Cypress california breweries12/18/2022 ![]() ![]() I find myself guilty of this, often driving by places that used to be a challenge to visit. The danger of having so much choice is so subtle that we don’t realize it and we move on beyond the places that got us to our current level of amazing beer. The one sentiment that reverberated through the internet and social media feeds after the news hit was some variation of “I always wanted to visit there” or I love X beer that I tried a while ago. While this news was sudden, it is a new issue that Floridian beer drinkers are realizing: there are more beers on tap lists and beer shelves than ever before. We’re sure that anyone stopping by Cypress Brewing would be happy to lend a helping hand for your beer, Charles.A few weeks ago, the news of Red Cypress Brewery’s impending closure shocked the craft beer community. I don’t tell it what to do… so that’s our problem, I can’t make enough!”Ĭertainly not a bad problem to have. I brew three and four times a week and I’m stuck at the fermenters because I’m the yeast’s b*tch…it tells me what to do. “Our next step is just bigger… just grow. Beer, that Backmann says, he has a hard time keeping on tap. Let us all stand up and give Cypress a hand for making beer that we can all raise a pint to. There’s not one in the building… why would you take taste right out of beer? Every ingredient in it is what gives you the taste, why would you take it out? Do you care what it looks like if it tastes great? Did you ever have White Castle?! It looks like a pile of sh*t but it tastes great, and it’s f***ing awesome!” “There’s no filter…we don’t even own a filter. Backmann has an easy explanation for this. ![]() Touring Cypress’ brewing facility, one thing is noticeably missing: a filtration system. Hand crafted indeed! Beer to the taproom is fed directly from the brewery’s brite tanks. “The California navel oranges were zested right at the bar in front of customers and thrown into the boil kettle…and the second set was zested right at the bar, candied at my house, and put into the secondary,” says Backmann. ![]() It presents fantastic earthy flavors and aromas coupled with classic wood and fruit tones. Bachmann says it features a grain bill made up of 70% base malt, roasted barley, chocolate malt and a little bit of a “secret ingredient”, along with two different types of hops, Fuggles and East Kent Golding. The Nut Brown is just about as perfect of an example an English Brown that I’ve ever tasted. As such, he tries to keep eight beers on tap at all times.Įvery beer at Cypress Brewing has standout flavor, but there are two crowd favorites that are must-tries. Backmann says about 85% of all the revenue for Cypress Brewing comes from the tasting room. This incredibly hands-on approach is very apparent in the quality and flavor of each of Cypress Brewing’s beers. Left to right: Moshe Atzbi (Manager of Haileys Harp & Pub), Cypress Brewing co-owners Jason Kijowski, Bill Lutz and Charles Backmann (head brewer). The massive Cypress Brewing logo was spray painted by hand, and his mother painted the trees you see on the back wall of the tasting room. The bar, tables, bathroom, ceiling, flooring, grain mill, freon unit, and even the refrigerator were all hand built or assembled by Backmann and his friends. “Everything you see is built by us… our fermenters and our brite tanks are made by Stout Tank, but they were actually made specifically for us…so they have all our fittings on them and they’re all hand welded… so there are as many nooks and crannies in them as a Thomas’ English Muffin,” says Backmann. When Cypress Brewing opened its doors less than a year ago, many of the helping hands and fingers belonged to family and friends. But lest we forget, a hand is nothing without the fingers that guide it. Like Backmann said, he pays lots of hands-on attention to the beer. I hand sparge so every drop of my grain is used. “The system itself is smaller than me… so I stand over it, and if there’s a tiny piece of grain that hasn’t gotten wet, I will stick my hand in there and break it up by hand and make sure it’s perfect. Cypress Brewing Company brews on a 2 barrel system. “It’s super handcrafted… we’re on a 2 barrel system… I literally stand over the tank the whole time while it’s going on, so there’s not one second I‘m not babysitting it, or in it,” says Charles Backmann, co-owner and Head Brewer. Cypress Brewing in Edison, New Jersey is redefining just how hands-on handcrafted can be. There are fully automated home brew systems out there that let you set and forget, and many big-box breweries use systems so dialed-in that human hands rarely come anywhere near the raw ingredients of the beer. Assuming a beer is “handcrafted” could be a mistake that your taste buds will never forgive you for. ![]()
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