Paradisiac Triple Blonde Beer Tasting

Unibroue Raftman Tasting

Unibroue Chambly Noire Tasting

Ommegang Ommegeddon is Back at Aroma Thyme

Ommegang just released the Ommegeddon, and we picked up a couple of cases at Aroma Thyme!!!



On July 12, 2007, at Belgium Comes to Cooperstown, we released Ommegeddon on the world.

The world must have loved it because it’s disappearing quickly. It’s all gone from our warehouse and is all out in the distribution channels. If your bar or retail store doesn’t have it ask them to get it before it is totally consumed. We will brew it again but probably not until 2008.

Ommegeddon is 8% ABV Belgian-style ale with a wild twist ¯ a dose of Brettanomyces yeast and a blast of dry hopping. It’s a strong blonde ale with a sharp citrus flavor that, like the other Ommegang ales, has a dry finish. Its dryness and funkiness begat the name of Ommegeddon ¯ for the time when the forces of light and dark battle for world dominion. It’s time for you to pick your side.

On June 30th, 2007, we had the honor of selling our first Ommegeddon bottle at the brewery to two ecstatic customers, Paul & Laura Gagnon from South Windsor, Connecticut. See image on the right.

Blue Moon Belgian White Blind Beer Tasting & Opinion

Seirra Nevada Celebration 2009 Ale

Growlers of Craft Beer Are a Big Hit

This article was just in the NY Times. Yes growlers are a big hit at beer bars & stores. We have growlers available at Aroma Thyme. The prices are listed on our tap beer menu. Yes all tap beer are available to go in growlers.


The New Old Way to Tote Your Beer

Todd Heisler/The New York Times
At Bierkraft in Park Slope, Brooklyn, customers bring their own growlers and fill them with fresh draft beer. They drink it there, or take it out.

By ROBERT SIMONSON
Published: January 26, 2010
BY midafternoon on a recent Saturday, Bierkraft, the beer emporium and grocery on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, was half-filled with customers, many of them parents with babies or toddlers in tow. They were browsing the more than 1,000 varieties of bottled beer or surveying the listing of selections available on the 13 taps and 3 cask lines. Some carried a good-sized satchel.

At the Whole Foods on Houston Street, growlers make up half the beer store’s business.
Diaper bag? Gym clothes?
No. It was a tote for their growlers.

