Entries Tagged 'Beer Stores' ↓

In an article in todays Lower Hudson Online, it suggests local foods for holiday gifts.  Among their suggestions is local beer of course!  Their descriptions are here:

Captain Lawrence Beer

On Friday, Scott Vaccaro, the owner of Captain Lawrence Brewery in Pleasantville, will release his Nor’Easter Winter Warmer - Batch No. 2 (right). At 12 percent alcohol, this powerful dark ale, brewed with elderberries and aged in bourbon barrels, can be cellared just like wine. Captain Lawrence also features a seasonal brown ale, available now through March. “Giving our award-winning beer is like giving a piece of where you’re from,” says Vaccaro. “It’s the perfect way to introduce people to our region-specific flavor, locally produced.” Plus, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Once you have a growler, you can take it back for a refill at the brewery Fridays between 4 and 7 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 6 p.m. ($9.50 or $10.50 for the double IPA). You can also find the beers at Whole Foods Market in White Plains, or taste it at more than 200 restaurants in Westchester, Manhattan and Brooklyn. www.captainlawrencebrewing.com, 99 Castelton St. Pleasantville, 914-741-2337 (BEER).Defiant Brewing Co.

Brewmaster Neill Acer says the water quality is one of the reasons he chose to open his Defiant Brewing Co. in Pearl River. If you want to share the magic that flows through the taps of that village - enhanced by the brewer’s art, of course - consider giving friends and family one of the two special seasonal brews now available. There’s Christmas Ale, flavored with nutmeg, cloves and allspice, or Abominable Snow Beer, with notes of sweet and bitter orange plus coriander. A filled 64-ounce growler is $11.50; refills are $7.50. 6 E. Dexter Plaza, Pearl River. 845-920-8602, www.defiantbrewing.com. 

I recently went to the Whole Foods Beer Room in the Bowery to pick up a case of Dale’s Pale Ale.  I recently tried Dale’s Pale Ale at the NY Brewfest and the Brewtopia World Beer Festival.  This beer is commonly described as the best beer you will find in a can.  Located in Lyons, Colorado, the Oskar Blues Brewery is a small operation that hand-cans their beer 5 at a clip.  This hands-on approach makes Dale’s Pale Ale a must-try.  It is currently on sale at the Whole Foods Beer Room in the Bowery, for $14.99 / 12-pack of cans.  The beer is 6.5% ABV and quite hoppy.

Much to my surprise I also found the Stone Brewing Company’s 11th Anniversary Ale.   This beer was brewed in September 2007 and is an interesting new style, a Black IPA or India Black Ale.  Stone’s description “Resinously hoppy, roasted, a bit sweet, with a bit of alcohol warm” is spot on.  This beer is quite hard to come by and I would highly recommend trying it, if only to say that you have tried an India Black Ale

So this past weekend I made a day of going to the Wholefoods Beer Room in the Bowery to check out their selection of New York beers on tap that you can buy in growlers.  They had a deal where you get the first growler (just the container) free.  So I bought a few of them, but I have only tried the Blue Point No Appologies Double IPA.  Blue Point Brewery, which is in Long Island, also makes the Hoptical Illusion IPA, which is one of my personal favorites.  These IPAs have a slight fruit taste to them, but are by no means fruity.  As with all IPAs they are quite hoppy and the No Appologies has a slight earthy taste.  The No Appologies does not taste at all like it is 10% ABV and goes down very smooth with no taste of alcohol the way many barley wines of similar ABV do.  After drinking just one glass, I quickly could validate that it is in indeed 10% and I was happy to have made the effort to go to the Bowery to pick up these growlers. 

The growlers are a great thing to pick up on the way to a friend’s apartment to bring a beer that you can share that is very unique.  It is very economical compared with a six pack in a bodega and the beer is local so you can support craft beer in NYC.    Another benefit of the growlers is that you have to drink them all at once…yes a benefit.  Although it is feasable to drink one on your own, it would be difficult and the growler size instead encourages you to share one with a mate who will most likely be happy to have a great draught beer in their apartment (which will probably be the first time for those people who don’t own keggerators).  Who needs those lame Heineken mini-kegs that taste like uber-carbonated donkey urine when you can have draught local New York strong beers?

 The Whole Foods store located on the Lower East Side at 95 East Houston St. opened a brand new “beer room,” which stocks up to 300 different domestic and imported beers as well as a “circular counter with bartenders and six taps. Each will dispense beer made in New York State by companies like Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint, Kelso of Brooklyn, Ommegang, Blue Point and Captain Lawrence.” 

I have yet to make it to the beer room, but I have heard from sources that people are recognizing how great these growlers are because yesterday at around lunch time they had already sold out of two of their six beers on tap.  Including the Blue Point No Appologies Double IPA, which costs only $9.99 and is a strong 10% ABV.  My friend Oli who works nearby informed me that he overheard other people in the beer room shocked and excited to hear the high alcohol percentages of the beers making the growlers even more economical.  If you define a “drink” as a 12 oz beer that is 4% ABV (the way almost all big name beers are), the Blue Point No Appologies Double IPA is 12.3 “drinks” for $9.99 or 80 cents per “drink.”  80 cents per “drink” for a craft brew is pretty impressive in New York City where your typical six-pack of very uninspired beer at a bodega or grocery store will cost you 10 bucks.

I have also been informed that the growlers, which normally cost a 3 dollar deposit (they can be reused or returned to get your money back) are FREE through Sunday.  Free growlers through Sunday!  Currently my only set plans for the weekend are to take advantage of this deal. 

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