Cask Ale Williamsburg

Dateline, Brooklyn. For those of you who haven't seen me on my regular barstool (I have been missed, haven't I?) I am at the 4th Williamsburg Cask Beer Festival. The event is at the Williamsburg location of D.B.A. and is taking place 7 - 9 January 2011. It's my first festival of the year. There are 16 firkins of beer from the United States but England and Wales are represented as well. The lowest ABV is 4.2 from Elland, England going by the name "Beyond the Pale" and made with American Cascade hops. Two Pennsylvania beers are on deck and they are impressive in their strength. Blue Canoe Aged Wheat Wine from Titusville is pulling at 11.5% and Black Magick from Voodoo is on top at 15.5% ABV. Those guys in Meadville really know how to make a Russian Imperial Stout. It was also NOT aged in oak barrels. And no, my spell heck is not broken, it is spelled Magick.

This festival was put on by Alex Hall from Brooklyn. The one thing I liked about all this was that all the beers have the ABV listed. Most bars in New York City also dispay the ABV. I for one would like to know what I am drinking and when you have a 15% beer in you glass yu should know about it. The festival is operated with a mix of the English way and the American way. Entry is free and you just buy the beer you want to drink. But you had a choice in glass size you wanted. Gleaases came in 10, 16 and 20 ounce size and cost was typically $4, $7 or $8, respectively. The real high strength brews were adjusted some what in blass size or cost.

The Friday evening seeion was great as I got there before most eveyone else and it wasn't too bad that evening. Saturday afternoon was another story. It was packed and with only one batender it made for a long waite for a refill. As this bar does not do food a food service was put in place for the Saturday session. As it is Sunday morning as I write this I don't know what it will be like this afternoon. Still, it was great to see the interest in cask ale. I don't know if most of th4 people here came in to see what this was all about or if they have been drinking cask ale before. I have to think they are here as they aa their cask affection goes way back. A lot of bars in metro New York have at least two beer engines and demand is here.

Beer Festivals

Over the years we have seen a swell in the number of beer festivals in the US. The Great American Beer Festival in Denver was thee place to be but for those of us who cannot get a mile high we have a plethora of fests in most major and not so major cities. Here in Pittsburgh we have the Penn Fest, European Beer Fest and the Big Pour, one put on by the Pittsburgh Rugby Club and a smidgen of smaller ones. Beer festivals in America are operated the American way. That is, each person entering pays an admission price of anywhere between 30 to 70 dollars. But you get a free glass to keep and take home. The glass is small, not more than six ounces so it’s easy to carry out. As you know, we get two ounces at a time but we get all we want. The exception is the European fest where you get one shot at all the beers but you can’t get to try one more than once. This is controlled by a punch card. The other exception is when you only get a set number of tickets, which can be used for one ore a variety of brands. I don’t like that method myself, as it seems the most overpriced.

The Brits have a different take on doing a fest. Hey, they don’t drive on the same side of the road as us so why should they drink like us? The English way is to get you in the door for free or at least a quid or two. But before you ask for a cask you need a glass. You buy a glass but it is a full size pint (or half pint) that you use at the fest and if you do not want to take it home on the tube you can return it for your cash back. Now with pint in hand you head for the beer. The Brits operate a fest like a big pub in which you buy a pint (or half) of any beer you want at standard pub prices. Then you turn to the chap next to you and talk football. Now, when you are paying full price for a 20-ounce pint of beer you aren’t going to be sampling one from each brewery. But all in all it makes a great day in finding on that is not typically in your area. In a way the Brits go to a beer festival much like they go to the pub. It is about the beer but for them it is more of a social get together. But in many ways that is universal. Beer brings people together. For more on beer festivals in England see CAMRA.

New York City has beer festivals pretty much the same way most fests are put on in the US but thanks to Alex Hall one can experience a beer festival the British way. Several bars in NYC have cask-ale festivals in which 15 to 20 firkins are lined up on stillage dispensing real ale on gravity and without a cask breather. Some casks are hooked to a beer engine to get the beer to your glass, which is a full pint I have to say. These cask ale fests operate the English way so you buy a full pint of each beer. It’s not about sampling 20 beers in one afternoon, it’s about enjoying a beer you never had with friends. Unlike Pittsburgh, the price of a pint in the Big Apple is $7 or $8. On the good side I can get Sierra Nevada Porter and Stout on cask (just a mention in case Glenn is reading this).

I am off to a cask fest in Brooklyn this January 7 so if you don’t know what a beer engine is or what stillage does, come on up and drink like the English. Of course you will have to hold the glass in your left hand.

To find a cask ale bar in New York City, see this page, with a thank you going out to Mr. Hall and the Malted Barley Appreciation Society.

I Love New York

I have not been to New York City since late 2000. This year I was able to visit Manhattan twice in June. I shall visit once more this 11 September. Other than to break away from my office computer I want to take part in Beer Week. I discovered the joys of being back in my old favorites, d.b.a. as well as seeing new ones; Brazen Head, Rattle & Hum, just to name a few. I was able to visit the Blind Tiger for the first time in June but that experience left a sour note with me. Other than that I love drinking in the Big Apple. Here’s why.

The pubs are (can) be quite. Most places I visit in the afternoon are quite oasis’s and far removed from the mass horde of people at the tourist traps. I staff, usually nice looking young ladies that are pleasant and delightful to talk to. Most of all they are relaxing places and unlike the New York Public Library, they serve cask conditioned ale. This is in stark contrast in my taverns in Pittsburgh. Some are quite and some not. Even if the juke box had a volume control many Pgh Pubs have screamers. Sometimes it’s just not relaxing to come in for a pint. Yes, I am sure that there are many NYC bars that can make your ears bleed, but I have yet to find one. Well, maybe one. I did pop into O'Reilly's Pub one night at midnight. The music was blaring but they had good Guinness and college girls dancing one the tables, so it balanced out. Still, many people have a miss conception about the city. It is nice for walking and relaxing. Get away from midtown and go to the villages. Eat in a deli and ride the subway. If you want to get away from it all go to New York. Yes, that’s right. I said that. I Love New York!