Month: July 2016

2016, The Year in Beer (So Far…) or Hey, Come Salivate Over These Pictures!

Hello, gorgeous Benedict Beer Blog readers! Thanks for coming back, or, if this is your first time, welcome here! Holly and I have had some amazing adventures this year, which you’ve read about, so I think it’s time to recap the first (a little more than) half of the year with some pictures. Everyone loves pictures, and you wouldn’t be here unless you:

A. Love beer

B. Are related to me, or

C. Both.

Thanks for tuning in for these first couple of months. Now, let’s look at some pretty pretty pictures of craft beer why not??!?!?

January 1st, 12:01am. Singlecut Beersmiths Heavy Boots of Lead Imperial Stout. I’ve gushed over this beer and brewery in numerous other posts. This is liquid chocolate, so drink it if you ever see it. He fills his victims full of happiness. Ozzy approves.

January 3rd. Hilton Garden Inn, Long Island City, NY. Post-ceiling collapse, we stayed in this amazing hotel, where we drank beer and wine out of paper cups, because Holly Kay and I are Renaissance Men. Southern Tier Brewing Company Crème Brûlée Imperial Stout. Skip dessert, drink this instead. Sweet, sugary, vanilla, chocolate, coffee. You (dia)BET(ic) we loved it!

January started off with some stouts! They warm ya up when it’s cooooold out there! Chris “MusicDktr” Benedict, would approve, right, Dad?

January 8th. Belated Christmas dinner at Brad (of Bradco Brew) and Alex’s Apartment! This beer is out of control. Barrier Brewing Company Money IPA. Bursting with tropical citrus and pine, just put me on a hammock in between two palm trees and get me out of this New York City winter for crying out loud!

This is Brad, aka Bradco Brew. He makes amazing brews. Our favorites are the Blueberry Cream Ale (which I wish I could drink all summer), Citrus Saison, and his amazing Chocolate Stout. Become friends with Brad and you can try these. He’s nice!

January 23rd. First major snowstorm of the year. Holly Kay and I got off of work early, and spent the day watching movies, eating, and drinking. This is Pipeworks Brewing Company Lizard King, a single hopped session IPA with Mosaic hops. Mosaic, she’s a naughty, naughty girl… Pineapple, pineapple, and more pineapple. Another tropical dream to escape the 12″ + of snow building up outside our apartment window. Also, this can art cannot be beat.

January 23rd… Speaking of snowstorm… Evil Twin and Two Roads Geyser Gose. Gose (pronounced Gose-uhh) is a traditional German-style beer that is tart, herbal, and salty. Geyser Gose is brewed with ingredients sourced from Iceland (a country I would absolutely love to visit), including Icelandic moss, rye, herbs, sea kelp, skyr (a tart, Icelandic yogurt) and birch smoked sea salt. The kelp, sea salt, and moss, give this beer an earthy, umami saltiness to counteract the sour citrus. It might not sound appealing in writing, but it’s unreal. It’s great for summer, or, in this case, to counteract our Cabin Fever.

February 11th. Sixpoint Brewery C.R.E.A.M., a Cream Ale brewed with coffee… Beer + Coffee + Wu Tang Clan? Dolla, dolla bills, y’all. This blonde ale tastes like coffee with cream, bitter like green bell peppers (which is a flavor that I sometimes pick up from a really bitter black coffee), balanced by a sugary sweetness. Craft Rules Everything Around Me.

February 26th. Barrier Brewing Company and Other Half Brewing Half & Half. This was shared at Threes Brewing. In preparation for Brian and Tanya’s wedding in Houston, I met up with Brian and his coworkers Doug and Martin (I was at work, so I missed their excursion to Other Half Brewing), and we enjoyed some beer and food from BBD’s (Beers, Burgers, and Desserts) who had a pop up restaurant at the brewery. I guess I inadvertently theme my beer drinking, as this tasted like coffee with half & half and sugar.

This one had less of a hip hop theme, but more of two of my favorite local breweries, so it’s a toss up which one I love more. So we’ll leave it at I love them both the same.

