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Other Half Brewing just hired one of the industry’s biggest names when it comes to sours further adding to the buzz surrounding the uber-hot Brooklyn brewery’s second location in Rochester, NY.
Here’s what we know
Last July, Brooklyn-based Other Half Brewing announced that it had purchased the former Nedloh Brewing building in Rochester, New York. And one of the plans that they have for their new 4 acre location in Western New York is to embark on wild ales program, something that due to their limited space in Brooklyn, they had been unable to pursue.
And now with that second location, which they hope to open by mid-March, Other Half Brewing is getting serious about its sour program and according to the Democrat & Chronicle they’ve hired a huge name in the world of wild ales to help them build it.
A former California art student who found his way New Belgium Brewing in Colorado, Eric Salazar (along with former wife Lauren Salazar) learned the art of wild ales as a protégé of the great Peter Bouckaert who joined the Fort Collins-based brewery in 1996.
Bouckaert, who had mastered his craft at Rodenbach, one of Belgium’s most famous breweries that is renowned for its Flemish barrel-aged sours, took Eric and Lauren Salazar under his wing to introduce the historic tradition to America.
Bouckaert and the Salazar’s efforts led to the launch of La Folie (French for “the folly”) in 1996, a textbook Flemish-style Brown Ale aged in oak barrels that was basically the first commercial Wild Ale ever released by a major craft brewery in America.
Bouckaert eventually moved on to other projects at New Belgium leaving the Salazars in charge of the program. Eric Salazar assumed the role of the company’s Wood Cellar Manager and Lauren Salazar became the program’s Master Blender.
To say that securing the services of an industry player like Eric Salazar is a big ‘get’ is an understatement…There are few with his depth of experience and his acquisition more than reaffirms Other Half’s commitment to delivering excellence…that’s for sure.
Although Other Half’s sour program is only in its infancy, the hiring of Eric Salazar is exciting and we can’t wait to see where he takes things…
