripe mango, grapes and lychee, but it was surprisingly dry and finished with a good bitterness and a lingering aftertaste of lychee.

 

Overall a very good "tropical" IPA.

 

[blog entry]

Photos Courtesy of Brittany Purlee

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met in New Orleans, last year. For this year's Mash, Dinner Lab is releasing half of each Slow Supper's seats to the public. Brooklyn Brewery is excited to share Dinner Lab's unique dining experiences with our Mash cities.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs paired with Brooklyn beer styles both familiar and rare.

 

A portion of the proceeds benefits Slow Food Chicago.

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosphoy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Born and raised in Chicago, Chef Daniel Espinoza is now Dinner Lab’s Chef de Cuisine in his hometown. Growing up, Chef spent time giving back to the community tutoring middle schoolers in Sembrando El Futuro (SELF) program, and volunteering as a caseworker for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. After earning his culinary arts degree at Kendall College, Chef Daniel worked at Carmichael’s Chicago Steak House. It wasn’t long before Chef started seeing stars--Michelin stars, that is: in addition to his time at Mexique in Chicago, Chef traveled to France and completed a stagiaire at Bistro des Saveurs Castres. Chef Daniel is happy to be back on his old stomping grounds with Dinner Lab.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

Get tickets here, and check out the menu below.

 

Reception

Summer Ale Cans

 

Brooklyn Summer Ale – 5.0% ABV A modern rendition of the “Light Dinner Ales” brewed in England. Premium English barley malt, gives this light bodied golden beer a fresh bready flavor. German and American hops lend a light crisp bitterness and a citrus/floral aroma.

 

Citrus marinated cobia, spiced chicharron, lemon curd, pickled tarragon grapes

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace – 7.6% ABV A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the rare Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Smoked melon soup, braised pork belly, chipotle & marshmallow

Brooklyn Wild Streak – 10% ABV A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Egg in a jar, roe, smoked trout & roe, creme fraiche, rye croutons

Brooklyn Local 1 – 9.0% ABV A Belgian- inspired golden ale Forged with barley malt and hops from Germany, aromatic raw sugar from Mauritius and yeast from Belgium. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 – 9.0% ABV A Dark belgian inspired ale, with raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented

 

Dark berry shortcake with buttermilk whipped cream, citrus gel, Mast Brothers chocolate

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout – 10.0% ABV Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

”You get to have a 100% unique evening, never to be repeated again. You will meet new people, try new dishes, and enjoy a space never before dined in.” - Nashville, Nashville Guru

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Photos Courtesy of Brittany Purlee

 

Our week of cultural happenings gets off and running with this agrarian dining experience. Through roaming culinary events, Dinner on the Farm works to connect people back to the land and to the farmers and artisans who are making our communities a better place to live. There will be lots of deliciousness, interesting neighbors and enough beer for all.

 

Meet the Makers

Enjoy Brooklyn Brewery beer and local delicacies by featured artisans including Chicago Honey Co-op, West Loop Salumi, Crumb Bread and Edible Chicago.

 

Farm Tour

Get to know your Growing Power farmer, and learn how your food is grown on a private tour with Gillian Knight & Tyres Walker.

 

Feast

Savor a family style meal created by Chef Nicole Pederson of Found, Chef Jared Wentworth of Longman & Eagle and Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson.

 

Merriment

Spend the afternoon with friends and family playing classic backyard games, and listening to live music by The Golden Horse Ranch Band.

 

Family friendly.

 

We first connected with Dinner on the Farm founder Monica Walch while producing last year's Slow Supper in the Twin Cities . She has since joined our colorful cast to create unique local food experiences designed to celebrate farms, chefs and food entrepreneurs who are dedicated to good, sustainable food for the 2014 tour.

 

A portion of the proceeds benefits Slow Food Chicago.

 

See the Dinner on the Farm menu and the stories behind the rest of our Nashville collaborators below.

 

Passed Appetizer

Gunthorp farms with yard bird, fried hot sauce, high life gel, ranch farce, charred tropea onions, dill pollen

 

Main

Meatballs with jerusalem artichoke puree, syrup and chips

Grilled perch

 

Sides

Herbed sourdough focaccia with roasted cippolini onions

Hearty green leaf salad with miso vinaigrette, shallots and toasted pecans

Carrot and Harissa salad with frisse, pumpkin seeds and cilantro

Grilled beets with prairie fruits and farm goat cheese

 

Dessert

Strawberry short cake with biscuits, strawberry jam, rhubarb sauce and sorrel whipped cream

 

Beer

Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Summer Ale

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew supports local food systems in communities across the country. Hired by The Brewery in 2013, Andrew demonstrates and embodies Brookln Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Chef Andrew also has powerful hands. Come see what they can do.

 

Longman & Eagle Chef Jared Wentworth has four years of Michelin stars and twelve years of Executive Chef experience to back his work at Longman & Eagle, as well as his newest restaurant, Dusek's. Wentworth, despite his unwavering devotion to foie gras, believes food should be accessible and affordable to all--hence Longman & Eagle's famous $3 whiskey selection. Wentworth's menus focus on seasonality and sustainability, and all taste really, really good with beer.

 

Found Kitchen Chef Nicole Pederson spent time in Mash-alum Marcus Samuelsson's kitchen at Affinia and Danny Meyer's Gramercy Tavern before moving on to C-House, where she operated as Executive Chef. Now at Found, Pederson focuses on pure flavors, simplicity, and seasonality in her cuisine, as seen in Found's produce-centric menu.

 

Growing Power's Iron Street Farm is a 7-acre site on Chicago’s south side that produces local, healthy, and sustainable food year-round with a focus on serving, training, and engaging vulnerable populations. Growing Power aims to transforms communities by supporting people from diverse backgrounds and the environments in which they live through the development of Community Food Systems. These systems provide high-quality, safe, healthy, affordable food for all residents in the community. In 2013, Growing Power trained and employed over 300 at-risk youth in urban agriculture and community food system development.

 

edible Chicago connects readers with our city’s unique food culture.

 

Chicago Honey Co-op has formed a long term relationship within the community with emphasis on education, healthy eating and awareness of the natural environment.

 

Crumb baker and owner Anne Kostroski uses organic flours from Illinois, Wisconsin and North Dakota, cheeses from Wisconsin and best of all, the amazing seasonal produce found here at the Midwest farmers markets.

 

West Loop Salumi is the first Illinois USDA certified salumeria and uses Midwestern meat, including heritage Berkshire hogs from family co-op farms and whole-milk-fed heritage hogs from Wisconsin.

  

"One of the things that makes Dinner on the Farm truly special is that it really manages to capture that classic romantic feel. You can easily hunker down on a blanket with a significant other and just take in the scenic farm view or you can bring the entire family for a good old-fashioned community-style get together."

 

-- CityPages, Minneapolis

Our jam-packed week of culinary and cultural happenings gets off and running, and away from the winter elements, on this rural dining escape inside the Green Door Gourmet barn at Hidden Valley Farm. Through roaming culinary events, Dinner on the Farm works to connect people back to the land and to the farmers and artisans who are making our communities a better place to live. Our mission is pure, but don't worry, at its heart, DOTF is a laidback late-afternoon barn party. There will be lots of deliciousness, interesting neighbors and enough beer for all.

 

Chef Andrew Gerson (Brooklyn Brewery) and Chef Brandon Frohne (Mason's at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, Forage South) have developed a menu that takes advantage of the bountiful Nashville area. The result is a family-style feast bringing together farm-raised produce, local artists, Brooklyn beer and a community interested in all of the above.

 

We first hooked up with Dinner on the Farm's Monica Walch in the Twin Cities while producing last year's Slow Supper. She has since joined our colorful cast to create unique local food experiences designed to celebrate farms, chefs and food entrepreneurs who are dedicated to good, sustainable food for the 2014 tour.

 

See the Dinner on the Farm menu and the stories behind the rest of our Nashville collaborators below.

 

Passed Appetizer

Cornmeal Crackers w/ Potted Pork & Hyden Salad

 

Main

Rabbit Porchetta Baked in Hay w/ Country Mustard, Brassica, Currants, and Crushed Herbs

 

Sides

Leaf Lard Cathead Biscuits

Parsnip Puree w/ Crispy Parsnip Skin & Onion Grass

Sweet Potato, Apple, & Kohlrabi w/ Walnuts, Buttermilk Ricotta, Torn Mountain Bread, and Smoked Onion Vinaigrette

Braised Greens w/ Chilies, Smoked Jowl, & Benne Seed

 

Passed Dessert

Sally Lunn Bread Pudding with Mast Brother’s Chocolate

 

Beer

Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Dry Irish Stout

 

Chef Brandon Frohne, in addition to heading up the Forage South Pop Up Dinner Club, is Executive Chef of Mason’s and Mason Bar, a modern southern brasserie located inside the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. Chef Frohne approaches contemporary American and European cuisine with energy and creativity, while honoring ingredients of quality and paying respect to the origins of Southern cooking. His creativity, connection to the local culinary community, and passion for farm-to-table cooking contribute to Mason’s distinctive dining experience. Chef Frohne gathers inspiration from working with a dynamic culinary team, researching historical Appalachian cookery, and working with local farmers and artisans.

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew supports local food systems in communities across the country. Hired by The Brewery in 2013, Andrew demonstrates and embodies Brookln Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosphy on beer and food. Chef Andrew also has powerful hands.

 

Green Door Gourmet is a unique farm to fork venture that produces and provides local artisan foods and plants in a farm-cooperative community setting. Sylvia Harrelson Ganier, the farm operator, brings years of farm and restaurant experience as well as a passion for food and education. Her background, growing up on a dairy farm in North Carolina, melds with her many years in the restaurant business, including being chef and owner of her former Nashville based establishment, CIBO.

 

"One of the things that makes Dinner on the Farm truly special is that it really manages to capture that classic romantic feel. You can easily hunker down on a blanket with a significant other and just take in the scenic farm view or you can bring the entire family for a good old-fashioned community-style get together."

-- CityPages, Minneapolis

Photos Courtesy of Brittany Purlee

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met in New Orleans, last year. For this year's Mash, Dinner Lab is releasing half of each Slow Supper's seats to the public. Brooklyn Brewery is excited to share Dinner Lab's unique dining experiences with our Mash cities.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs paired with Brooklyn beer styles both familiar and rare.

 

A portion of the proceeds benefits Slow Food Chicago.

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosphoy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Born and raised in Chicago, Chef Daniel Espinoza is now Dinner Lab’s Chef de Cuisine in his hometown. Growing up, Chef spent time giving back to the community tutoring middle schoolers in Sembrando El Futuro (SELF) program, and volunteering as a caseworker for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. After earning his culinary arts degree at Kendall College, Chef Daniel worked at Carmichael’s Chicago Steak House. It wasn’t long before Chef started seeing stars--Michelin stars, that is: in addition to his time at Mexique in Chicago, Chef traveled to France and completed a stagiaire at Bistro des Saveurs Castres. Chef Daniel is happy to be back on his old stomping grounds with Dinner Lab.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

Get tickets here, and check out the menu below.

 

Reception

Summer Ale Cans

 

Brooklyn Summer Ale – 5.0% ABV A modern rendition of the “Light Dinner Ales” brewed in England. Premium English barley malt, gives this light bodied golden beer a fresh bready flavor. German and American hops lend a light crisp bitterness and a citrus/floral aroma.

 

Citrus marinated cobia, spiced chicharron, lemon curd, pickled tarragon grapes

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace – 7.6% ABV A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the rare Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Smoked melon soup, braised pork belly, chipotle & marshmallow

Brooklyn Wild Streak – 10% ABV A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Egg in a jar, roe, smoked trout & roe, creme fraiche, rye croutons

Brooklyn Local 1 – 9.0% ABV A Belgian- inspired golden ale Forged with barley malt and hops from Germany, aromatic raw sugar from Mauritius and yeast from Belgium. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 – 9.0% ABV A Dark belgian inspired ale, with raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented

 

Dark berry shortcake with buttermilk whipped cream, citrus gel, Mast Brothers chocolate

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout – 10.0% ABV Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

”You get to have a 100% unique evening, never to be repeated again. You will meet new people, try new dishes, and enjoy a space never before dined in.” - Nashville, Nashville Guru

Photos Courtesy of Maverick Inman

 

Our week of cultural happenings gets off and running with this agrarian dining experience. Through roaming culinary events, Dinner on the Farm works to connect people back to the land and to the farmers and artisans who are making our communities a better place to live. There will be lots of deliciousness, interesting neighbors and enough beer for all.

 

Meet the Makers

Enjoy Brooklyn Brewery beer and local delicacies by Craft Kombucha, Lulu's Ice Cream, & Radius Pizza. Tickle your brain with the mind expanding articles of The Intentional, and look for Chef Andrew Gerson's interview in their next issue.

 

Farm Tour

Get to know your Georges Mill farmer, and learn how your food is grown on a private tour with Molly Kroiz.

 

Feast

Savor a family style meal created by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson, Chef Hiyaw Gebreyohannes and Chef Patrick Dinh.

 

Merriment

Spend the afternoon with friends and family playing classic backyard games, and listening to live music from Jake & the Burtones.

 

Family friendly.

 

We first connected with Dinner on the Farm founder Monica Walch while producing last year's Slow Supper in the Twin Cities. She has since joined our colorful cast to create unique local food experiences designed to celebrate farms, chefs and food entrepreneurs who are dedicated to good, sustainable food for the 2014 tour.

 

A portion of the proceeds benefits Slow Food DC.

 

See the Dinner on the Farm menu and the stories behind the rest of our collaborators below.

 

Passed Appetizer

Fried injera, burberry goat, split peas

 

Dinner

Kale, white miso vinaigrette, golden raisins, shallots

Roasted root vegetables, honey, herbs

Cheese board, Mostarda, berry gastrique

Injera (ethiopian flat bread)

Saffron rice

Marinated skirt steak, carrot-ginger puree

 

Dessert

Strawberry rhubarb compote, sorrel whipped cream, scones

 

Beers

Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Summer Ale

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew supports local food systems in communities across the country. Hired by The Brewery in 2013, Andrew demonstrates and embodies Brookln Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Chef Andrew also has powerful hands. Come see what they can do.

 

Born in Djibouti East Africa to Ethiopian parents, Chef Hiyaw Gebreyohannes was raised in Toronto where he spent much of his childhood in the kitchen learning from his mother’s culinary expertise. His work in Manhattan as General Manager of West African restaurant Zereoue inspired Hiyaw to travel to Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Kenya and Egypt to explore his roots – an impactful journey that gave way to Taste of Ethiopia, Hiyaw’s company specializing in modern Ethiopian cuisine. Hiyaw’s inventive fare has been featured in The New York Times, Food & Wine, Every Day with Rachael Ray among other notable publications.

 

Chef Patrick Dinh has headed the kitchen of one of the country's most enduring and popular restaurants, Tuscarora Mill, for twenty-two of its thirty years in business. Before that, he worked under Jeremiah Towers, of Chez Panisse. The self-taught chef describes his cuisine as "global", and is committed to keeping his menus evolving and inventive

 

Georges Mill Farm Artisan Cheese is a small, family owned farm in Loudoun County Virginia. They make artisan cheese on a seasonal basis using milk from their herd of Alpine dairy goats. The dairy is located in an historic bank barn that has been in their family for eight generations, and the Georges Mill goats graze over 15 acres of pasture. The pasture is supplemented with high quality grain and hay, and the staff are committed to producing cheese of the finest quality and connecting consumers to their food. Georges Mill believes strongly in the power of real food, and in the need for a strong local agricultural economy and community.

 

"One of the things that makes Dinner on the Farm truly special is that it really manages to capture that classic romantic feel. You can easily hunker down on a blanket with a significant other and just take in the scenic farm view or you can bring the entire family for a good old-fashioned community-style get together."

 

-- CityPages, Minneapolis

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, United States

 

Summary

 

The Romanesque Revival style office building at 31 Belvidere Street is the focal point of the William Ulmer Brewery complex, a reminder of one of Bushwick's, and Brooklyn's, most prominent 19th- and 20th -century industries. The entire complex remains a largely intact example of a late-19 -century brewery designed in the American round arch style, and includes, in addition to the office building, the main brew house (1872) and addition (c.1881), engine and machine houses (Theobald Engelhardt 1885), and stable and storage building (Frederick Wunder 1890).

