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June 19th, 2008
Once again, it has been a while
since I have posted. The last couple weeks of May got a little rough
for me personally. My grandmother, Anne DiNicola-Pops died suddenly
from cancer. She was 89 years old and a great women. She wasn't much
of a beer drinker, but she sure did like her Scotch. I will miss her
greatly. This blog is dedicated in her memory. I
appreciate the comments that have been posted. You all will be glad
to know that I brewed Blueberry Wheat last week It should be ready in
another 5-7 days. I am currently working on a Barley Wine as well. It
hasn't been made yet, but I am trying to fit it into the schedule
soon. We have however, just released our Instigator Doppelbock. A
German style, strong dark lager. It was made with all munich malt, and
dark german specialty malts. We fermented it with a German lager
yeast, and it took about 12 weeks to complete. Dark and rich, it
weighs in at 8% ABV. We also had our first beer
dinner recently. It was a four course dinner, each course paired a
high--end whiskey with one of our beers. Chef Jeff Lewis then created
a food pairing as well. It sold out in a matter of days, and the
response was very positive. We are already talking about doing another
one, this time pairing NYS wines with our beers and food. Last
weekend we attended the Sacketts Harbor Beer and Wine Festival. What a
great event. It was well attended and the weather could not have been
nicer. They did a peoples choice competition where the attendees of
the fest voted for their favorite beer and brewery. Empire Aphrodisiac
was voted first place, Empire Apple Ale was voted second place, and
Empire IPA was voted third. We were also voted best brewery. Wow.
That was a great feeling. Its nice to know people appreciate all our
hard work. Cheers, Tim Butler Director of Brewing Operations Empire Brewing Co. 120 Walton St. Syracuse NY 13202 315.475.BEER,
Posted by: tim
May 9th, 2008
Hello all. Thanks to all of you who have commented on my blog. I will continue to post, and hopefully start to post more often. To answer the question about the Skinny Atlas Light, it is neither a cream ale or a pilsner. It falls into the German Kolsch category.
The Last couple of weeks, I have put up a few new beers. Aphrodisiac Ale, Saison, and Critz's Apple Ale.
Aphrodisiac is a great and unusual beer. It is brewed with fresh ginger, local organic honey, and lavender tips. All flavors come through nicely, and are quite balanced with each other. Take a growler home and share it with your significant other, you will see where the name came from!
Empire Saison is a Belgian style. Saison means season, and this beer was traditionally brewed in the winter and drank during the summer months. Saisons are also the most hoppy of the belgian styles. This one sticks to that tradition. Spicy and dry, this is an excellent summer belgian style.
Critzis Apple Ale is our fruit beer offering right now. An American wheat beer with apple cider added post fermentation for flavor. The cider came from Critz Farm in Cazenovia, as did our pumpkins this past fall for our pumpkin ale. The name shows our appreciation for the local support.
Something kind of weird happened to me last night. A guy walked in, ordered a sampler of our beers, and asked to speak to me. I came out and introduced myself to him. He stopped me, held up his hand and said, "I know who you are, you are a legend in this area and I need to speak with you for a while." "A legend?" I replied. "Wow, no one has ever referred to me as a legend. I'm kind of shocked, and a little embarrassed." "Lets put it this way, I have just moved here from Vermont and have taken the brewing position at King Arthurs Steakhouse in Oswego. I have never brewed professionally before, and I must have heard your name 100 times in the four days I have been here. Everyone said I have to talk to you. So here I am." He said. How could I argue with that? I pulled up a bar stool, ordered a pint of IPA and chatted with him for over an hour. His name is Adam Read. A very passionate guy with a brewing degree and his first brewing job. I gave him my info and told him to call me anytime he needed help. That is what this industry is all about. Brewers helping other brewers.
I make beer, I make people happy, I am legend, I am a survivor living in New York City, no wait, that is Will Smith. I just saw that movie and I think I just got a little carried away!
Cheers!
Tim Butler
Director of Brewing Operations
Empire Brewing Co.
120 Walton St.
Syracuse NY 13202
315.475.BEER
Posted by: tim
March 14th, 2008
This is my first sentence of my first blog. Wow, now that that's out of the way, I think I should do OK. My name is Tim Butler, and I am the Director of Brewing Operations at Empire Brewing Company. That means I am responsible for running and maintaining the brewhouse, recipe formulation, and the actual brewing and packaging of all Empire beer. Its is a great and challenging position. Never boring, always fun, and sometimes a little stressful.
Empire reopened in June of 2007. I was here at the beginning in February of 2007 when the old Empire sat cold and alone. We walked in, and realized we had alot of work to do. All of the original brewing equipment remained, and needed alot of love and attention. The restaurant itself was in pretty rough shape too. The kitchen had to be completely gutted and all equipment needed to be replaced. We spent alot of time and money making the place look exactly as it had the day it closed, and that wasn't easy. It still bothers me sometimes when I hear people at the bar say, "All they really did was turn the lights on and start going again." If they only new.
Bringing the brewery back to life was a challenge. I had to tear it completely apart, replace all the seals, other soft parts, and rebuild it. That familiarized me with this system very quickly. All tanks needed to be cleaned and repaired and our draft system and all draft lines were replaced with new equipment. Of course, there was the copper. The copper clad brewhouse is really the aesthetic highlight of the brewery. When cleaned and polished it shines brilliantly. At night when just the spotlights are on it, it seems to glow. After three and a half years of no attention there was so much tarnish on them they looked dull and green. It took three whole days of sweat, elbow grease, and alot of copper polish to bring them back to their original luster. To this day we polish the copper two times a week. What fun.
Since that first brew at Empire in May of 2007, I have managed to keep 8-9 house beers on tap at all times, and have brewed 20 different styles. I will keep posting on this blog throughout the season, keeping you up to date with new beers, festivals, and any funny brewhouse stories that may come up. You can find me at Empire most days, either working in the brewery or enjoying a pint at the bar after my shift. I love to talk about beer and brewing with everyone so feel free to approach me with questions or comments. I look forward to posting in the future.
Cheers, Tim Butler Director of Brewing Operations Empire Brewing Co. 120 Walton St. Syracuse NY 13202 315.475.BEER
Posted by: tim
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