Highlights

I just wanted to give everyone a few highlighted updates about Plan Bee Farm Brewery -

• As many of you know we have our federal license from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau + our NYS Farm Brewery license from the State Liquor Authority
• We are all set up with our Certificate of Authority from the Dept. of Taxation and Finance so that we have the authority to sell you all our creations 
• We have started production and have brewed up some tantalizing beers just in time for the holidays
• "Tiny Acorn" - An acorn squash ale with 100% NYS malt from Farmhouse Maltery, and Plan Bee Farm Brewery's very own hops, lemongrass & coriander. And like our name, this tasty treat was bottle carbonated with our very own PBFB honey. 
• "Tachiniki" - The name for this brew comes from the history of our surrounding land. Tachiniki was the name of a young woman from the Wappinger Tribe who was shot by a dutch settler in 1650 for picking a peach from his orchard. This action enacted THE PEACH TREE WAR throughout the entire Hudson Valley. This unique beer has NY malt, NY hops and NY yeast. We cultured the yeast from our very own peach tree on the farm. Fresh, this beer will taste spicy and fruity but this might be a brew to let age to discover its funkier flavors. 
• "Chocolate Rye" - This was a divine dream made possible by Tuthilltown Spirits, our local farm distillery. We put PBFB farm-fresh NY chocolate rye ale into a Tuthilltown rye whiskey barrel and let age. Can someone say, "Mommy needs her mommy-juice"? This is delicious and quite the winter-warmer. 
• "Santa's Big Helper" - Naughty or nice, this is a kick in the pants from the Big Man. A belgian tripel that was aged in Tuthilltown's bourbon barrel is full flavored. A sweet and boozy treat, this beer is in very limited supply. A good one to share with others around a fire. 
• The Plan Bee Farm Brewery official website is under construction and I am using this blog as a place holder right now. Hopefully before 2014 is here, I will have a shiny new website for you to land on with a ton more information. The NY local web builder and gifted artist Rachel Kwapien is preparing something just beautiful and I can't wait to share with you her craft!
• We are working diligently to get all our paperwork in order to bring our product into the community of Beacon, NY at their local indoor winter farmer's market. We are shooting for Sunday, December 15th from 11AM to 3PM. More to come soon! 
• Also in the works, we are building a farm stand at 14 Clove Road. As part of the farm brewery license, we are permitted to sell beer on the side of the road just like any farm stead that might be selling corn or eggs. We are working up the blueprints for our own little stand right on the premise. There will be more information and pictures to come! 
• We are working with Sloop Brewery at the moment to do a cask event. I don't have the details locked down yet but as soon as it is all squared away I will be sure to send out that information.

We have been keeping up with our Plan Bee Farm Brewery Facebook page so if you want to receive more frequent updates, you should 'like' our page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Plan-Bee-Farm-Brewery/441721552570629 

Autumn is upon us

Autumn is here! The leaves in the Hudson Valley are brilliant colors of red, purple, yellow and green. Since we moved to the farm in January of this year, this is our first fall experiencing all the colors. It truly is breathe taking!

The chickens have started to lay their eggs which has been very exciting for us. Each morning we open up their hen house to find little white and brown treasures. We are getting between 2-3 eggs a day so far which tells me only two of the hens are probably laying at this time. The eggs are perfect in shape but a bit small. Their yokes are bright orange-yellow and the texture is fluffy no matter how they are cooked. Eating a farm fresh egg in the morning as the leaves glide down from above gives me the sense there is magic in the air. 

The brewery is moving full speed ahead. We received our federal license this summer and we just heard informally that we were approved for our NYS Farm Brewery license as well! We are just waiting for the formal letter in the mail. This means we will be selling Plan Bee Farm Brewery ground to glass beers in the year 2013! Evan and I got out the credit card and started buying NY made 22 oz. bottles, recycled labels, and so more brewing equipment. We want to have holiday bottles ready for purchase in a few weeks. Brews in the works right now are a chocolate rye that is aging in Tuthilltown rye whiskey barrels, Santa's Big Helper which is a high alcohol holiday brew, our peach tree fruit beer, and we just roasted acorn squash from local J & A Farms last night which will go into a squash beer with fresh curry herb from our farm. Get ready!!!

