Brooklyn Brine: welcome to the 'hood!

While walking home from boot camp one humid afternoon, I stumbled upon a window of pickle jars at 574A President Street between 3rd and 4th ave. I was hot, sticky, gross, dehydrated, and exhausted. Pickles should have been the farthest thing from my mind, yet these salty treasures called out to me: Spicy Maple Bourbon, Whiskey Sour, and Damn Spicy, just to name a few. Should I go home, shower and eat some protein? I wondered, Or use my FiPS cred to get the scoop on Brooklyn Brine's newest factory and only Brooklyn storefront? (read: try to convince owner to let me sample the goods in exchange for free publicity).

For a few moments I was in a pickle (you knew it was coming).  Eventually, my taste buds got the best of me and I entered the garage door entry, where I was greeted by a young tatted up dude, AKA Brooklyn Brine owner, Shamus Jones. He's a former chef and will have you know that "trust fund baby" he is not. Shamus built the Brooklyn Brine biz from the ground up three years ago, and today he's pickling 1,500 jars a day from his new 2,300 square foot factory in Park Slope. He exports his goods all the way to Japan, and has snatched up titles like "Best of NY: The Finest Pickles in the City" from the NY Daily News. Man, what a lazy shit. 

The process!

I scored a tour of the grounds and while I admittedly know very little about the pickling process, everything looked clean and fresh and yummy. I stood in awe as Shamus stirred a huge cauldron of boiling brown liquid that smelled just like beer! Because it was. In a brilliant partnership, Brooklyn Brine is collaborating with Dogfish Head Craft Brewery to produce the oh-so-delicious "Hop-Pickle," which is made with Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, caramelized onions and Cascade hops. They are in my fridge now and I can tell you they are damn worth the $8.00/jar.

No longer will you have to venture to Union Market or The Blue Apron to get your Lavender Asparagus, Chipotle Carrots and Curried Squash; check out the new brinery store and go straight to the source.