IPA

Big Alice, or How I Managed to Get a GIF of Tim Curry Smiling Into a Blog Post

I wanted to give a huge shout out this week to Big Alice Brewing in Long Island City.

Last week, I wrote about Craft at C’est Cheese in Port Jefferson, and spoke about their hospitality. The Craft Beer industry is all about friendship, community, hospitality, and supporting each other.

I want to thank Larissa and Annie, our awesome bartenders on a rainy Saturday evening in early October. Our experience at a brewery is as important as the taste of the beer, in my opinion. I was joined by my wife, Holly Kay, who had a rehearsal nearby, and our friend Brad, of Bradco Brew (@itsbradco on Instagram!)

It was my first time visiting the brewery, although I’d tried a few Big Alice beers at Astoria Bier and Cheese (the most notable being Salted Caramel, a tart, salty, sweet brown ale which is pretty mind boggling to think about…), and at The Jeffrey (Queens Honey Brown, a sweet, malty, subtle brown ale that perfectly compliments the amazing, salty pretzels The Jeffrey serves).

LIC Native White Stout, at Olivers in Astoria

What I love about Big Alice is their ability to offer a beer for any type of palate. (Insert diatribe about how the IPA market is saturated, how hops are ruining beer, whine, whine, whine, complain, complain, complain, etc.) I love IPAs, I will seek out the juicy, 0 IBU milkshake beer, and the palate destroying, 100 IBU, dank, bitter IPA. But I love variety every once in a while. So, when I stepped foot out of the rain, soaking wet, and into the brewery and, out of 13 taps, only two were IPAs, my smile grew ear to ear.

giphy
Me, upon entering the Tap Room…

A White Stout? A Jalapeño Rye? Multiple different sours? This place is cray cray (that’s what the kids say nowadays, yeah?) I knew I was in for a trip around the beer world on the wings of a Malted Falcon (I just made that up, but it’s my new band name, so…) and I was ready to fly… (Also I now just realize that Malted Falcon is also a pun on “Maltese Falcon” so I’m smart and funny don’t you think? Anyone? Anyone? )

The first beer I tried was Peach Gose (pronounced Gose-uhhhhhh). This was the perfect start to my flight, tart, dry, crisp, and salty. Summertime in a glass. Next, when Bradco arrived, I tried the Hibiskas Goes-uh. The floral notes added a nice balance to this salty, tart Gose. Another fantastic, wildly imaginative brew.

The tap room was nearly filled with large groups of people, which rotated about every 15 minutes. I asked Larissa, the first bartender I met, if anyone ever stumbles upon the tap room (Big Alice is located deep in an industrial section of Long Island City, so for me, it seemed like a destination). They said they get a lot of runners and bikers who see the large sign on Vernon Avenue, which runs along the East River.

The Brewhouse!

I then met the other bartender, Annie, who was just as friendly as Larissa. I started talking about the blog, and how my last post was about Moustache Brewing Company and how I visited them when they canned their first beer. Larissa said, “That’s funny, because my boyfriend helped them can as well!” TURNS OUT, that JAY, from that very blog post, was Larissa’s boyfriend! The Craft Beer world is smaller than you think!

432e77ba8d987b006f93d18a68edbd34 IIIIIT’S A SMALL WORLD AAAAAFTER ALLLLLLL (I’m so, so sorry….)

Jay came by later in the evening for a beer. And, since this is a beer blog, I will talk about that beer.

Our unanimous favorite beer of the night was the Jalapeño Rye. Untappd classifies this as a Black IPA, or Cascadian Dark Ale. The beautiful citrus from the hops is balanced by some spice from the rye, and Annie explained that they take all the seeds out of the jalapeño, so you get all the sweet, pepper flavor, without too much spice, but enough of a bite to intrigue you into another sip… And then another. And then another. It leaves you wanting more, and at 6.3% ABV, you can have another and still be even keel to enjoy the rest of your evening. Go to Big Alice right now (well, Wednesday through Sunday) and TRY THIS BEER!

Some other favorites from the evening were: the Sweet Potato Farmhouse Ale, a dry, sweet saison brewed with sweet potatoes, with bold sweetness from the potatoes, and some peppery notes from the saison yeast, and Sour One (named for it’s bitterness at 1 IBU). At 5.2% ABV, it’s a little higher than the two Goses I had earlier in the evening, but I loved the tart, acidic, fruit, and a little bit of funk, baby! I wanted to get all James Brown up in the tap room but it might have been too lit. I apologize for that last sentence.