Coming up in November, we will be formally developing our website with more information about our beers and where you can find them. We are also working out the details for a farm support program which would include our fresh brews delivered directly to your doorstep for a monthly membership. More information and ways to get involved in the next few weeks! 

Corn Bread

Thank you to all that attended our Hop Harvest Festival & Luau! It was a wonderful event filled with amazing people! Because so many asked about my corn bread recipe, I thought I would post it here for you all to enjoy!

Golden Sweet Cornbread
Serves 12
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 vegetable oil (use more oil if you want it less crumbly)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat over to 400 degrees, combine dry ingredients, gradualy add wet ingredients. Spray pan lightly with oil/grease/butter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out dry. Voila!

Playing catch up

I have been neglecting this blog but not because I don't want to share. After spring had sprung, there has been so much to do! I will try to fill in the gap and not leave anything out. You see, I have this notepad that I use to track all the things I need to do. It subsequently also keeps track of all I have done so I will use it as my guide for this entry. I have broken down my list for Plan Bee Farm Brewery into 4 major categories; planting, building, brewing and paperwork.

Planting: What's in the ground?
This list is done for the season, so in my notepad everything is crossed off. Evan and I planted starter plants that we purchased from local greenhouses, plants that were donated to us, and seeds which have grown into nice plants. Most of these plants are all in our raised beds that we made earlier this season from recycled wood that was on the property.

To give you an idea of what we are using to brew beer with, in our garden we have pineapple sage, dill, cilantro, orange mint, chocolate mint, chamomile, lavender, rosemary, lime basil, thai basil, sweet basil, purple basil, lemongrass, strawberries, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, and a myriad of peppers. Our gourmet lettuce was eaten by some small creature last week (I suspect the little white bunny). Our 100 hop rhizomes are doing well. We did lose a few of them during the heat wave but all in all, they are producing beautiful hop combs. We also have a separate plot of land that is housing our two-row barley, wheat and rye. I probably forgot to mention a few items in the garden but there is just so much to keep track of!

I should also mention that we have bees on the property now. Matt from Bee Archetype put their bee boxes up last month and has been caring for them. Once the bees arrived they helped everything in the garden grow quickly. It has been a joy to watch this symbiotic relationship flower over the summer. I was worried about being stung or having our guests swarmed by the bees when they visit but the bees are very satisfied. They keep to themselves and allow us to get close to their home without really noticing us. As I am lying in the sun watching them, I feel satisfied by their productivity as if they are my worker bees and I am their queen.

Building: Making it happen
Evan built 7 raised beds for our fenced in garden which hold all our plants. Just last month, Evan and I finished our project of turning an old doghouse that was on the property into a chicken coop for our 6 hens. The ladies, as I call them, moved outside from the box in our sun room to their new backyard home. They seem to be happy if chickens can feel happiness. They dart around their chicken run and I feed them leftovers from the fridge. In a few months they will be laying eggs. We read somewhere that each hen can lay 1-3 eggs a day. This means we could have 46-126 eggs a week!!

Our building list has several projects on it that are not scratched off yet. These projects include making a sign for the farm to put out front. I am hoping to weed and landscape the small stretch next to the driveway to look inviting. If we get around to it, I would also like to make a small hemlock fence from recycled wood to fence off the front. Evan and I are also hoping to turn the sun room into a retail space once we receive our licenses to sell beer. I am thinking some sliding door coolers for bottles and decor made up of recycled palettes, burlap curtains, mason jars for samples and photos of the farm. We recently purchased a dehydrator to preserve the herbs, fruits and hops that we harvest but we have discussed also building a small oast.

Brewing: The man can brew
Evan has been busy brewing to get in practice with our brew system he has built and to try out different recipes. He has built everything from scratch including the recipes. Last month, we were in the right place at the right time and came into a kegerator that a boat club was throwing away. There isn't anything really wrong with it besides being loud and the doors leak a bit of condensation. This has allotted us the experience of having Plan Bee Farm Brewery beer on tap in our house along with beers from Peekskill Brewery, Captain Lawrence and Sloop.

**I have asked Evan to follow up from this blog post with a posting of his own to discuss all that he has been brewing . . .

