November 2007

Ah… November in New York City: weather cold enough for a scarf, insane numbers of tourists shop-shop-shopping and stop-stop-stopping up the sidewalks, hot apple cider at the greenmarkets, and the return of the cask ale festivals to Brazen Head. Three times a year, caskrepeneur Alex Hall (shown at left) and Brazen Head co-owner Lou Sones throw a three-day beer event featuring all cask ales. This weekend’s fest features 31 casks, the largest number yet, with 11 tapped at a time. Many of the casks are one-of-a-kinds, almost all are from regional breweries, and there’s a wide range of styles represented. I headed over last night around 5 pm to sample some of the wares. It was warm enough to sit in Brazen’s backyard, where I enjoyed my first half pint of Brookyn’s own SixPoint Craft Ales Gran’Dad’s Nerve Tonic, jointly brewed with local band Junk Science. Hoppy and malty with a tinge of chocolate, at 8% ABV this was a nice kick-off for tonight’s cask experience. Next was a Cascade Dry-hopped IPA from Smuttynose Brewery – a clean citrus delight, my second favorite beer of the night. I also tried the Colonial Farmhouse Cider, which was very tasty and similar to the ciders I’ve had in England – sharp, medium-dry, and not too sweet. The Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin was also good, not too spicy and not too sweet. I thought the Ommegang Abbey Ale was a little weird in cask, as this is a beer that works best with high carbonation in my opinion, but many were enjoying it. The Mohawk Trail Pale Ale, the first ever cask ale produced by the new Nomad Brewery was tapped just before 8 pm, with all proceeds being donated to charity. I ended the evening with the SixPoint Belgian Rye-PA, the only cask produced of this beer and my favorite of the evening. I love the Righteous Rye, and the Belgian styling only added to the complexity of this beer – truly delicious! Brazen Head got pretty packed as the evening wore on, with a diverse bunch of craft beer lovers, brewers, the suited after-work crowd, and local Brooklynites all enjoying cask ale – a nice site to see! I had a such a great time drinking real ale and hanging out with friends that I’m headed back as soon as I finish this post. The fests at Brazen Head are a great chance to drink American craft cask ales, I highly recommend checking one out. They’re usually held in November, February, and May and it’s best to go several times over the weekend to be able to sample as many as possible, the earlier in the day the better as the narrow bar gets quite crowded. Hope to see you there!
More pics on Flickr.