In summary, Larissa and Annie treated Holly Kay, Bradco and I like we were family, and we really appreciated chatting with them and spending the evening in the gorgeous brewery/tap room. Holly picked up a tee shirt (she’s been collecting shirts from her favorite breweries we’ve visited throughout the year, so, Big Alice, you guys rank!) We stayed as long as we could, right until 10pm as they were closing. Thanks again for the great evening! We’re definitely going back, and you should go too!

Follow Big Alice on Social Media!

Facebook: Big Alice Brewing

Instagram: @bigalicebrewing

Twitter: @BigAliceBrewing

Until next time, Cheers!

As Is NYC, or, How to Stumble Upon a Modern Times Tap Takeover…

Hello, Handsome and Beautiful Creatures of Earth!

I wanted to do a quick shout out this week to As Is, a cool new Craft Beer bar on 50th St. and 10th Ave. in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC.

I was invited here by my awesome (also craft beer fanatic) friends, led by Brandon, who had been telling me about this place for a while and texting pictures of their beer menu each time he showed up there, as a reminder that he was cooler than I was because he was at a new Craft Beer bar and I wasn’t (how dare he?).

I got there a little earlier than Brandon, Clint, Rick, and Samson, who all came in a cab from Brooklyn (plus it was raining), and I ordered an Other Half Equinox/Topaz, a bright, citrusy Double IPA, dried off from the stormy weather outside (I didn’t have an umbrella) and made a Facebook Live video talking about beer and general silliness.

Thinking of tropical islands while watching seas of umbrellas and glistening city streets…

Facebook Live From As Is NYC!

Someone had their eyes closed in nearly every picture I took of humans this evening…

Clint flipped because they still had a keg of Tröegs Brewing Company Nimble Giant, a super nicely balanced Double IPA, with notes of pine, orange citrus, and cherry sweetness from the malt. I’ve dubbed this beer the “Heady Topper of Pennsylvania” (please don’t be triggered by this. I’m silly.)

Brandon flipped because they had a Modern Times takeover, featuring some awesome hop-forward IPAs and Pale Ales, and a few roasty, toasty Imperial Stouts. The highlight for me was the Orderville IPA, hopped with Mosaic (I WILL SING MOSAIC’S SWEET, SWEET SONG FROM ON MOUNTAIN HIGH!) and Simcoe (DITTO!). It was like sipping on tropical punch. Also try: Blazing World, a Red IPA, and Fruitlands Gose (my favorite one is the Apricot variant!).

The boys!

I did one more Facebook Live video (THE FUTURE) interviewing the boys and again, being generally silly… Check that out HERE!

Brandon, one of the owners, was behind the bar that evening, and was super hospitable, and very excited about what a great fit they were for Hell’s Kitchen (they’re practically neighbors with Pony Bar, and just a few blocks from Beer Culture, two heavy hitters in Hell’s Kitchen and in the NYC Craft Beer scene). I think these guys will do just fine.

I didn’t have a chance to eat anything on my first visit, but I’ll absolutely come back and eat from their menu of small plates and sandwiches (if the words “Burrata with 18 month Prosciutto” don’t make you salivate, then you’re a robot).

Brandon brought us some Modern Times SWAG, and Samson decided he should make it rain…

Absolutely check this place out (great for stopping by for amazing craft beer, food, and cocktails after a Broadway show!)

I’ll leave you with a really cool photo that Clint took, check him out, he’s @bktexan on Instagram!

Cheers!

As Is on Instagram: @asisnyc

This Post Sucks! Or, Does It?

Do you have a beer that constantly surprises you?

Do you have a beer that, with each taste, a smile creeps across that sweet mug of yours, and you chuckle to yourself about how damn good that last sip was?

Do you have a beer that inspires you?

I took a sip of beer a few nights ago and stopped in my tracks. I was overwhelmed with thoughts of my (in retrospect, very short) craft beer journey.

This was the first IPA that blew me away. Holly Kay and I were at Tap and Barrel in Smithtown to see our dear friend Matthew Spitz (from the absolutely unbelievable Moustache Brewing Co.) and his band Royal City Riot, whose sole mission was to groove our mind, body and spirit with their reggae/ska/dancehall jamz, and groove our mind, body and spirit they did. My goodness. (Please refer to my Love Letter to Moustache Brewing Co. to learn more about Matt and Lauri Spitz, their baby, Moustache, and how amazing they are.).

I saw they had Lagunitas Sucks IPA on tap, and I was drawn to it, of course, because of the name. I was still naive about IPAs at that point (please refer to This Blog Post in which I have my brother Chris, who’s new to beer, try 3 >100 IBU IPAs, and the results are as expected!), and wanted to try something new.

