An American Life in Istanbul

Now that I have more free time I decided I should make the most of it. I have signed myself up to take the GREs and the GMAT so that I can apply to graduate programs. I am also half heartedly looking for a new job, and I am planning some trips within Turkey. This week however, I decided to do something that very few have ever done. I toured the Taps Brewery in Gebze, Istanbul.

I have known the head brewer there for sometime and have been to the Taps restarant on several occasions. The brewery was started as a restaurant with in house brewing in 2001 by an American Brewer named William Kemper. He later moved the brewing to a microbrewery outside of Istanbul and about a year ago turned the reins over to his assistant (my friend), the California born Mark Harvey Kenney, or just Harvey. Harvey has been running the brewery ever since with his Kenyan assistant Daniel. Yesterday, I made the trip all the way to the far stretches of the Asian side of the city with Harvey to spend a day at work with him.

As far as I know, the taps brewery is the only real microbrewery in Turkey. They currently produce, Dunkel, Kolsch, Pilsner, Red Ale, Strong Ale, Stout, Vienna Lager, Golden Ale and Hefeweizen. They also have one beer that has not been released to the general public yet: Taps IPA! Taps is by far the best beer made in Turkey. When I am in the store I buy their bottles if I see them and I go to the restaurant occasionally. However the music in the restaurant (which closed on Friday) is so awful and so loud, that I go there very rarely, and only at Harvey’s invitation. For those of you that are living in Turkey who haven’t had Taps beer, you really must try it. It is very good and better than all the Turkish made and foreign imported beer available in Turkey.

For your viewing pleasure here are the pictures and explanations from my day at Turkey’s one and only craft brewery.

That’s me on site at the brewery. I am sitting on the platform between the three tanks where the raw ingredients are mixed and cooked together to form the wort, which later gets mixed with yeast and stored for fermentation. Each of the tanks is stainless steel with temperature sensors that are connected to the master control system for the brewery. Each tank has a hollow shell that is filled with steam to help regulate the temperature. Although a very high-tech and highly automated brewery, careful attention must be paid by the brewer and his assistant.

It doesn’t look like much, and it seems like this kind of system would be standard, but apparently it’s not. Harvey’s assistant, Daniel, who worked in a brewery in England said a lot of the breweries there don’t have any of this advanced computer technology to control the processes. From this computer you can monitor every tank in the whole brewery, you can control the steam flow in each segment of each tank, you can control the valves in the system and monitor flow rates at various parts of the system. I am sure there is more that you can do, but I wasn’t too interested in the computer.

Here are four views of the different tanks. I can’t describe to you in great deal what each one is used for but I can say that the top right one is the raw malt being brought in from the floor above, and mixed with hot water. The bottom right one is the cooked wort being drained into the storage tank for fermentation. I got to see the whole process start to finish and it was quite impressive.

These are condensed hops from Germany. They smelled great! Just like a heavily hopped beer. Somewhere in the brewery they had the American Cascade Hops, which give American craft beers their unique flavor. Harvey used them to make his IPA.

Harvey! That’s the storage room where kegs are kept until they are ready to be shipped. Since it’s a young brewery and there isn’t much of a beer industry in Turkey, they aren’t producing very high quantities yet. On a side note Harvey pointed out to me while we were having lunch at a restarant that he’s usually the only foreigner at that restaurant and he’s always the one wearing workman’s overalls. Everyone else had suits on.

There is something in the beer that bonds to something else in the beer and forms little chunks. This makes it easier to filter. I didn’t quite catch what chemical was going on, but it did look strange.

Harvey at work in the lab. Each batch has to be checked for alcohol content among other things. Harvey hasn’t been able to find distilled water for sale in Turkey so he also uses his lab to distill his own water.

Using a microscope, I got to count the yeast cell density in the finished product. It’s important to make sure there is enough yeast in the tank before leaving it to ferment. I think this batch was low, but I am not the expert. On a side note, you will notice my ring is a beer bottle opener.

