Monday
No beer. Took my wife for dinner at blend on the water, a new Latin fusion spot in LIC. Their draft system wasn't operating, and they had $5 mojitos and margaritas for happy hour, so I opted for one of each. By the time I was a quarter way through the second drink I was wishing it was a beer because it was so sweet. Oh well. I made up for it on Tuesday.
Tuesday
Dogfishhead tap takeover at Rattle n Hum, New York, NY. I started with a 75 minute IPA served on cask. A cask beer is served at room temperature and pumped by hand, so it has way less carbonation than your typical draft beer. It was hoppy, but not overpoweringly so. Very drinkable. I'm not the biggest IPA fan, yet, so this was perfect to get my hops fill for the night. Next up was the dogfish head palo santo marron. This strong brown ale, served at an 8oz pour, aged on Paraguayan palo santo wood, comes in at a heavy 12.0% ABV and does not try to hide its booziness. Its roasty, malty flavor was good but subdued by the alcohol. An interesting dark beer but not something I'd hunt out. Following up was the Indian brown ale. Hoppier than an average brown, making for interesting raisin flavors to go with the more typical chocolate and coffee notes. A solid beer I'd have again. And finally, to close out the night I had the dogfish head red and white. Red and white, a strong Belgian wit, gets its name because a portion of it is aged in Pinot noir barrels and another portion is aged on oak staves before being blended back together. It was very good, but at 10.0% ABV, not my best choice to end the night. I'll definitely have this one again next.
Wednesday
No beer needed the night off after Tuesday night, which included a funny story about how I convinced my wife I ordered what was a mis-delivered pizza, but that's a tale for another blog.
Thursday
Bells Oberon, on tap, Woodbines, LIC: Oberon is a crisp and refreshing wheat beer. It's quickly becoming one of my go to summer brews. Goes well with everything from a cheese plate to a cheese burger.
Friday
No beer. I went to the Yanks-Sox game and had dinner at the NYY Steakhouse at the stadium. The beer list was particularly weak so I started with a Ketel One martini with blue cheese stuffed olives before a few glasses of red wine with my bone in dry aged NY strip. I love a good porter with a steak but there was none to be found.
Saturday
Blue Point Toasted Lager, on tap, Zoob Zib Thai restaurant, NYC: a random little thai place on 9th ave in the 30's with a respectable little tap list. BPTL is a solid, toasty lager. It's a beer you can feel comfortable bringing over to someone's house and be confident most will enjoy it, from craft beer fans to those who haven't strayed from the world of macro brew yet. In fact, it's a perfect entry beer for expanding ones beer horizons.
That's it for this week. Biggest lesson learned, don't go overboard on different high ABV brews in the same night. Or you might wind up paying for a pizza you didn't order.
No beer. Took my wife for dinner at blend on the water, a new Latin fusion spot in LIC. Their draft system wasn't operating, and they had $5 mojitos and margaritas for happy hour, so I opted for one of each. By the time I was a quarter way through the second drink I was wishing it was a beer because it was so sweet. Oh well. I made up for it on Tuesday.
Tuesday
Dogfishhead tap takeover at Rattle n Hum, New York, NY. I started with a 75 minute IPA served on cask. A cask beer is served at room temperature and pumped by hand, so it has way less carbonation than your typical draft beer. It was hoppy, but not overpoweringly so. Very drinkable. I'm not the biggest IPA fan, yet, so this was perfect to get my hops fill for the night. Next up was the dogfish head palo santo marron. This strong brown ale, served at an 8oz pour, aged on Paraguayan palo santo wood, comes in at a heavy 12.0% ABV and does not try to hide its booziness. Its roasty, malty flavor was good but subdued by the alcohol. An interesting dark beer but not something I'd hunt out. Following up was the Indian brown ale. Hoppier than an average brown, making for interesting raisin flavors to go with the more typical chocolate and coffee notes. A solid beer I'd have again. And finally, to close out the night I had the dogfish head red and white. Red and white, a strong Belgian wit, gets its name because a portion of it is aged in Pinot noir barrels and another portion is aged on oak staves before being blended back together. It was very good, but at 10.0% ABV, not my best choice to end the night. I'll definitely have this one again next.
Wednesday
No beer needed the night off after Tuesday night, which included a funny story about how I convinced my wife I ordered what was a mis-delivered pizza, but that's a tale for another blog.
Thursday
Bells Oberon, on tap, Woodbines, LIC: Oberon is a crisp and refreshing wheat beer. It's quickly becoming one of my go to summer brews. Goes well with everything from a cheese plate to a cheese burger.
Friday
No beer. I went to the Yanks-Sox game and had dinner at the NYY Steakhouse at the stadium. The beer list was particularly weak so I started with a Ketel One martini with blue cheese stuffed olives before a few glasses of red wine with my bone in dry aged NY strip. I love a good porter with a steak but there was none to be found.
Saturday
Blue Point Toasted Lager, on tap, Zoob Zib Thai restaurant, NYC: a random little thai place on 9th ave in the 30's with a respectable little tap list. BPTL is a solid, toasty lager. It's a beer you can feel comfortable bringing over to someone's house and be confident most will enjoy it, from craft beer fans to those who haven't strayed from the world of macro brew yet. In fact, it's a perfect entry beer for expanding ones beer horizons.
That's it for this week. Biggest lesson learned, don't go overboard on different high ABV brews in the same night. Or you might wind up paying for a pizza you didn't order.
RSS Feed