March 4th. Honeymoon Cafe. These aren’t beer. They’re beignets. Because why wouldn’t I post a picture of these gorgeous monstrosities of culinary delight? You’re welcome.

March 5th. Our 5th Anniversary, and the day of Tanya and Brian’s wedding. While our lovely wives were getting ready, Jerry, Scott and I decided to walk to a brewery on the outskirts of town. As you’ve heard a million times before by the great Rob Thomas, “Man, it’s a hot one…” And it truly was. Houston, Texas clocked in at literally 7 inches from the midday sun. This Rocket Fuel from 8th Wonder Brewing, made with Vietnamese Coffee and served on nitro, at a sessionable 4.8%ABV, was so Smooth. It gave me its heart, and made it real, so I couldn’t forget about it…
March 12th. “Guest Bartending” at the Grand Opening of Il Bambino’s new location on 8th Street in the West Village, NYC. This man knows how to handle a tap… Wink.

March 17th. Saint Patrick’s Day. Because you have to. Also, this throwback artwork is incredible!
March 26th. My first ever Trillium Brewing Company beer, their Farmhouse Ale. Holly Kay stated, “this beer taps you on the shoulder and says, ‘Hello!'” Dry, funky, grassy, with tart lemon citrus, it’s the perfect beer to accompany rich food, but also stay out of its way and act as a compliment to the salty, funky cheeses.

April 14th. Picked up one of these Pipeworks Brewing Company Ninja Vs. Unicorn Double IPAs at a little store on the East Side called Miso Hoppy. It poured hazy orange, with aroma of pineapple, orange, lemon. Taste followed, with a little candy sweetness from the malt. Pick it up if you see it. This is right up there among the great IPAs out there.

April 14th. Stillwater Artisinal Ales On Fleek Imperial Stout. Pours black as night, tastes like dark chocolate, cherries and coffee. And this can is out of control!!

April 20th. The hits keep coming with Stillwater Artisinal Ales, this time they teamed up with Other Half Brewing to make Rockstar Farmer, a hoppy farmhouse saison, with notes of lemon, funk, and hay. Another great compliment to our food that night, Gorgonzola and honey Crostinis with cured hot sausage. Holly Kay and I treated ourselves royally!

April 22nd. Shared this beer with Holly Kay and our favorite bartender, Derek at The Folly on Houston Street. This was a great platform to let the Citra hop do its thing with floral and citrus notes. Other Half always kills it. This can was a gift from Rick Vath! Thanks, Rick!

June 9th. Carton Brewing Company and Barrier Brewing Co. collaborated on this SS-C.R.E.A.M. A hoppy, imperial cream ale, with citrus notes from the hops, balanced with vanilla and cream. This was enjoyed at Rattle ‘N’ Hum in NYC!

June 9th. Westbrook Brewing Company Mexican Cake Imperial Stout brewed with cacao nibs, cinnamon, vanilla beans, and habanero peppers! That’s a spicy meatball! This was quite possibly the best stout I tasted this year. Smooth, creamy mouthfeel with heaps of cocoa and cinnamon, and a slight heat from those pep peps! Mama Mia, me so spicy!
June 16th. Brought back reeeeeal fresh from Tree House Brewing in Monson, MA. Another citrus bomb from these guys! I love their can artwork as well!
Picture taken June 16th, beer shared the night before with Ryan, Erica, and Holly Kay! Trillium Brewing Artaic Double IPA I would say this is my favorite IPA I’ve had all year, but it got slightly edged out by another, which you’ll see in a minute. This is brewed with honey, which just sets off and intensifies the citrus, juicy hop profile. It’s drool-worthy.