Yeast being added to the beer inline on it’s way into the storage tank for fermentation. Since yeast is a living organism, you can take simply take yeast from one tank, and use it to ferment the next tank, and then the next tank and so on.

Beer on it’s way to the fermentation tanks.

This is the outlet for the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation. It keeps the pressure from building up too much.

Of course, if you work in a brewery, there is always time to grab a fresh beer straight from the fermentation tank! That’s me holding Turkey’s first every IPA (India pale ale). This is without a doubt my favorite beer. This one wasn’t perfect Harvey admitted, but I thought the taste was good. When it ferments a little more and the carbonation gets up to where it should be, I think it’s going to be a fantastic beer. For now, it’s still sitting in the tank, waiting.

Thank you Harvey for giving me the opportunity to go to work with you. It was great!

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For some reason Youtube is blocked as of today, again. No word yet as to why though… I’ll keep you updated.

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I recently got back from two weeks in the US. When I made the reservations I was planning to come back to my job. Since I am not working anymore, that was not the case. Instead I have been spending time with my friends planning my next step.

A lot of people asked the standard questions; was it fun? did you see your family? what did you do? where did you go? what did you miss most? One question in particular grabbed me. Someone asked me what I surprised me, or rather what grabbed me in the US that I had forgotten about, what was different from Turkey that I was now noticing after having been in Turkey for so long. I couldn’t think of anything that grabbed me about the US, but after two weeks in the US, I noticed something about Turkey: Istanbul is ugly.

I guess I never realized the extent of Turkey’s ugliness. After having visited various cities in the US, it really hit me when I got back. Once you get away from the really old parts of the city, all the building are really cheaply built, with bad architecture, cracks, peeling paint, tons of air conditioners hanging out of windows, tons of satellite dishes and antennas, the windows aren’t clean. It’s as if no one pays to upkeep the multitude of oddly colored shoddy buildings. On top of that, it’s dirty and nothing is green. Here’s a few pictures (I know this kind of comparison isn’t exactly fair, but you have to see for yourself how ugly it is when you get to the parts built in the last 20 years).

Istanbul (left) and Philadelphia (right). I went to Phily to visit my brother who is doing a masters degree at UPenn.

Istanbul (left) and Baltimore (right). I didn’t go to Baltimore, but I did go to another small town in Maryland where I visited my aunt, and her family.

In addition to having a good time I brought back some things that I felt were missing here in Turkey. I meant to get grill seasoning and good BBQ sauce but I forgot those. I did however bring a magazine listing cars for sale and apartments for rent (in Pittsburgh), which I gave to Alper. He is always asking me about how much things cost in the US so I figure those to magazines would answer many of his questions better than I could. I also brough back Beer:

From the left: Sawtooth ale from the Left Hand brewing company in Colorado, blackberry wheat ale from Long Trail brewing company in Vermont, Ruination India Pale Ale from the Stone Brewery in California, Hoptical Illusion from the Blue Point brewing company in Long Island New York (near where I am from), and the Yeti Imperial Stout from the Great Divide brewing company in Colorado. I only had limited space so I tried to grab a decent selection. Apparently, according to the only brewer I know in Istanbul, Harvey (he’s from California), the reason beer here sucks is because Efes - the leading beer distributor - won’t let anyone import, and the water here is not right for beer. There are too many unwanted salts and things in the water. He says he’s going to start using reverse osmosis to take everything out of the water, and then add what he wants, to mimic good beer brewing water. He said an IPA is on the way!

Girl Scout cookies! Of course. I can’t believe I never though of this before. My little cousin Olivia does the girl scout cookie fund raiser so my Aunt Beth (her mother) reserved a few boxes for me. I thought the best use would be to bring them to Istanbul and share them with my Turkish friends. I am planning to open them this weekend. In the US, there are boy scouts, and girl scouts. To raise money, the girl scouts have been selling the same cookies for years and years and years. They are very good, and very popular. Kind of expensive but it’s for a good cause right? It helps support the creation of strong, independent women with good leadership abilities. I used to buy a bunch of these when I was in university for $3.50 per box. I would buy some for my friends who would buy them at value. When they would run out, they would always come looking for more, either drunk or hungover. I would charge extortionist prices which they would begrudgingly pay. I think I sold one box for over 10 dollars one time.