 

A German emigrant, William Ulmer (1833-1907) began working in a New York City brewery owned by his uncles in the 1850s and later became a partner in the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier brewery, founded in 1871.

 

Within seven years, Ulmer became the sole proprietor of the brewery and under its new name - the William Ulmer Brewery - the business was expanded in the 1880s and 1890s with the construction of ice house, engine-, machine- and wash-room additions, a large storage and stable building, and a handsome Romanesque Revival style office building. Designed by prominent Brooklyn architect Theobald Engelhardt and constructed in 1885, the two-story red brick office building was the architectural highlight of the complex, featuring arched and dormered windows, a squat mansard roof clad in slate, as well as terra-cotta ornament.

 

Divided into three bays, the building's projecting center bay incorporates remarkably crisp red terra-cotta panels that identify the initial of the last name of the owner, the brewery's trademark, and the function of the building, as well as corbelled brickwork and a blind arcade. The office building was separated from the larger brewery by a passage with an elaborate iron gate. Though rusted, the richly embellished gate is historic and possibly original to the structure. The other buildings of the Ulmer brewery complex feature details commonly found on other 19th-century breweries, including round arch-headed and segmentally arch-headed window and door openings, projecting brick pilasters, pedimented parapets and corbelled, denticulated, zigzag-patterned, and channeled decorative brickwork, all characteristic of the American round arch style.

 

Prior to Prohibition, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, many of which were located in Williamsburgh and Bushwick. Ulmer's was one of the more successful and in 1896 the Brooklyn Eagle described him as a millionaire. Under Ulmer, beer production more than quadrupled, reaching over three million gallons annually. Upon his retirement in 1900, the brewery was run by Ulmer's sons-in-law, John W. Weber and John F. Becker. Like many other breweries, the enactment of Prohibition closed the Ulmer brewery.

 

The factory buildings were sold and converted for light manufacturing use, but the family retained ownership of the office building until 1952, using it as an office for their real estate business. The buildings remain largely intact and retain the detailing that defines their history and use.

 

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

 

The History of Brewing in Brooklyn and New York

 

"To speak of the origins of brewing in America is to speak of the origins of the nation itself," stated historian Stanley Baron in his book, Brewed in America. While the first European settlers were dependent on beer shipments brought from England, there are also late-16th- and early-17th-century references to brewers operating in the Massachusetts Bay and Virginia colonies.

 

In many early colonial accounts, beer was considered safer to drink than water, and was consumed by all ages at all times of the day. Sickness, death and failure of some settlements were often attributed to a lack of supplies, including beer. In New Amsterdam, the Dutch, who were "even more partial to beer that the English," discovered that the ingredients for beer could be grown in the new world in 1626, the year Peter Minuit "purchased" Manhattan from Native Americans.

 

Brewing was an active industry in New York City during the 17th century, with small-scale commercial, home, and municipal breweries, including one operated by The Dutch East India Company. By the 1770s, New York City and Philadelphia were established as the colonies' brewing centers.

 

At least two documented commercial brewers operated in Brooklyn during the 18th century, and despite the advantage of abundant fresh water, that number grew very slowly after the turn of the 19th century. Most brews were produced for home consumption or by common brewers for sale in nearby "ordinaries" or taverns.

 

The few commercial brewers produced English style brews, such as ale, porter, stout, and common beer, using top-fermenting yeast. In 1840, a former brewer from Bavaria, John Wagner, who had brought lager beer yeast to this country, opened a small brewery in back of his house in Philadelphia to supply his nearby tavern. From these humble beginnings, the opening of small-scale breweries eventually led to a major switch in the American brewing industry, from English to German brewing techniques and brewery proprietors. While the industry did not change overnight, the introduction of lager beer to the American market coincided with a massive influx of German immigrants in the 1840s that revolutionized the brewing industry in New York City, Brooklyn and other cities where they settled in large numbers. The Germans provided an increased market for beer, and they favored lager:

 

"Lager beer - An effervescent malt beverage, brewed by using the bottom-fermentation process, in which a special yeast settles as residue at the bottom of the brewing vats. The distinctly German beer was popular in German countries in the early nineteenth century, and was introduced in the U.S. probably in the 1840s by John Wagner. Because the process for making this light, sparkling brew involved storage while fermentation occurred [which required cool temperatures], it was termed 'lager,' which is derived from the German verb lagern, meaning to stock or store."

 

While two New York City breweries (George Gillig and F & M Schaefer) began to brew lager in the 1840s, S. Liebmann and Sons Brewery (later renamed Rheingold), founded in 1854, was one of the first to use the bottom fermenting process in Brooklyn. As lager gained popularity beginning in the mid-1850s, the cities where most German immigrants settled became the largest brewing centers in the country, including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St. Louis, as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City and Brooklyn. Several articles in the Brooklyn Eagle from the 1860s and 1870s focused on the growing popularity of lager beer, calling it our "National Beverage," appealing to people of all classes.

 

Using Long Island lake water supplied by a new gravity-fed water system, "by the 1870s Brooklyn had become a major force in American beer brewing, as numerous establishments, largely run by Germans, flourished in the borough's Eastern District (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick)." Between the 1850s and the 1880s, 11 separate breweries operated there in a 14-square block area known as "Brewer's Row." "By the 1880s, 35 breweries had been established in Brooklyn," generating an estimated $8 million in revenue annually. The majority of these firms exclusively brewed lager beer, while the remainder brewed ale or weiss (wheat) beer.

 

Technology and increased demand, as well as taste, influenced the course of the brewing industry in the second half of the 19th century. Like many other industries, the use of steam power and mechanization were common by the second half of the 19th century, altering the earlier "hand-done" brewing process and allowing for greater and more consistent production with the use of less labor.

 

While both processes required boiling and cooling, the German brewing technique differed from the English in requiring cooler temperatures to store the beer. Like the ale breweries, lager breweries operated seasonally (from October to April) but also employed extensive cellars for storage, taking advantage of cooler underground temperatures, and used large blocks of ice to regulate temperature.

 

Changes in refrigeration technology, which was first employed in Brooklyn at S. Liebmann and Sons in 1870, hit most of the breweries in the 1880s, shortening the cooling stages of the brewing process and permitting a longer brewing season. Just as steam power had revolutionized the hand brewing process, in the last years of the 19th century electric power and machinery began to replace the large steam engines.

 

Finally, pasteurization, bottling and later canning, in combination with expanded shipping methods, allowed brewers to branch out beyond local markets. These factors all made it possible for brewers to run larger breweries with greater production and profits, and tended to eliminate the smaller competitors.

 

While the number of breweries increased slowly in the 1880s and 1890s, production continued to steadily increase, driven both by an increased demand and technological advances.

 

Prior to consolidation in 1898, Brooklyn was the fourth most populous city in the country and supported 45 breweries. The prosperity continued in the 20th century, and although the number of breweries declined, the quantity of beer produced continued to grow, reaching its peak, pre-Prohibition, output of 2.5 million barrels in 1907.

 

Bushwick, which was considered a major brewing center from about 1890 until the late 1940s, was supplying almost 10% of all beer consumed in the United States during the height of its production.

 

Eventually, the technological advances that allowed Brooklyn brewers to greatly increase their production ultimately worked against them, as "cheap rail transportation and mechanical refrigeration allowed entrepreneurs in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati to make inroads into the local markets. Successful breweries made larger investments in production and distribution facilities, and small firm disappeared."

 

Still, at the close of the 1910s, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, and 70 breweries in all the boroughs combined.

 

In 1920, the 18 th Amendment, the National Prohibition or Volstead Act closed many of the Brooklyn breweries,11 while others continued to manufacture near beer (less than .05% alcohol,) soft drinks or other food products. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, only 23 of the New York City's (including Brooklyn's) breweries resumed business, with most targeting the local market.

 

Over the next half of a century, brewing in the city declined. Brooklyn's last two breweries closed in 1976 (Rheingold and F & M Schaefer), marking the end of an era. However, about a decade later, during the micro-brewing revolution of 1980s, two Brooklyn entrepreneurs opened the Brooklyn Brewery in 1987. Although their first beers were contract brewed in Utica, New York, the opening of their new brewery in Williamsburg in 1996 revived an industry that once flourished in the borough. The Ulmer complex is a significant reminder of this once important and now reviving Brooklyn industry.

 

The History of the Neighborhood

 

The William Ulmer Brewery is located within the historic boundaries of the town of Bushwick, near the present boundary line between Brooklyn and Queens. Bushwick is one of the earliest colonial settlements in New York, first occupied in the 1630s. One of the original six towns in Brooklyn, it remained a rural farming area until the mid-19th century.

 

The site of the center of the township, the village of Bushwick, is the present intersection of Bushwick Avenue, Old Woodpoint Road, Metropolitan Avenue, Maspeth Avenue, and Humboldt Street. In 1852, Williamsburgh, the western and most populous section of the township, became an independent city, however, its municipal status ended three years later in 1855 when it and all of Bushwick were incorporated within the City of Brooklyn. Thereafter, until Brooklyn's consolidation into Greater New York in 1898, both areas and Greenpoint were known collectively as Brooklyn's Eastern District.

 

Located south of the center of Bushwick village, in the early 19th century, the land around the Ulmer Brewery site was owned by members of the Debevoise family.

 

Charles Debevoise purchased over 45 acres of property near the Bushwick-Newtown border from his brother Francis in 1823, and operated a farm.

 

Like many of his relatives and neighbors, Charles Debevoise was a slave owner. After his death in the 1850s, the Debevoise farm, which had been mapped and lotted in anticipation of sub-divison, was transferred to Charles' children, Jane Stockholm, Elizabeth Debevoise and Abraham Debevoise.

 

During the 1850s Bushwick began to lose its rural, agricultural landscape. Large numbers of Germans immigrated to New York following the political upheavals in central Europe in 1848. Many settled in Williamsburgh and Bushwick and began the development of the area's most famous local industry, brewing. The area boasted a number of features attractive to the brewing industry: an abundant water supply, soil suitable for the construction of underground storage chambers, and convenient water and rail transportation, as well as sufficient local demand. Henry R. Stiles, the notable Brooklyn historian, wrote in 1870:

 

"That quarter of Brooklyn, the Eastern District irreverently designated as Dutchtown, has been for some time the centre of the lager bier manufacturing interest in the Metropolitan District. Here are located some of the largest breweries in existence in the country. Surrounded by a population almost exclusively German, they all enjoy a local patronage to a considerable extent..."

 

A second wave of development in Bushwick began after the construction of the elevated railroad along Myrtle Avenue in 1888, making the area an attractive alternative to congested downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.18 Development, consisting primarily of three-and four-story multiple dwellings, spread eastward toward the Brooklyn-Queens border during the following decade.

 

The population remained largely German until the 1930s and 40s, when Italian-Americans began moving in. Beginning with the brewery workers strike of 1949, the industry began a steady decline. The closing of factories, including the breweries, created an economic depression of the area. In the late 1950s and 1960s, African-Americans and Puerto Ricans immigrated to Bushwick, comprising more than half of its population by 1970.

 

Under the encouragement of real estate agents, many houses changed hands, purchased by low-income families with Federal Housing Authority insured mortgages, who were not necessarily able to maintain their buildings or payments during the economic downturn of the 1970s. New York City's fiscal crisis tightened the budget during this period, cutting essential services to certain communities.

 

Among them were cuts to fire department service in the area, at a time when buildings abandoned by foreclosure were subject to frequent fires, further devastating the neighborhood. Redevelopment efforts began in the 1980s and are still continuing today. According to a 2007 exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society, "today, Bushwick is one of Brooklyn's 'hottest' neighborhoods, abuzz with construction, renovation, and aspiration. With a burgeoning arts scene and convergence of Latin American people, Bushwick is truly one of Brooklyn's most dynamic communities."

 

German Immigration, Brooklyn's Eastern District and Lager Beer

 

From its founding in 1626 by Peter Minuit, a native of the German town of Wesel am Rhein, New York City has had a significant German population. During the 1820s, the first German neighborhood and commercial center developed in the area southeast of City Hall Park and by 1840 there were more than 24,000 Germans living in the city. During the next twenty years, their numbers increased dramatically as "mass transatlantic migration brought another hundred thousand Germans fleeing land shortages, unemployment, famine, and political and religious oppression," with over 1,350,000 immigrating to the United States.

 

To accommodate this growth, new German neighborhoods, developed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the Eastern District of Brooklyn. In the 1870s and 1880s, dislocations caused by the growth of the German Empire brought more new immigrants to the United States while thousands of American-born children of German immigrants established their own homes in these neighborhoods. By settling in areas with such a high concentration of fellow countrymen, it was easy for Germans to maintain their culture and customs, which included German-speaking churches and synagogues, German newspapers, singing societies, Turnvereine, and beer gardens.

 

In Williamsburgh and Bushwick, it was not uncommon for "Eastern District German-Americans to enrich their day with a brew or two. Lager tended to be the normal mealtime beverage, and it most certainly was served all around at picnics, Sunday outings, sporting events and all the other social gatherings that characterized German-American life everywhere these fun-loving people settled in the United States."

 

More than just a component of the German diet, lager beer was an integral part of the customs that new immigrants maintained in the United States. Lager was for socializing, recreating with family, and enjoyed at club meetings. While some of the clubs constructed their own buildings, such as the Eastern District Turnverein and the Arion Singing Society's Arion Hall, beer gardens were also popular meeting spots, providing entertainment and a family retreat, especially in the hot days of summer, unlike saloons, which were notorious for keeping workers away from their families after a day's labor.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery

 

Born in Wurttemberg in 1833, William Ulmer immigrated to New York in the 1850s to work with his two uncles, Henry Clausen Sr. and John F. Betz, in the brewing industry,25 eventually becoming the brewmaster for Clausen's very successful New York firm. In 1871, Ulmer partnered with Anton Vigelius to form the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier Brewery on Belvidere and Beaver Streets in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

 

Born in Bavaria, Anton Vigelius immigrated to Brooklyn in 1840 at the age of 18 and was involved in the produce business prior to opening the brewery. He purchased land at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere Streets from Abraham and Anna Debevoise in 1869, selling a half-interest in the parcel to Ulmer shortly before the construction of the brewery.

 

As evidenced by the marble date stone in the center of its facade, the first building of the Vigelius and Ulmer Brewery was constructed at the site in 1872. Typical of this period, all of the early brewing operations would have taken place in this building, from the storage of grains, to malting, brewing and lagering (or storage) of the beer. Vigelius also constructed a large residence behind the brewery facing Belvidere Street in 1872, following the common practice of 19th-century brewers who lived in or very near their breweries. The early success of the firm was noted in an 1875 article in the Brooklyn Eagle, which cited the Vigelius & Ulmer Brewery

 

among the largest and most noted of the Williamsburgh breweries, and of the 30 to 40 breweries that were then operating in Brooklyn.

 

In December of 1877, Anton Vigelius sold his share of the brewery to Ulmer and retired from brewing, leaving Ulmer the sole proprietor of what had "grown to be one of the largest breweries in Brooklyn."28 Vigelius remained a well-known and active member of the German community as Vice President of the German Savings Bank, a Director of the Broadway (Williamsburg) Bank, and a member of the Arion Singing Society until his death in 1891.

 

Like many other breweries in Brooklyn, New York and throughout the country, the Ulmer brewery complex expanded over time to increase capacity and accommodate technological advances in the industry.

 

Around 1880, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. A testament to the brewery's success, in 1885 a major building campaign was begun that included the brick office building and boiler and machine houses (designed by architect Theobald Engelhardt) facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery that served as a wash house and racking (keg-filling) room. Several years later, brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed a large wagon room, stable, and storage building to replace an existing frame stable building.

 

This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed c.1890, was the last major building constructed at the brewery. By the late 1880s, the William Ulmer Brewery and John Becker (Ulmer's son-in-law who lived in Vigelius's former home adjacent to the brewery, demolished) owned more than half of the block bounded by Beaver Street, Belvidere Street, Broadway and Locust Street.

 

Through the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century, the brewery continued to construct minor additions and interior alterations as needed, including the installation of steel framing for a new 236-barrel cooking tank in the main brew house in 1906, a year before Brooklyn reached its peak beer production. Although specific production statistics have not been found, the regular alterations to the buildings indicates that the Ulmer Brewery continued to be successful and expand production.