Growlers — 64-ounce glass vessels that look like a moonshine jug — have become the beer accessory of the moment. And the jugs, filled at taps in bars and stores, are not just the toys of the bearded, flannel-shirt, beer-geek set.
“In the beginning we tried to figure out, ‘Who’s going to be our market?’ ” said Ben Granger, 32, an owner of Bierkraft, which began filling growlers in spring 2006. “We thought, mullet-heads and beer-bellied dudes. But the first run was ladies with strollers. They will tell you they’re buying them for their husbands. Three weeks later, they’ve got two. One’s his and one’s hers. The next one that caught me by surprise was dads coming in with their kids. Then there’s the beer crowd who’ll rush in to get on this or that before it’s gone. There’s no age limit.”
Michael Endelman, a journalist at Rolling Stone, is one of those growler-loving fathers. “I don’t go to bars too much anymore,” he said, gesturing to his baby daughter Mimi. “It just seems like a great way to be a beer geek without going out.”
Some customers appreciate growlers for reasons of economy (refills range from $8 to $20 or more) or ecology. And as more craft brewers choose not to bottle their products, many fans like the idea of getting fresh beer that until recently was sold only in specialized bars.
Liz Thorpe, vice president of Murray’s Cheese, said she had two to four growlers at home at any given time. “Good beer makes everything more special,” Ms. Thorpe said while stocking up for a recent National Football League playoff game. “I like me some football, but I don’t like me some Coors Light. So I’m ensuring I will be happy this afternoon.” Barely a week has passed in recent months without some bar or beer store in New York City trumpeting the arrival of growlers, which are typically embossed with the name of their business. Even the Gristedes grocery chain has gotten in on the act; the University Place store in Manhattan began carrying them in November.
Offerings can change daily, even hourly.
Some new growler users believe they’re getting in on the latest thing, but beer lovers know better.
“Growlers have been around since Christ was a child,” Mr. Granger said. “We’re not doing anything new.”
In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, both The New York Times and The Brooklyn Eagle regularly published contentious stories about the containers, which then took the form of small galvanized pails. The articles cataloged the complaints of saloon keepers, who thought growlers cut into their profit, and those of temperance groups, who hoped to curb home drinking.
“Rushing the growler,” connoting children hustling pails of beer for adults from bar to table, was a common expression. The curious name is thought to be inspired by the rumbling noise escaping carbon dioxide made as the beer sloshed about in the pail.
In more modern times, growlers could be found at brew pubs like Heartland Brewery, which has served beer to go since opening in 1995. The jugs — which, according to the New York State Liquor Authority, have always been legal at both retail outlets and bars — have proliferated lately, said Heartland’s founder, Jon Bloostein, because there are more interesting beers to go in them.
“People’s palates have become more sophisticated,” Mr. Bloostein said. “Look at the number of beer bars in Manhattan, and especially Brooklyn. And the offerings at regular bars are leaning toward craft beers.”
The Whole Foods beer store on Houston Street began its program in 2007. The chain’s first to carry the vessels, it has done as much as any store to introduce New Yorkers to growler culture. The manager, Jeff Wallace, said he saw other reasons for the trend.
“It’s basically a really good way to promote recycling, because you bring back your jug,” Mr. Wallace said. “And it’s a cheap and affordable way to get fresh draft beer.” He said growlers made up half the beer store’s business. Whole Foods stores in TriBeCa and on the Upper West Side also offer beer for growlers.
That much-vaunted freshness, however, depends on how the bottle is filled.
“There’s always the possibility that someone may not fill the growler properly,” said Shane Welch, founder of Sixpoint Craft Ales brewery in Brooklyn, which sells its products in stores in growler form. Most stores and bars run the beer straight from the tap to the bottle. “If you don’t fill it to the top, if you don’t purge the air out of there, when you close the container it will be stale beer,” Mr. Welch said. “You probably have to drink it that night.”
Mr. Granger, who says growlers constitute a large percentage of his sales, has tried to avoid that possibility. He has a system in which bottles are filled under pressure through a plastic hose to keep out oxygen. Filled that way, he said, they could stay fresh for months unopened, and three to five days when opened.
“Ergo, no flat beer,” he said. “No oxygen in the bottle, no foaming beer, no waste."
No bar tab, either.
Brew by the Jug

Here are places in New York for growler lovers:
AMERICAN BEER DISTRIBUTING COMPANY 256 Court Street (Kane Street). Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, (718) 875-0226, americanbeerbuzz.com.
BIERKRAFT 191 Fifth Avenue (Berkeley Place), Park Slope, Brooklyn, (718) 230-7600, bierkraft.com.
BROOKLYN BEER & SODA 648 Washington Avenue (Dean Street), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, (718) 622-8800.
THE BRAZEN HEAD 228 Atlantic Avenue (Court Street), Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, (718) 488-0430, brazenheadbrooklyn.com.
THE GINGER MAN 11 East 36th Street, Midtown, (212) 532-3740, gingerman-ny.com.
RATTLE ‘N’ HUM 14 East 33rd Street, Midtown, (212) 481-1586, rattlenhumbarnyc.com.
WHOLE FOODS 95 East Houston Street (The Bowery), (212) 420-1320, wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/bowery/beerroom.php.

Itacha Le Bleu Tasting at Aroma Thyme

Saranac Irish Stout Blind Tasting

Avery Brewing will begin canning beers in May

By Jonathan Shikes in Booze NewsWed., Jan. 20 2010 @ 4:29PM

​Avery Brewing Company in Boulder plans to start canning four of its craft beers this spring, becoming the latest Colorado brewer to try aluminum on for size.

The company, which is still testing the new canning line, hopes to have its Ellie's Brown Ale, White Rascal, India Pale Ale and a fourth beer -- a new brew that Avery will reveal later this year -- in cans and on Colorado liquor store shelves by May 1. (The beers will still primarily be available in bottles.)