July 13th. National French Fry Day. Paired with Troegs Brewing Company Nimble Giant. This is a KILLER beer. Another juicy, Northeast Style IPA, but the malts create a cherry-like sweetness that plays well with these hops. Unreal.
July 21st. The winner for my favorite IPA this year. Singlecut Beersmiths Softly Spoken Magic Spells. Absolutely gorgeous pineapple juice in a 16.9 fl oz bottle of wonder and amazement. If Singlecut keeps making beer like this. I’mma keep drinking ’em.
July 24th. This was yesterday! This has certainly been a year filled with some juicy IPAs, and Tree House Brewing Company Bright fits right in. Mom, Dad, and Holly Kay all loved it! Lime is prevalent in this brew, but complimented by pineapple, orange, and pine. Hops are an amazing creature, and I’m so excited to see what all these insane Brewers will do with them in years to come.
Thanks all for sharing in this half year (plus a little bit) in pictures! The Benedicts will be back with more adventures! Thanks again for reading! Cheers!

The Poconos! Or, How I Couldn’t Stop Singing The Beach Boys “Kokomo” Incessantly, For Days On End…

“Because we’re going to the Poconos, we’ll get there fast and then we’ll take it slow, that’s where we wanna goooo… Go to the Poconos!”

-The Beach Boys (original draft lyrics, I think)

We’re continuing our year of quick little adventures!

Holly and I rarely get two days off together, so we try and squeeze every ounce of goodness out of our occasional weekends (read: Wednesday and Thursday) off. We called up my Aunt Delia, who owns a house (from now on, and forevermore, it will be referred to as The Chalet) on Camelback Mountain, in Tannersville, PA. We love The Chalet because:

A. It is under 2 hours from NYC

B. It’s quiet, with a ton of outdoorsy-type activities

C. Our favorite Pennsylvania brewpub, Barley Creek Brewing Company is less than a mile away.

Holly picked me up from work, and we drove through the Lincoln Tunnel, past the seven layers of the Candy Cane Forest, through the sea of swirly, twirly gum drops… I’m sorry, that’s how you get to the North Pole. We did stop for Disco Fries at a Diner in New Jersey, though, and they were crispy, salty and DELICIOUS.

First stop after dropping our bags off at the Chalet was the aforementioned Barley Creek. I’ve been coming to the Chalet for nearly ten years, Holly for about 4, so we’ve dined at Barley Creek many times before. We’re always delighted, and this time was no exception. Our bartender Nick, was so friendly and welcoming, he almost made us forget we’d been awake for nearly 20 hours. They had a 2 for $10 appetizer special, so Holly and I shared two Bavarian pretzels with mustard and beer cheese, and a Beer Cheese Soup. Whenever we come here with my brother-in-law Matt, we refer to Barley Creek as “Pretzels for Dinner.”

Pretzels for Dinner. Giant, twisted, golden delicious, crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and flecked with crystals of salt that gleam, beckoning you for just one more bite.

Holly rocking a bite of Beer Cheese Soup made with Barley Creek Antler Brown Ale.

From left to right: Rescue IPA, a malt forward, English-style IPA with a bit of citrus hop presence, Summer Double Wheat, a hefty Hefeweizen at 7.2%ABV, Too Bitter ESB, another balanced, English-style ale, and one of the guest taps (they have several), Otter Creek Brewing Company Citra Mantra, an IPL (India Pale Lager), made with pilsner and Munich malt and hopped with Citra for an amazing grapefruit and pineapple dance around your taste buds.

I told Nick about the blog (shout out to Nick for being amazing!) and told him we’d be back before we left. We, of course, made good on that promise. More on that later…

Myself and Nick the bartender, just two guys holding a Barley Creek Growler.

We got back to the Chalet, exhausted, but so excited to finally be on a mini-vacation. So guess what we did? We opened a bottle of wine, and popped in a VHS copy of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and wound down on the giant, comfy couch. Because that’s how we do. Christmas in July, baby.

Chaise Lounge, anyone?

I also opened a bottle of Fegley’s Brew Works Hop’solutely Triple IPA. It poured a beautiful orange color with very little foam. This didn’t have a date on it, but usually with IPAs this high in alcohol content (it clocks in at 11.5%), even if the hops fade from age (hop flavor begins fading as soon as beers hit the bottle, which is why it’s important to drink them fresh), the alcohol heat and the smooth, sweet malts create a nicely balanced beer with a bit of citrus, and a nice cherry sweetness from the malt.

