Hatch Brewpub: Micro-Brewed Beer & House-Made Sausage Sandwiches

One cannot help but be in a good mood when writing about the Hatch brewpub in Mahane Yehuda. I say because the microbrewed beer definitely gets one in the right mood and because Hatch’s owner, Ephraim Greenblatt, is so friendly and gregarious.

Ephraim is a young and very bright do-it-yourself entrepreneur who made aliya from New York. He learned to become a professional beer brewer by reading the 50 some odd books in his library and by lots and lots of experimentation. Even today, Ephraim says he’s constantly trying out new tweaks to his various brews, that goes for his sausage sandwiches as well. But I’ll describe all the culinary stuff more in detail below.

Ambiance

As my wife and I strolled down HaEgoz St. in Mahane Yehuda looking for Hatch, we walked slowly past staring at the place, thinking to ourselves, “Nope, that can’t be it.” At the time, the restaurant had no signs and kind of looked like a work-in-progress hang out. Ephraim noticed our bewildered looks and gestured and I told him we were looking for Hatch and he said “You’ve arrived.”

When we arrived, Hatch was only 3 weeks old so it truly was still in the work-in-progress stage.

In any case, Hatch is a brewpub that serves street food so don’t go there wearing your tux (if you have one).

 

Cuisine:

While we looked forward to partaking of some exquisite beers during our visit, we came to have a meal while we were at it. And have a meal we did.

House-Made Sausage Sandwiches

We started off with the Louisana-style Po Boy sandwich which includes a house-baked bun and garlic sausage, lettuce, tomatoe, red onion, tartar sauce and a mildly spicy tomato salsa. The combination of the garlic sauage with all the other ingredients was superb.

The BBQ chip sandwich is filled with a smokey sausage, potatoes, pickles, caper, a bbq spice and mustard and barbecue chips. Yum.

 

The Weisswurst sandwich is a mouthwatering combination of Weisswurst sausage, lettuce, parsley, lemon zest and a honey mustard sauce.

 

And last but not least is the Tunis sandwich. The sausage’s meat is seasoned with harissa, cumin, caraway, and coriander seeds, and although you might think that with all those Mediterranean spices the sausage might be spicy – it isn’t. As you can see in the photo below, the sausage is accompanied by fresh kohlrabi and coriander which make it a true Mediterranean delicacy.

Hatch’s Micro-Brewed Beer

I never had any knowledge of the beer brewing process or the different types of beers. After my visit to Hatch, I am still uneducated about beer, but I not longer consider myself completely ignorant. For Ephraim Greenblatt, beer brewing is not just a business, it’s first and foremost a hobby, maybe even an art, and he gladly fielded all of my uneducated questions.

Taking the beginners course Beer brewing 101 would make you aware of the fact that beer is made using four basic ingredients: barley, hops, yeast and water. Beer brewers can create a beer with a particular flavor by altering the types and relative quantities of the various ingredients.

On the evening of our visit, Hatch had three distinctly different beer offerings. I say on that evening, because Ephraim is constantly updating his brews and his sausage sandwiches and so what you taste on one visit may not be what your find on your next visit. That’s part of the creative atmosphere at Hatch.

In any case, these are the beers we tasted:

• Belgium Tripel beer: has 7.5% alcohol (most over-the-counter beers have 5%) and boasts a rich, fruity flavor due to the Belgium yeast in the brew. This was my favorite both because of the marvelous taste and the elevated joy factor caused by the higher alcohol level.
• American Amber:  a slightly more bitter beer because the flavor of the yeast is a bit more dominant (5.5% alcohol).
• Double IPA – of the three beers I tasted, this one had with the highest level of yeast, but the malt balanced it out and it was quite tasty.

Service:

The service at Hatch was superb – quick, super friendly and professional.

A Humorous Kosher Moment

In the video clip below, taken from the security camera at his restaurant, Ephraim can be seen giving a lecture to 20 mashgichim (kosher supervisors) who came to Hatch the week before my visit to understand how beer is brewed. Ephraim quipped that with so many supervisors at his restaurant at the same time it was the most kosher restaurant in the world.

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Restaurant details:

Name of restaurant: Hatch Brewpub
Address: 28 HaEgoz St., Jerusalem
Phone: 052-221-4443
Hours: Sun-Thurs 1PM-Midnight | Fri & Motzei Shabbat seasonal hours
Kashrut: Jerusalem Rabbinate Mehadrin, Chatam Sofer, the meat is Badatz Kehillot
It is always recommended to check the kashrut certificate and the expiration date

Menu:

Directions:

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See the list of all mehadrin restaurants in Jerusalem