On Tuesday morning we packed up the car and headed out towards Tel Aviv, after a short search for a brewery in Kiryat Gat (we had a name but no address), we continued to Petach Tikva, where I took the guys to a place called JEMS. About a month ago I went to this brew pub with my oldest after a short visit to the Children's Hospital also located in Petach Tikva. So Yoni, Richard and I had a very nice lunch there. I also left a bottle of my beer for their brew master Jeremy (originally from DC) who was busy at the exhibition center setting up their brewery's station at the fair. Lunch was great and they even gave us a small sample of a special edition brew that I tasted while it was still in the fermenter (if that is a word at all) on my previous visit. JEMS makes their own hot dogs too, which were an excellent side car to the ales.
We then drove to downtown Tel Aviv were we stashed our stuff with Yoni's in-laws. The "in-laws" own an apartment in Tel Aviv and visit it for a few months of out of the year and as they had just arrived the day before we really lucked out. Almost as important, they managed to secure us a parking space so that we could proceed the rest of the night using public transportation. So to start things off right in Tel Aviv, Richard took us to a pub called the Brew House in a very nice section along Rothschild. The Rothschild boulevard has been beautified over the last 10 years or so with many pretty little parks, biking paths and even WIFI spots. Yoni's in-laws live near the start of the road, near the HaBima Center for performing arts (I remember they were showing Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf when I visited in 76). The Brew House was set up very nicely, They offered three of their own beers, but they no longer brew in Tel Aviv. They moved the brewing to Ashdod. The pub is decorated with very attractive copper plated brew kettles and fermenters, but no working equipment. The beer was respectable but I wouldn't go out of my way to go back.
We then moved on to the exhibition. After a short bus ride to south Tel Aviv we entered the Nokia Colosseum which is the home to Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball. I had signed the three of us up as "professionals" in the field and upon registration we received free entrance and a tasting glass (gratis). So if you can imagine a large basketball stadium like the Cap center or something like that, all around the stadium on one level, were booths...over a hundred different stations, almost all of the either importers or brewers with a smattering of food stops, and assorted "knik knacks".
What was most surprising were the number of Israeli brewers, quite a few that none of us had heard of them, and we had done some research before we planned the trip. One of the most interesting for me were two brothers that brew in their parents attic and make very nontraditional beers, including one that uses sage instead of the traditional hops. They had seven different beers (wow) and they aren't even selling! The number of places that exhibited their wares but were not (yet) commercial, really surprised me. For them it was like a county fair in that sense. So again imagine 100 places to try beer and each one with several types of beer to try. It took us over three hours to get around the building and we didn't even eat there.
One of the more outstanding beers there was from a Jerusalem based brewery called, Shapiro. Tgratushey are well established and offer a solid variety of beers, but at the exhibition they had a special winter edition of beer called, Jack's Winter Ale...where the beer is soaked in barrels with oak chips that have been flavored with Jack Daniels Whiskey. When I read about it I thought it was a gimmick, but the flavor was outstanding. This process doesn't raise the alcohol content seriously, but imparts a very complementary smoky peaty taste that whiskey-beer lovers will enjoy.
I did get to see Jeremy from JEMS and thank him in person for our previous tour and we chatted and drank with people we met there including another ex-pat who blogs (in English) about Israeli Beer, and another ex-pat who is the brew master at the Dancing Camel brew pub in Tel Aviv.
The other brew worth mentioning was one called Keller. It was brewed by several crafts people especially for the exhibition and to raise awareness (and funds) for people who are blind-deaf and deaf. A ten shekel contribution gave you a taste of beer served by deaf attendants who communicated in sign language and special bottles of the beer were to be auctioned off to different breweries/pubs for additional revenue. What a great idea!
So what do you do after a night of drinking beer? You go out and drink some more. We hopped (all puns intended) over to the dancing camel to see their brewery and enjoy the ambiance of a Tel Aviv pub, with jazz quartet playing at the entrance. The food wasn't kosher so I just munched on corn chips but the other guys had sandwiches and we tasted the local ale too. Excellent selection of beers and good service. Not at all rowdy (at least not that night) and rather spartan in decor, since the seating area is also the brewery. I liked that a lot. Oh how Bohemian of me. I imagine they can also use it for big dance parties too.
We walked home from there and got to see the Habima area lit up at night. Worth the trip if you are staying in the Tel Aviv area.
We took our time getting up in the morning and relating the previous nights events to our hosts. Interestingly enough Yoni's in-laws had attended an evening dinner-performance called "Not by Bread Alone" which is produced and acted by members of the deaf community. The experience sounds fascinating and I shared with them our experience at the exhibition in Holon several years ago at the "Dialog in the Dark" which focuses on living as a blind person.
Yoni was keen on showing us a local bakery so off to breakfast we went. We enjoyed some sun as we walked through the new gardens at the cultural center and then on to Hashmonaim two doors down from the original Cafe Joe to a bakery called Lechamim (Breads). Wow and Yum. We had a mini quiche, croissant, bear claw, and even tasted their cheese sticks. I really loved the bear claw which was light and fluffy and very tasty.
