Earth Bread + Brewery visits Brooklyn

Tom Baker and Peggy Zwerver, owners of Earth Bread + Brewery, brought six of their beers to Spuyten Duyvil Monday evening. I’ve been able to visit the brewpub in Mt Airy twice since it opened last October and have enjoyed Tom’s beers both times. I began with two half pours – the Terre Fume and the brand new Oyster Pale Ale. I’ve had the Terre Fume before and it didn’t disappoint this time – satisfyingly smoky yet light enough to be refreshing. Tom used a 50% wheat/50% smoked malt grain bill for this 4.5% ABV ale. This beer was inspired by a Grätzer, an old northern German/Polish top-fermented wheat ale which you can read more about here.  This is the third smoked wheat beer I’ve had and a style I’d like to see more often, especially for the summer months.  I was very glad to have ordered the Oyster Pale Ale early as the keg kicked less than two hours into the evening.  40 pounds of oyster shells from Blind Tiger’s Pacific NW fest were cleaned, bagged and boiled for two hours to produce this nicely drinkable IPA.  English hops and American ale yeast give this beer a clear refreshing hoppiness.  My last Earth beer was the Alehoof Gruit, a more subtle gruit than others I’ve had with the herbs melding nicely to create a delicious beer.  Tom used a Belgian yeast along with six herbs – ground ivy, juniper, Queen Anne’s lace, sweet myrtle, yarrow and mugwort.  This is another style I’d like to see more often.  Tom mentioned that Earth is going to be making their own soda, dedicating one of their taps to carbonated water then mixing in house-made syrups the old-school way.  Sounds like a fine excuse for another visit to Earth in the near future.  I tasted the Non-Profit Porter and the Barely Wine, but the Terra Fume and Alehoof were the standouts of the evening for me.  It was a privilege to chat with Tom and drink his fine beers in my borough.