Tim Curry was interested to see what I was drinking…

Hop’so… LUTELY!

The next morning, we ventured out pretty early to take a tour of the Tannersville Cranberry Bog (which is as amazing and… well, boggy as it sounds. And yes, they do have cranberries, although none were ripe enough to eat.). Our guide, Darryl, had been working for the Tannersville Conservancy for nearly 30 years and you could tell that he was absolutely in love with his job. At one point, he pretended to fall into the bog, face first. The guy was a clown.

Darryl. Sweet, Funny, Pratfalling Darryl.

If you stepped into this, you would be really wet and also in a bog.

These plants are carnivorous, luring insects in to drink water and then slowly digesting them.

It was about 85 degrees that afternoon, but in the bog felt closer to 856,972 degrees… Celsius.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the community pool back at the Chalet, and doing a little shopping at the Outlet Mall. At the Mall, we did a wine tasting, and I had a Honey Wine, which was sweet and syrupy, and a Bourbon-Barrel Aged red wine that was amazing. The wine took on the caramel and vanilla characteristics you usually associate with bourbon, along with the oak from the wooden barrel. It was fantastic.

After working up a powerful hunger at the Outlets, we were trying to decide where to go to dinner. Nick (our bartender from Barley Creek) recommended we go to ShawneeCraft Brewing Company, about a 30 minute drive from where we were. We did go there on the way home, but we decided that we’d both be happy going right back to Barley Creek. But, not before going to Target and picking up Galaxy Quest and Nacho Libre for $5, to watch back at the Chalet.

Barley Creek looks amazing lit up at night.

My cute little Holly Kay with a big ol’ Barley Creek Farmhouse Porter. Smooth, creamy, malty chocolate and coffee, with some funk, citrus, and hay. It’s a lovely cross between a farmhouse saison and a porter.

We shared a Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza and a plate of Buffalo Wings. It was National Fried Chicken Day, but Holly Kay protested that wings DO NOT count as fried chicken. They still tasted amazing.

We fell asleep about 15 minutes into Galaxy Quest, but woke up the next morning and watched it again. Everyone loves a good Tim Allen film, but Alan Rickman is outrageous, and on a completely different level. It’s wild. It was Holly’s first time seeing it, and she loved it.

We packed our things, and decided we would go for a hike along the trails at Camelback. Let me preface this by saying, neither of us are hikers. Holly has said, many times before, “I refuse to run unless something is chasing me.” We’re both up and about all day at our jobs, but that’s on solid, steady ground. This was a mountain. So I’ll go ahead and say that the “Easy” trail we chose was, to us city folk, a solid “Intermediate.”

We took the Indian Trail, which was rocky, but that view was unbelievable.
The view from the halfway point of the 1.3 mile trail. Gorgeous. What you can’t see is the 90 degree drop off just beyond these bushes…

We’re hikers (I think)!
Look at my hiking gear! I’m such a professional HIKER!
Oh, also, about .3 miles from the exit to the trail, Holly Kay made a noise. This is a blog, and it will not do this noise justice, it sounded like this… “WOO, WHOO!!!” And this wasn’t a celebration, this was a WOO WHOO of surprise!!(!) I looked around, not knowing what was happening, if perhaps we were about to be, or already were, in serious danger. Holly yelled, “SNAKE!” I looked towards the ground, and watched this legless, wiggly monster slither (thankfully) away from our general direction. At that point, we hustled just a bit faster than we had been, as we were done hiking, basically.

On our way home, we made good on our promise to Nick, and stopped by ShawneeCraft Brewery, tucked away behind the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, right next to the Delaware Water Gap.

We discussed with our bartender the meaning of this symbol (Holly Kay said it was pagan in origin, I said it looked like a Native American dream catcher.). She told us that the owner of the brewery created it as a conversation piece, and its meaning is a mystery (OOH… Mystery.)
Hop Bines, with four different varietals of hops.

