Tuesday, January 17, 2006
The Year So Far...
Here are the 20 new-to-me beers that I've had so far this year. Today is Jan. 17, so I am ahead of my goal by 3 days.
1) Weyerbacher Winter Ale - Reviewed earlier.
2) Ayinger Brau Weisse - Very pleasant, banana and yeasty aromas. One of the best German Hefeweizen's out there.
3) Victory Hop Wallop - Reviewed earlier.
4) Heavyweight Perkuno's Hammer Imperial Porter - My goodness what a beer. I only bought one bottle of this but I will definitely have to get it again. This is actually a Baltic porter... a very underappreciated and rare style indeed.
5) Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA - Amazingly the first time I had actually had this beer. I've had several others from this brewery and this one easily is the best I've tried. Definitely in my top 10 beers.
The next set of beers will have some dubious selections that I otherwise would have avoided but luckily the supermarket sells by the bottle (only macro selections). Of the next nine, five of them were purchased here. Let's see if you can guess which ones they are?
6) Negra Modelo - Surprisingly drinkable beer. I am not a fan of the Grupo Modelo/Corona line but this was much better than I expected it would be.
7) DAB Original - So-so pilsener in the classic German style. Drinkable but unremarkable.
8) Redhook Blonde Ale - Simple and refreshing beer. Nothing great. I honestly wasn't paying attention because I was trying to stifle my laughter while preparing for a short video presentation at my fantasy baseball league's winter meetings.
9) Gales Christmas Ale - On cask at David Copperfield's. Too sour for my taste. Didn't really enjoy it but would be willing to try again.
10) Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier - Reviewed earlier.
11) Tecate - Just awful. Thank goodness I only bought one bottle. Basically the same thing as a Budweiser.
12) Modelo Especial - Basically a Corona. Mayyyyyybe slightly better but not as "cool" to drink. I'd be interested to see who wins in a taste test. Well, maybe not...
13) St. Pauli Girl Special Dark - Skunk city.
14) Weyerbacher Insanity - A barley wine. Definitely a style I will have to have more of this year.
Penn Station is a mass of humanity. People coming and going to all points in the city and beyond. The corridors are dominated by eateries. There are fast food restaurants, bakeries, countless delis that serve panini sandwiches and have those make your own salad/burger/stir fry counter, smoothie shops, pizza restaurants, etc.
To go along with all that food there is... beer. You can find beer almost anywhere in the station from bars to the Hudson News stands.
Unfortunately, Central Market in the LIRR corridor has closed its doors. They had, to my knowledge, the best bottled selection in the station. Lots of Belgians and microbrews were available, but no longer.
However you can still find good beer. Rosa's Pizza in the same corridor offers up 3 Blue Point beers on tap.
15) Blue Point Hoptical Illusion - I think I may have had a bottle of this in the past but since I can't remember for sure I'm counting it as a new beer. This was a very hoppy IPA. Good stuff and it put a smile on my face after a hard day of work. I regret not getting a slice of pizza to go with it. They make a good grandma slice and an awesome chicken & ricotta slice. Always a pleasure to see the local stuff on tap. Support your local breweries!
The next two I had after work last week. I had been looking to get a quick beer or two before heading home, and decided to walk a few blocks over to the Empire State Building, where there is a branch of the Heartland Brewery.
Heartland no longer makes their beer on premises (it is now brewed in Brooklyn by Greenpoint Beer Works) therefore I don't really think they should call themselves a "brewery" anymore since they are technically not that but... whatever.
The Empire State location is fairly large, with 2 floors. I got a spot at the bar right away, as it wasn't overly crowded. The staff was friendly enough but I can't speak to their beer knowledge as I didn't really ask any questions. They give you a menu which has enough info on the selections available.
Outside of the Farmer Jons Oatmeal Stout, which is very good, I've never been overly impressed with any of the beers here. None of them have been terrible, but I would say their beer is mediocre overall. The food is decent, if a bit pricey at times.
16) Heartland Empire State Premium - This is a premium style lager beer (kind of in-between a pale lager and a pilsener). Think Sam Adams Boston Lager. As usual, I wasn't overly impressed.
17) Heartland Indie 500 Pale Ale - I ordered a platter of mini-burgers which were quite tasty, and ordered another one I haven't had yet. This was a beer I would like to have again. It was nice and hoppy with an interesting citrusy aftertaste. A pleasant surprise and a good job by Heartland.
Continuing the list...
18) Bear Republic XP Pale Ale - Reviewed earlier.
19) Rogue Dead Guy Ale - I bought a bottle of this just before Christmas but didn't get around to drinking it until now. This is a German style maibock. Excellent stuff with rich malty flavors.
20) Saranac Pale Ale - English style pale ale. Nothing special.
So there you have it, that's where I'm at right now. Stay tuned for new additions to the list. Tomorrow I will likely be at the Ginger Man from 6:30 until ??? and on Friday it will probably be David Copperfield's.
1) Weyerbacher Winter Ale - Reviewed earlier.
2) Ayinger Brau Weisse - Very pleasant, banana and yeasty aromas. One of the best German Hefeweizen's out there.