 

Upon his retirement in 1900, the William Ulmer Brewery was incorporated with Catharine Ulmer (his wife), John F. Becker and John W. Weber (Ulmer's sons-in-law) as directors and stockholders and his daughters, Catharine Becker and Caroline Weber as additional stockholders. Weber, an attorney by trade, became president and Becker, who had been working for Ulmer for over 20 years as a brewer, was named treasurer.

 

The brewery's success continued, allowing Weber to construct a large home at 101 Eighth Avenue in 1909 (within the Park Slope Historic District), while Becker continued to occupy Vigelius's former home behind the brewery. An active philanthropist who belonged to many charitable organizations, Ulmer died in 1907 at his home at 680 Bushwick Avenue. His wife died the following March, leaving a "large estate."

 

Unlike other 19th- and early 20th -century lager breweries in Brooklyn, no evidence has been found that Ulmer operated an adjacent beer garden or that the brewery sold any bottled or canned beer. Instead, both for personal profit and beer distribution opportunities, Ulmer invested extensively in real estate. By purchasing or building taverns and installing a proprietor, brewers could guarantee that their beer was the only one sold.

 

Advertisements and articles in the Brooklyn Eagle and other publications indicate that Ulmer owned several taverns.

 

In 1893, in consultation with Weber, he opened Ulmer Park along the waterfront in Gravesend. This large resort and hotel featured music, dancing, boating, bathing, a shooting gallery, bowling alley and other attractions, and mostly importantly served as a place for the sale of Ulmer's lager.

 

In 1901 Ulmer purchased Dexter Park, a popular baseball and football stadium located in Woodhaven, Queens, where Sunday "blue laws" were less strictly enforced than in Brooklyn, a clear advantage for lager sales. Additionally, in 1914 the William Ulmer Brewery constructed a pavilion with a restaurant and bar at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills, Queens, at the edge of Forest Park.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery closed with the passing of the Volstead Act, and its buildings were sold. The brewery retained ownership of the office and attached wagon house and storage additions, and maintained the buildings for use as a real estate office. Weber became president of the Ulmer Park Realty Company, owned by his wife and sister-in-law, while Becker, already in his 70s, likely retired. A few years prior to the repeal of Prohibition, in 1930, the company officially changed its name to William Ulmer Incorporated, signifying the company's permanent departure from brewing.

 

The Design of the Ulmer Brewery Buildings

 

The Ulmer Brewery complex consists of the main brew house and addition, office, engine and machine house, and stable and storage building. These buildings and other mid- to late-19th-century Brooklyn breweries show a similarity in form and design and feature details of American round arch design. This American industrial interpretation of the German Renaissance Revival or Rundbogenstil ("round-arch style"), which evolved in Germany in the 1820s, "synthesized classical and medieval architecture—particularly the round-arched elements of those style," according to Bradley.

 

These simply designed factory buildings use corbelled and other decorative brickwork, projecting brick piers, round arch window openings, and had parapets that sometimes varied in height and featured pediments, rather than applied ornament for interest and decoration. (Despite its name, buildings constructed in the American version of the style often used economical segmentally arch-headed window openings.) The

 

style was particularly well-suited to industrial and commercial buildings because of its reliance on brick and locally available stones, simplicity of detail, and structural expressiveness, as well as rapidity of construction, economy of materials and workmanship, durability, ample fenestration, and ease of adding extensions without grossly violating the original building fabric. Brick was the material of choice for most industrial buildings. It was inexpensive, durable, and easily supplied. More important, machine-pressed brick remained "the most fire-resistant building material available prior to the widespread use of concrete."

 

The American round-arch style was widely employed in the United States for factories, breweries, warehouses, and school buildings. Transmitted to this country through the immigration of German and Central European architects in the 1840s, as well as through architectural publications, the influence of the Rundbogenstil is clearly visible is the Ulmer Brewery buildings and other extant former brewery buildings in Brooklyn, many of which were located in the heavily German-populated Eastern District, owned by German immigrants and designed by German-immigrant architects or first generation German-Americans.

 

The first building at the brewery, the main brew house constructed in 1872, features many details characteristic of the American round arch style, including round arch-headed window and segmentally-arch-headed door openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting pilasters, and corbelled brickwork. Historic photos and illustrations of the complex indicate that the main brew house also featured pedimented parapets at the Beaver Street facade and a two-and-a-half-story, mansard-roofed tower, which are typical of 19th-century brewery architecture.

 

Between 1880 and 1885, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. Similar in style to the original building, it featured a pedimented parapet, corbelled brickwork and round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts. Like other 19th-century breweries, all of the operations likely took place in different sections of this four-story main building, which was divided into two buildings on the interior. As production expanded, the c.1881 addition along Beaver Street provided additional space for operations.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that the mashing of the malt and boiling took place on different floors of the building at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere streets, while in the remainder of the main brew house and its addition, ice was used to maintain cooler temperatures for fermenting, a much longer process. For the final step of the brewing process, the Ulmer Brewery took advantage of underground storage; Department of Buildings permits indicate that both sections of the main brew house have deep cellars, 20- and 34-feet deep.

 

The Ulmer brewery began a major building campaign in 1885; construction was begun on the two-story, brick office building and two- and three-story boiler and machine houses facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery. Dictated by expanding brewing capacity and changing brewery technology, the additions were designed by Eastern District architect Theobald Engelhardt.

 

Although not described specifically as brewery architect, Engelhardt worked on a number of brewery commissions and was also a prominent member of the German community. The new boiler and machine house building on Belvidere Street, which was connected to the southwest facade of the main brew house, was designed in the American round arch style, and features many details similar to its adjacent neighbor, including round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting brick pilasters, and a decorative brick cornice.

 

Although it is only three stories in height, the machine house section of the building extends to the height of the four-story brew house, and the brick cornice, which features corbelled, denticulated and zigzag-patterned brickwork, extends across both buildings. This decorative brick cornice, characteristic of the inexpensive ornament applied to American round arch style factories, also extends across the lower, two-story, boiler-house section of the building and its side and rear facades. Designed with practical mechanical needs in mind, to house boilers and machinery, the tall first and second stories of the new building do not align with the adjacent brewery.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that an ice machine was located on the second story of the machine house, showing Ulmer's efforts to keep up to date with the latest brewing industry advances. Although it was not specifically cited in the permit, it is possible that this building was partially designed and constructed to accommodate this new technology. Also included in this building campaign was the construction of one-story addition at the rear of the main brew house that served as a wash house and racking room.

 

Constructed of brick, this addition was demolished in 1923 to allow for the construction of a parking lot in the former brewery courtyard.

 

Brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed the large wagon house, stable and storage building that faces Locust Street for the brewery in 1890. This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed in a similar round arch design as the other brewery buildings, was the last major building constructed at the brewery.

 

The one- and two-story wagon room and stable additions of the same building campaign were constructed as a rear addition to the office building, linking the Belvidere Street building with the new building fronting Locust Street. Both the northwest, Locust Street facade and the northeast, courtyard-facing facade, which was originally visible from Locust and Beaver streets, of the building are fully developed with features characteristic of the American round arch style, including segmentally arch-headed windows and doors with projecting brick lintels at the first floor; round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts at the upper stories; bluestone window sills and string coursing; brick pilasters; and denticulated, channeled and corbelled decorative brickwork. Also characteristic of the style, a tall, pedimented parapet extends above the facade on the Locust Street side of the building and features the remnants of what appears to have been a round, terra-cotta ornament.

 

Original drawings (see illustrations) show that the courtyard-facing facade featured a two-story, central tower or monitor and a shorter tower at the building's northeast corner. (This shorter tower remains with an altered roof and attached fire escape.) The ground floor openings are raised at this facade, likely to accommodate horses, and the northeasternmost door opening (adjacent to the office) is large enough to permit the storage of wagons. By 1910, the Ulmer Brewery was using trucks for delivery, thereby diminishing the need for horses. The upper stories continued to be used for storage and later the third floor of the building was a cooperage.

 

While Ulmer's and other Brooklyn breweries display many Rundbogenstil characteristics, including Philadelphia brick facades with plain pilasters, decorative, patterned brickwork, and of course, round-arched openings accented with archivolts, the more elaborate office building complete with a terracotta company trademark, is the show piece of the brewing complex.

 

By the mid-1880s brewers and their architects were already attempting to show the wealth and success of their businesses through their brewery complexes, by creating a highly-visible corporate symbols, which could be used in company advertising. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle from 1886 described the counting houses of the S. Leibmann and Sons, Obermeyer and Liebmann, and Ulmer breweries as "not surpassed by anything of the kind in Broadway or Wall Street."

 

Designed in 1885 by Theobald Engelhardt, the office building features round arch-headed window openings, facade symmetry and a central projecting bay that are all characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style, which was also inspired by French medieval sources and the German Rundbogenstil.

 

Additional Romanesque Revival details include corbelled blind arches that decorate the pedimented parapet and corbelled archivolts. The terra cotta panels on the office building are of particular note. "OFFICE." above the front entry and the trademark "U" identify the original use and owner of the building, while a band of Queen Anne-inspired decorative panels separates the first and second floors. These floral- and foliate-motif panels were likely manufactured by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company, as very similar tiles appear in an 1895 catalog issued by the company. Other decorative details include, at the second floor, a slate-clad, faux mansard roof and projecting dormers, which were historically more decorative, round arch-headed, copper dormers.

 

The finely detailed iron gate, located to the north of the office building, which historically obscured the entry to the brewery courtyard, also features Queen-Anne inspired motifs and is likely original to the building. As previously described, the office was later expanded as part of the construction of the stable building on Locust, with one- and two-story wagon room, storage and stable additions, which were later partially raised one story to allow for additional storage.

  

Later Building History and Alterations

 

The bulk of the brewery complex was sold in the early 1920s. The large stable and storage building on Locust Street was sold in 1921, and resold within two years to the Artcraft Metal Stamping Corp. A manufacturer of light fixtures, the company later changed its name to Artcraft Metal and Electrical Products and occupied the building as a factory until c.1940, at times sharing the space with other metal fabricators and lighting manufacturers. The full height addition to the building at its northeast corner is an elevator shaft that was probably constructed c. 1932.63 Alterations to the Locust Street fenestration, including the enlargement of several openings and the installation of square-headed windows, were completed by c.1940. Artcraft retained ownership of the building until 1944, after which it changed hands several times (likely between tenants) before it was sold to a realty company in 1949. Metal fabricators and clothing manufacturers are listed as occupants there until at least the 1980s.

 

In 2002, a permit was issued by the Department of Buildings approving a change from factory to residential use. The building is currently divided into a several apartments per floor.

 

The main brewery building, including its additions and engine and machine houses along Belvidere Street, was sold in 1922. Brooklyn Department of Buildings records indicate that the Otis Elevator Company filed to install an elevator in the main brewery building a year earlier, perhaps in anticipation of its sale and reuse for another function. Marcus Leavitt, owner of M. Leavitt Flooring Co. purchased the property in 1923 and made alterations to convert the buildings from a brewery to light manufacturing.

 

Among the changes were interior alterations, the replacement of the interior wooden stairs with fire proof equivalents, the installation of metal fire escapes on the Beaver Street and Locust Street-facing side facades, window replacement with steel sash and other fenestration changes. New fireproof stair cases were installed just behind the Beaver and Belvidere Street facades, as evidenced on the exterior by the offset window openings and stair bulkheads at the roof. The enlargement of several of the round arch-headed windows on the Beaver Street facade may have taken place at this time, as well as the bricking up of windows at the first floor of both facades and at the rear facade, and the lengthening of window openings along Belvidere Street for the installation of doors.

 

The additions to the main brew house and storage addition, located to the rear of the Beaver Street facade, were demolished during this period to allow for the construction of the one-story parking garage that occupies most of the former brewery courtyard and has frontage on Locust and Beaver Streets. (This garage remained part of the same tax lot as the brewery buildings until c.1965, but is not included in this designation.)

 

The brewery building's parapet was reconstructed in 1936, replacing the pedimented and decorative brickwork with four-feet of plain brick. A sprinkler system was added in 1952, and the fire escapes and doors to reach them were replaced in 1958. Subsequent alterations have mainly focused on interior and plumbing, heating or other mechanical work.

 

Leavitt sold the property in 1924 to a realty company in which he was a partner and continued to occupy a warehouse there into the 1940s. Other building tenants included mainly clothing, shoe and handbag manufacturers, which occupied the building into the 1980s. Belvedere Improvement Company Inc. sold the property in 1931, and it changed hands again under foreclosure in 1937. It was purchased by Beaver Management Corp. in 1945. Since the 1960s, several deeds have been recorded against the lot, mostly between realty companies. An application, filed to convert part of the building from light manufacturing into residential units in 2001, was disapproved by the Department of Buildings; however, the Department of Finance currently classifies the building as an elevator apartment building with artists-in-residence. Its recent uses include a warehouse for an electronics importing company and studio space for an artist.

 

William Ulmer Incorporated, with Ulmer's grandson William Ulmer Becker as president, sold the office building to William H. Ludwig Inc. in 1952. The Ludwig company, an electrical appliance manufacturer located at 656 Bushwick Avenue, made several alterations to the building, including interior alterations and the construction of a small concrete block addition at the northwest corner of the lot, as well as changing the use of the building from office and brewery to office, factory and storage. William H. Ludwig Inc. retained ownership of the building for ten years before selling it to Twenty Starr Street Corporation, based next door at 21 Belvidere Street. Twenty Starr Street Corp. held the building for over twenty years, part of which time it is said to have been used for lamp manufacturing and storage. The office building was sold to its current owner in 1985.

 

Description

 

All of the main buildings of the Ulmer Brewery complex are extant, and occupy the northern portion of the block bound by Locust, Beaver, and Belvidere streets and Broadway in Bushwick. The complex consists of the main brew house and addition (71-83 Beaver Street), office (31 Belvidere Street), engine and machine house (35-43 Belvidere Street), and stable and storage building (28 Locust Street), occupying three separate tax lots. The buildings were historically situated around a central courtyard, which is now occupied by a one-story parking garage that is not included in this designation.

 

- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

Photos Courtesy of Brittany Purlee

 

Our week of cultural happenings gets off and running with this agrarian dining experience. Through roaming culinary events, Dinner on the Farm works to connect people back to the land and to the farmers and artisans who are making our communities a better place to live. There will be lots of deliciousness, interesting neighbors and enough beer for all.

 

Meet the Makers

Enjoy Brooklyn Brewery beer and local delicacies by featured artisans including Chicago Honey Co-op, West Loop Salumi, Crumb Bread and Edible Chicago.

 

Farm Tour

Get to know your Growing Power farmer, and learn how your food is grown on a private tour with Gillian Knight & Tyres Walker.

 

Feast

Savor a family style meal created by Chef Nicole Pederson of Found, Chef Jared Wentworth of Longman & Eagle and Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson.

 

Merriment

Spend the afternoon with friends and family playing classic backyard games, and listening to live music by The Golden Horse Ranch Band.

 

Family friendly.

 

We first connected with Dinner on the Farm founder Monica Walch while producing last year's Slow Supper in the Twin Cities . She has since joined our colorful cast to create unique local food experiences designed to celebrate farms, chefs and food entrepreneurs who are dedicated to good, sustainable food for the 2014 tour.

 

A portion of the proceeds benefits Slow Food Chicago.

 

See the Dinner on the Farm menu and the stories behind the rest of our Nashville collaborators below.

 

Passed Appetizer

Gunthorp farms with yard bird, fried hot sauce, high life gel, ranch farce, charred tropea onions, dill pollen

 

Main

Meatballs with jerusalem artichoke puree, syrup and chips

Grilled perch

 

Sides

Herbed sourdough focaccia with roasted cippolini onions

Hearty green leaf salad with miso vinaigrette, shallots and toasted pecans

Carrot and Harissa salad with frisse, pumpkin seeds and cilantro

Grilled beets with prairie fruits and farm goat cheese

 

Dessert

Strawberry short cake with biscuits, strawberry jam, rhubarb sauce and sorrel whipped cream

 

Beer

Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Summer Ale

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew supports local food systems in communities across the country. Hired by The Brewery in 2013, Andrew demonstrates and embodies Brookln Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Chef Andrew also has powerful hands. Come see what they can do.