We sat at the bar and were welcomed warmly by our bartender, and ordered a flight to share.
From left to right, Saison Cuvée, a kettle sour saison blended with a red wine barrel aged saison, (our favorite of the flight),with flavors of tart grapefruit, cherry, sweet red wine, Dry Hopped Saison, which had an aroma of barnyard, citrus and medicine, with a flavor dry, white wine and citrus, Session Porter, on nitro, which tasted like melted chocolate, and went down easy at 4.5% ABV, and Raspberry Blanche, also on nitro, a wheat ale brewed with fresh raspberries.

The bathrooms at ShawneeCraft were located in the brewhouse, so I will leave you fine Blog readers with a few pictures of my trip to the restroom…

Barrels upon barrels of delicious beer!

HIKING! DANGER! MYSTERY! PERIL AT EVERY TURN! These are the adventures… Of the Benedict Beer Blog! Tune in next week, when Patrick and Holly Kay do something less perilous probably!
Until next time…

Cheers!

Beer Plus Music Vol. II, or How Singlecut Saved Us From Our Ceiling Collapsing on Our Heads…

“Hey you! Out there in the cold, getting lonely, getting old, can you feel me?

Hey you! Standing in the aisles, with itchy feet and fading smiles, can you feel me?”

If you can’t feel Pink Floyd, you can’t feel feelings.

So last week, I put together some beer and music pairings. A few days ago, I thought to myself, “How did I make a beer and music post and not mention one of my favorite (and literally the closest to my apartment) breweries, that is as obsessed with music as they are with beer?”

Singlecut Beersmiths. 37th Avenue, Astoria, Queens. This is a place you should go, definitely.

This is their entrance!

As far as beer and music collaborations are concerned, these guys are the (ZZ) tops!

They’ve taken a warehouse and made it home.

When you walk through the door of the giant warehouse, you’re welcomed in with large wooden tables, a gorgeous bar, complete with a record player and some unbelievable vinyl, beautiful, dark wood paneling, and gorgeous guitars hanging from the wall. Lining the walls are framed bags of malt, tying in their passion for beer with their passion for music.

The tap handles? All designed to look like guitar heads. The beers? Mostly named after the brewers’ favorite musicians, or song lyrics.

A video of me mouthing the line that Robert Plant shouted in the middle of “Stairway to Heaven” during a live recording for the 1976 concert movie The Song Remains the Same, which, apparently, still makes him cringe and inspired Singlecut’s IIPA of the same name.

Does Anybody Remember Laughter? IPA clocks in at 7.2% ABV, with aromas and flavors of dank, piney resin and citrus, tropical fruit (mango, pineapple) and pine. The forests truly do echo with laughter.

If you’ll excuse me… My hedgegrow is bustled, and frankly, I’m a little alarmed. I’ll be right back…

…

Ok, much better. Back to the beer.

Mo’Shuggie Soulbender IPA, found at Little Tibet, an unassuming, fun restaurant in our neighborhood of Jackson Heights, features Singlecut and other Queens breweries like Transmitter Brewing.

Mo’Shuggie weighs in at 7.4% ABV, and is brewed with both New Zealand and Australian hop varietals, and has aromas of tropical mango, pineapple, and orange citrus. The taste follows, with flavors of grapefruit zest, and white peach, leaving it with a dry finish. Simply, a world class IPA. Bright, fruity, aromatic, picks you up and drops you on the beach, the ocean lapping at your toes. Juice, juice, juice.

Singlecut helped Holly and I kick off our 2016. We were undecided on where we wanted to go to celebrate New Years Eve, but we discussed it with some friends, and decided to spend our evening there (not before a quick stop at the Ditmars location of Astoria Bier and Cheese)!

HK Benny looking super cute and wintery…

Holly started out with an Eric More Cowbell! Milk Stout. This is a creamy, smooth stout at 6% ABV with bitter bakers cocoa and coffee notes with some sugary sweetness. Great way to kick off the evening.

I had the Bon TNT Pale Ale, which is a hazy, unfiltered Pale Ale (see glass of orange juice in the picture above), a 5% ABV, juicy, citrus refresher and another great beer to kick off our evening.