3) Victory Hop Wallop - Reviewed earlier.
4) Heavyweight Perkuno's Hammer Imperial Porter - My goodness what a beer. I only bought one bottle of this but I will definitely have to get it again. This is actually a Baltic porter... a very underappreciated and rare style indeed.
5) Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA - Amazingly the first time I had actually had this beer. I've had several others from this brewery and this one easily is the best I've tried. Definitely in my top 10 beers.
The next set of beers will have some dubious selections that I otherwise would have avoided but luckily the supermarket sells by the bottle (only macro selections). Of the next nine, five of them were purchased here. Let's see if you can guess which ones they are?
6) Negra Modelo - Surprisingly drinkable beer. I am not a fan of the Grupo Modelo/Corona line but this was much better than I expected it would be.
7) DAB Original - So-so pilsener in the classic German style. Drinkable but unremarkable.
8) Redhook Blonde Ale - Simple and refreshing beer. Nothing great. I honestly wasn't paying attention because I was trying to stifle my laughter while preparing for a short video presentation at my fantasy baseball league's winter meetings.
9) Gales Christmas Ale - On cask at David Copperfield's. Too sour for my taste. Didn't really enjoy it but would be willing to try again.
10) Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier - Reviewed earlier.
11) Tecate - Just awful. Thank goodness I only bought one bottle. Basically the same thing as a Budweiser.
12) Modelo Especial - Basically a Corona. Mayyyyyybe slightly better but not as "cool" to drink. I'd be interested to see who wins in a taste test. Well, maybe not...
13) St. Pauli Girl Special Dark - Skunk city.
14) Weyerbacher Insanity - A barley wine. Definitely a style I will have to have more of this year.
Penn Station is a mass of humanity. People coming and going to all points in the city and beyond. The corridors are dominated by eateries. There are fast food restaurants, bakeries, countless delis that serve panini sandwiches and have those make your own salad/burger/stir fry counter, smoothie shops, pizza restaurants, etc.
To go along with all that food there is... beer. You can find beer almost anywhere in the station from bars to the Hudson News stands.
Unfortunately, Central Market in the LIRR corridor has closed its doors. They had, to my knowledge, the best bottled selection in the station. Lots of Belgians and microbrews were available, but no longer.
However you can still find good beer. Rosa's Pizza in the same corridor offers up 3 Blue Point beers on tap.
15) Blue Point Hoptical Illusion - I think I may have had a bottle of this in the past but since I can't remember for sure I'm counting it as a new beer. This was a very hoppy IPA. Good stuff and it put a smile on my face after a hard day of work. I regret not getting a slice of pizza to go with it. They make a good grandma slice and an awesome chicken & ricotta slice. Always a pleasure to see the local stuff on tap. Support your local breweries!
The next two I had after work last week. I had been looking to get a quick beer or two before heading home, and decided to walk a few blocks over to the Empire State Building, where there is a branch of the Heartland Brewery.
Heartland no longer makes their beer on premises (it is now brewed in Brooklyn by Greenpoint Beer Works) therefore I don't really think they should call themselves a "brewery" anymore since they are technically not that but... whatever.
The Empire State location is fairly large, with 2 floors. I got a spot at the bar right away, as it wasn't overly crowded. The staff was friendly enough but I can't speak to their beer knowledge as I didn't really ask any questions. They give you a menu which has enough info on the selections available.
Outside of the Farmer Jons Oatmeal Stout, which is very good, I've never been overly impressed with any of the beers here. None of them have been terrible, but I would say their beer is mediocre overall. The food is decent, if a bit pricey at times.
16) Heartland Empire State Premium - This is a premium style lager beer (kind of in-between a pale lager and a pilsener). Think Sam Adams Boston Lager. As usual, I wasn't overly impressed.
17) Heartland Indie 500 Pale Ale - I ordered a platter of mini-burgers which were quite tasty, and ordered another one I haven't had yet. This was a beer I would like to have again. It was nice and hoppy with an interesting citrusy aftertaste. A pleasant surprise and a good job by Heartland.
Continuing the list...
18) Bear Republic XP Pale Ale - Reviewed earlier.
19) Rogue Dead Guy Ale - I bought a bottle of this just before Christmas but didn't get around to drinking it until now. This is a German style maibock. Excellent stuff with rich malty flavors.
20) Saranac Pale Ale - English style pale ale. Nothing special.
So there you have it, that's where I'm at right now. Stay tuned for new additions to the list. Tomorrow I will likely be at the Ginger Man from 6:30 until ??? and on Friday it will probably be David Copperfield's.
# posted by Nick @ 2:08 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
Hey Good Luck to you too! Just followed your link from our beeryear2006 LJ community.
Sounds like you're on track! Like you say, our challenge is slightly different as we can have had the beer in the past, but we're not allowed to have british bitters (there're too many and we want a challenge!) so most of them are new to me anyway.
Post a Comment
Sounds like you're on track! Like you say, our challenge is slightly different as we can have had the beer in the past, but we're not allowed to have british bitters (there're too many and we want a challenge!) so most of them are new to me anyway.
# posted by 
: 4:32 AM
: 4:32 AM << Home
