The third installment of “Beer Geeks do Thanksgiving” features another true “beer geek” beer… Each year us “Brew Nerd’s” (Beer Geek was getting old) await yearly releases to come out. Typically I’m excited for the fall/winter season because of football (see Hashtag Battles) and yearly stouts. The two that come to mind are Founders Breakfast Stout and Goose Islands Bourbon County Stout. We’ve reviewed Founders so now it’s Goose Islands turn at the table. Over the years we’ve tried a bunch of different styles aged in bourbon/whiskey/wine barrels, so let’s see how this rich stout stacks up!
Tuesday, November 13 – NY vs. NY Beer Fight @ The Owl Farm, Brooklyn:
There’s a new horse in town. The town: Brooklyn. The horse: well, it’s less a horse and more a craft beer bar called The Owl Farm. Park Slope’s newest craft beer bar, brought to you from the devious minds behind Carrol Garden’s BGH, has only been open since June but has been packing in the craft beer events for your all your Brooklyn beer loving needs. Tonight they’ll be throwing a NY vs. NY beer night featuring some of the hoppiest, darkest and dangerous Empire State brews for you to spend Tuesday night pondering over. Check out the list, two NY beers for every style:
IPA: Ithaca Flower Power VS Barrier Ruckus
DIPA: Southern Tier Unearthly VS He’Brew Lenny’s R.I.P.A.
Nitro Stout: Davidson Brothers Oatmeal VS Sixpoint Otis
Belgian-style Ale: Ommegang Rare Vos VS Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold
Pils: Southampton Keller Pils VS Sixpoint The Crisp
Autumn Seasonal: Ommegang Scythe & Sickle VS Southern Tier Harvest
English-style/Session: Barrier MollyCoddle VS Rockaway ESB
Cider: Doc’s Hard Apple VS Original Sin Pear
Oh, we almost forgot – there’s a Wildcard category – promising some mysterious, nutty selections.
My money’s on the new horse.
The Owl Farm is located at 297 9th Street between 4th and 5th Avenues in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Tuesday, November 13 – Goose Island Beer and Cheese Pairing @ Sunswick 35-35, Queens:
After hurricanes and presidential elections we are finally back here at the Beer Friends with some excellent celebratory/wound licking events for you.
Wednesday, November 7 – Fullers Beer Night @ One Stop Beer Shop, Brooklyn:
Depending on your horse you’re either loving America this morning or severely disappointed with it. OR you’re just sick of the circus-like charade of it all. How about some of the best foreign new from the rest world to forget American politics for a minute? We think yes.
Fullers is renowned as one of the finest beer brewers in the world making everything from the darkest stouts to the hoppiest IPA’s on to the most golden of ales. They’ll be pouring a wide range of draughts and a strong selection of bottles over at One Stop Beer Shop tonight for you to enjoy.
So head on over to enjoy some nowhere-near-American-partisan brew and forget about attack ads, electoral colleges and primary colored states for a night.
The One Stop Beer Shop is located at 134 Kingsland Avenue between Beadle and Lombardy Streets in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Wednesday, November 7 – Borubon Barrel Boner Night @ Double Windsor, Brooklyn:
In the spirit of competition, Beer Friends would like to invite everyone to our second season of NFL hashtag battles! Using hashtagbattle.com we will pit two breweries against each other when their NFL counterparts are facing off on the gridiron. Are you ready for some football? And drinking? And #hashtag battle?!?!?!
What’s a hashtag battle? When you’re drinking a beer of a brewery competing in the battle, throw a #hashtag of the brewery and tweet it (or setup your foursquare or untappd to push to tweet and include the #hashtag) and we’ll use hashtagbattle.com to declare a winner after the Monday Night football game on ESPN. Support your team, support your beer, drink local and hashtag battle!
Week Three – St Louis Rams at Chicago Bears (#schlaflybeer vs #gooseisland)
In the spirit of competition, Beer Friends would like to invite everyone to our NFL season hashtag battles! Using hashtagbattle.com we will pit two breweries against each other when their NFL counterparts are facing off on the gridiron. Are you ready for some football? And drinking? And #hashtag battle?!?!?!