I also brought back with me a bunch of out of print games that I want to play with some of my friends here. I unfortunately left them with Izzy so I don’t have a picture.

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Yesterday was international labor day, a day that celebrates the rights and achievements of workers around the world. In most places peaceful demonstrations are held during labor day. Yesterday here in Istanbul, it was a full out battle, with the police finishing way a head. There was teargas, fire houses, and beatings a plenty throughout the day. The labor parties head quarters was stormed by police and tear gassed, a hospital was tear gassed, numerous groups of demonstrators scattered through the city were gassed and beaten. Demonstrators wanted to hold demonstrations in the city’s historic Taksim square. However 20,000 police barricaded the square and refused to let demonstrators near the square. Entire areas of Istanbul ended up getting tear gassed to clear out protesters. Although I personally did not get there in time to witness any of the fighting (the governor ordered most of the strategic teargassing early in the morning, including the hospital), I did witness the huge police force. I would have my own shots and videos from Taksim square, but while I was on my way there (walking was the only way to get anywhere nearby), something very urgent came up and I had to run. So here are some of my pictures, and some other people’s pictures/videos that I pulled off of YouTube.

A random video I found on YouTube

Another random video I found on YouTube

Here are some pictures I took myself. I noticed the reporters, police and protesters all had gas masks.

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Here is a series of pictures - all from Turkey - that a friend sent to me. The ones posted here are the ones that I could easily see happening in Turkey

Debatebly better than a whole in the floor, which is quite common in Turkey.

I haven’t seen something like this personally but it wouldn’t surprise me if I did.

Looks a little dangerous, doesn’t it?

Another one that I haven’t seen but wouldn’t be surprised if I saw it.

This is my favorite one. I actually have seen this at one of the monuments. On the right it says the entrance fee is two million Turkish Lyra. On the left it says “entrance one million.” Sneaky Turks!

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Just some pictures from the weekend. That’s Doruk, Erman and myself. Because there are so many students in Istanbul, there is quite a good night life to be found. Istanbul is a city that never sleeps. These pictures were taken at ‘cafe pi’ in Taksim. They have a huge variety of drinks on the menu, and play American Rock and Pop music.

From the left Doruk, Erman and myself

Doruk and Erman

Friends!

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Tulips have long been indigenous here in Turkey, and are the symbol of Istanbul. In the spring time, they can be seen everywhere. Yesterday I had the chance to go to Emirgan park, the park that was given to the boy friend (yes boy friend) of one of the sultans. It now serves as a beautiful, wooded retreat from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul. The park is so quiet and beautiful that you wouldn’t believe you were still in Istanbul.

Below are some pictures from my afternoon in the park. I went with Tahsin, who will join the army on Saturday to do his mandatory military service. What you need to know is that a european ambassador to the Ottoman empire took the flowers to western Europe with him between the years 1550 and 1560 because they seemed to do very well in the early spring, a time which is unfriendly to flowers. If you would like to read more about the Tulips and are not interested in the pictures, here is an interesting article about it: Sunday’s Zaman Article: Tulips Making a Comeback. Anyway, here are the pictures:

The road through the park was falnked on both sides by tulip beds

The road through the park

Red Tulips!

Me sitting on one of the many picnic benches.

Even the bathrooms looked nice.

Tulips!

Tulips!

A concert going on during the tulip festival on an island in a pond.

The evil eye. This is a very traditional symbol in Turkish culture.

Tulips!

An advertisement for the tulip festival.

You can see the Bosporus in the background. The park is on one of the higher hills next to the Bosporus.

Tulips!

Tulips!

A small flower shop in the park.

All the fences along the path look like this: more tulips!

Tulips!

Tulips!

Tulips!

Tulips!

Tulips! (notice anything strange about this picture?

On the way out of the park.

