New York ·..New York
By Dave Perez

I'm back from my beer tour of the Greater NY city area. Boy was it great! I tasted so many new beers and visited many great pubs. Thanks to all who gave me the referrals for places to visit. I couldn't get to them all and I discovered some new ones as well. Sparky's was great, but I had to order a beer at a time as they didn't have their smallest glasses for the sampler special. Sparky's is a small pub on the West Side of Brooklyn, with a nice atmosphere and a friendly crowd. The one and only bartender was a bit harried and not all that helpful (in my opinion he should have given me the sampler in pint glasses half filled) but a pretty good selection helped out some.

The Greenwich Brewery was an interesting experience as well. It is located in the somewhat trendy village area and was very much like the many new wave of pseudo brewpubs. A modern looking and clean place with six "Greenwich" brews on tap. The beer was actually contracted from another brewery in Manhattan that the bartender knew nothing about. She also knew nothing about the beer she was serving. My mother loved the Irish Red (this was a trend through the visit) and I was quite impressed with the Wheat, which had a nice amount of raspberry, and another fruit I can't remember. Not too sweet, not too tart. I think I am starting to enjoy good mild Wheats.

But my favorite of all was the Peculiar Pub on Bleeker Street. Friendly and knowledgeable customers and bartenders guided me through a nice little tasting session of all things unavailable in FLA. The bartender was kind and patient and kept pouring samples from other (regular) customers' bottles for me to sample. The patron who sat next to Sara and I is a Belgian freak and was shocked and dismayed that I was not well informed or a connoisseur of this style. He went to great pains to educate my pallet and open my mind to them. The Peculiar Pub has a very good selection of taps including 4 Belgians and 20 domestic and imports. But the 3 Page bottle list blew me away and the prices were very reasonable. I think I am leaving my wife for a bottle of Anderson Valley IPA (if that sort of thing is legal in the state of Florida). If you are ever within 237 miles of lower Manhattan, you must go there. We so sadly found this place on our last day and would have spent much more time there had we had the chance.

Almost all pubs in Brooklyn and Manhattan serve a couple of Brooklyn beers on tap. I just missed the Brooklyn Octoberfest by about a week. People described as an excellent beer, but purist said not quite accurate to style. All of the Brooklyns taste fantastic on tap, very fresh and very clean. The Black Chocolate Stout was rich, creamy, nicely sweet and had a distinctive chocolate flavor. The Lager is similar to Sam Adams in style but much, much better. One of the most popular beers based on what I observed people ordering, was Brooklyn Pennant Ale. A nice malty but well balanced brew named for the 1955 champion Brooklyn Dodgers.

There is another brewery in Brooklyn that has no business making or selling beer. The Park Slope Brewery makes weak, watery and barely palatable group of beers. I could only stand to try two of these awful beers, the Pale Ale and the Steam. Both were watery, had very little malt flavor and were so under carbonated that no head could be found no matter how vigourous the pour. A terrible waste, as a guy can only fit so many beers into a one-week trip.

I did bring back some tasties for the next meeting. The only mistake I made was going to American Distributors the 2nd day to buy the beer to bring home. As you guess I had to go back twice to restock. If I remember December's January meeting is Stouts, so I tried to emphasize them. I also brought back a six of Brooklyn to the meeting at Sandra and Greg's for those who may never have tried them. I only wish I could have fit Wayne and Sues truck under the plane seat!!! (Sorry Sue, no Old Jock this time.)

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