SUMMER NIGHTS AT THE TAPROOM
There’s nothing quite like walking around Bushwick on an early summer evening. You’ll hear laughter and cheers in the bars, catch smells of food from all over the world wafting from the trucks and restaurants, and often you’ll find people spilling out into the street for live music or some sort of artistic performance. It’s pretty magical and those are only a few of the many reasons we’ve wanted to join this community that we love so much. So lately, we’ve been taking in some special moments of appreciation when we get to witness our taproom adding its own little flare to all of those wonderful things. So thank you very much to all the food vendors, musicians, friends and family that share this space with us- we feel very lucky. And next time you see James, our event coordinator/social media aficionado/bartender at the taproom, help us thank them for all their hard work putting our event calendar together. You can check it out here and on our instagram weekly- hope to see you at the next one!
FINALLY, THE RETURN OF KIMOTO
If you’ve been drinking KSW sake since our days on Central Ave., you may have tasted our Kimoto Sake. Unlike our typical batch style, which is a very controlled fermentation environment, making Kimoto requires a careful balance with the microbes in the air and a lot of our time and attention to begin fermentation. The results of these extra efforts provide a layer of complexity and even a delightful funkiness that you can both smell and taste in the sake. It’s a very old-school method, and we’ve been through many trials in our new space to bring it up to par at this scale and in this environment. Finally. At long last. The day has come, and we’ve been able to bring it on back for you to try. It has similarities to our old batches -but also has its own profile, since each Kimoto fermentation is unique to its surroundings. You’ll see an announcement in the next two weeks when it reaches our shelves, as it just made its way to the press now. Cheers!
PAINTING OUR MON
Our KSW logo is designed after the traditional Japanese emblems, or “Mon”, that you can find on castle roofs, samurai armors, or tomb stones. The typical design consists of simple geometric shapes or illustrated natural objects that represent the name of the trade or the family.
When we opened our original brewery on Central Avenue four years ago, Shinobu had a base sketch of the Mon, which our designers Michelle and Ryan refined and elevated to the current form. If you are a long-term KSW customer, you remember that one of the first applications was the rollup gate, on which a big red Mon was painted. We used to sit on the sidewalk outside that gate (because the inside had no space) and would have some drinks with customers family members, friends and neighbors. It was a communal space in front of the big Mon where people met and laughed together.
When we designed our current taproom on Troutman, it was Michelle and Ryan’s idea to recreate the same big red Mon to remind us of our old cosy sidewalk on Central Avenue. Like the old one, Shinobu did the rough sketch and Maxine perfected it with her steady brush strokes. We hope this new big red Mon creates the same special space filled with laughter. And what’s better? We don’t need to sit on the sidewalk in the heat wave. Come to hang in the taproom with the new Mon and A/C!
PS- If you’ve been missing our Orange Moon cocktail, it’s back this weekend, but in frozen amazake form- a true orange creamsicle dreamsicle.