Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Moody Tongue Beers To Get All Bottled Up For the First Time

By Janet Rausa Fuller | January 22, 2015 5:51am
 Moody Tongue brewmaster Jared Rouben will begin bottling his culinary beers in February.
Moody Tongue brewmaster Jared Rouben will begin bottling his culinary beers in February.
View Full Caption
Jared Rouben

PILSEN — Welcome news for fans and from-afar admirers of Moody Tongue Brewery: The beer will soon come in bottles.

Brewmaster Jared Rouben said he will begin bottling his food-centric beers in three weeks for distribution to restaurants, bottle shops and "any store where food is important."

"We just got our bottling line. I was out in Washington State training on it," he said.

Moody Tongue beers have been available only on draft at select restaurants and bars, with one notable exception: the $120 Shaved Black Truffle Pilsner.

Rouben held an online lottery in November to determine the 500 lucky buyers of that beer, which is indeed made with black truffles and was inspired by the first truffle he ever tasted in culinary school.

And no, the truffle pilsner won't be bottled again, "not anytime soon," he said — though some restaurants, including Dusek's, still have some of their stash available.

Rouben said the first three beers to be sold in 12-ounce-bottles, by the four-pack, are the Caramelized Chocolate Churro Porter, Sliced Nectarine IPA and Steeped Emperor's Lemon Saison.

A trained chef and former Goose Island brewmaster, Rouben opened Moody Tongue last May. He calls his approach of incorporating ingredients and techniques from the kitchen into the brewing process "culinary brewing."

"What a cook does and what a brewer does is not so different," Rouben said.

Take, for example, the Brandied Purple Raspberry Dubbel, one of five Moody Tongue brews in circulation. The raspberries, grown for Rouben by Seedling Orchard in South Haven, Mich., get a four-week-long brandy bath before being added to the beer along with the raspberry-infused brandy.

The result? Beer that pairs well with food and which Rouben hopes people take time to sip and enjoy, not guzzle. To that end, Rouben said he is working to open a tasting room at the Pilsen brewery later this year.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: