Événement

In the Wash: Beer and Cheese in the Old Nassau Brewery Lagering Caves

Once upon a time, Crown Heights' old Nassau Brewery made beer, storing its lagers in cool brick tunnels dug 30 feet underground. While the beer is gone, the building owners have transformed the lagering tunnels into Crown Finish Caves, a facility dedicated to aging cheese deep beneath the Brooklyn streets.

To honor the building's history, I've partnered with the owners to curate an event dubbed "In the Wash." The gist: For two months, cheese is steadily bathed with brine, wine, spirits or beer that helps keep the cheese moist, encouraging the growth of bacteria that gives the cheese a funky flavor and aroma.

Giving the technique a beer-y twist, the folks at Crown Finish Caves are washing Parish Hill Creamery's Humble Herdsman cheese with six different beers and ciders from Other Half, Finback, Threes Brewing, Virtue, Transmitter Brewing and SingleCut. The long-aged washed cheeses will then be served with the beer, creating a never-before-tasted pairing. And yes, you will be eating the cheese and drinking the beer in the old lagering tunnels.

Additionally, tour guide and historian Matt Levy will be on hand to discuss the history of brewing in Brooklyn, and Parish Hill master cheesemaker Peter Dixon will also discuss the history of washed-rind cheeses. Plus: more beer and cheese surprises will be on offer. It's the building's past meeting its delicious future. Space is very limited. The experience: never to be repeated.