"I've wanted to be in cans for a few years," says Avery president Adam Avery. "I grew up drinking up canned beer. Beer was in a can. Bottles were high falutin'."

The problem was that Avery spent a lot of money on a new bottling line in 2006, so the company wanted to wait until it had enough space to invest in cans, he explains. Now that it does, Avery thinks the investment will pay off.

"We've been debating it for a while," says Avery marketing specialist C.V. Howe. "But when it came down to it, it was a lifestyle thing for the people who work at Avery and type of brewer we are."

Avery employees are typical Coloradans in that they like to go snowboarding, skiing, rafting, kayaking, hiking, trail-riding and camping. And cans are a lot easier to take with you when you live "that active lifestyle," Howe says. "So when it came down to it, we couldn't bring our beer where we wanted to drink it."

Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont was the first Colorado brewer to experiment with putting craft beers in cans when it rolled out Dale's Pale Ale in 2002 and proved that big, hoppy, malty flavors don't have to live by the bottle alone. Oskar Blues now sells five canned brews and will unveil its seventh, Gubna, in March.

In the meantime, more than half a dozen other brewers have followed suit, including New Belgium, Breckenridge, Ska, Wynkoop and Upslope (See our "A Crush on Cans," series from May 2009, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5).

Although the Boulder-based Brewers Association doesn't track canned microbrew sales, craft beer program director Julia Hertz says she thinks more than 30,000 barrels of craft beer are now canned per year. While that is less than 1 percent of the 8.6 million barrels of microbrews that are made annually, "it's really growing," she notes. "It seems like we hear monthly about a new craft brewer who is beginning to do it."

Adam Avery likes cans because they're cheaper to ship than bottles and involve less packaging. They also don't allow light to hit the beer and possibly change the taste. Eventually, he says, Avery might try to bottle some of its really big beers.

"How cool would it be to have a tallboy of Maharaja?" he asks, referring to Avery's massive 10.2 percent alcohol-by-volume cult favorite. "There's not too many big beers in a can yet. But that will change as the consumers become more comfortable with it."

Blind Tasting American Ales at Aroma Thyme Bistro, Ellenville NY

Blind Tasting 21st Admendment IPA

Blind Tasting Magic Hat #9 at Aroma Thyme Bistro

Blind Belgium Beer Tasting

Shmaltz Beer Dinner at Aroma Thyme Bistro January 22nd 2010

Aroma Thyme Bistro is proud to announce our January's fabulous beer dinner:

Shmaltz Beer Dinner

Friday January , 2009 7pm

$49 per person

845 647-3000 to rsvp

www.aromathymebistro.com

First Course

Winter Greek Salad

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Beets, Red Onion, Brussel Sprouts, Feta, Olives, Black Olive Oil & Dill

Coney Island Lager

Second Course

Seared Calamari

Calamari, Merguez Lamb Sausage and Apples

Messiah Bold

Third Course

Buffalo Style Crispy Turkey Wings Confit

With Spicy Cranberry Sauce

Bittersweet Lenny’s R.I.P.A.

Fourth Course

Local Stone Ridge Slow Braised Brisket

Slowly Braised Brisket with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Fennel

Human Blockhead

Dessert

Imperial Stout Poached Pear, Marscapone Cheese

Rejewvenator 2009

vegetarian & vegan always available, please let us know in advance.

Blind Tasting Brooklyn Local One Beer from Brooklyn Brewery

Oskar Blues Teb Fidy review at Aroma Thyme Bistro

We have Ithaca 12 coming on tap!!! stay tuned for more info

Ithaca 12 planned for December release

(Ithaca, NY) – Ithaca Beer Co. is wasting no time in following up on its successful release of Ithaca ELEVEN this past summer with another anniversary beer.

Brewmaster, Jeff O’Neil, says that the brewery is planning for Ithaca 12 Anniversary Ale to first appear on draft for the anniversary party on Friday, December 4th. 250-300 cases of bottle-conditioned 750’s should then be ready around Christmas. More batches will be made throughout 2010 with some hitting draft like with Ithaca TEN. A small run of Ithaca LeBleu Blueberry Sour Ale should be ready to go by Chrismas as well though O’Neil notes that it will mostly be available only in the brewery store.