Interestingly enough we passed a rather expansive wine store (Derech Hayayin, Wine Route) which also had a large selection of beer. The store attendant, who had been at the show last night) poured off several kinds of beer for us and we were soon tasting and chatting about what else, beer and spirits.
As we walked back to pack the car, the weather turned slightly cold and a light rain started. We thanked our hosts for their hospitality and drove to South Tel-Aviv-Jaffa to a home brewing supply store. We had a short wish list which we did our best to complete and then back to the car heading north for our final brew stop.
We drove up to a place, not far from Givat Chaim, just south of Hadera, called Alexander. The brewery is named for the Alexander stream which flows south of their position and the symbol for the brewery is a turtle. The turtles of Nachal Alexander were almost all killed off by pollution but thanks to efforts by environmentalists, the turtles have been replenished and the stream cleaned up.
The brewery in its current form is rather new, only one year old. They brew and distribute themselves and they brew about 8,000 liters a month, which is a lot for a micro-brewery in Israel. The place is state-of-the-art and we got a lovely tour while the skies above us fell in great lashes of rain. A perfect place to stop and taste and talk. We were the only visitors and we got the royal treatment. The woman who gave us the tour took us around each part of the small facility and let us ask our crazy questions. The few questions she didn't know the answer to were answered by a the brewer who was working there.
At the end she opened a few bottles for us to taste and we gave their Green, IPA style beer very high marks. The Green had won the best in show last year and it was deserving. They had an excellent Porter which is brewed with oats and we made a few purchases for us and for some people on the kibbutz that asked us to pick up some bottles along the way. I even got a free glass out of it because I am a pushy Israeli.
I ran out to our car and gave them a few bottles of our own brew to try and then it was time to turn South (no puns intended) and head home. We made a direct trip home except to stop of Varda's for lunch. Sharon and I took Alan and the kids to eat there..it is sort of a truck stop, diner kind of place but with home cooking where they accost you as you enter with a spicy beef stock soup and you don't leave until you are warm and well fed.
We were home in time to rejoin our families at dinner and to share stories. So now its time to plan the next trip! I would like to get up north if possible and see the breweries on the Golan and upper Galilee, but that can wait a year or two.
Shabbat Shalom
We walked home from there and got to see the Habima area lit up at night. Worth the trip if you are staying in the Tel Aviv area.
We took our time getting up in the morning and relating the previous nights events to our hosts. Interestingly enough Yoni's in-laws had attended an evening dinner-performance called "Not by Bread Alone" which is produced and acted by members of the deaf community. The experience sounds fascinating and I shared with them our experience at the exhibition in Holon several years ago at the "Dialog in the Dark" which focuses on living as a blind person.
Yoni was keen on showing us a local bakery so off to breakfast we went. We enjoyed some sun as we walked through the new gardens at the cultural center and then on to Hashmonaim two doors down from the original Cafe Joe to a bakery called Lechamim (Breads). Wow and Yum. We had a mini quiche, croissant, bear claw, and even tasted their cheese sticks. I really loved the bear claw which was light and fluffy and very tasty.
Interestingly enough we passed a rather expansive wine store (Derech Hayayin, Wine Route) which also had a large selection of beer. The store attendant, who had been at the show last night) poured off several kinds of beer for us and we were soon tasting and chatting about what else, beer and spirits.
As we walked back to pack the car, the weather turned slightly cold and a light rain started. We thanked our hosts for their hospitality and drove to South Tel-Aviv-Jaffa to a home brewing supply store. We had a short wish list which we did our best to complete and then back to the car heading north for our final brew stop.
We drove up to a place, not far from Givat Chaim, just south of Hadera, called Alexander. The brewery is named for the Alexander stream which flows south of their position and the symbol for the brewery is a turtle. The turtles of Nachal Alexander were almost all killed off by pollution but thanks to efforts by environmentalists, the turtles have been replenished and the stream cleaned up.
The brewery in its current form is rather new, only one year old. They brew and distribute themselves and they brew about 8,000 liters a month, which is a lot for a micro-brewery in Israel. The place is state-of-the-art and we got a lovely tour while the skies above us fell in great lashes of rain. A perfect place to stop and taste and talk. We were the only visitors and we got the royal treatment. The woman who gave us the tour took us around each part of the small facility and let us ask our crazy questions. The few questions she didn't know the answer to were answered by a the brewer who was working there.
At the end she opened a few bottles for us to taste and we gave their Green, IPA style beer very high marks. The Green had won the best in show last year and it was deserving. They had an excellent Porter which is brewed with oats and we made a few purchases for us and for some people on the kibbutz that asked us to pick up some bottles along the way. I even got a free glass out of it because I am a pushy Israeli.
I ran out to our car and gave them a few bottles of our own brew to try and then it was time to turn South (no puns intended) and head home. We made a direct trip home except to stop of Varda's for lunch. Sharon and I took Alan and the kids to eat there..it is sort of a truck stop, diner kind of place but with home cooking where they accost you as you enter with a spicy beef stock soup and you don't leave until you are warm and well fed.
We were home in time to rejoin our families at dinner and to share stories. So now its time to plan the next trip! I would like to get up north if possible and see the breweries on the Golan and upper Galilee, but that can wait a year or two.
Shabbat Shalom
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