“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!
Look at these handsome fellas!
Silliness on Journey Into Imagination in Epcot, Walt Disney World
Dad and Holly intensely trying to defeat the evil Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World.
What can I say, we’re students of comedy.