Singlecut also has the Bon Bon 2XTNT IIPA, which, in my opinion, is as good as and easier to find than all the “New England Style” IPAs that are sought after and waited in line for. It’s another juicy, citrus bomb that drinks super easy for its 8.2% ABV. It’s packed with amazing New Zealand and Australian hops (which is appropriate, as Bon is a reference to the late Bon Scott, frontman for AC/DC). OI! OI! OI! OI! OI! OI! He’s dynamite, and he will win the fight.

Boom!

We continued the evening as our friends trickled in, Ryan (manager of Il Bambino, see my love letter to Il Bambino from a few months ago) and Erica, Rafa, and Alex and Shelbie all came by to spend a relatively quiet New Years Eve chatting and celebrating. The staff at Singlecut are always so welcoming and friendly, and they threw New Years confetti all over the tables, while we all listened to whatever records were spinning that night (I can’t remember exactly, but I think Rolling Stones and T-Rex were both a part of the night). It was an awesome evening ( aside from getting home at 1am to find our ceiling collapsed in our kitchen, but you’ve probably already read that post. If you haven’t, check it out here.)

Beer Plus Music Equals Love

Ryan and Erica. So happy to have these two in our lives!

Alex and Shelbie having a blast!

A grainy picture of Holly, Rafa and I. It’s grainy because of all the fun we were having. Also, you know, artsy. Beer is art. Grainy selfies are art, too.

Holly and I decided we were going to start the new year with our favorite beer from Singlecut, a MONSTER Imperial Stout called Heavy Boots of Lead.

Is he live or dead? Has he thoughts within his head?

Named after a lyric from Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”, this is a heavy hitter, at 11.2% ABV. It tastes like liquid dark chocolate, with hints of vanilla and coffee. One of my favorite non-barrel aged Imperial Stouts, whenever I see this around, I have to get it. I could drink this in the middle of summer.

The moral of the story here is, you should absolutely make the trek up to Northern Astoria (don’t go too far, or you’ll end up on Riker’s Island). They have amazing sour lagers (ahem, lagrrrs), also, try all of their Billy series IPAs, they range from about 5% ABV to 10%, and are all juicy and delicious. Their newest juice bomb IPA that I love is…

Breathe… Breathe in the air…

These guys are making absolute world class beers, and have only been around a few years, so I look forward to seeing what these mad scientists will put out next. Right on the bottle, it says “Mastery knows no shortcut”. And they’re not taking any. You know Holly and I will be there, and you should be too. Although, their traffic might explode after getting the Benedict Beer Blog Bump! 😉

Thanks for reading. Don’t sleep on Singlecut!

Cheers!

SouvenBeer, or Beer Plus Music Equals Winking Smiley Face Emoji

Beer and music go together like… Horseshoes and Apple Sauce! Wait, hold on, that’s not right… Let me try this again.

Beer and music go together like… French Fries and Butter Lettuce! Nope.

Teeny Tiny Trains and Horticulturalists?

Red Snapper and Winged Creatures of the Night?

Hot Sauce and Lemonade!

That’s it!

BEER AND MUSIC GO TOGETHER LIKE HOT SAUCE AND LEMONADE.

This is a Beyoncé joke. Hot sauce was her bat. Swag.

The first thing I think of when I think of beer and music is Dogfish Head Brewery. Sam Calagione, Founder of Dogfish Head, and one of the great pioneers of Craft Beer in America, created a line of beers called the Music Series (in addition to their already giant line up of amazing brews). From their website, Sam says, “Music has been a part of Dogfish Head since before Dogfish Head.” Their latest beer in this series, brewed for Record Store Day (back in February), is called Beer To Drink Music To. This is a Belgian-style Tripel, brewed with sweet orange peel, green cardamom, peppercorns and vanilla. Whoa, nelly. It weighs in at 9% ABV, so be careful, and sip this one, but don’t forget to turn up that radio first.

