If you’re someone who likes their beers sour and local, mark your calendar for Saturday, July 24th for the release of the fourth vintage of Captain Lawrence Cuvee de Castleton. The beer, another limited edition offering from the brewery, is a wild golden ale aged in oak barrels with muscat grapes. The beer will be sold at the brewery in Pleasantville (up in Westchester County, just a short walk from the Metro-North train station), where throngs of people gather at the crack of dawn several times a year to be among to first buy these small-batch beers.
Cuvee de Castleton will be sold in 375mL bottles for $15 each, and there’s a four-bottle limit. The doors open at 11am, but tickets are available long before that - sometimes even the night before. Yes, this is a complicated beer to get, but waiting for it outside the brewery is half the fun. Plus, there’s only 1200 bottles to go around, so if you get your hands on one, you’re one of the lucky ones.
When I think of beers that turned me on to Belgian beer styles, one American brewery really stands out. For a long time, I was hesitant to try many Belgian styles, particularly sour beers. But one sip of the Ommegang Rouge changed my mind about that. If you’ve never tried a sour beer, this Flemish Red from Cooperstown, New York is a very good start. Unfortunately, the Rouge is going the way of the Dodo, so get it while you can tonight. It’s among the many beers on tap at Rattle-N-Hum for its Ommegang-Duvel-Maredsous-Chouffe Event.
It’s already underway, but be sure to head there after work to check out their remarkable beer list:
Staffers of Sixpoint and organizers of Good Beer Month watch as they brew their smoked beer to be served at Meatopia on July 11th (photo via Sixpoint Craft Ales on Facebook)
Thursday is the first of July, and it also marks the first day of New York’s Good Beer Month. Good Beer Month is from the same people who brought us the Good Beer Seal, and promises to be a non-stop 31 days of beer events that promote craft beer and the local beer scene.
The biggest event of Good Beer Month is on July 11th when Governors Island plays host to Meatopia, an event that features some of the city’s best chefs cooking up some amazing meats. Naturally, what goes better with meat than good beer? Among the restaurants represented at Meatopia will be Hill Country, Fatty 'Cue, R.U.B., Abe & Arthurs, and The Meatball Shop. As you see above, Sixpoint and several bars behind Good Beer Month are collaborating this morning on a smoked beer that will also be available at Meatopia. Tickets to Meatopia start at just $25.
Another meat-related Good Beer Month event is the 5th Annual Great Hot Dog Cookoff at Kelso Brewery on July 31st. Tickets for that event go on sale on July 1st and include 20 hot dog tastings and all-you-can-drink beer from Kelso. Last year’s winner of the cookoff went on to face off with Bobby Flay on Throwdown on the Food Network.
Other events include two beer soirees sponsored by Edible Brooklyn - one at Brooklyn Brewery that comes in the form of a food-related trivia night, and another event at BAM that pairs great local beer with great local food. On top of that, many bars across the city will host a bevy of tastings and special events.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of Good Beer Month is the July Good Beer Month Pub Crawl Card, which challenges people to visit all 27 bars that have been awarded the Good Beer Seal in just one month. Starting on Wednesday, you’ll be able to procure one of these at any of the bars listed on their site. That’s a daunting task, but some brave souls may be up to it.
You’ve got three days to find your good beer drinking shoes… then it’s off to the races!
It’s been a long, hot first week of summer. After sweating a lot, it might be good to keep yourself hydrated while you drink. The best way to do that? Have a session beer. A session beer is generally defined as a drinkable, low-alcohol (less than 5.0% ABV) beer. Less alcohol means more hydrating liquids to replenish those fluids. Here’s a few session beers to check out on tap in the city this weekend.
First - a relatively new arrival to New York is the Bitter American from San Francisco’s 21st Amendment, a session beer that’s bitter as all hell. It’s an English Bitter with loads of hops and a biscuit flavor. Session beers originated in England, and while explanations abound for how the term came about, Beer Advocate suggests it’s rooted in the two drinking periods that English shell production workers were given during World War I. This one weighs in at a whopping 3.6% ABV, so you can drink plenty of it without sacrificing your shell-making skills. You can find it on tap right now at Washington Commons in Prospect Heights, Pacific Standard in Park Slope, and Manchester Pub in Midtown East.
If you’ve read this blog enough, you probably know that I’m a little obsessed with Scottish Ales (I’ve got a bottle of my homebrewed Scottish Ale in my hands right now). So another session beer that I’ll steer you to is McNeill’s Tartan Export, a not overly-malty Scottish Ale from Brattleboro, Vermont that clocks in at 4.6% ABV. This is certainly not a style of beer you’d want to have on a hot day, but it’s nice if you’re sitting outside on a cool summer night. You may come across it this weekend at The Gate in Park Slope and the Broadway Dive on the Upper West Side.
Another brand-new arrival to New York will satisfy your sweet tooth. Yes, you know Boulder Beer, but you should become acquainted with the tenth beer in their Looking Glass Series, Kinda Blue. You can venture a guess by the name that it’s a blueberry wheat beer. Fruity beers obviously tend to lend themselves well to warm summer weather. Head up to The Bronx Ale House to check it out now… it’ll pop up more often around town as the summer heats up.
Enjoy the first full weekend of summer… stay cool!
Also, a big thank you to Brooklyn Foodie, who named Brew York, New York their Blog of the Week this week. Quick… somebody talk me down from my high horse.
Now, go back to planning your weekend beer-drinking festivities. Might I suggest the SixpointBig Ten Block Party?
