 |
| Pooah (Foofoo) Alon, CEO of Beerternational, gifted the old blogger and wife Trudy with fresh cans of Schnnitt beer brewed in New York. |
Trudy and I added value to our September visit to New York City by meeting with Pooah Alon, known to her friends as Foofoo. Israeli-born Foofoo heads a company named Beerternational which sells foreign beers in America, including Schnitt beer from Tel Aviv. But she does this without importing them. I'll explain later.
We met Foofoo at Cleveland 19, an Israeli restaurant in the SoHo neighborhood, and one of the 27 locations in NYC where Schnitt beer is sold.
[Click here to read my full article on the Schnitt Brewpub itself.]
Foofoo came to America with her husband seven years ago, the first four in Boston before moving to New York. She's no stranger to the world of beer, having worked for Norman Premium, an importer and distributor of alcoholic beverages in Israel, and then at the Sam Adams Brewery Visitors' Center in Boston. Her brother, Yoav Alon, is a partner in the Schnitt Brewpub.
"As soon as I got here, I was thinking about importing beers from Israel as well as from other countries," Foofoo told us. "But I soon realized how expensive it was to physically bring over bottles of beer. [Writer's note: All Israeli craft beers are bottled, whereas almost all American craft beers are now canned.] We came up with an idea which isn't exactly new, but is rarely utilized: Contract brew the foreign beers in U.S. breweries, while tweaking the recipes, labels and branding to better fit American tastes and standards."
Beerternational did its homework and found breweries in New York State and Chicago that were willing to brew the foreign beers. Today, the company represents four overseas beer brands: Japas, women brewers of Japanese origin who live in Brazil, Oslo Brewery in Norway, Narcose Brewery in Brazil, and of course Schnitt from Tel Aviv. These brands are now sold only in the NYC area, but Foofoo is working on finding new markets in other states. The new year will see Schnitt beers sold in Florida.
"The foreign brewers have very little initial expenses," explains Foofoo. "They have to register their brand in the U.S., and adapt their branding and labels to American requirements. We pay for the brewing itself, and then of course, take a percentage on all the beer sales."
More specifically, the three Schnitt
beers sold in New York are brewed and canned at the Great South Bay Brewery in
Bay Shore, Long Island. "They may
not taste exactly the same as the beers you get in Tel Aviv," said Foofoo,
"but they are very close."
To find out for myself, I joined IBAV Tasting Team members Oded Bartov and Bat Sheva Yanir to try the three beers.
The Tel Aviv Summer Ale is
a hazy pale ale, 4.8% alcohol by volume, with aromas of very mild floral and some yeast. The taste is not very defined, although Oded noted some apricot flavor. It is well balanced, mid-bitter and, as the
name says, is a nice summertime drink. "If it were August and I was on the beach, I would drink it," Bat Sheva pronounced.
 |
| The Tower of David vs the Tower of Schnitt: IBAV Tasting Team members Bat Sheva Yanir (right) and Oded Bartov (center) joined the old blogger in Jerusalem to taste the three Schnitt beers brewed in New York. (Photo: Mike Horton) |
The Jaffa IPA (India Pale
Ale) is brewed with oranges, which Oded recognized as the dominant aroma and flavor of this
beer. More precisely, Bat Sheva said that the aroma brings the sensation of sweet orange cake, while the taste is more like bitter orange rind. It is indeed quite bitter, as a West
Coast IPA should be, and the ABV is 6.5%.
The Malabiscous Sour is brewed with rose petals and hibiscus, giving it a lovely red amber (or red grapefruit) color. It has a sour and yeasty aroma. I noticed a faint flavor of rose water, but Oded said it was only because I knew beforehand it was an ingredient. ABV is 5%. Bat Sheva was disappointed with the low presence of both malt and hops. It is sour, but not overly so. If you are new to sour beers, this is a good one to start with.
Foofoo says that New Yorkers have reacted very favorably to these Schnitt beers. Currently, additional batches are being brewed, and perhaps additional beers will be introduced.