I took one sip, and thought “THIS is the reason I got into craft beer.” I was overwhelmed with brown sugar (which is interesting when you hear the story about this beer), plum sweetness, and toasted caramel from the malts, balanced with a blast of lemon and orange zest citrus from the hops. One of the most flavorful, balanced IPAs I had ever drank.

Lagunitas Sucks! Also, my foot!

We could talk about how Heinekin purchased a 50% stake in Lagunitas, which would lead us down the wormhole to AB InBev and their acquisition of multiple Craft Breweries in an attempt to conquer the Craft Beer market.

But we’re not here to talk about that.

I want to talk about the time I didn’t get that promotion I had been working so hard for, and Holly came and picked me up from work (because she’s amazing) and surprised me with a 32oz bottle of Lagunitas Sucks (because she’s incredible. Also, beautiful. She has unbelievable brown eyes. Have you seen those eyes? My goodness.). She handed it to me, gave me a big old bear hug, and said “Honey, that sucks.” I drew myself a hot bath, popped open that bad boy, enjoyed the sweet, citrusy blend of magic, went to work the next day as cheery and chipper as ever, and got the promotion a week later. Boom.

Ok, so, the beer name. Here’s the story. Lagunitas has a beer called Brown Shugga. Due to their capacity issues in 2010, that particular beer, a strong ale with tons and tons of, you guessed it, brown sugar, took a long time to make. They were trying to expand, but the giant lauter tun (the vessel used to separate the liquid wort from the grain) they were going to used got damaged, so they couldn’t brew Brown Shugga. They called the IPA they brewed instead Lagunitas Sucks, as a consolation to all the Brown Shugga fans, and a comical, self-deprecating nod to staying humble in the face of success, even when something goes wrong. It used to be brewed only around Christmastime, but it’s become a year round brew for them, and for good reason.

Every time I come back to this beer, I’m blown away. Periods of time will go by, and it will disappear from my grocery store, and will show up again months later, and remind me again why I love craft beer so much. It reminds me of Spitzy, and Holly Kay, and all the adventures we’ve been on since I started getting into craft beer over 5 years ago.

My Dad’s go-to, Founders Breakfast Stout, and mineD Lagunitas Sucks.

It’s all about love, friendship, and great beer. And this is a great beer.

Until next time!

Cheers!

P.S. Huge shout out to my dude Brandon (@itsb_ran on the Instagramz) for helping me come up with the second half of my title this week! Thanks, buddy!

Date Night! Or, “Is It Weird That This Beer Smells Like Sushi Rice?”

Holly Kay and I have been married for 5 years (!!!) now. We’ve got a trip to Ireland planned for the first week in November (!!!) which we’re super excited for, but we’re always looking for ways to celebrate our love.

This past Friday, we were both done early from work, so I met Holly down in Soho so we could find a nice Happy Hour (who doesn’t love a good Happy Hour?). As I waited for her to get out of work, I had a hankering to visit one of our favorite special places here in NYC. It’s got great food, great beer, and great… Arcade games?

Yeah. You got that right, Jack (who is Jack anyways and how did he get that right?), I’m talking about Barcade.

Barcade!

The first Barcade opened in 2004 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, then in Jersey City and Philadelphia in 2011, two Manhattan locations in 2014, and New Haven in 2015.

Our very special Barcade is located in Chelsea, on 24th street, equidistant from the E and the F trains, which both run express to our neighborhood of Jackson Heights, so, bonus. We haven’t had a chance to visit the other locations, but we’ve spent numerous occasions here, including our 4th Wedding Anniversary (sandwiched between a massage and a Punch Brothers show at The Beacon Theater).

We all love nostalgia, and Barcade touches all the right, nostalgic-like parts of your brain cavity. With arcade games such as Tapper, Rampage, and Donkey Kong, you’re transported back to your childhood, except it’s cooler because you’re an adult now and you can do what you want and what you want is an extensive craft beer selection and a menu that features Tetris-shaped tater tots.

In this picture: Grilled chicken sandwich with fried onions, Tetris Tots, and a short rib grilled cheese (!!!!) with spicy mayo, beer, water.

We took two stools at the bar when we arrived (it was just before 5pm), and began perusing the beer list. We were greeted by Brian, (who we later learned was the beer manager for that location), who was amazingly friendly and helpful, and more than willing to answer any questions we had, or let us sample a few beers before deciding (a sign of a great beer bar).

Holly ordered a Kent Falls Lade Øl Saison. This is a “toasted hay grisette”. Saison? Grisette? They’re nearly the same thing. While a saison was a low ABV beer brewed for farmers to enjoy after (or during) a long day in the fields, a grisette was brewed for miners (Because nothing prevents black lung like a farmhouse ale!).