Paperwork: Save the trees!
We finished our application on 6/4/13 for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (federal) and were told it can take up to 80 days to hear a response. Once we are approved, we can then move on to filling out the Farm Brewery license for the state license. I have been taking an accounting course this summer through SUNY Empire so I have been learning how to do our bookkeeping properly for the business. I have our general ledger in order along with our balance sheets. Unfortunately this course hasn't taught me how to file my own taxes so I am going to need a tax professional for our quarterly filing once we are approved to sell product.

Evan and I are having the Hop Harvest Festival in September in the style of a 1950's luau. The event will feature the crowning of the Hop Queen along with minor physical labor - the harvesting of the hops. Evan wants to roast a pig in the traditional Hawaiian style which entails digging a pit in the ground and covering the pig in banana leaves. The details of this event are on our facebook page.

We also will have another Clove Road Classic in late October. Our hopes are to have a spring and fall tournament each year. We had the first ever Clove Road Classic on 6/2/13 which was a wiffle ball tournament. Eight teams battled for the chance at the PBFB homemade trophy and their name engraved on our house plaque. After almost 8 hours, the winners came out "Tony Danza's Hit Parade". The tournament in the Fall will be a corn hole tournament so start practicing now!

Time has flown by since March! I am looking forward to the Fall when things outdoors will need less tending and the heat will die down. The list of things 'to do' will continue to grow but this does not cause me stress, it excites me with possibilities!

Spring has sprung

March has been a busy month for us here at the Plan Bee Farm Brewery. We have been working outside through the warm sunny days and the many Nor Easters. Even though the calendar is telling us Spring is here, the winter chill has not lifted from Fiskhill, NY.

On the farm this month, we built 5 raised beds from recycled lumber, we have cleared brush and briars from a 20' x 10' spot behind the house and we have begun weeding and raking up the flower bed. There have been morning chats about a fire pit, hammocks, bee hives and a chicken coop. The evening temperatures are still landing somewhere in the 20's so we will have to wait for the soil to thaw before we can start working the dirt. 

On the business side, we have registered Plan Bee Farm Brewery as a LLC and our EIN from the IRS is on it's way. Next steps will be to get our license through the New York State Liquor Authority before filling out the application to become one of the very first New York State Farm Breweries. Thank you Governor Andrew Cuomo for the legislation to make this whole venture a little easier. For the full farm brewery bill, click here.

We have a Facebook page now as well, check it out here. I just posted over 50 new photos of becoming Plan Bee Farm Brewery. 

Moving to the Farm

On January 26th, Evan and I moved from our apartment in Dobbs Ferry, NY to a house on a small vegetable farm in Fishkill, NY. The previous tenants didn't farm the 1/4 acre so there is a lot of work to be done to get it back in working order.

The house is a 3 bedroom, 2 full bath with a large kitchen, wood burning stove, master bedroom with walk-in closet, and the cherry on top is the full length of the house sunroom. One of my favorite areas to enjoy a book while listening to a vinyl record is the couch next to a fire, under the sky light where I can see clouds floating by.

In addition to the house, the property has a small enclosed, heated building that Evan is using as the brewery. It was once used by the owner for her own small business so it has a sink, plenty of shelving, electricity, and a large window looking over the farm. The fire wood is housed under an overhang attached to the 'brewery' which we will have to replenish as things start to warm up outside.

The sunroom on moving day

The brewery during the blizzard

The landlord did tell us the property has two peach trees, an apple tree, wild grapes, blackberries and mint which consistently produces even when neglected. The land is over grown with tall grasses, there is a pile of building materials in the back, small toys and bird houses scattered around the lawn and the back of the property feeds into 5,000 acres of public, preserved lands. Did I mention we have some work yet to do?

Our goal for the hen house

There is much on the calendar for 2013 but just looking at March, we have 3 main objectives:

1. To build all our 10' x 4' raised beds for our brewer's garden which will have many aromatic herbs, fruits and vegetables 
2. Convert an old dog house into a chicken coop (yes, we will have some laying hens!)
3. Complete our paperwork for becoming an LLC with an operating Farm Brewery License

Looking ahead, we have 100 hop rhizomes on their way, we have to purchase the seeds/started plants for the farm, we need our 3 chicks, and Evan needs to convert the equipment he purchased for brewing into working order. Spring is on our doorstep, we need to be ready to greet her so she can share her magic with us and help turn this soil into deliciously fresh, from-the-earth beer! 