What’s a hashtag battle? When you’re drinking a beer of a brewery competing in the battle (#gooseisland vs #victory), throw a #hashtag of the brewery and tweet it (or setup your foursquare or untappd to push to tweet and include the #hashtag) and we’ll use hashtagbattle.com to declare a winner after the Monday Night football game on ESPN. We’re starting on Sunday morning so drink up – support your team, support your beer, drink local and hashtag battle!
Week Nine – Chicago (#gooseisland) vs Philadelphia (#victory)
Wednesday, August 24 – Beer and Lobster Fest @ David Copperfield’s, Manhattan:
Head on up to the Upper East tomorrow for a chance to snag a delicious deal – lobster, corn on the cob for a $1. They have 30 lines of craft beer for you to pair with the lobster. After our New England Brewery Tour we’d suggest an English style IPA. And since the lobster is only a dollar, you can try pairing over, and over, and over, and over… Enough said.
David Copperfield’s is located at 1394 York Avenue between 74th and 75th Streets, Upper East Side, Manhattan.
Wednesday, August 24 – Beer Club Night @ The Bronx Ale House, The Bronx:
Here’s another reason to head up to the Bronx – that often avoided borough that deserves more respect than most New Yorker’s give it. The Bronx Ale House, arguably the Bronx’s only craft beer bar, has started a “Beer Club.” Similar to a few other beer club’s in New York, however while other craft beer bars only reward you once you reach 100 beers the Bronx Ale House rewards you at different points along the way AND once you get to 100 you get quite the package – your name engraved on their wall of fame, a Bronx Ale House t-shirt, a personalized growler which gets you discounted growler fills and %50 off every Wednesday night. That’s where tomorrow comes in. You might not be a Gold Member, or any kind of member yet, but tomorrow is a good a day as any to start.
The Bronx Ale House is located at 216 West 238th Street between Broadway and Putnam Avenue, Riverdale, The Bronx.
Baseball! This week the Beer Friends go on location and review Red Hook Long Hammer IPA from Citi Field, home of the Amazing Mets! (Although this Beer Friends was cheering for the Colorado Rockies!) We all enjoyed the selection from the Big Apple Brews bar located behind the center field scoreboard AND on the 500 level behind Home Plate. Great selection including Kona Brewing, Redhook, Goose Island and about 15 others – with a Blue Smoke and Shake Shack, Citi Field might be the perfect place to watch a game, if only we could do something about the home team…
With all the recent talk over a certain large beer distributing company purchasing another small craft brewery the Beer Friends decided to pour one out and discuss the past and future. This week’s SPotW is Goose Island IPA from Chicago and now part of the Anheuser Busch-InBev family – the Beer Friends discuss the possibilities of the beverage giant buyout and whether or not we’ll see those delicious Brewmaster Reserves (Sofie, Bourbon County Stout, Matilda) continue, or slowly fade away. For up-to-date Goose Island / In-Bev info be sure to check back with the Beer Friends, and the Goose Island twitter feed. In-Bev! Corporations! Pouring one out for my dead soldiers! Beer!
March Madness is fast upon us and we have some craft beer to keep you company while watching all the games. If you happen to feel empty and wanting the minute-to-minute thrills of bracket competition in between rounds then you should check in to The Beer Friends to vote on our own March Madness Tournament – Beer Style. Whichever event we see you out at this week we expect to see you buried face first into your personal-internet-device as you continuously update TheBeerFriends.com to see who is leading the nations most important beer competition. Vote early and vote often to help us decide what is the best beer in the country.
Tuesday, March 22 – East Coast versus West Coast IPA Challenge @ Rattle n’ Hum, Manhattan:
The Beer Friends have often discussed how American Craft Breweries often prove their worth by brewing a great IPA. It stands as a benchmark that solidifies you as a notable member of the American craft beer community. Well, then what better way to judge an East Coast v West Coast competition then going head to head with IPA’s. Expect a wide selection of hoppy brew from your favorite east coast and west coast breweries including cask offerings, barrel aged and rare releases that only the craft beer gurus at Rattle n’ Hum can get their hands on. East Coast verse West Coast? Let’s let the hops decide!
Rattle n’ Hum is located at 14 E 33rd Street between Madison and 5th Avenues, Midtown, Manhattan.
dingerc
Brad
Corporate Kerouac
Phil
