Member Highlight: Jeremy Berger
Brewmie: Jeremy Berger
Hometown/State: Utica, NY
Favorite Beer to Drink: Utica Club. No, seriously. I mean, it’s terrible. God-awful, really. Pretty sure it’s the trub that’s left over once FX Matts is done brewing Saranac or Brooklyn Lager or whatever. But Utica Club is not only 1: Nostalgic in the way that only the beer that you drank as a minor can be, and 2: The first beer I talked to other people about, because no one outside of Upstate New York knew what the hell it was. Now you do. You’re welcome.
Years Brewing: 4? 5?
Type of Brewer: All-over. Mainly all-grain, but I like to try new things.
Brewing Volume Capacity: 5.5 gallons
Currently Fermenting: Butternut Brown
What’s on tap or in the fridge: One of Xavi’s damn experiments. Tastes like Bacon. I’m going to add tomato juice and call it a Bloody Mark or something.
Where can we follow you:
What do you do when you’re not brewing? I’m a filmmaker, and I work as an editor for NBC. I’m the show editor for ‘Open House’ and ‘Open House NYC’, as well as a story editor for ‘Talk Stoop’, and some other stuff. I am also a freelance astronaut.
How did you start brewing? My father actually used to brew. I always assumed it took a lot of space and time. Then I saw a friend doing it in his kitchen, and jumped right in. Turned out all the space was for his wine. And ritual sacrifice.
Where do you want to go with your brewing? Space. See ‘freelance astronaut’
What recipe would you like to share?
Jesus, I don’t know. Did an open fermentation Hefe once that got weird...
GRAIN:
1.5 lbs White Wheat
1 lbs. Munich Malt
4.57 lbs. Bavarian Wheat DME
HOPS:
.5 oz. Palisade
YEAST:
Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephaner
OG: 1.043
FG: 1.008
Crack the top off of your fermentation bucket (and if it is open fermentation, YOU ARE GOING TO WANT TO USE A BUCKET TRUST ME), and leave it slightly ajar in as dust-free a zone as you can. Also, beware: That yeast is going to go crazy with all that O2 around. It’s going to push the lid off. You are going to have to scrape the kreusen off daily. It is going to say things to you. Horrible things. Things that just CAN’T be true. Don’t listen. You’re also, since using a bucket, going to want to rouse your beer gently every day. Fermentation will rocket through in this scenario. Be not afraid. Don’t listen to the yeast.