 

Longman & Eagle Chef Jared Wentworth has four years of Michelin stars and twelve years of Executive Chef experience to back his work at Longman & Eagle, as well as his newest restaurant, Dusek's. Wentworth, despite his unwavering devotion to foie gras, believes food should be accessible and affordable to all--hence Longman & Eagle's famous $3 whiskey selection. Wentworth's menus focus on seasonality and sustainability, and all taste really, really good with beer.

 

Found Kitchen Chef Nicole Pederson spent time in Mash-alum Marcus Samuelsson's kitchen at Affinia and Danny Meyer's Gramercy Tavern before moving on to C-House, where she operated as Executive Chef. Now at Found, Pederson focuses on pure flavors, simplicity, and seasonality in her cuisine, as seen in Found's produce-centric menu.

 

Growing Power's Iron Street Farm is a 7-acre site on Chicago’s south side that produces local, healthy, and sustainable food year-round with a focus on serving, training, and engaging vulnerable populations. Growing Power aims to transforms communities by supporting people from diverse backgrounds and the environments in which they live through the development of Community Food Systems. These systems provide high-quality, safe, healthy, affordable food for all residents in the community. In 2013, Growing Power trained and employed over 300 at-risk youth in urban agriculture and community food system development.

 

edible Chicago connects readers with our city’s unique food culture.

 

Chicago Honey Co-op has formed a long term relationship within the community with emphasis on education, healthy eating and awareness of the natural environment.

 

Crumb baker and owner Anne Kostroski uses organic flours from Illinois, Wisconsin and North Dakota, cheeses from Wisconsin and best of all, the amazing seasonal produce found here at the Midwest farmers markets.

 

West Loop Salumi is the first Illinois USDA certified salumeria and uses Midwestern meat, including heritage Berkshire hogs from family co-op farms and whole-milk-fed heritage hogs from Wisconsin.

  

"One of the things that makes Dinner on the Farm truly special is that it really manages to capture that classic romantic feel. You can easily hunker down on a blanket with a significant other and just take in the scenic farm view or you can bring the entire family for a good old-fashioned community-style get together."

 

-- CityPages, Minneapolis

Photos Courtesy of Brittany Purlee

 

Our week of cultural happenings gets off and running with this agrarian dining experience. Through roaming culinary events, Dinner on the Farm works to connect people back to the land and to the farmers and artisans who are making our communities a better place to live. There will be lots of deliciousness, interesting neighbors and enough beer for all.

 

Meet the Makers

Enjoy Brooklyn Brewery beer and local delicacies by featured artisans including Chicago Honey Co-op, West Loop Salumi, Crumb Bread and Edible Chicago.

 

Farm Tour

Get to know your Growing Power farmer, and learn how your food is grown on a private tour with Gillian Knight & Tyres Walker.

 

Feast

Savor a family style meal created by Chef Nicole Pederson of Found, Chef Jared Wentworth of Longman & Eagle and Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson.

 

Merriment

Spend the afternoon with friends and family playing classic backyard games, and listening to live music by The Golden Horse Ranch Band.

 

Family friendly.

 

We first connected with Dinner on the Farm founder Monica Walch while producing last year's Slow Supper in the Twin Cities . She has since joined our colorful cast to create unique local food experiences designed to celebrate farms, chefs and food entrepreneurs who are dedicated to good, sustainable food for the 2014 tour.

 

A portion of the proceeds benefits Slow Food Chicago.

 

See the Dinner on the Farm menu and the stories behind the rest of our Nashville collaborators below.

 

Passed Appetizer

Gunthorp farms with yard bird, fried hot sauce, high life gel, ranch farce, charred tropea onions, dill pollen

 

Main

Meatballs with jerusalem artichoke puree, syrup and chips

Grilled perch

 

Sides

Herbed sourdough focaccia with roasted cippolini onions

Hearty green leaf salad with miso vinaigrette, shallots and toasted pecans

Carrot and Harissa salad with frisse, pumpkin seeds and cilantro

Grilled beets with prairie fruits and farm goat cheese

 

Dessert

Strawberry short cake with biscuits, strawberry jam, rhubarb sauce and sorrel whipped cream

 

Beer

Brooklyn Lager, Brooklyn Summer Ale

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew supports local food systems in communities across the country. Hired by The Brewery in 2013, Andrew demonstrates and embodies Brookln Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Chef Andrew also has powerful hands. Come see what they can do.

 

Longman & Eagle Chef Jared Wentworth has four years of Michelin stars and twelve years of Executive Chef experience to back his work at Longman & Eagle, as well as his newest restaurant, Dusek's. Wentworth, despite his unwavering devotion to foie gras, believes food should be accessible and affordable to all--hence Longman & Eagle's famous $3 whiskey selection. Wentworth's menus focus on seasonality and sustainability, and all taste really, really good with beer.

 

Found Kitchen Chef Nicole Pederson spent time in Mash-alum Marcus Samuelsson's kitchen at Affinia and Danny Meyer's Gramercy Tavern before moving on to C-House, where she operated as Executive Chef. Now at Found, Pederson focuses on pure flavors, simplicity, and seasonality in her cuisine, as seen in Found's produce-centric menu.

 

Growing Power's Iron Street Farm is a 7-acre site on Chicago’s south side that produces local, healthy, and sustainable food year-round with a focus on serving, training, and engaging vulnerable populations. Growing Power aims to transforms communities by supporting people from diverse backgrounds and the environments in which they live through the development of Community Food Systems. These systems provide high-quality, safe, healthy, affordable food for all residents in the community. In 2013, Growing Power trained and employed over 300 at-risk youth in urban agriculture and community food system development.

 

edible Chicago connects readers with our city’s unique food culture.

 

Chicago Honey Co-op has formed a long term relationship within the community with emphasis on education, healthy eating and awareness of the natural environment.

 

Crumb baker and owner Anne Kostroski uses organic flours from Illinois, Wisconsin and North Dakota, cheeses from Wisconsin and best of all, the amazing seasonal produce found here at the Midwest farmers markets.

 

West Loop Salumi is the first Illinois USDA certified salumeria and uses Midwestern meat, including heritage Berkshire hogs from family co-op farms and whole-milk-fed heritage hogs from Wisconsin.

  

"One of the things that makes Dinner on the Farm truly special is that it really manages to capture that classic romantic feel. You can easily hunker down on a blanket with a significant other and just take in the scenic farm view or you can bring the entire family for a good old-fashioned community-style get together."

 

-- CityPages, Minneapolis

A glass of Ryan And The Beaster Bunny from Evil Twin Brewing in Valby, Denmark, served from draught at Olympen in Oslo.

 

Ryan And The Beaster Bunny is a 7% abv Belgian style Saison, brewed at Fanø Bryghus in Valby, Denmark. It was named after Ryan Witter-Merithew, the brewmaster at Fanø Bryghus, while the Beaster Bunny - aka the evil twin - refers to Easter as this beer is an Easter seasonal.

 

It poured a pale orange tinged yellow with a massive yellowish white head. Wonderful fruity aroma, with notes of orange peel and apples, with some aroma hops and spices too. A really nice Saison aroma! The mouthfeel was fairly light with a good, refreshing carbonation. The flavor started out with a mild sweet character, honey or syrup. Then lots of juicy but mild aroma hops that gave the beer a dry finish, but without any bitterness to speak of. All in all a very good and drinkable saison.

 

Evil Twin Brewing is a new Danish brewery founded by one Jeppe Jarnit Bjergsø, who happens to be the brother of Mikkel Borg Bjergsø - better known as Mikkeller. Despite not brewing beers commercially until 2010, Jeppe has been a force on the Danish beer scene for years, through his Drikkeriget beer import / shop.

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, United States

 

Summary

 

The Romanesque Revival style office building at 31 Belvidere Street is the focal point of the William Ulmer Brewery complex, a reminder of one of Bushwick's, and Brooklyn's, most prominent 19th- and 20th -century industries. The entire complex remains a largely intact example of a late-19 -century brewery designed in the American round arch style, and includes, in addition to the office building, the main brew house (1872) and addition (c.1881), engine and machine houses (Theobald Engelhardt 1885), and stable and storage building (Frederick Wunder 1890).

 

A German emigrant, William Ulmer (1833-1907) began working in a New York City brewery owned by his uncles in the 1850s and later became a partner in the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier brewery, founded in 1871.

 

Within seven years, Ulmer became the sole proprietor of the brewery and under its new name - the William Ulmer Brewery - the business was expanded in the 1880s and 1890s with the construction of ice house, engine-, machine- and wash-room additions, a large storage and stable building, and a handsome Romanesque Revival style office building. Designed by prominent Brooklyn architect Theobald Engelhardt and constructed in 1885, the two-story red brick office building was the architectural highlight of the complex, featuring arched and dormered windows, a squat mansard roof clad in slate, as well as terra-cotta ornament.

 

Divided into three bays, the building's projecting center bay incorporates remarkably crisp red terra-cotta panels that identify the initial of the last name of the owner, the brewery's trademark, and the function of the building, as well as corbelled brickwork and a blind arcade. The office building was separated from the larger brewery by a passage with an elaborate iron gate. Though rusted, the richly embellished gate is historic and possibly original to the structure. The other buildings of the Ulmer brewery complex feature details commonly found on other 19th-century breweries, including round arch-headed and segmentally arch-headed window and door openings, projecting brick pilasters, pedimented parapets and corbelled, denticulated, zigzag-patterned, and channeled decorative brickwork, all characteristic of the American round arch style.

 

Prior to Prohibition, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, many of which were located in Williamsburgh and Bushwick. Ulmer's was one of the more successful and in 1896 the Brooklyn Eagle described him as a millionaire. Under Ulmer, beer production more than quadrupled, reaching over three million gallons annually. Upon his retirement in 1900, the brewery was run by Ulmer's sons-in-law, John W. Weber and John F. Becker. Like many other breweries, the enactment of Prohibition closed the Ulmer brewery.

 

The factory buildings were sold and converted for light manufacturing use, but the family retained ownership of the office building until 1952, using it as an office for their real estate business. The buildings remain largely intact and retain the detailing that defines their history and use.

 

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

 

The History of Brewing in Brooklyn and New York

 

"To speak of the origins of brewing in America is to speak of the origins of the nation itself," stated historian Stanley Baron in his book, Brewed in America. While the first European settlers were dependent on beer shipments brought from England, there are also late-16th- and early-17th-century references to brewers operating in the Massachusetts Bay and Virginia colonies.

 

In many early colonial accounts, beer was considered safer to drink than water, and was consumed by all ages at all times of the day. Sickness, death and failure of some settlements were often attributed to a lack of supplies, including beer. In New Amsterdam, the Dutch, who were "even more partial to beer that the English," discovered that the ingredients for beer could be grown in the new world in 1626, the year Peter Minuit "purchased" Manhattan from Native Americans.

 

Brewing was an active industry in New York City during the 17th century, with small-scale commercial, home, and municipal breweries, including one operated by The Dutch East India Company. By the 1770s, New York City and Philadelphia were established as the colonies' brewing centers.

 

At least two documented commercial brewers operated in Brooklyn during the 18th century, and despite the advantage of abundant fresh water, that number grew very slowly after the turn of the 19th century. Most brews were produced for home consumption or by common brewers for sale in nearby "ordinaries" or taverns.

 

The few commercial brewers produced English style brews, such as ale, porter, stout, and common beer, using top-fermenting yeast. In 1840, a former brewer from Bavaria, John Wagner, who had brought lager beer yeast to this country, opened a small brewery in back of his house in Philadelphia to supply his nearby tavern. From these humble beginnings, the opening of small-scale breweries eventually led to a major switch in the American brewing industry, from English to German brewing techniques and brewery proprietors. While the industry did not change overnight, the introduction of lager beer to the American market coincided with a massive influx of German immigrants in the 1840s that revolutionized the brewing industry in New York City, Brooklyn and other cities where they settled in large numbers. The Germans provided an increased market for beer, and they favored lager:

 

"Lager beer - An effervescent malt beverage, brewed by using the bottom-fermentation process, in which a special yeast settles as residue at the bottom of the brewing vats. The distinctly German beer was popular in German countries in the early nineteenth century, and was introduced in the U.S. probably in the 1840s by John Wagner. Because the process for making this light, sparkling brew involved storage while fermentation occurred [which required cool temperatures], it was termed 'lager,' which is derived from the German verb lagern, meaning to stock or store."

 

While two New York City breweries (George Gillig and F & M Schaefer) began to brew lager in the 1840s, S. Liebmann and Sons Brewery (later renamed Rheingold), founded in 1854, was one of the first to use the bottom fermenting process in Brooklyn. As lager gained popularity beginning in the mid-1850s, the cities where most German immigrants settled became the largest brewing centers in the country, including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St. Louis, as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City and Brooklyn. Several articles in the Brooklyn Eagle from the 1860s and 1870s focused on the growing popularity of lager beer, calling it our "National Beverage," appealing to people of all classes.

 

Using Long Island lake water supplied by a new gravity-fed water system, "by the 1870s Brooklyn had become a major force in American beer brewing, as numerous establishments, largely run by Germans, flourished in the borough's Eastern District (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick)." Between the 1850s and the 1880s, 11 separate breweries operated there in a 14-square block area known as "Brewer's Row." "By the 1880s, 35 breweries had been established in Brooklyn," generating an estimated $8 million in revenue annually. The majority of these firms exclusively brewed lager beer, while the remainder brewed ale or weiss (wheat) beer.

 

Technology and increased demand, as well as taste, influenced the course of the brewing industry in the second half of the 19th century. Like many other industries, the use of steam power and mechanization were common by the second half of the 19th century, altering the earlier "hand-done" brewing process and allowing for greater and more consistent production with the use of less labor.

 

While both processes required boiling and cooling, the German brewing technique differed from the English in requiring cooler temperatures to store the beer. Like the ale breweries, lager breweries operated seasonally (from October to April) but also employed extensive cellars for storage, taking advantage of cooler underground temperatures, and used large blocks of ice to regulate temperature.

 

Changes in refrigeration technology, which was first employed in Brooklyn at S. Liebmann and Sons in 1870, hit most of the breweries in the 1880s, shortening the cooling stages of the brewing process and permitting a longer brewing season. Just as steam power had revolutionized the hand brewing process, in the last years of the 19th century electric power and machinery began to replace the large steam engines.

 

Finally, pasteurization, bottling and later canning, in combination with expanded shipping methods, allowed brewers to branch out beyond local markets. These factors all made it possible for brewers to run larger breweries with greater production and profits, and tended to eliminate the smaller competitors.

 

While the number of breweries increased slowly in the 1880s and 1890s, production continued to steadily increase, driven both by an increased demand and technological advances.

 

Prior to consolidation in 1898, Brooklyn was the fourth most populous city in the country and supported 45 breweries. The prosperity continued in the 20th century, and although the number of breweries declined, the quantity of beer produced continued to grow, reaching its peak, pre-Prohibition, output of 2.5 million barrels in 1907.

 

Bushwick, which was considered a major brewing center from about 1890 until the late 1940s, was supplying almost 10% of all beer consumed in the United States during the height of its production.

 

Eventually, the technological advances that allowed Brooklyn brewers to greatly increase their production ultimately worked against them, as "cheap rail transportation and mechanical refrigeration allowed entrepreneurs in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati to make inroads into the local markets. Successful breweries made larger investments in production and distribution facilities, and small firm disappeared."

 

Still, at the close of the 1910s, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, and 70 breweries in all the boroughs combined.

 

In 1920, the 18 th Amendment, the National Prohibition or Volstead Act closed many of the Brooklyn breweries,11 while others continued to manufacture near beer (less than .05% alcohol,) soft drinks or other food products. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, only 23 of the New York City's (including Brooklyn's) breweries resumed business, with most targeting the local market.

 

Over the next half of a century, brewing in the city declined. Brooklyn's last two breweries closed in 1976 (Rheingold and F & M Schaefer), marking the end of an era. However, about a decade later, during the micro-brewing revolution of 1980s, two Brooklyn entrepreneurs opened the Brooklyn Brewery in 1987. Although their first beers were contract brewed in Utica, New York, the opening of their new brewery in Williamsburg in 1996 revived an industry that once flourished in the borough. The Ulmer complex is a significant reminder of this once important and now reviving Brooklyn industry.