I picked up aromas of banana, clove, and flavors of freshly baked banana bread, juicy citrus, herb with a dry finish. I think I blew it and was watching TV while drinking this, but if I had to chose an album to spin while drinking it, I would suggest Harry Nilsson- Nilsson Schmillson, one of the most perfect Pop albums of all time, in my opinion. This album is a genre-hopping tour de force (as I write this sentence, I’m belting out the chorus to “Without You”, famously covered by Mariah Carey on her 1993 album Music Box.), and I choose this album because, like a lot of Dogfish Head’s beers, they use such genre-hopping ingredients, I think it fits. Find this beer, drink it, and listen to Nilsson. Magic.

Harry Nilsson- Gotta Get Up

Other notable beers to check out in Dogfish Head’s Music Series, Bitches Brew, an imperial stout with honey and gesho root, brewed for the 40th anniversary (in 2010) of Miles Davis’ album of the same name, American Beauty, an IPA brewed with granola, whose ingredients were chosen by Grateful Dead fans, and is inspired by 30 years (in 2013) of touring and recording, and Positive Contact, “a 9% ABV hybrid of beer and cider brewed with Fuji apples, roasted farro, a handful of cayenne peppers and a late dose of fresh cilantro.” This was brewed in conjunction with Sam and Dan the Automator of Deltron 3030, which, in 2012, was released in a “Box Set” of 6 bottles with a Vinyl EP of remixes made specifically for this release.

Deltron 3030 – Positive Contact

Holly and I had a night of beer and music a few days ago, as well. Continuing our adventures here in this great, smelly-in-the-summer city, we were invited to an EP Release show, hosted by our dear friend Mason Maggio, as he released his newest EP, Merit Badge Season, under the Monicker Souveneer.

Mason is the lead singer of The Republic of Wolves, an indie rock band influenced by bands such as Brand New, and As Tall As Lions (both bands y’all should check out), and Tigers on Trains, a folk duo with Christian Van Deurs, who have put out some gorgeous, Paul Simon-esque albums with beautiful harmonies that are perfect for any time of year.

Since this is a blog about beer, I’ve had the idea to pair a beer to each of Mason’s bands. Let’s go!

For The Republic of Wolves, I would pair a Founders Brewing Company Dark Penance. This is a Black IPA, made with Crystal Malt and Midnight Wheat (which makes it black), and hopped with Chinook and Centennial hops. I chose this because this is a dark, brooding beer with bursts of beautiful crisp citrus and pine from the hops. The Republic of Wolves lyrics and music are darker and heavier than Mason’s other bands, but they’re peppered with moments of beautiful, clean guitars and gorgeous melodies.

The Republic of Wolves – Spare Key

For Tigers on Trains, I would pair Allagash Brewing Company White. As mentioned earlier, I could listen to these albums any time and they make me so happy. With Allagash White, a traditional belgian wheat, you always know it’s going to be a good time. Crisp, orange citrus is balanced out with beautiful honey sweetness and a little bit of spice. Refreshing no matter when, no matter where. I could hand this beer (or share these albums) with anyone, and I guarantee they’d find something they loved.

Tigers on Trains – Long Sleeves

Holly and I started our evening at The Folly, our favorite Pirate-themed haunt, with our favorite bartender, Derek, on Houston Street.

Arrrgh! (Pirate growl)
Holly was already enjoying a glass of sparkling Rosé when I arrived, (which tasted DELICIOUS after coming out of the sun and was PINK), and I picked a Coney Island Brewing Mermaid Pilsner. As a craft beer drinker, I don’t pay enough attention to Pilsners. It’s very easy to get them wrong, because there’s nothing to hide behind. Pilsners are traditional German-style crisp lagers, with grassy, citrus hops and light, sweet malts. What an awesome beer for the summer. They’re low ABV, so you can have a few at a barbecue or on the beach and still be able to go out at night. This one didn’t disappoint (Coney Island makes some great brews. I miss their Seas The Day IPL, but that’s another story.), and was clean, bright, with some citrus and grassy notes, and a smooth, sweet finish. I can’t wait to head down to their new brewery space in Coney Island!