Lade Øl is Danish for “barn beer”. The addition of toasted hay adds notes of grass, vanilla and spice to the funk and citrus of a traditional Farmhouse Ale.

I started with an Evil Twin Erase and Rewind #2 IPA. Clocking in at 7% ABV, this is a punchy, citrusy IPA bursting with pineapple and orange, pine, and some malty sweetness. Another hit from Jeppe and crew at Evil Twin.

Evil Twin Erase and Rewind #2 IPA. Also, a gorgeous array of taps.
Let’s talk food. We decided to share a sandwich and some Tetris Tots. We glanced up at the specials on the chalkboard, and I immediately drooled all over myself. Why? Check this monster out…

Spicy chicken sandwich with shredded lettuce, chipotle aioli, and a pretzel bun. Also, check out them crispy totz. We were full.

Holly Kay’s next beer was from the always phenomenal Carton Brewing from Atlantic Highlands, NJ. It’s called Sakura, and it’s a Gose brewed with sushi rice (!!!???) and cherry blossom. Weird? Yup! But with Augie Carton, you always know he’s going to do you right.

(Check out This Article about Augie’s philosophy, and you’ll see why I trust this dude with any beer he makes.)

As soon as Holly and I took a sniff of this beer, we glanced sideways at each other. “Is it weird that this beer smells like sushi rice?” I asked Holly. “Yes.” She responded. “It’s brewed with sushi rice!” I said. She took another sniff… “That definitely smells like sushi rice.” The aroma was salty and sweet just like sushi rice, with lemon and floral notes. Taste was tart lemon peel citrus, floral, and salty. I’m hoping they have cans of this left when we visit the brewery next week, because this was out of this world.

My next pick was the Stone Farking Wheaton W00tstout. This is a collaboration beer with everyone’s favorite need Wil Wheaton, and Drew Curtis (who runs the website fark.com). This year’s iteration was brewed with rye, flaked wheat, and pecans (yummmm) and aged in bourbon barrels. For a beer brewed by a bunch of nerds, this brew is a bully. At 13%, it’s dangerous, because the smoothness of vanilla and caramel from the bourbon barrel plus the sweetness of the pecans make for a real easy drinker that’ll shove your head in a toilet and take your lunch money. I want these dudes to continue making this every year.

Also, can we please all just look at this Star Wars-inspired label? It’s unfair how cool this beer is.

W00tstout. My sweet lord.

It was time for video games. First was Holly Kay’s favorite…

Discs of Tron!
My wife is amazing. (Have I mentioned my wife is amazing?). She always comes on top 10 on this game. This time, she hit #7. I thought I had a picture of it, but it turns out, when you get on the top 10, your initials blink on and off on the screen. Of course, I took the picture when the initials weren’t on the screen. So, you’ll just have to believe me, or come with us next time we’re at Barcade.

We then hit up Tapper, everyone’s favorite anxiety nightmare Bartending game. We rock this one out all the damn time, although that probably has something to do with that we downloaded a free version (or was it 99¢?) of Root Beer Tapper for iPhone (the version inside Barcade is completely branded by Budweiser…) and we are now seasoned Tapper veterans. I think we’re just naturally talented with our hand-eye coordination.

In summary, you all should head to Barcade. You’ll have an amazing time regardless, but if you have the pleasure of being served by Brian, prepare to have an elevated Craft Beer experience. Thanks, Brian!

Until next time!

Cheers!

The Perfect Storm, or Weird Surprise After Weird Surprise

Today is a special day. It just so happens to be both National IPA Day, and, according to Facebook, #NationalGirlfriendDay, (The Perfect Storm) so I’d love to share a quick story that involves both IPA, my brother, and my ex-girlfriend who I married, Holly Kay Benedict, aka @hkbenny aka HBK The Heartbreak Kid aka The Little Negotiator aka The Holly aka My Love!

I adore my wife. We fell in love in a whirlwind romance involving Karaoke, our friend Jeff, Jefferson Starship, Central Park in the middle of the night, and a wild raccoon that we named Stanford. She’s smart, funny, talented, and strong willed. Plus, she’s gorgeous (which is the icing on the cake). She takes my breath away on a daily basis.

Holly Kay enjoying a Youngs Double Chocolate Stout at the Souveneer show (see earlier blog post BEER, I mean… Here.)