 

The History of the Neighborhood

 

The William Ulmer Brewery is located within the historic boundaries of the town of Bushwick, near the present boundary line between Brooklyn and Queens. Bushwick is one of the earliest colonial settlements in New York, first occupied in the 1630s. One of the original six towns in Brooklyn, it remained a rural farming area until the mid-19th century.

 

The site of the center of the township, the village of Bushwick, is the present intersection of Bushwick Avenue, Old Woodpoint Road, Metropolitan Avenue, Maspeth Avenue, and Humboldt Street. In 1852, Williamsburgh, the western and most populous section of the township, became an independent city, however, its municipal status ended three years later in 1855 when it and all of Bushwick were incorporated within the City of Brooklyn. Thereafter, until Brooklyn's consolidation into Greater New York in 1898, both areas and Greenpoint were known collectively as Brooklyn's Eastern District.

 

Located south of the center of Bushwick village, in the early 19th century, the land around the Ulmer Brewery site was owned by members of the Debevoise family.

 

Charles Debevoise purchased over 45 acres of property near the Bushwick-Newtown border from his brother Francis in 1823, and operated a farm.

 

Like many of his relatives and neighbors, Charles Debevoise was a slave owner. After his death in the 1850s, the Debevoise farm, which had been mapped and lotted in anticipation of sub-divison, was transferred to Charles' children, Jane Stockholm, Elizabeth Debevoise and Abraham Debevoise.

 

During the 1850s Bushwick began to lose its rural, agricultural landscape. Large numbers of Germans immigrated to New York following the political upheavals in central Europe in 1848. Many settled in Williamsburgh and Bushwick and began the development of the area's most famous local industry, brewing. The area boasted a number of features attractive to the brewing industry: an abundant water supply, soil suitable for the construction of underground storage chambers, and convenient water and rail transportation, as well as sufficient local demand. Henry R. Stiles, the notable Brooklyn historian, wrote in 1870:

 

"That quarter of Brooklyn, the Eastern District irreverently designated as Dutchtown, has been for some time the centre of the lager bier manufacturing interest in the Metropolitan District. Here are located some of the largest breweries in existence in the country. Surrounded by a population almost exclusively German, they all enjoy a local patronage to a considerable extent..."

 

A second wave of development in Bushwick began after the construction of the elevated railroad along Myrtle Avenue in 1888, making the area an attractive alternative to congested downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.18 Development, consisting primarily of three-and four-story multiple dwellings, spread eastward toward the Brooklyn-Queens border during the following decade.

 

The population remained largely German until the 1930s and 40s, when Italian-Americans began moving in. Beginning with the brewery workers strike of 1949, the industry began a steady decline. The closing of factories, including the breweries, created an economic depression of the area. In the late 1950s and 1960s, African-Americans and Puerto Ricans immigrated to Bushwick, comprising more than half of its population by 1970.

 

Under the encouragement of real estate agents, many houses changed hands, purchased by low-income families with Federal Housing Authority insured mortgages, who were not necessarily able to maintain their buildings or payments during the economic downturn of the 1970s. New York City's fiscal crisis tightened the budget during this period, cutting essential services to certain communities.

 

Among them were cuts to fire department service in the area, at a time when buildings abandoned by foreclosure were subject to frequent fires, further devastating the neighborhood. Redevelopment efforts began in the 1980s and are still continuing today. According to a 2007 exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society, "today, Bushwick is one of Brooklyn's 'hottest' neighborhoods, abuzz with construction, renovation, and aspiration. With a burgeoning arts scene and convergence of Latin American people, Bushwick is truly one of Brooklyn's most dynamic communities."

 

German Immigration, Brooklyn's Eastern District and Lager Beer

 

From its founding in 1626 by Peter Minuit, a native of the German town of Wesel am Rhein, New York City has had a significant German population. During the 1820s, the first German neighborhood and commercial center developed in the area southeast of City Hall Park and by 1840 there were more than 24,000 Germans living in the city. During the next twenty years, their numbers increased dramatically as "mass transatlantic migration brought another hundred thousand Germans fleeing land shortages, unemployment, famine, and political and religious oppression," with over 1,350,000 immigrating to the United States.

 

To accommodate this growth, new German neighborhoods, developed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the Eastern District of Brooklyn. In the 1870s and 1880s, dislocations caused by the growth of the German Empire brought more new immigrants to the United States while thousands of American-born children of German immigrants established their own homes in these neighborhoods. By settling in areas with such a high concentration of fellow countrymen, it was easy for Germans to maintain their culture and customs, which included German-speaking churches and synagogues, German newspapers, singing societies, Turnvereine, and beer gardens.

 

In Williamsburgh and Bushwick, it was not uncommon for "Eastern District German-Americans to enrich their day with a brew or two. Lager tended to be the normal mealtime beverage, and it most certainly was served all around at picnics, Sunday outings, sporting events and all the other social gatherings that characterized German-American life everywhere these fun-loving people settled in the United States."

 

More than just a component of the German diet, lager beer was an integral part of the customs that new immigrants maintained in the United States. Lager was for socializing, recreating with family, and enjoyed at club meetings. While some of the clubs constructed their own buildings, such as the Eastern District Turnverein and the Arion Singing Society's Arion Hall, beer gardens were also popular meeting spots, providing entertainment and a family retreat, especially in the hot days of summer, unlike saloons, which were notorious for keeping workers away from their families after a day's labor.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery

 

Born in Wurttemberg in 1833, William Ulmer immigrated to New York in the 1850s to work with his two uncles, Henry Clausen Sr. and John F. Betz, in the brewing industry,25 eventually becoming the brewmaster for Clausen's very successful New York firm. In 1871, Ulmer partnered with Anton Vigelius to form the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier Brewery on Belvidere and Beaver Streets in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

 

Born in Bavaria, Anton Vigelius immigrated to Brooklyn in 1840 at the age of 18 and was involved in the produce business prior to opening the brewery. He purchased land at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere Streets from Abraham and Anna Debevoise in 1869, selling a half-interest in the parcel to Ulmer shortly before the construction of the brewery.

 

As evidenced by the marble date stone in the center of its facade, the first building of the Vigelius and Ulmer Brewery was constructed at the site in 1872. Typical of this period, all of the early brewing operations would have taken place in this building, from the storage of grains, to malting, brewing and lagering (or storage) of the beer. Vigelius also constructed a large residence behind the brewery facing Belvidere Street in 1872, following the common practice of 19th-century brewers who lived in or very near their breweries. The early success of the firm was noted in an 1875 article in the Brooklyn Eagle, which cited the Vigelius & Ulmer Brewery

 

among the largest and most noted of the Williamsburgh breweries, and of the 30 to 40 breweries that were then operating in Brooklyn.

 

In December of 1877, Anton Vigelius sold his share of the brewery to Ulmer and retired from brewing, leaving Ulmer the sole proprietor of what had "grown to be one of the largest breweries in Brooklyn."28 Vigelius remained a well-known and active member of the German community as Vice President of the German Savings Bank, a Director of the Broadway (Williamsburg) Bank, and a member of the Arion Singing Society until his death in 1891.

 

Like many other breweries in Brooklyn, New York and throughout the country, the Ulmer brewery complex expanded over time to increase capacity and accommodate technological advances in the industry.

 

Around 1880, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. A testament to the brewery's success, in 1885 a major building campaign was begun that included the brick office building and boiler and machine houses (designed by architect Theobald Engelhardt) facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery that served as a wash house and racking (keg-filling) room. Several years later, brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed a large wagon room, stable, and storage building to replace an existing frame stable building.

 

This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed c.1890, was the last major building constructed at the brewery. By the late 1880s, the William Ulmer Brewery and John Becker (Ulmer's son-in-law who lived in Vigelius's former home adjacent to the brewery, demolished) owned more than half of the block bounded by Beaver Street, Belvidere Street, Broadway and Locust Street.

 

Through the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century, the brewery continued to construct minor additions and interior alterations as needed, including the installation of steel framing for a new 236-barrel cooking tank in the main brew house in 1906, a year before Brooklyn reached its peak beer production. Although specific production statistics have not been found, the regular alterations to the buildings indicates that the Ulmer Brewery continued to be successful and expand production.

 

Upon his retirement in 1900, the William Ulmer Brewery was incorporated with Catharine Ulmer (his wife), John F. Becker and John W. Weber (Ulmer's sons-in-law) as directors and stockholders and his daughters, Catharine Becker and Caroline Weber as additional stockholders. Weber, an attorney by trade, became president and Becker, who had been working for Ulmer for over 20 years as a brewer, was named treasurer.

 

The brewery's success continued, allowing Weber to construct a large home at 101 Eighth Avenue in 1909 (within the Park Slope Historic District), while Becker continued to occupy Vigelius's former home behind the brewery. An active philanthropist who belonged to many charitable organizations, Ulmer died in 1907 at his home at 680 Bushwick Avenue. His wife died the following March, leaving a "large estate."

 

Unlike other 19th- and early 20th -century lager breweries in Brooklyn, no evidence has been found that Ulmer operated an adjacent beer garden or that the brewery sold any bottled or canned beer. Instead, both for personal profit and beer distribution opportunities, Ulmer invested extensively in real estate. By purchasing or building taverns and installing a proprietor, brewers could guarantee that their beer was the only one sold.

 

Advertisements and articles in the Brooklyn Eagle and other publications indicate that Ulmer owned several taverns.

 

In 1893, in consultation with Weber, he opened Ulmer Park along the waterfront in Gravesend. This large resort and hotel featured music, dancing, boating, bathing, a shooting gallery, bowling alley and other attractions, and mostly importantly served as a place for the sale of Ulmer's lager.

 

In 1901 Ulmer purchased Dexter Park, a popular baseball and football stadium located in Woodhaven, Queens, where Sunday "blue laws" were less strictly enforced than in Brooklyn, a clear advantage for lager sales. Additionally, in 1914 the William Ulmer Brewery constructed a pavilion with a restaurant and bar at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills, Queens, at the edge of Forest Park.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery closed with the passing of the Volstead Act, and its buildings were sold. The brewery retained ownership of the office and attached wagon house and storage additions, and maintained the buildings for use as a real estate office. Weber became president of the Ulmer Park Realty Company, owned by his wife and sister-in-law, while Becker, already in his 70s, likely retired. A few years prior to the repeal of Prohibition, in 1930, the company officially changed its name to William Ulmer Incorporated, signifying the company's permanent departure from brewing.

 

The Design of the Ulmer Brewery Buildings

 

The Ulmer Brewery complex consists of the main brew house and addition, office, engine and machine house, and stable and storage building. These buildings and other mid- to late-19th-century Brooklyn breweries show a similarity in form and design and feature details of American round arch design. This American industrial interpretation of the German Renaissance Revival or Rundbogenstil ("round-arch style"), which evolved in Germany in the 1820s, "synthesized classical and medieval architecture—particularly the round-arched elements of those style," according to Bradley.

 

These simply designed factory buildings use corbelled and other decorative brickwork, projecting brick piers, round arch window openings, and had parapets that sometimes varied in height and featured pediments, rather than applied ornament for interest and decoration. (Despite its name, buildings constructed in the American version of the style often used economical segmentally arch-headed window openings.) The

 

style was particularly well-suited to industrial and commercial buildings because of its reliance on brick and locally available stones, simplicity of detail, and structural expressiveness, as well as rapidity of construction, economy of materials and workmanship, durability, ample fenestration, and ease of adding extensions without grossly violating the original building fabric. Brick was the material of choice for most industrial buildings. It was inexpensive, durable, and easily supplied. More important, machine-pressed brick remained "the most fire-resistant building material available prior to the widespread use of concrete."

 

The American round-arch style was widely employed in the United States for factories, breweries, warehouses, and school buildings. Transmitted to this country through the immigration of German and Central European architects in the 1840s, as well as through architectural publications, the influence of the Rundbogenstil is clearly visible is the Ulmer Brewery buildings and other extant former brewery buildings in Brooklyn, many of which were located in the heavily German-populated Eastern District, owned by German immigrants and designed by German-immigrant architects or first generation German-Americans.

 

The first building at the brewery, the main brew house constructed in 1872, features many details characteristic of the American round arch style, including round arch-headed window and segmentally-arch-headed door openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting pilasters, and corbelled brickwork. Historic photos and illustrations of the complex indicate that the main brew house also featured pedimented parapets at the Beaver Street facade and a two-and-a-half-story, mansard-roofed tower, which are typical of 19th-century brewery architecture.

 

Between 1880 and 1885, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. Similar in style to the original building, it featured a pedimented parapet, corbelled brickwork and round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts. Like other 19th-century breweries, all of the operations likely took place in different sections of this four-story main building, which was divided into two buildings on the interior. As production expanded, the c.1881 addition along Beaver Street provided additional space for operations.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that the mashing of the malt and boiling took place on different floors of the building at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere streets, while in the remainder of the main brew house and its addition, ice was used to maintain cooler temperatures for fermenting, a much longer process. For the final step of the brewing process, the Ulmer Brewery took advantage of underground storage; Department of Buildings permits indicate that both sections of the main brew house have deep cellars, 20- and 34-feet deep.

 

The Ulmer brewery began a major building campaign in 1885; construction was begun on the two-story, brick office building and two- and three-story boiler and machine houses facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery. Dictated by expanding brewing capacity and changing brewery technology, the additions were designed by Eastern District architect Theobald Engelhardt.

 

Although not described specifically as brewery architect, Engelhardt worked on a number of brewery commissions and was also a prominent member of the German community. The new boiler and machine house building on Belvidere Street, which was connected to the southwest facade of the main brew house, was designed in the American round arch style, and features many details similar to its adjacent neighbor, including round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting brick pilasters, and a decorative brick cornice.

 

Although it is only three stories in height, the machine house section of the building extends to the height of the four-story brew house, and the brick cornice, which features corbelled, denticulated and zigzag-patterned brickwork, extends across both buildings. This decorative brick cornice, characteristic of the inexpensive ornament applied to American round arch style factories, also extends across the lower, two-story, boiler-house section of the building and its side and rear facades. Designed with practical mechanical needs in mind, to house boilers and machinery, the tall first and second stories of the new building do not align with the adjacent brewery.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that an ice machine was located on the second story of the machine house, showing Ulmer's efforts to keep up to date with the latest brewing industry advances. Although it was not specifically cited in the permit, it is possible that this building was partially designed and constructed to accommodate this new technology. Also included in this building campaign was the construction of one-story addition at the rear of the main brew house that served as a wash house and racking room.

 

Constructed of brick, this addition was demolished in 1923 to allow for the construction of a parking lot in the former brewery courtyard.

 

Brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed the large wagon house, stable and storage building that faces Locust Street for the brewery in 1890. This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed in a similar round arch design as the other brewery buildings, was the last major building constructed at the brewery.

 

The one- and two-story wagon room and stable additions of the same building campaign were constructed as a rear addition to the office building, linking the Belvidere Street building with the new building fronting Locust Street. Both the northwest, Locust Street facade and the northeast, courtyard-facing facade, which was originally visible from Locust and Beaver streets, of the building are fully developed with features characteristic of the American round arch style, including segmentally arch-headed windows and doors with projecting brick lintels at the first floor; round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts at the upper stories; bluestone window sills and string coursing; brick pilasters; and denticulated, channeled and corbelled decorative brickwork. Also characteristic of the style, a tall, pedimented parapet extends above the facade on the Locust Street side of the building and features the remnants of what appears to have been a round, terra-cotta ornament.

 

Original drawings (see illustrations) show that the courtyard-facing facade featured a two-story, central tower or monitor and a shorter tower at the building's northeast corner. (This shorter tower remains with an altered roof and attached fire escape.) The ground floor openings are raised at this facade, likely to accommodate horses, and the northeasternmost door opening (adjacent to the office) is large enough to permit the storage of wagons. By 1910, the Ulmer Brewery was using trucks for delivery, thereby diminishing the need for horses. The upper stories continued to be used for storage and later the third floor of the building was a cooperage.

 

While Ulmer's and other Brooklyn breweries display many Rundbogenstil characteristics, including Philadelphia brick facades with plain pilasters, decorative, patterned brickwork, and of course, round-arched openings accented with archivolts, the more elaborate office building complete with a terracotta company trademark, is the show piece of the brewing complex.

