First night in town we (Joe, Ashley and me) had Negro Modelo and margarita's at a Mexican restaurant in Astoria at Broadway and 38th. The food was better than the beer. Afterward we split a Westmalle Tripel. I'm sure I've had this beer before but it was my favorite of the week.
Monday afternoon Joe and I split an Elysian Immortal Ale. Rather bad. It was overly bitter and a little rotten tasting. Joe's band rehearsed Monday night - Tecates were drunk. Later in the night we had a Lagunitas Maximus and Lagunitas IPA. I can't remember how they tasted - it was well into Tuesday morning at this point - but I do remember being unimpressed by either one.
Tuesday I was on my own during the day, so I hit Central Park and then walked down to Heartland Brewery at Union Square and a place called Banjo Jim's in the East Village. At Heartland I tried the IPA and Farmer Joe's Oatmeal Stout. The IPA was good+ and the Oatmeal Stout was great. At Banjo Jim's I had a Smuttynose IPA, which was good, but as I type this post, I'm drinking an Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale and it seems just as good as I remember the Smuttynose being. Smuttynose has a better name, but Dale's Pale comes in a can, so I call it at even money. At Banjo Jim's I passed on having an 'Amarula', which was probably a mistake.
Tuesday night Joe and I went to the Belgian Room on 8th Street and First Avenue. Cool place. The bartender was excellent and the place itself was good. In short the Belgian Room was very clean, they had good music (blues on XM) and it wasn't overly crowded. We tried (in no particular order):
St. Bernardus 12
Westmalle Tripel
Gruut Amber Ale (tap)
Delirium Tremons (tap)
Cantillon Rose' de Grambinus (lambic)
The Gruut Amber was absolutely awful. The Westmalle didn't hit the spot quite as well as it had earlier in the week, and I was a little upset by that. The Delirium, which we've all tried, tasted better to me on tap. I enjoyed the Cantillon and St. Bernardus best. Joe noticed that the Cantillon tasted like Cheerios, and he was right on the mark.
Then the bartender went over to the Hop Devil Grill and poured us each a small glass of Kuhnhenn Tenacious Cassis, which the Hop Devil has been aging for five years. 18% by volume, extremely smooth with flavors of grape and grapefruit.
Wednesday I had a few Stellas and Lone Stars. Neither is anything special, but the Stella Artois is better. Joe's gig on Wednesday at Rodeo Bar was rockin'.
In conclusion, the beers and taprooms of New York City are varied and range in quality in flavor. The end.
2 comments:
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Added a blurry picture from Rodeo Bar. L-R: Dan (lead guitar), Joe (vocals, guitar), Greg (pedal steel), Sean (bass). Not pictured: Alex on drums, who is behind Joe.
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