Phase one: In search of dreams

I am at the mercy of Mother Nature and I feel fine. Well, I'm getting use to it I guess. We live in a rapidly cycling planet that is heating up. Experiencing the wrath of super storm Sandy followed by a Nor-Easter has been a reality shattering whirlwind. The convenience of power, the need of gasoline, these storms have exposed the thin margin between an effective society and chaos. Abbey and I are observing the snow mounds out our window over some coffee. I am reflecting on the last months of summer and the coming, then going of Autumn.

Seeding by the bee boxes

Evan and I are still moving forward with our Plan Bee. Phase one: We are immersing our selves in the world of plant life and agriculture. I have to say, even though it has only been a short time since the start of this journey, I feel exponentially happier each day. Instead of dreading the winter and the cold I am day dreaming of our winter rye, wheat and barely tucked under the skin of the earth. I hope they survive this weather and find a spark in them to grow come Spring. The mystery and power of bringing new life into this world feeds my spirit.

October 14th, 2012

Evan and I drove up to an alpaca farm in Pawling, NY and planted 1/4 acre of winter barley, wheat and rye. It took us two months of weekend trips to clear the land to make it ready for this day.

The weather was on our side that day. Temperatures were in the low 60's, a little bit of sunshine to keep our hands warm but cumulonimbus clouds kept us from sweating as we labored. The air carried the smell of dry leaves and animal coats. The alpaca watched us curiously as we spread the seeds over the tilled earth.

Sample section of seed distribution

The majority of the 1/4 acres is winter barely, the base grain used in beer. Thirty percent of the 1/4 acre was split between the winter rye and wheat which will be used as specialty grains to flavor the beer. The white bee boxes hummed.

Hay covering

After we spread the seeds, we took rakes and turned the soil. Well turned, we set about packing it all down. It was a spectacle for those alpaca as we all bunny hopped over the mixture of manure, fresh earth and kernels. Finally, we unfurled hay bails over the lot to protect it from the rain that was coming the next day. We thought the hay might also keep away the birds and squirrels temporarily but the land keeper wrote us about the heated fury that took place upon our departure.

2 week old winter barley

"A few hours after you guys left I walked over to the hill and there were 4 squirrels and about 10 birds foraging the soil for seed. I chased them away but it's definitely going to be an issue. One of the squirrels actually stood his ground, puffed up his tail and started chirping at me. I might try putting out containers of seeds around the area. Hopefully if they have easy access to food they won't bother with the soil. Also, it'll only be problematic for the first few weeks until the seeds sprout." - Matt


October 21st, 2012

Back up at the alpaca farm, we wanted to see the sprouts that covered the hill. To our surprise, there were green and red blades cutting through the hay all over! Education: when rye first sprouts it's blades are a purple-red color but as they grow towards the sky they change to green. The wheat and barley both have green sprouts but their silhouettes are different from one another. My mind is imprinted with these images and I have gained the knowledge to identify the difference between winter barley, wheat and rye in it's early growth stages. How can I quantify this education?

2 week old winter rye

We are getting more people involved with Plan Bee and working on potential next steps. Winter is a time for respite and contemplation. It has been seven short months since Evan and I set our compass in the direction of becoming a self-sustained, farm-to-beer brewery in the Hudson Valley. From where we stand now, I can see our path but there is an arch coming up ahead. What is around the bend? I am eager to find out but reluctant.

"My heart is a traitor," the boy said to the alchemist, when they paused to rest the horses. "It doesn't want me to go on."

"That makes sense," the alchemist answered. "Naturally it's afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you've won."

"Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?"

"Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. Even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you're thinking about life and about the world."

"You mean I should listen, even if it's treasonous?"

"Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that to you. Because you'll know its dreams and wishes, and will know how to deal with them. You will never be able to escape from your heat. So it's better to listen to what it has to say. That way, you'll never have to fear an unanticipated blow."

The boy continued to listen to his heart as they crossed the desert. He came to understand its dodges and tricks, and to accept it as it was. He lost his fear, and forgot about his need to go back to the oasis, because, one afternoon, his heart told him that it was happy.

"Even thought I complain sometimes," it said, "it's because I'm the heart of a person, and people's hearts are that way. People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or of moments that could have been good but weren't, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because, when these things happen, we suffer terribly."

"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." - The Alchemist