 

By the mid-1880s brewers and their architects were already attempting to show the wealth and success of their businesses through their brewery complexes, by creating a highly-visible corporate symbols, which could be used in company advertising. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle from 1886 described the counting houses of the S. Leibmann and Sons, Obermeyer and Liebmann, and Ulmer breweries as "not surpassed by anything of the kind in Broadway or Wall Street."

 

Designed in 1885 by Theobald Engelhardt, the office building features round arch-headed window openings, facade symmetry and a central projecting bay that are all characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style, which was also inspired by French medieval sources and the German Rundbogenstil.

 

Additional Romanesque Revival details include corbelled blind arches that decorate the pedimented parapet and corbelled archivolts. The terra cotta panels on the office building are of particular note. "OFFICE." above the front entry and the trademark "U" identify the original use and owner of the building, while a band of Queen Anne-inspired decorative panels separates the first and second floors. These floral- and foliate-motif panels were likely manufactured by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company, as very similar tiles appear in an 1895 catalog issued by the company. Other decorative details include, at the second floor, a slate-clad, faux mansard roof and projecting dormers, which were historically more decorative, round arch-headed, copper dormers.

 

The finely detailed iron gate, located to the north of the office building, which historically obscured the entry to the brewery courtyard, also features Queen-Anne inspired motifs and is likely original to the building. As previously described, the office was later expanded as part of the construction of the stable building on Locust, with one- and two-story wagon room, storage and stable additions, which were later partially raised one story to allow for additional storage.

  

Later Building History and Alterations

 

The bulk of the brewery complex was sold in the early 1920s. The large stable and storage building on Locust Street was sold in 1921, and resold within two years to the Artcraft Metal Stamping Corp. A manufacturer of light fixtures, the company later changed its name to Artcraft Metal and Electrical Products and occupied the building as a factory until c.1940, at times sharing the space with other metal fabricators and lighting manufacturers. The full height addition to the building at its northeast corner is an elevator shaft that was probably constructed c. 1932.63 Alterations to the Locust Street fenestration, including the enlargement of several openings and the installation of square-headed windows, were completed by c.1940. Artcraft retained ownership of the building until 1944, after which it changed hands several times (likely between tenants) before it was sold to a realty company in 1949. Metal fabricators and clothing manufacturers are listed as occupants there until at least the 1980s.

 

In 2002, a permit was issued by the Department of Buildings approving a change from factory to residential use. The building is currently divided into a several apartments per floor.

 

The main brewery building, including its additions and engine and machine houses along Belvidere Street, was sold in 1922. Brooklyn Department of Buildings records indicate that the Otis Elevator Company filed to install an elevator in the main brewery building a year earlier, perhaps in anticipation of its sale and reuse for another function. Marcus Leavitt, owner of M. Leavitt Flooring Co. purchased the property in 1923 and made alterations to convert the buildings from a brewery to light manufacturing.

 

Among the changes were interior alterations, the replacement of the interior wooden stairs with fire proof equivalents, the installation of metal fire escapes on the Beaver Street and Locust Street-facing side facades, window replacement with steel sash and other fenestration changes. New fireproof stair cases were installed just behind the Beaver and Belvidere Street facades, as evidenced on the exterior by the offset window openings and stair bulkheads at the roof. The enlargement of several of the round arch-headed windows on the Beaver Street facade may have taken place at this time, as well as the bricking up of windows at the first floor of both facades and at the rear facade, and the lengthening of window openings along Belvidere Street for the installation of doors.

 

The additions to the main brew house and storage addition, located to the rear of the Beaver Street facade, were demolished during this period to allow for the construction of the one-story parking garage that occupies most of the former brewery courtyard and has frontage on Locust and Beaver Streets. (This garage remained part of the same tax lot as the brewery buildings until c.1965, but is not included in this designation.)

 

The brewery building's parapet was reconstructed in 1936, replacing the pedimented and decorative brickwork with four-feet of plain brick. A sprinkler system was added in 1952, and the fire escapes and doors to reach them were replaced in 1958. Subsequent alterations have mainly focused on interior and plumbing, heating or other mechanical work.

 

Leavitt sold the property in 1924 to a realty company in which he was a partner and continued to occupy a warehouse there into the 1940s. Other building tenants included mainly clothing, shoe and handbag manufacturers, which occupied the building into the 1980s. Belvedere Improvement Company Inc. sold the property in 1931, and it changed hands again under foreclosure in 1937. It was purchased by Beaver Management Corp. in 1945. Since the 1960s, several deeds have been recorded against the lot, mostly between realty companies. An application, filed to convert part of the building from light manufacturing into residential units in 2001, was disapproved by the Department of Buildings; however, the Department of Finance currently classifies the building as an elevator apartment building with artists-in-residence. Its recent uses include a warehouse for an electronics importing company and studio space for an artist.

 

William Ulmer Incorporated, with Ulmer's grandson William Ulmer Becker as president, sold the office building to William H. Ludwig Inc. in 1952. The Ludwig company, an electrical appliance manufacturer located at 656 Bushwick Avenue, made several alterations to the building, including interior alterations and the construction of a small concrete block addition at the northwest corner of the lot, as well as changing the use of the building from office and brewery to office, factory and storage. William H. Ludwig Inc. retained ownership of the building for ten years before selling it to Twenty Starr Street Corporation, based next door at 21 Belvidere Street. Twenty Starr Street Corp. held the building for over twenty years, part of which time it is said to have been used for lamp manufacturing and storage. The office building was sold to its current owner in 1985.

 

Description

 

All of the main buildings of the Ulmer Brewery complex are extant, and occupy the northern portion of the block bound by Locust, Beaver, and Belvidere streets and Broadway in Bushwick. The complex consists of the main brew house and addition (71-83 Beaver Street), office (31 Belvidere Street), engine and machine house (35-43 Belvidere Street), and stable and storage building (28 Locust Street), occupying three separate tax lots. The buildings were historically situated around a central courtyard, which is now occupied by a one-story parking garage that is not included in this designation.

 

- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, United States

 

Summary

 

The Romanesque Revival style office building at 31 Belvidere Street is the focal point of the William Ulmer Brewery complex, a reminder of one of Bushwick's, and Brooklyn's, most prominent 19th- and 20th -century industries. The entire complex remains a largely intact example of a late-19 -century brewery designed in the American round arch style, and includes, in addition to the office building, the main brew house (1872) and addition (c.1881), engine and machine houses (Theobald Engelhardt 1885), and stable and storage building (Frederick Wunder 1890).

 

A German emigrant, William Ulmer (1833-1907) began working in a New York City brewery owned by his uncles in the 1850s and later became a partner in the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier brewery, founded in 1871.

 

Within seven years, Ulmer became the sole proprietor of the brewery and under its new name - the William Ulmer Brewery - the business was expanded in the 1880s and 1890s with the construction of ice house, engine-, machine- and wash-room additions, a large storage and stable building, and a handsome Romanesque Revival style office building. Designed by prominent Brooklyn architect Theobald Engelhardt and constructed in 1885, the two-story red brick office building was the architectural highlight of the complex, featuring arched and dormered windows, a squat mansard roof clad in slate, as well as terra-cotta ornament.

 

Divided into three bays, the building's projecting center bay incorporates remarkably crisp red terra-cotta panels that identify the initial of the last name of the owner, the brewery's trademark, and the function of the building, as well as corbelled brickwork and a blind arcade. The office building was separated from the larger brewery by a passage with an elaborate iron gate. Though rusted, the richly embellished gate is historic and possibly original to the structure. The other buildings of the Ulmer brewery complex feature details commonly found on other 19th-century breweries, including round arch-headed and segmentally arch-headed window and door openings, projecting brick pilasters, pedimented parapets and corbelled, denticulated, zigzag-patterned, and channeled decorative brickwork, all characteristic of the American round arch style.

 

Prior to Prohibition, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, many of which were located in Williamsburgh and Bushwick. Ulmer's was one of the more successful and in 1896 the Brooklyn Eagle described him as a millionaire. Under Ulmer, beer production more than quadrupled, reaching over three million gallons annually. Upon his retirement in 1900, the brewery was run by Ulmer's sons-in-law, John W. Weber and John F. Becker. Like many other breweries, the enactment of Prohibition closed the Ulmer brewery.

 

The factory buildings were sold and converted for light manufacturing use, but the family retained ownership of the office building until 1952, using it as an office for their real estate business. The buildings remain largely intact and retain the detailing that defines their history and use.

 

DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

 

The History of Brewing in Brooklyn and New York

 

"To speak of the origins of brewing in America is to speak of the origins of the nation itself," stated historian Stanley Baron in his book, Brewed in America. While the first European settlers were dependent on beer shipments brought from England, there are also late-16th- and early-17th-century references to brewers operating in the Massachusetts Bay and Virginia colonies.

 

In many early colonial accounts, beer was considered safer to drink than water, and was consumed by all ages at all times of the day. Sickness, death and failure of some settlements were often attributed to a lack of supplies, including beer. In New Amsterdam, the Dutch, who were "even more partial to beer that the English," discovered that the ingredients for beer could be grown in the new world in 1626, the year Peter Minuit "purchased" Manhattan from Native Americans.

 

Brewing was an active industry in New York City during the 17th century, with small-scale commercial, home, and municipal breweries, including one operated by The Dutch East India Company. By the 1770s, New York City and Philadelphia were established as the colonies' brewing centers.

 

At least two documented commercial brewers operated in Brooklyn during the 18th century, and despite the advantage of abundant fresh water, that number grew very slowly after the turn of the 19th century. Most brews were produced for home consumption or by common brewers for sale in nearby "ordinaries" or taverns.

 

The few commercial brewers produced English style brews, such as ale, porter, stout, and common beer, using top-fermenting yeast. In 1840, a former brewer from Bavaria, John Wagner, who had brought lager beer yeast to this country, opened a small brewery in back of his house in Philadelphia to supply his nearby tavern. From these humble beginnings, the opening of small-scale breweries eventually led to a major switch in the American brewing industry, from English to German brewing techniques and brewery proprietors. While the industry did not change overnight, the introduction of lager beer to the American market coincided with a massive influx of German immigrants in the 1840s that revolutionized the brewing industry in New York City, Brooklyn and other cities where they settled in large numbers. The Germans provided an increased market for beer, and they favored lager:

 

"Lager beer - An effervescent malt beverage, brewed by using the bottom-fermentation process, in which a special yeast settles as residue at the bottom of the brewing vats. The distinctly German beer was popular in German countries in the early nineteenth century, and was introduced in the U.S. probably in the 1840s by John Wagner. Because the process for making this light, sparkling brew involved storage while fermentation occurred [which required cool temperatures], it was termed 'lager,' which is derived from the German verb lagern, meaning to stock or store."

 

While two New York City breweries (George Gillig and F & M Schaefer) began to brew lager in the 1840s, S. Liebmann and Sons Brewery (later renamed Rheingold), founded in 1854, was one of the first to use the bottom fermenting process in Brooklyn. As lager gained popularity beginning in the mid-1850s, the cities where most German immigrants settled became the largest brewing centers in the country, including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St. Louis, as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City and Brooklyn. Several articles in the Brooklyn Eagle from the 1860s and 1870s focused on the growing popularity of lager beer, calling it our "National Beverage," appealing to people of all classes.

 

Using Long Island lake water supplied by a new gravity-fed water system, "by the 1870s Brooklyn had become a major force in American beer brewing, as numerous establishments, largely run by Germans, flourished in the borough's Eastern District (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick)." Between the 1850s and the 1880s, 11 separate breweries operated there in a 14-square block area known as "Brewer's Row." "By the 1880s, 35 breweries had been established in Brooklyn," generating an estimated $8 million in revenue annually. The majority of these firms exclusively brewed lager beer, while the remainder brewed ale or weiss (wheat) beer.

 

Technology and increased demand, as well as taste, influenced the course of the brewing industry in the second half of the 19th century. Like many other industries, the use of steam power and mechanization were common by the second half of the 19th century, altering the earlier "hand-done" brewing process and allowing for greater and more consistent production with the use of less labor.

 

While both processes required boiling and cooling, the German brewing technique differed from the English in requiring cooler temperatures to store the beer. Like the ale breweries, lager breweries operated seasonally (from October to April) but also employed extensive cellars for storage, taking advantage of cooler underground temperatures, and used large blocks of ice to regulate temperature.

 

Changes in refrigeration technology, which was first employed in Brooklyn at S. Liebmann and Sons in 1870, hit most of the breweries in the 1880s, shortening the cooling stages of the brewing process and permitting a longer brewing season. Just as steam power had revolutionized the hand brewing process, in the last years of the 19th century electric power and machinery began to replace the large steam engines.

 

Finally, pasteurization, bottling and later canning, in combination with expanded shipping methods, allowed brewers to branch out beyond local markets. These factors all made it possible for brewers to run larger breweries with greater production and profits, and tended to eliminate the smaller competitors.

 

While the number of breweries increased slowly in the 1880s and 1890s, production continued to steadily increase, driven both by an increased demand and technological advances.

 

Prior to consolidation in 1898, Brooklyn was the fourth most populous city in the country and supported 45 breweries. The prosperity continued in the 20th century, and although the number of breweries declined, the quantity of beer produced continued to grow, reaching its peak, pre-Prohibition, output of 2.5 million barrels in 1907.

 

Bushwick, which was considered a major brewing center from about 1890 until the late 1940s, was supplying almost 10% of all beer consumed in the United States during the height of its production.

 

Eventually, the technological advances that allowed Brooklyn brewers to greatly increase their production ultimately worked against them, as "cheap rail transportation and mechanical refrigeration allowed entrepreneurs in Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati to make inroads into the local markets. Successful breweries made larger investments in production and distribution facilities, and small firm disappeared."

 

Still, at the close of the 1910s, there were at least 24 breweries in Brooklyn, and 70 breweries in all the boroughs combined.

 

In 1920, the 18 th Amendment, the National Prohibition or Volstead Act closed many of the Brooklyn breweries,11 while others continued to manufacture near beer (less than .05% alcohol,) soft drinks or other food products. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, only 23 of the New York City's (including Brooklyn's) breweries resumed business, with most targeting the local market.

 

Over the next half of a century, brewing in the city declined. Brooklyn's last two breweries closed in 1976 (Rheingold and F & M Schaefer), marking the end of an era. However, about a decade later, during the micro-brewing revolution of 1980s, two Brooklyn entrepreneurs opened the Brooklyn Brewery in 1987. Although their first beers were contract brewed in Utica, New York, the opening of their new brewery in Williamsburg in 1996 revived an industry that once flourished in the borough. The Ulmer complex is a significant reminder of this once important and now reviving Brooklyn industry.

 

The History of the Neighborhood

 

The William Ulmer Brewery is located within the historic boundaries of the town of Bushwick, near the present boundary line between Brooklyn and Queens. Bushwick is one of the earliest colonial settlements in New York, first occupied in the 1630s. One of the original six towns in Brooklyn, it remained a rural farming area until the mid-19th century.

 

The site of the center of the township, the village of Bushwick, is the present intersection of Bushwick Avenue, Old Woodpoint Road, Metropolitan Avenue, Maspeth Avenue, and Humboldt Street. In 1852, Williamsburgh, the western and most populous section of the township, became an independent city, however, its municipal status ended three years later in 1855 when it and all of Bushwick were incorporated within the City of Brooklyn. Thereafter, until Brooklyn's consolidation into Greater New York in 1898, both areas and Greenpoint were known collectively as Brooklyn's Eastern District.

 

Located south of the center of Bushwick village, in the early 19th century, the land around the Ulmer Brewery site was owned by members of the Debevoise family.

 

Charles Debevoise purchased over 45 acres of property near the Bushwick-Newtown border from his brother Francis in 1823, and operated a farm.

 

Like many of his relatives and neighbors, Charles Debevoise was a slave owner. After his death in the 1850s, the Debevoise farm, which had been mapped and lotted in anticipation of sub-divison, was transferred to Charles' children, Jane Stockholm, Elizabeth Debevoise and Abraham Debevoise.

 

During the 1850s Bushwick began to lose its rural, agricultural landscape. Large numbers of Germans immigrated to New York following the political upheavals in central Europe in 1848. Many settled in Williamsburgh and Bushwick and began the development of the area's most famous local industry, brewing. The area boasted a number of features attractive to the brewing industry: an abundant water supply, soil suitable for the construction of underground storage chambers, and convenient water and rail transportation, as well as sufficient local demand. Henry R. Stiles, the notable Brooklyn historian, wrote in 1870:

 

"That quarter of Brooklyn, the Eastern District irreverently designated as Dutchtown, has been for some time the centre of the lager bier manufacturing interest in the Metropolitan District. Here are located some of the largest breweries in existence in the country. Surrounded by a population almost exclusively German, they all enjoy a local patronage to a considerable extent..."

