Goodbye boring pub grub. As the role of the brewery has evolved over the last decade, so has the relationship between the beer being brewed and the food being served.
Tria’s Taproom Wings are cured overnight in garlic powder, dried sage, cumin and salt, then preserved in oil for a second night before being fried to order. Finally, buffalo hot sauce is swapped for a green chile sauce made from tomatillos, jalapeño, Spanish onion, garlic, cumin, coriander and parsley.
Jeff O’Neil and the Berardi family are transforming a four-story stone building into an artisan brewer’s dream-workshop, complete with a gravity-fed system, a “gnarly” cellar, a “spider-filled, Old-World approach to barrel aging” and—wait for it—maybe even a coolship.
Allagash’s Rob Tod recalls visiting spontaneous Belgian breweries with a group of American brewers, and wondering whether their techniques could be imported to the US.
A decade ago, Jeff O’Neil was drinking Racer 5, growing hops in his backyard and sending résumés to every brewery in the Bay Area. Now he’s brewing West Coast-leaning ales out east, at the ever-expanding Ithaca Beer Company.