Here we are, over 7 years later (5 and a half years married) and we’re preparing for a trip to Ireland in November to celebrate a belated 5 year Anniversary (we were at a wedding in Houston on our actual Anniversary, March 5th). This will be a celebration of our love, and Holly intends on writing handwritten letters to each of the owners of the 5 B&Bs we’re staying in to tell them how excited we are to spend our anniversary with them.

On Saturday, Holly called me on her lunch break as she was out on a walk through Soho. We were chatting, and she suddenly said “I’ll be right back.” She came back on the line about 30 seconds later, and I asked if everything was alright, and she said “Yes, I was just picking up your surprise! You’re going to be very excited about it!” I told her she didn’t have to get me anything, but she insisted that this was going to be amazing, and she had gotten a tip. That was all she told me.

So I spent the day trying to figure out what it could be. I had a feeling it was beer related, but wasn’t too sure. She’s a wily one, that Holly, so you never know what she could bring home (One time, she was dared to convince me she had bought a turtle. I fell for it, hard).

On her subway ride home, she was texting me, and she asked me about Other Half Brewing Company. She said “are they the ones who do the can releases where people wait for hours in line to get them?” I said “Yup! They had one this morning!” And described the three cans that were released that day. She responded, “Cool, we should go do that sometime!” I will refer you back to this post in which she says something similar and you can find out what our friend Kevin’s reaction was(!!!)

So I go to pick her up from the train station, and we’re walking home and chatting, and she says the surprise is something I’ll love, and would only get a few uses out of. I’m figuring it’s beer related (I don’t know if you guys know this, but I write a Beer Blog. You should totally check it out), but can’t think for the life of me what it would be. We get home, she unpacks her bag and says “The surprise is in my lunch bag.” At this moment, as I unzipped the lunch bag, I knew exactly what she had gotten me, but couldn’t for the life of me figure out how on earth she had pulled it off…

I pull out three 16oz. cans of fresh (we’re talking canned yesterday) Other Half IPAs. Hop Showers, All Green Everything, and another IPA simply called ! . I was a little in shock, because I swore she was at work, and she could have gotten up at 5am, drove to Gowanus (where the brewery is located) and then just stayed out all day and pretended to ride the subway home (she didn’t do that).

I asked her how on earth she pulled this off, and we’ll leave it at this… It’s a secret. She bragged “People waited in line all morning for this. I didn’t have to wait in line.” With a huge smile across her face. How did I get so lucky?

From Left to Right: Hop Showers, !, and All Green Everything

Earlier this week, I found out that my brother Christopher had tried a Guinness in Ireland, his first drink he’s ever had, ever (also, he hated it). This was weird for me. It still is. He texted me earlier in the day, “do you want to drink beer and watch baseball later?” Readers, I don’t know if you understand the magnitude of how weird that text message looked in a thread under his name. Anyway, I thought this would be a good opportunity for him to try some beers that are the exact opposite of Guinness. Other Half is making world class IPAs, maybe he’ll like those. Also, all three are presumably over 100 IBUs (International Bitterness Units). Needless to say, these are not beginner beers, but maybe it was wishful thinking that we would immediately be brothers in hops.

I cracked open the Hop Showers and poured some for myself, Holly Kay, and Chris. Immediately we were all walloped upside the head with hops (which I love), dank, grapefruit, pineapple, lemon. Not a ton of sweetness in the malt, but enough to sweeten that bitterness and let those hops dance (or in this case, punch.)

The next was ! , 8.5%, another dank, hoppy monster. This time, on top of light citrusy grapefruit and pineapple, were flavors of herbs, green bell pepper, garlic and onion. It was wild. Chris liked this one better, Holly Kay was more of a fan of the Hop Showers. This was my favorite of the 3, lots of flavor but still super drinkable, I picture crushing this at a beach (although at 8.5%, it would be nap time after just one or two).

All Green Everything was next on the docket. I was hoping that the sweetness of the alcohol and malts (it’s a hefty 10.5%) would balance out the hops, but this is another hop bomb. Craft a house out of hops and put me inside and I will live there until someone evicts me. This was a balanced, well crafted, triple IPA with sweet, sugary citrus. Also, not for beginners.

I love insane beers like this one, but Holly’s favorite was still Hop Showers, and Chris preferred ! .

What a week full of beer surprises. Chris surprises me with a photo of his Guinness in Ireland, Holly surprises me with three freshly canned IPAs, and I surprise Chris by destroying his palate with hops so he can’t taste anything else for the rest of the night.

Chris shared all three mega hopped, insanely bitter IPAs, which is brave, and I vowed to find him a beer he would like. I believe, with time, we can become hop friends, (Holly, do you have any advice for him as a person who was forced to love hops because of your weirdo husband?)

For now, the search continues…

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!