 

A second wave of development in Bushwick began after the construction of the elevated railroad along Myrtle Avenue in 1888, making the area an attractive alternative to congested downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.18 Development, consisting primarily of three-and four-story multiple dwellings, spread eastward toward the Brooklyn-Queens border during the following decade.

 

The population remained largely German until the 1930s and 40s, when Italian-Americans began moving in. Beginning with the brewery workers strike of 1949, the industry began a steady decline. The closing of factories, including the breweries, created an economic depression of the area. In the late 1950s and 1960s, African-Americans and Puerto Ricans immigrated to Bushwick, comprising more than half of its population by 1970.

 

Under the encouragement of real estate agents, many houses changed hands, purchased by low-income families with Federal Housing Authority insured mortgages, who were not necessarily able to maintain their buildings or payments during the economic downturn of the 1970s. New York City's fiscal crisis tightened the budget during this period, cutting essential services to certain communities.

 

Among them were cuts to fire department service in the area, at a time when buildings abandoned by foreclosure were subject to frequent fires, further devastating the neighborhood. Redevelopment efforts began in the 1980s and are still continuing today. According to a 2007 exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society, "today, Bushwick is one of Brooklyn's 'hottest' neighborhoods, abuzz with construction, renovation, and aspiration. With a burgeoning arts scene and convergence of Latin American people, Bushwick is truly one of Brooklyn's most dynamic communities."

 

German Immigration, Brooklyn's Eastern District and Lager Beer

 

From its founding in 1626 by Peter Minuit, a native of the German town of Wesel am Rhein, New York City has had a significant German population. During the 1820s, the first German neighborhood and commercial center developed in the area southeast of City Hall Park and by 1840 there were more than 24,000 Germans living in the city. During the next twenty years, their numbers increased dramatically as "mass transatlantic migration brought another hundred thousand Germans fleeing land shortages, unemployment, famine, and political and religious oppression," with over 1,350,000 immigrating to the United States.

 

To accommodate this growth, new German neighborhoods, developed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and the Eastern District of Brooklyn. In the 1870s and 1880s, dislocations caused by the growth of the German Empire brought more new immigrants to the United States while thousands of American-born children of German immigrants established their own homes in these neighborhoods. By settling in areas with such a high concentration of fellow countrymen, it was easy for Germans to maintain their culture and customs, which included German-speaking churches and synagogues, German newspapers, singing societies, Turnvereine, and beer gardens.

 

In Williamsburgh and Bushwick, it was not uncommon for "Eastern District German-Americans to enrich their day with a brew or two. Lager tended to be the normal mealtime beverage, and it most certainly was served all around at picnics, Sunday outings, sporting events and all the other social gatherings that characterized German-American life everywhere these fun-loving people settled in the United States."

 

More than just a component of the German diet, lager beer was an integral part of the customs that new immigrants maintained in the United States. Lager was for socializing, recreating with family, and enjoyed at club meetings. While some of the clubs constructed their own buildings, such as the Eastern District Turnverein and the Arion Singing Society's Arion Hall, beer gardens were also popular meeting spots, providing entertainment and a family retreat, especially in the hot days of summer, unlike saloons, which were notorious for keeping workers away from their families after a day's labor.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery

 

Born in Wurttemberg in 1833, William Ulmer immigrated to New York in the 1850s to work with his two uncles, Henry Clausen Sr. and John F. Betz, in the brewing industry,25 eventually becoming the brewmaster for Clausen's very successful New York firm. In 1871, Ulmer partnered with Anton Vigelius to form the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental Lagerbier Brewery on Belvidere and Beaver Streets in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

 

Born in Bavaria, Anton Vigelius immigrated to Brooklyn in 1840 at the age of 18 and was involved in the produce business prior to opening the brewery. He purchased land at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere Streets from Abraham and Anna Debevoise in 1869, selling a half-interest in the parcel to Ulmer shortly before the construction of the brewery.

 

As evidenced by the marble date stone in the center of its facade, the first building of the Vigelius and Ulmer Brewery was constructed at the site in 1872. Typical of this period, all of the early brewing operations would have taken place in this building, from the storage of grains, to malting, brewing and lagering (or storage) of the beer. Vigelius also constructed a large residence behind the brewery facing Belvidere Street in 1872, following the common practice of 19th-century brewers who lived in or very near their breweries. The early success of the firm was noted in an 1875 article in the Brooklyn Eagle, which cited the Vigelius & Ulmer Brewery

 

among the largest and most noted of the Williamsburgh breweries, and of the 30 to 40 breweries that were then operating in Brooklyn.

 

In December of 1877, Anton Vigelius sold his share of the brewery to Ulmer and retired from brewing, leaving Ulmer the sole proprietor of what had "grown to be one of the largest breweries in Brooklyn."28 Vigelius remained a well-known and active member of the German community as Vice President of the German Savings Bank, a Director of the Broadway (Williamsburg) Bank, and a member of the Arion Singing Society until his death in 1891.

 

Like many other breweries in Brooklyn, New York and throughout the country, the Ulmer brewery complex expanded over time to increase capacity and accommodate technological advances in the industry.

 

Around 1880, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. A testament to the brewery's success, in 1885 a major building campaign was begun that included the brick office building and boiler and machine houses (designed by architect Theobald Engelhardt) facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery that served as a wash house and racking (keg-filling) room. Several years later, brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed a large wagon room, stable, and storage building to replace an existing frame stable building.

 

This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed c.1890, was the last major building constructed at the brewery. By the late 1880s, the William Ulmer Brewery and John Becker (Ulmer's son-in-law who lived in Vigelius's former home adjacent to the brewery, demolished) owned more than half of the block bounded by Beaver Street, Belvidere Street, Broadway and Locust Street.

 

Through the 1890s and first decade of the 20th century, the brewery continued to construct minor additions and interior alterations as needed, including the installation of steel framing for a new 236-barrel cooking tank in the main brew house in 1906, a year before Brooklyn reached its peak beer production. Although specific production statistics have not been found, the regular alterations to the buildings indicates that the Ulmer Brewery continued to be successful and expand production.

 

Upon his retirement in 1900, the William Ulmer Brewery was incorporated with Catharine Ulmer (his wife), John F. Becker and John W. Weber (Ulmer's sons-in-law) as directors and stockholders and his daughters, Catharine Becker and Caroline Weber as additional stockholders. Weber, an attorney by trade, became president and Becker, who had been working for Ulmer for over 20 years as a brewer, was named treasurer.

 

The brewery's success continued, allowing Weber to construct a large home at 101 Eighth Avenue in 1909 (within the Park Slope Historic District), while Becker continued to occupy Vigelius's former home behind the brewery. An active philanthropist who belonged to many charitable organizations, Ulmer died in 1907 at his home at 680 Bushwick Avenue. His wife died the following March, leaving a "large estate."

 

Unlike other 19th- and early 20th -century lager breweries in Brooklyn, no evidence has been found that Ulmer operated an adjacent beer garden or that the brewery sold any bottled or canned beer. Instead, both for personal profit and beer distribution opportunities, Ulmer invested extensively in real estate. By purchasing or building taverns and installing a proprietor, brewers could guarantee that their beer was the only one sold.

 

Advertisements and articles in the Brooklyn Eagle and other publications indicate that Ulmer owned several taverns.

 

In 1893, in consultation with Weber, he opened Ulmer Park along the waterfront in Gravesend. This large resort and hotel featured music, dancing, boating, bathing, a shooting gallery, bowling alley and other attractions, and mostly importantly served as a place for the sale of Ulmer's lager.

 

In 1901 Ulmer purchased Dexter Park, a popular baseball and football stadium located in Woodhaven, Queens, where Sunday "blue laws" were less strictly enforced than in Brooklyn, a clear advantage for lager sales. Additionally, in 1914 the William Ulmer Brewery constructed a pavilion with a restaurant and bar at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike in Forest Hills, Queens, at the edge of Forest Park.

 

The William Ulmer Brewery closed with the passing of the Volstead Act, and its buildings were sold. The brewery retained ownership of the office and attached wagon house and storage additions, and maintained the buildings for use as a real estate office. Weber became president of the Ulmer Park Realty Company, owned by his wife and sister-in-law, while Becker, already in his 70s, likely retired. A few years prior to the repeal of Prohibition, in 1930, the company officially changed its name to William Ulmer Incorporated, signifying the company's permanent departure from brewing.

 

The Design of the Ulmer Brewery Buildings

 

The Ulmer Brewery complex consists of the main brew house and addition, office, engine and machine house, and stable and storage building. These buildings and other mid- to late-19th-century Brooklyn breweries show a similarity in form and design and feature details of American round arch design. This American industrial interpretation of the German Renaissance Revival or Rundbogenstil ("round-arch style"), which evolved in Germany in the 1820s, "synthesized classical and medieval architecture—particularly the round-arched elements of those style," according to Bradley.

 

These simply designed factory buildings use corbelled and other decorative brickwork, projecting brick piers, round arch window openings, and had parapets that sometimes varied in height and featured pediments, rather than applied ornament for interest and decoration. (Despite its name, buildings constructed in the American version of the style often used economical segmentally arch-headed window openings.) The

 

style was particularly well-suited to industrial and commercial buildings because of its reliance on brick and locally available stones, simplicity of detail, and structural expressiveness, as well as rapidity of construction, economy of materials and workmanship, durability, ample fenestration, and ease of adding extensions without grossly violating the original building fabric. Brick was the material of choice for most industrial buildings. It was inexpensive, durable, and easily supplied. More important, machine-pressed brick remained "the most fire-resistant building material available prior to the widespread use of concrete."

 

The American round-arch style was widely employed in the United States for factories, breweries, warehouses, and school buildings. Transmitted to this country through the immigration of German and Central European architects in the 1840s, as well as through architectural publications, the influence of the Rundbogenstil is clearly visible is the Ulmer Brewery buildings and other extant former brewery buildings in Brooklyn, many of which were located in the heavily German-populated Eastern District, owned by German immigrants and designed by German-immigrant architects or first generation German-Americans.

 

The first building at the brewery, the main brew house constructed in 1872, features many details characteristic of the American round arch style, including round arch-headed window and segmentally-arch-headed door openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting pilasters, and corbelled brickwork. Historic photos and illustrations of the complex indicate that the main brew house also featured pedimented parapets at the Beaver Street facade and a two-and-a-half-story, mansard-roofed tower, which are typical of 19th-century brewery architecture.

 

Between 1880 and 1885, shortly after Ulmer purchased the lot at the corner of Beaver and Locust Streets, a large, storage-house addition to the main building was constructed on Beaver Street. Similar in style to the original building, it featured a pedimented parapet, corbelled brickwork and round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts. Like other 19th-century breweries, all of the operations likely took place in different sections of this four-story main building, which was divided into two buildings on the interior. As production expanded, the c.1881 addition along Beaver Street provided additional space for operations.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that the mashing of the malt and boiling took place on different floors of the building at the corner of Beaver and Belvidere streets, while in the remainder of the main brew house and its addition, ice was used to maintain cooler temperatures for fermenting, a much longer process. For the final step of the brewing process, the Ulmer Brewery took advantage of underground storage; Department of Buildings permits indicate that both sections of the main brew house have deep cellars, 20- and 34-feet deep.

 

The Ulmer brewery began a major building campaign in 1885; construction was begun on the two-story, brick office building and two- and three-story boiler and machine houses facing Belvidere Street, as well as a large addition at the rear of the main brewery. Dictated by expanding brewing capacity and changing brewery technology, the additions were designed by Eastern District architect Theobald Engelhardt.

 

Although not described specifically as brewery architect, Engelhardt worked on a number of brewery commissions and was also a prominent member of the German community. The new boiler and machine house building on Belvidere Street, which was connected to the southwest facade of the main brew house, was designed in the American round arch style, and features many details similar to its adjacent neighbor, including round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts, projecting brick pilasters, and a decorative brick cornice.

 

Although it is only three stories in height, the machine house section of the building extends to the height of the four-story brew house, and the brick cornice, which features corbelled, denticulated and zigzag-patterned brickwork, extends across both buildings. This decorative brick cornice, characteristic of the inexpensive ornament applied to American round arch style factories, also extends across the lower, two-story, boiler-house section of the building and its side and rear facades. Designed with practical mechanical needs in mind, to house boilers and machinery, the tall first and second stories of the new building do not align with the adjacent brewery.

 

By 1887, maps indicate that an ice machine was located on the second story of the machine house, showing Ulmer's efforts to keep up to date with the latest brewing industry advances. Although it was not specifically cited in the permit, it is possible that this building was partially designed and constructed to accommodate this new technology. Also included in this building campaign was the construction of one-story addition at the rear of the main brew house that served as a wash house and racking room.

 

Constructed of brick, this addition was demolished in 1923 to allow for the construction of a parking lot in the former brewery courtyard.

 

Brewery architect Frederick Wunder designed the large wagon house, stable and storage building that faces Locust Street for the brewery in 1890. This three-story brick building and its additions, constructed in a similar round arch design as the other brewery buildings, was the last major building constructed at the brewery.

 

The one- and two-story wagon room and stable additions of the same building campaign were constructed as a rear addition to the office building, linking the Belvidere Street building with the new building fronting Locust Street. Both the northwest, Locust Street facade and the northeast, courtyard-facing facade, which was originally visible from Locust and Beaver streets, of the building are fully developed with features characteristic of the American round arch style, including segmentally arch-headed windows and doors with projecting brick lintels at the first floor; round arch-headed window openings with corbelled brick archivolts at the upper stories; bluestone window sills and string coursing; brick pilasters; and denticulated, channeled and corbelled decorative brickwork. Also characteristic of the style, a tall, pedimented parapet extends above the facade on the Locust Street side of the building and features the remnants of what appears to have been a round, terra-cotta ornament.

 

Original drawings (see illustrations) show that the courtyard-facing facade featured a two-story, central tower or monitor and a shorter tower at the building's northeast corner. (This shorter tower remains with an altered roof and attached fire escape.) The ground floor openings are raised at this facade, likely to accommodate horses, and the northeasternmost door opening (adjacent to the office) is large enough to permit the storage of wagons. By 1910, the Ulmer Brewery was using trucks for delivery, thereby diminishing the need for horses. The upper stories continued to be used for storage and later the third floor of the building was a cooperage.

 

While Ulmer's and other Brooklyn breweries display many Rundbogenstil characteristics, including Philadelphia brick facades with plain pilasters, decorative, patterned brickwork, and of course, round-arched openings accented with archivolts, the more elaborate office building complete with a terracotta company trademark, is the show piece of the brewing complex.

 

By the mid-1880s brewers and their architects were already attempting to show the wealth and success of their businesses through their brewery complexes, by creating a highly-visible corporate symbols, which could be used in company advertising. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle from 1886 described the counting houses of the S. Leibmann and Sons, Obermeyer and Liebmann, and Ulmer breweries as "not surpassed by anything of the kind in Broadway or Wall Street."

 

Designed in 1885 by Theobald Engelhardt, the office building features round arch-headed window openings, facade symmetry and a central projecting bay that are all characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style, which was also inspired by French medieval sources and the German Rundbogenstil.

 

Additional Romanesque Revival details include corbelled blind arches that decorate the pedimented parapet and corbelled archivolts. The terra cotta panels on the office building are of particular note. "OFFICE." above the front entry and the trademark "U" identify the original use and owner of the building, while a band of Queen Anne-inspired decorative panels separates the first and second floors. These floral- and foliate-motif panels were likely manufactured by the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company, as very similar tiles appear in an 1895 catalog issued by the company. Other decorative details include, at the second floor, a slate-clad, faux mansard roof and projecting dormers, which were historically more decorative, round arch-headed, copper dormers.

 

The finely detailed iron gate, located to the north of the office building, which historically obscured the entry to the brewery courtyard, also features Queen-Anne inspired motifs and is likely original to the building. As previously described, the office was later expanded as part of the construction of the stable building on Locust, with one- and two-story wagon room, storage and stable additions, which were later partially raised one story to allow for additional storage.

