Cellar Raid

So I decided to raid the cellar yesterday. So much great beer down there, so much ready to drink, can't leave it in there forever can you? Anyways, I raided the cellar and pulled out some things that I believe are ready to drink, and somethings I just want to try. I know for a fact that 2002 Doggie Claws is ready to drink, but be sure I'll leave some until 2012.

Three left...

Went to Whole Foods Bowery today. You know the usual -- New Beer then Whole Foods. Well Whole Foods had the Atlantic IPA from Brewdog. In case you haven't heard this is a pretty special beer, and wait for it, it has a $29 per 12 oz bottle price tag. Wowza, that is an expensive beer. I mean damn, $20 OK? I guess, but wow, that is a lot of money for a beer, I mean I know what they did is special, but damn so expensive. OK, I've written expensive for the last time. As a I feebly debate with myself whether or not to buy it, I pick up a dry hopped growler of Dale's Pale from the cask. Uh yea, two left around 6:30...

Tidbits

Some interesting beer news lately. Sam Adams is coming out with a Barrel collection. The biggest "craft" brewer in the country, with an incredibly large distribution network and numerous contract breweries is coming out with a barrel-aged beer? Seems a little odd, I mean it's not like they are hurting or anything. But it shows the power of the trend - that is a key indicator. To keep pace with today's modern beer geek its not just IPAs and stouts anymore. It's big, bold adventuresome beers inspired by ingenuity as much as the craft. Sam Adams knows, they didn't get to the top because they weren't smart.

Hop Devil Bust

Have to call this out...big time. Went there on Monday for their "world beer" event as per the NY Craft beer website...absolutely nothing but your standard tequila bar taps, so I walked out. But the "Daze of the Devil" fest was an annual tradition, a great tradition at that. But again nothing. This time it was listed on beermenus too and I was pretty disappointed. You can not do that. Advertise for events that don't exist to maybe try and drum up your shitty business? Do not go to the Hop Devil, it's been busted!

Go get growlers from New Beer

Just got back from New Beer distributors. Had to run over after getting the email telling me that they have the Bruery Melange #3 which I previously rated. And then Bourbon Barrel Ten Fidy which I'm sipping on now and his incredible smoothness and complexity. So head over there and bring your growlers!

Couple of events today and tommorow

For those in Williamsburg there is a nice set of activities tonight in honor of craft beer week. Head over to DBA around 8 for their "liquids of interest" tasting that will certainly be beer-oriented. And don't forget Barcade is having Fisherman's night tonight too.
Tomorrow I might have to check out the Hop Devil Grill. Ah the Hop Devil, bastard if there ever was one. The bar more than any other that got me to where I am in craft beer now had to be the Hop Devil. Circa 2005-7, this was the place to be. You name it they had it: Kuhnhenn, Bell's, Heavyweight. But then something happened, it closed for renovations and opened back up as a "southwestern tequila and beer bar" around 2008 and it's just been beyond mediocre since. Anyways, what I'm getting at, is it might be time to test the waters again for tomorrow's Daze of the Devil fest, which is a pre-southwest tradition. This could definitely be worth checking out -- i.e. they might have Kuhnhenn.

Any traders out there?

Anybody out there see anything on this blog that they might want, please contact me for trade. I'm actually having an apparent hard time making some trades with my apparent "lack" of cred.

Great Cask Fest! NYC Craft beer week rolls on...

Made a quick stop at Rattle-n-Hum last night to check out the kick-off of the cask fest and boy was it awesome. Good reasonable prices I thought for some incredibly rare beers on cask! Barcade should be fun today with some good looking Harpoon drafts! Probably have to make my way back to that cask fest too.

NYC Craft Beer Week

NYC Craft Beer Week starts today with a huge cask festival kick-off at Rattle-n-Hum. Check out the list: here. Do I need to say anymore other than Sculpin IPA on cask, not to mention Nugget Nectar and Ten Fidy...looks ridiculous. My suggestion is to hit this up...early if you can. I'll be detailing a few other events as the week tags along, but I will probably hit up Barcade for a few of their events.

Capt Lawrence Smoke from the Oak Apple Brandy

Got an email earlier today from Capt. Lawrence. They are releasing Smoke from the Oak Apple Brandy barrel this Saturday. Depending on what I am doing, I may or may not go up there, but I think it will hit retail around here.

The Cellar Unveiled!

I Wanted to finally put up some pics of the cellar for people to get an idea of the size and location of it. As you can see it is just in the crawlspace of the house underground. Unfortunately there is no room to chill and drink in there (you can't stand up), but the conditions are perfect -- always dark and static in temperature.

The Pony Bar

Heading over to the Pony Bar this evening before a concert at Terminal 5, so pretty excited about both. The Pony Bar is fairly new and they only serve American craft beer ala Barcade. I can't really see myself going there unless it blows me away, it's out there on 10th ave. I mean it looks great on paper so let's give it a go.

Random Beer Tasting Notes

I went to a beer tasting last weekend, where I tasted the Midnight Sun M. To those who have heard of this legendary beer, good job, to those who haven't I highly recommend them and the 'beer I will never taste again.' The M actually was worth the hype. I would have given anything just for another little sample, so rich, so decadent. Hard to distinguish a Belgian quality to it, but nonetheless, it was legendary. Other highlights included a lot of other Midnight Sun - Sloth and Greed. Anyways, have at the pics, some serious beer porn. Anybody guess where it was?

Lost Abbey comes through!

So if you didn't know already, I bought a lot of flat Lost Abbey Angel's Share (Brandy). Probably one of the best beers I had tasted before, I impulsively bought a ton for now and later. Anyways, I decided I should try and do something about this (having already waited months for the bottles to carbonate) and emailed Lost Abbey customer service about two months ago. It took a lot of back and forth and truth be told I didn't reveal the full amount bought (which is a lot more; felt sheepish) but they did come through with the package nonetheless and I was positively pleased! They sent me all four Angel's Share bottles I requested which I'm glad are bourbon instead of brandy, plus two extras I've never had! It was really nice for the company to stand up and do the right thing, I'm glad they did.

Kuhnhenn NYC!

I'm proud to report a surprise launch party of Kuhnhenn brewing company in NYC. This wednesday Blind Tiger will be hosting. First Cigar City then this, remember you heard it here first.