The label describes the beer as a “Monastery-style Quadrupel reverently brewed with French malts and German hops then piously fermented with a special blend of Trappist yeast strains. Enjoy the burnished chestnut color, remarkable balance of fruity and spicy aromas, rich but dry flavor and long contemplative finish.”

The Excelsior! Series beers have earned straight A’s on Beer Advocate thus far so this is one for which to be on the lookout.

Blind Tasting Becks at Aroma Thyme Bistro

The Bruery 2 Turtle Doves Cask at Aroma Thyme Bistro, Friday January 8th 2010

2 Turtle Doves is the second in the 12 Days/Years of Christmas Services. We decided to take our inspiration from the name and base the beer on the "turtle" candy, brewing it with cocoa nibs, toasted pecans, caramelized sugar and a lot of caramel malts. Somewhere between a Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale and an Imperial Porter, this beer is designed to take the journey through time until 12 Drummers Drumming.

ABV: 12%, IBU: 25, SRM: 30, Release: Winter 2009/2010

Join us Friday January 8th 2010 for our first Cask Beer Night of the year. The cask will be tapped at 3pm. Our Cask Nights in 2009 were a huge success.

What is Cask Beer?

CASK-CONDITIONED BEER ('REAL ALE') IN THE U.S.A.
What exactly is real ale?
Cask-conditioned beer, often referred to as 'real ale', is brewed from only traditional ingredients and allowed to mature naturally.

The unfiltered, unpasteurized beer still contains live yeast, which continues conditioning the beer in the cask (known as 'secondary fermentation'); this process creates a gentle, natural CO2 carbonation and allows malt and hop flavors to develop, resulting in a richer tasting drink with more character than standard keg ('brewery-conditioned') beers.

Real ale is always served without any extraneous gas, usually by manually pulling it up from the cellar with a handpump (also known as a 'beer engine'). This is the traditional way of brewing and serving beer; only a few decades ago did filtered, pasteurized, chilled beer served by gas become normal.

The only place in the world where cask-conditioned beer is still commonly available is Britain.
Is there much difference to keg beer?
Keg beers are generally sterile filtered and pasteurized as part of the brewing process. This kills the yeast, preventing any further conditioning, and the beer is then racked into sealed, gas-pressurized kegs. Such beers generally taste blander than their cask-conditioned counterparts, and the use of flash-chillers or cold rooms (*very* cold!) is standard as part of the serving process. That said, some microbrewers rack cask beer into kegs - though these are usually served with extraneous gas.

In many common brands of keg beer, cheap ingredients ('adjuncts') such as rice or maize are mixed with the malt to cut costs, but resulting in a 'light' beer with hardly any aroma or flavor. Chilling and the absorption of extraneous gas jointly mask the lack of flavor - with carbon dioxide you get an unnaturally fizzy pint; with nitrogen (or mixed gas with a larger nitrogen ratio) you get a pint with an unnaturally smooth and creamy head - either way these beers are always refreshing but usually taste of very little. Micro-breweries generally avoid the use of cheap adjuncts, so their keg products usually taste far superior to the nationally available brands. Also, all beers imported from Germany are required by that country's laws to be free of non-traditional ingredients.

I'm not criticizing all keg beers, simply outlining the often little-known qualities of real ale by comparison. There are many really tasty ales which are 'keg' (but plenty more which aren't tasty!), though well-kept cask versions of the same brands would undoubtedly be found to be even more flavorsome if compared side-by-side.
But keg beer is 'normal' -
what's it got that real ale hasn't?
Keg beers have a much longer shelf life, especially when compared to a partially full cask. Real ales have to be manually vented and tapped, and left to settle (or the customer gets a cloudy pint due to the presence of yeast and protein - though harmless if drunk like this). Also, real ale will start to taste of vinegar (known as 'oxidising') if left in a part-full cask for too long. This is caused by acetic acid forming from a reaction with oxygen in the atmosphere.