  

Later Building History and Alterations

 

The bulk of the brewery complex was sold in the early 1920s. The large stable and storage building on Locust Street was sold in 1921, and resold within two years to the Artcraft Metal Stamping Corp. A manufacturer of light fixtures, the company later changed its name to Artcraft Metal and Electrical Products and occupied the building as a factory until c.1940, at times sharing the space with other metal fabricators and lighting manufacturers. The full height addition to the building at its northeast corner is an elevator shaft that was probably constructed c. 1932.63 Alterations to the Locust Street fenestration, including the enlargement of several openings and the installation of square-headed windows, were completed by c.1940. Artcraft retained ownership of the building until 1944, after which it changed hands several times (likely between tenants) before it was sold to a realty company in 1949. Metal fabricators and clothing manufacturers are listed as occupants there until at least the 1980s.

 

In 2002, a permit was issued by the Department of Buildings approving a change from factory to residential use. The building is currently divided into a several apartments per floor.

 

The main brewery building, including its additions and engine and machine houses along Belvidere Street, was sold in 1922. Brooklyn Department of Buildings records indicate that the Otis Elevator Company filed to install an elevator in the main brewery building a year earlier, perhaps in anticipation of its sale and reuse for another function. Marcus Leavitt, owner of M. Leavitt Flooring Co. purchased the property in 1923 and made alterations to convert the buildings from a brewery to light manufacturing.

 

Among the changes were interior alterations, the replacement of the interior wooden stairs with fire proof equivalents, the installation of metal fire escapes on the Beaver Street and Locust Street-facing side facades, window replacement with steel sash and other fenestration changes. New fireproof stair cases were installed just behind the Beaver and Belvidere Street facades, as evidenced on the exterior by the offset window openings and stair bulkheads at the roof. The enlargement of several of the round arch-headed windows on the Beaver Street facade may have taken place at this time, as well as the bricking up of windows at the first floor of both facades and at the rear facade, and the lengthening of window openings along Belvidere Street for the installation of doors.

 

The additions to the main brew house and storage addition, located to the rear of the Beaver Street facade, were demolished during this period to allow for the construction of the one-story parking garage that occupies most of the former brewery courtyard and has frontage on Locust and Beaver Streets. (This garage remained part of the same tax lot as the brewery buildings until c.1965, but is not included in this designation.)

 

The brewery building's parapet was reconstructed in 1936, replacing the pedimented and decorative brickwork with four-feet of plain brick. A sprinkler system was added in 1952, and the fire escapes and doors to reach them were replaced in 1958. Subsequent alterations have mainly focused on interior and plumbing, heating or other mechanical work.

 

Leavitt sold the property in 1924 to a realty company in which he was a partner and continued to occupy a warehouse there into the 1940s. Other building tenants included mainly clothing, shoe and handbag manufacturers, which occupied the building into the 1980s. Belvedere Improvement Company Inc. sold the property in 1931, and it changed hands again under foreclosure in 1937. It was purchased by Beaver Management Corp. in 1945. Since the 1960s, several deeds have been recorded against the lot, mostly between realty companies. An application, filed to convert part of the building from light manufacturing into residential units in 2001, was disapproved by the Department of Buildings; however, the Department of Finance currently classifies the building as an elevator apartment building with artists-in-residence. Its recent uses include a warehouse for an electronics importing company and studio space for an artist.

 

William Ulmer Incorporated, with Ulmer's grandson William Ulmer Becker as president, sold the office building to William H. Ludwig Inc. in 1952. The Ludwig company, an electrical appliance manufacturer located at 656 Bushwick Avenue, made several alterations to the building, including interior alterations and the construction of a small concrete block addition at the northwest corner of the lot, as well as changing the use of the building from office and brewery to office, factory and storage. William H. Ludwig Inc. retained ownership of the building for ten years before selling it to Twenty Starr Street Corporation, based next door at 21 Belvidere Street. Twenty Starr Street Corp. held the building for over twenty years, part of which time it is said to have been used for lamp manufacturing and storage. The office building was sold to its current owner in 1985.

 

Description

 

All of the main buildings of the Ulmer Brewery complex are extant, and occupy the northern portion of the block bound by Locust, Beaver, and Belvidere streets and Broadway in Bushwick. The complex consists of the main brew house and addition (71-83 Beaver Street), office (31 Belvidere Street), engine and machine house (35-43 Belvidere Street), and stable and storage building (28 Locust Street), occupying three separate tax lots. The buildings were historically situated around a central courtyard, which is now occupied by a one-story parking garage that is not included in this designation.

 

- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

The Spaten brewery was founded in 1397, by a private brewer or tavern keeper, not by monks. It changed hands over the centuries. The Spatt family, which owned the brewery in 1622-1704, gave the name, which stuck.

 

Spaten's rise, like many of Munich's large breweries, rise began in the early 1800s. Hofbräumeister (court brewmaster) Gabriel Sedlmayer took it over in 1807. His family has directed the brewery since then. The G.S. initials in the logo are his.

 

Spaten means spade or shovel, and the logo has a malt shovel. This beer mat is in the shape of a spade. The logo was designed in 1884, and is basically unchanged since then. Spaten's advertising slogan, "Lass Dir raten, trinke Spaten" (here's good advice, drink Spaten), came in 1924, and is still used.

 

Spaten merged with Löwenbräu in 1997. It is now part of the InBev brewery group.

Photos Courtesy of Reaux Photo.

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met the last time we were in New Orleans. For this year's Mash, half of each Slow Supper's seats will be open to the public, with the other half reserved for members, so click here and get your tickets now.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chefs -- all paired with Brooklyn beer, both familiar and rare. A percentage of ticket sales go to support the New Orleans chapter of Slow Food. To learn more about how Slow Food fights the good fight for good, clean and fair food click here.

 

Donner-Peltier Distillers will be serving up a Oryza Gin and beer cocktail for our reception drink.

 

Music will be provided by the always timeless and classy, Luke Winslow King.

 

We can talk about how special this evening will be all night but let's get to the most important issue at hand: The Menu.

 

Reception

A Summer French 75 - A refreshing summer cocktail replacing your average champagne with our Brooklyn Summer Ale.

 

Egg en cocotte, crawfish bisque, basil croutons

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (7.6% ABV) - A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the Japanese-bred Sorachi Ace hop. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled octopus, miso glazed eggplant, popcorn puree

Brooklyn Wild Streak (10% ABV) - A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged in second-use bourbon barrels & re-fermented with the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces.

 

Beef tartar, sunchoke puree & syrup, quinoa crumble, mustard greens

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager (8.6% ABV) - A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled baby lamb chops, cauliflower cous cous, roasted brussel sprouts, anchovy compound butter

Brooklyn Local 2 (9.0% ABV) - Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Coffee & Chicory: coffee ice cream, frozen cream, chicory tuile

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10.0% ABV) - Our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, featuring a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor from three mashes of specially roasted malts.

 

The menu didn't write itself, so let's meet the men behind the meal. Brooklyn Brewery Chef, Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Chef Brent Tranchina is an active member of the New Orleans’ urban farming community and is a food justice advocate. The native of the Big Easy has bachelor's and master's degrees from UNO and has worked at Benu and Rich Table in San Francisco and Commander's Palace in NOLA on top of a stint in Italy as an English teacher. He now leads this merry band of misfits in New Orleans as Dinner Lab's Chef de Cuisine.

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

“Dinner Lab is the only place in this area you’ll likely ever nibble Bolivian beef tongue with yellow aji peppers from a disposable bamboo carton while sitting at a folding table in a deserted warehouse with Foster the People playing in the background.” - nola.com

I was totally unable to sleep at 3 a.m. this morning and just watching stupid YouTube cat videos on the iPad.

 

Well, Jersey Shore Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring wasn’t having any of that. “I will not have you laying around like a pig in a poke. Unless you want to get up and start cleaning, get yourself down to the kitchen. I want to ferment some garlic.” Aggie Ring said.

 

From what Texas Aggie Ring has read on the internets, fermented honey garlic cures everything from the flu/common cold to cancer. Aggie Ring isn’t sure about all of the claims but he knows that he likes honey and he likes garlic. Most people who’ve made it say that when you’re coming down with a nasty cold or the flue, a spoonful of fermented garlic cloves and honey helps quite a bit.

 

I threw on some clothes and Aggie Ring and I went downstairs to the kitchen.

 

Aggie Ring said we only needed two things—raw peeled garlic and raw honey.

 

I had a large container of peeled garlic that my Coffee NCO picked up for me from the restaurant supply store. The garlic was a product of China which is known for having bitter garlic. If you can find locally grown heirloom garlic, use that. Otherwise, any garlic grown in California is also a good choice. We eat a ton of garlic here on the Jersey Shore so we are used to the bitterness of Chinese garlic. If you’re not a fan, make sure you buy something from the USA.

 

When Aggie Ring and I were stationed at the Presidio of Monterey for Language School, we used to go to the Garlic Festival in nearby Gilroy, California. We tried everything from garlic wine, garlic beer, garlic candy to garlic ice cream.

 

As far as the raw honey goes, we didn’t have any that was raw and it was 3:30 in the morning and I wasn’t about to go to the store. However, Aggie Ring switched over to “MacGyver Aggie Ring Mode” and came up with a work around.

 

You want to use raw honey because the processed honey kills all of the bacteria that is required for the fermentation to begin. However! MacGyver Aggie Ring had a Mason jar of beer yeast in the refrigerator that he got from the brewery down the street to bake with and to make hard apple cider. If you have a microbrewery or brewpub near you, take a clean Mason jar with a lid to it and if you ask nicely, the brewmaster will usually give you a jar filled with the dregs from the latest batch of brew. They produce gallons of it during each batch and it all gets poured down the drain.

 

MacGyver Aggie Ring decided we could put in a couple of tablespoons of it in the jar to provide the non-raw honey with the necessary bacteria to ferment.

 

The instructions on the internets for making the fermented honey garlic are short and easy:

1) Fill a jar about 3/4 full of peeled garlic.

2) Cover with raw honey.

3) Wait a month or more for it to ferment.

  

Aggie Ring filled the jar a little over 3/4 full or the peeled garlic and put a few spoons of the beer yeast into the jar. Unfortunately, for Aggie Ring, he must of thought that, because the honey is the same color of Maker’s Mark, it would pour easily over the garlic.

 

Sadly, the honey, when poured into the jar stayed mostly on top of the garlic and it looked like it would take hours for it to flow to the bottom of the jar. MacGyver Aggie Ring had me get a long spoon and work the garlic around so the honey would fill all of the space in the jar. Next time, we’d put in a few garlic cloves first, then some honey and repeat the process.

 

But, using the spoon method, after Aggie Ring filled the jar 3/4 of the way, I had both a spoon and an Aggie Ring to lick honey off of before proceeding (unfortunately, Aggie Ring fell into the honey during the photo session).

 

“It could have been worse.” said Aggie Ring.

 

After I finished washing the honey off of Aggie Ring in the sink with warm water and soap, I put a fermentation lid with a fermentation lock on the jar. I have several of them laying around but you could use plastic wrap with a rubber band to keep the oxygen from getting into the jar. Putting on a tight lid could cause the jar to explode when the pressure builds up.

 

According to the literature that Aggie Ring read, the fermentation should start in a few days and should be left to continue for a month or longer. Aggie Ring placed the jar in the dark pantry with a pan under it just in case the fermentation becomes violent and liquid spills out of the jar.

 

All Jersey Shore Fightin’ Texas Aggie Ring has to do now is wait. He’s already thinking about making himself a strong vodka-garlic honey martini when it’s ready.

 

#AggieRing

a BIG ASS keg

My fave!!! actually the bock is my fave...Shiner, the oldest independent brewery in Texas, has been incorporated since 1909. A group of businessmen incorporated Shiner Brewing Association and placed Herman Weiss in as the company's first Brewmaster. In 1914 the founders offered the plant for lease, a German immigrant brewer named Kosmas (more commonly referred to as Kosmos) Spoetzl learned of the operation and co-leased with Oswald Petzold with an option to buy in 1915. Before this business venture, Spoetzl had attended brewmaster's school and apprenticed for three years in Germany, worked for eight years at the Pyramids Brewery in Cairo, Egypt, and then worked in Canada. He moved to San Antonio in search of a better climate for his health, bringing with him a family recipe for a Bavarian beer made from malted barley and hops.

  

Photos Courtesy of Maverick Inman

 

This pop-up dinner party, hosted in a unique, non-traditional location, embodies The Mash. In each city we visit, we bring together some of our favorite people to create a memorable meal and moment. Our partner for the tour is the incomparable, members-only, Dinner Lab, whom we first met in New Orleans, last year. For this year's Mash, Dinner Lab is releasing half of each Slow Supper's seats to the public. Brooklyn Brewery is excited to share Dinner Lab's unique dining experiences with our Mash cities.

 

The curated evening brings people together around a common table to share cuisine crafted by Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson in collaboration with Dinner Lab Chef Jacob Cureton paired with Brooklyn beer both familiar and rare. New Columbia Distillers will be providing their Green Hat Gin, and artist Elizabeth Graeber will be making commemorative souvenirs for attendees.

 

Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson, brings to the table ten years of culinary experience as a cook, educator and activist. As a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (Pollenzo, Italy) and an active member of Slow Food, Andrew demonstrates and represents Brewmaster Garrett Oliver's philosophy on beer and food. Andrew is currently travelling his way around the States, collaborating with some of the country’s most innovative chefs, like Marcus Samuelson (NYC), Chris Sheppard of Houston’s Underbelly, from Sea Change in Minneapolis Jamie Malone, and Paco Roberts of NOLA’s Dinner Lab. During The Mash tour, Andrew has picked up new culinary ideas and shared his own from Stockholm to Las Vegas and everywhere in between, bringing you farm-to-table cuisine steeped in regional flavors, with a dash of Brooklyn fortitude sprinkled in for good measure.

 

Born in Alabama, Dinner Lab Chef Jacob Cureton currently lives and works in the city of New Orleans. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America and the Culinary Institute of New Orleans, his past restaurant experiences include The Range, (San Diego), Johnny V’s, (St. Marie), Cuvee, Emeril's Delmonico, and Stella! (NOLA).

 

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining experiment that unites undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners who are looking for something different from the traditional restaurant experience. Whether it happens on the roof of an abandoned building, the floor of a paper mill, or inside a motorcycle dealership, we believe that good people, good food and good drink are the only elements paramount to a memorable meal.

 

To learn more about DinnerLab and to become a member, visit DinnerLab.com.

 

Get tickets here, and check out the menu below.

 

Intro beer:

Brooklyn Summer Ale – 5.0% ABV Brewed with English barley malt, providing a golden beer with a fresh bready flavor. German and American hops lend a light crisp bitterness and a citrus/floral aroma.

 

Summer Ale Cocktail

 

Green apple & scallop crudo, brown butter gel/ apple jus

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace – 7.6% ABV A classic saison, cracklingly dry, hoppy unfiltered golden farmhouse ale featuring the rare Sorachi Ace hop. It tastes like sunshine in a glass. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Duck breast, slow cooked duck egg, ramp puree, white asparagus,

Brooklyn Wild Streak – 10% ABV A Belgian-inspired golden ale aged for several months in second-use bourbon barrels, giving it a soft, round character infused with a balanced oak flavors. 100% bottle re-ferment with a blend of priming sugar, Champagne yeast and the wild yeast strain Brettanomyces providing a wonderfully complex earthy funk.

 

Rutabaga & Charred Eggplant, pan-seared black eye peas, chevre crumble, fried basil

Brooklyn Silver Anniversary Lager – 8.6% ABV A 100% bottle re-fermented version of Brooklyn Lager brewed to Doppelbock strength to commemorate our 25th anniversary. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Grilled lamb chop, cauliflower couscous, citrus brussel sprouts

Brooklyn Local 2 – 9.0% ABV Combines European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar, and raw wildflower honey from a New York family farm. The beer emerges with a mahogany color, dry fruity palate and complex aromatics. 100% bottle re-fermented.

 

Orange Curd, charred lime & avocado sherbet, cream gelee, graham crumble,toasted coconut flakes

Brooklyn Cuvée Noire – 10.6% ABV A Belgian Stout brewed with Mauritius sugar and orange peel, aged for six months in bourbon barrels, and then 100% bottle re-fermented.