Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight:

• Now that NY Craft Beer Week is over, Blind Tiger Ale House (281 Bleecker St., at Jones St., West Village) returns to its regularly scheduled program of brewery nights on Wednesdays with California-based Lagunitas tonight. Among the offerings: Hop Stoopid, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, and Fusion III - a 2-year barrel-aged version of Gnarlywine blended with an Imperial Stout.
• At the brand-new Idle Hands (25 Avenue B, at 2nd St., East Village), it’s a Fire Island event celebrating their release of Pumpkin Barrel. From 7-9pm, the first 24 people get a free pint glass when they order a $5 pint of their seasonal offering. Also, check out the bar’s small but powerful tap selection, which includes Captain Lawrence Smoked Porter and Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA.

Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight:

• A boatload of Sierra Nevada just got hooked up to the lines at The Pony Bar (637 10th Ave. at 45th St., Hell’s Kitchen), and the list is impressive: the Dogfish Head collaborations Life & Limb and Limb & Life are on tap, as are the 30th Anniversary brews Fritz & Ken’s Ale, Jack & Ken’s Ale, and Charlie, Fred & Ken’s Lager. Brewery reps will be on hand after 6pm. Come early, come often.
• Martin Johnson of The Joy of Cheese is presenting The Local at d.b.a. Brooklyn (113 N. 7th St., at Berry St., Williamsburg) tonight at 7:30pm. He’ll pair local cheeses with local beers curated by d.b.a.’s Ray Deter. Tickets are $25 and will be available at the door (if you’re going, e-mail Martin at thejoyofcheese at gmail dot com to give him a heads up).

Here’s what’s fermenting in the beer world:

• A wrap-up of last Thursday’s Brewers Choice event at The City Winery [idrunkthat]
• A wrap-up of Saturday’s Pig Island event at Governors Island [Zagat Buzz]
• A kitchen sink wrap-up of NY Craft Beer Week [Beer Goggins]
• What Esquire learned at NY Craft Beer Week [Esquire]
• Hooray for Pumpkin Beer! [Craftbeer.com]
• New Jersey’s Cricket Hill to release Bourbon-Barrel Aged Barleywine this weekend [beernews] 
• Explore Upstate New York’s beer history [Buffalo News]
• Guinness Foreign Extra Stout arrives in the US [Slashfood]
• Good news! Beer doesn’t kill your brain cells! [The Atlantic Wire]

Here are the beer-related goings-on after work tonight:

• What? You’re still looking for more beer after a 10-day marathon beer-drinking session? Head to d.b.a. Brooklyn (113 N. 7th St., at Berry St., Williamsburg) tonight at 7pm for Ray Deter’s weekly Liquids of Interest tasting, where he runs through a free tasting session with a particular theme each week. This week, it’s Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers.
• While it’s not special to just tonight, it’s worth noting that Standings (43 E. 7th St., at 2nd Ave., East Village) is serving free Atomic Wings every Monday night at 8:30 throughout football season to complement your craft beer drinking and Monday Night Football viewing.

It was a long ten days of beer drinking that had to end eventually (and thankfully, too, for the sake of my liver). But Rattle-N-Hum (14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown) brought on some of the best beer available during New York Craft Beer Week yesterday, as California’s Stone Brewing Co. serve up a whopping 40 tap lines of their standard offerings and rare, vintage, hard-to-find, and one-off beers. Brewmaster Greg Koch was on hand as well, taking pictures and signing copies of Stone’s own DVD for throngs of fans. The even was part of Stone’s 2010 Total Tap Tower Takeover Tour, which stops in Washington, DC tonight and Chicago tomorrow.

Among the beers that stood out were the 07.07.07 Vertical Epic aged in red wine barrels, the Old Guardian Barleywine ‘06 aged in bourbon barrels (a surefire sipping beer that I nursed for well over an hour), and the more mellow Stone/Kelsey McNair/Ballast Point San Diego County Session Ale, a collaboration that made a good break from the barleywines, Imperial Russian Stouts, and strong ales that peppered most of the tap list.

There’s still some leftovers from yesterday available at Rattle-N-Hum, but considering some of the kegs were kicking by late afternoon, you might want to get your hands on them quickly.

Happy Friday! Welcome to day 8. Here are some of today’s top events that are part of NY Craft Beer Week. For a complete list of all events, head to the NY Craft Beer Week events page.

• Starting at 4pm, Rattle-N-Hum (14 E. 33rd St., at 5th Ave., Midtown) features Smuttynose and Ballast Point. The former will serve several small batch beers,  along with their ‘07 Wheat Wine and '08 Scotch Ale. The latter will serve up Longfin, Sour Wench, and Sculpin among their selections, and brewmaster Colby Chandler will be on hand to talk beer. (Side note that sounds like ass-kissing but isn’t: I had the pleasure of meeting Colby last night at Brewers Choice. Be sure to say hello. He’s a great guy who makes some killer beers.)
• Over at The Pony Bar (637 10th Ave. at 45th St., Hell’s Kitchen), they’ll be serving up a crapload of Syracuse’s Empire Brewing Company. Their Cream Ale is making its way to New York City regularly, but be sure to get your hands on their whole selection tonight, including their Barleywine, Empire State Pale Ale (brewed with local ingredients), and Deep Purple - a very unique little wheat beer with concord grapes.
• Left Hand will be at The Black Swan (1048 Bedford Ave., at Lafayette Ave., Bed-Stuy) all night long, with specials and beer pairings from the chef. Look for the Milk Stout, but also a few other surprises.