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A few weeks ago, Alper sent me this video. This is from the main highway into Istanbul, the highway that I take to get into the city. The best part is probably the last driver who drives not only against traffic but in the fast lane?! The question is why do so many people need to go against the flow of traffic? Are they stupid or are the roads poorly designed. My guess is a combination of both, but more the later.

I have several more traffic, driving and car related entries if you are interested:

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Over the weekend I stayed at a friend’s house (I will avoid using names because the issue may be sensitive) that I do not normally stay at. Realizing I had not asked my friend what his parents do, I asked. They are both professors at two of Turkey’s most prestigious universities. I was excited.

The town I grew up in was near a very large and reasonably well known university (Stony Brook University in New York). There were many foreign professors and foreign students from all over the world there. Because of this, many of my friends growing up were the children of professors. From my experiences growing up and my experiences at university, I found that the academic community always held a good, well informed opinion of current events, and was a good way to measure what changes were coming.

So at breakfast, I casually slipped in questions to his father, constituting what I consider my first interview. The issue was the pending court case to remove the current government for being anti secular. I briefly commented on this issue in: Economic Hiccups. I was curious to find out what the academic community though of the whole situation.

Two petitions were passed around amongst Turkey’s 40,000 person academia. 3,000 professors signed a petition in support of the current government and claimed that there was nothing wrong with what the government has been doing. 8,000 signed the petition against the government (this 8000 included assistants where as the 3000 did not). My friend’s father signed the petition against the government, his wife did not.

The interesting bit of this story is what happened to my friends father who we will call Ahmet for now. Ahmet is a tenured professor here in Istanbul. On top of his normal job he is a senior part-time researcher at separate government institute where he has been working for approximately 20 years. He was recently promoted to chairmen of the executive committee there. He is also a member of Turkey’s equivalent to the National Academy of Science in the US.

After his name appeared on a similar petition against the government, the person who had appointed him to chairman - a person serving in an office appointed by a council which is made up of the prime ministers appointees - called him and asked why he signed the petition. She followed up with the question “do you think I appointed you for your academic achievements?”

At the end of each year, each person at this government institute must submit a report for what they have done. This time, when Ahmet went to turn in his report, his 20th or so, they told him it wasn’t necessary. Nor would he need to submit a report for his position as chairman. He of course, was not rehired.

I’d like to thank Ahmet for sharing this story and commend him for having the courage to stand up for what he believes in.

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I actually wasn’t sure that the Istanbul based soccer club Fenerbache had beaten London’s Chelsea last night during their champions league match last night here in Istanbul. Fenerbache is the most expensive team in Turkish history this year with a total cost for it’s players of 100 million euros. That’s quite an impressive number. Besiktas and Galtasaray are finishing somewhere around 50 million euros. Chelsea on the other hand is the most expensive team in history, coming in at 456 million euros per year. As you can see these two teams are of a drastically different scale.

However, since signing Roberto Carlos over the summer (See: Roberto Carlos is Coming to Istanbul) Fenerbache has seemed unstoppable. They are currently in the quarter finals of the most prestigious tournament in Europe, which means they are in the tops 8 in Europe this year. They are on pace to win the Turkish league again this year (they are currently on top).

Well last night I looked at my window to this scene:

Keep in mind I live in a remote sparsely populated part of Istanbul. The majority of the noise is from that darn truck which is out almost everytime there is a big win by a Turkish team, but you can hear the horns of all the other motorists. They are all stopped just before a roundabout where the people get out of their cars and run around and scream. Sorry I didn’t get a video of that, but I will have another chance the next time Fenerbache or the national team accomplishes some great feat.

Of course worse things can happen than losing sleep. If you remember (See: Wine-ing and Crying) I got teargassed standing in a crowd of Besiktas supporters last year. That was not fun.

Anyway, Fenerbache has to tie or beat Chelsea when they play in London next week on the 8th of April. If they score at least two goals, they can also lose by only one and still move on because of the away goals rule, but the finer points of the Champions Leagues rules are not interesting. Let’s just cross our fingers and hope for the best.

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