We walked east on Houston street towards the venue, The Cake Shop, on Ludlow Street. We stopped in for dinner at Sweet Chick, a Southern Inspired restaurant just a block or so away from the venue. Holly and I shared fried chicken biscuit sliders, with pickles and hot honey. We now want to put hot honey on everything, all the time. HOT. HONEY. GIT IT, GURL. We also got Mac & Cheese that was breaded with crumbled Ritz Crackers, which, in my humble opinion, can never be bad, and Mashed Potatoes and Gravy.

A Sweet Chick, in front of a Sweet Chick!

Oh right, this is a blog about beer.

Sorry.

Holly ordered Victory Brewing Company Donnybrook Stout, a dry Irish Stout, a low ABV, black as night stout, with flavors of coffee and bitter bakers’ chocolate.

Preparing for our trip to Ireland!
I ordered the Bronx Brewery Rye Pale Ale. These guys make such consistent beer, and this is no exception. The rye added a little spice, just right at the end of the sip, to the lemon peel citrus from the hops, balanced nicely with a malt sweetness. Another great beer for summer. Our friend Bryan joined us and ordered an amazing mango lemonade, which, while not beer, still tasted sweet, citrusy and refreshing. Summah, summah, summah, summahtime.

Well, hello, summer.
Bronx, meet Pennsylvania.

We arrived at the Cake Shop and gave hugs to Mason, and mingled and chit chatted as the first three bands played, all friends of Mason’s, and all very pleasant, folky, indie rock. But we were there for our son! (Actually, he’s Rich Maggio’s son. But we can pretend, can’t we?)

Thanks to Bryan for picking up our first round of drinks. Holly chose a Youngs Brewing Double Chocolate Stout. HK was on a stout kick tonight, and this is another winner, packing in a ton of chocolate flavor for such a low ABV stout. Milky, smooth, sweet, chocolate and coffee. If they’ll keep makin’ em, we’ll keep drinkin’ em.

I ordered a Peak Organic Fresh Cut Pilsner. I preferred the Mermaid Pilsner, but it could have something to do with the draft lines at this place. I’ll pick this up in a bottle and save my thoughts on it for another time.

Our friend Kevin joined us, and started with Narragansett Lager. He and Bryan moved on to Red Stripe (HOORAY BEER!).

Kevin.

Bryan.

HK Benny.

We said hello to Mason’s (actual) parents, Rich and Debra, who brought what seemed like a horde of relatives, which is super supportive and awesome. There was a ton of love in that basement bar on Thursday night, and well deserved. Rich, the proud Dad that he is, showed off that he bought the first ever Souveneer tee shirt. Debra, the proud Mom (and Grandma!!) that she is, showed us pictures and videos of Amelia, Evan (Mason’s brother and one of my dearest friends) and Missy’s daughter.

I was wary of the draft lines after the Fresh Cut, so I ordered a can of Double Chocolate Stout as well, and began enjoying it just as Mason took the stage, for the first time playing songs as Souveneer. He sang and played guitar, and was accompanied a violinist and a bassist, who also played bass for one of the previous bands, Hotel of the Laughing Tree. It’s fun to watch friends doing what they love, and receiving so much love and energy from the crowd of family and friends. The highlight of the night for me was his cover of The Talking Heads- Road to Nowhere, slowed down and performed just by Mason and his guitar. Every one of Mason’s show’s I’ve been to, his parents have been there, singing along and encouraging others to join in on the fun, and this was no exception.

Souveneer- Empathy (Clip)

Souveneer- Road to Nowhere (Clip)
So, in one evening, I got to:

A. Have a date night with my wife

B. Spend time with my buddies Bryan and Kevin

C. See Mason doing what he loves and continuing to put out amazing music

D. See Christian and Billy, band members of The Republic of Wolves and Tigers on Trains, who I haven’t seen in a while

E. See Rich and Debra Maggio and see them gush over their sons

F. Share stories, beer, sing along, and experience Mason’s newest venture with friends and family

Not bad for a Thursday.

Until next time.

Cheers!