About Us

The "Berkshire-Style" Bagel Story

Generations of our family have lived and baked in the beautiful Appalachian mountains of Berkshire County in Massachusetts. I fondly recall walking into the houses of my Mom, "Gramma Down Stairs", "Gramma Down The Lake" and maybe even my great-grandmother: "Gamma-2" and enjoying the aroma of fresh baked goods. I do not recall any of them baking bagels, so WTF?...

One day, not so long ago, I wanted a bagel. I had a pantry full of bread flour and some yeast. I searched the Internet for bagel recipes and pared them down to the most basic elements and within a few hours, had six of the worst bagels I'd ever endured. I set five and 7/8 of them out for the birds to enjoy and then composted them a few days later (The bagels, not the birds.).

Since that day, I've learned a lot and now have what I consider a very good recipe and process for producing a bagel that I enjoy making and eating and which I think of as a "Berkshire-Style" bagel. As these are the only examples that I am aware of, I would confidently rank them in the top three Berkshire-Style bagels in the known universe. 

How do Berkshire-Style bagels compare to New Your City Bagels? They don't. 

You're welcome.

At Berkshire Bagels, our goal is to make bagels.