Jukeboxes

It has occured to me that jukeboxes are of two varieties these days: the new ones that pretty much have everything via the Internet, and the old-fashioned ones that have local music (usually CDs), with the selections chosen by the bar owner. It's probably split 60-40 or 70-30 these days.

I don't know about you, but sometimes when faced with an overwhelming number of choices, too many becomes a bad thing and the former may be guilty of that. The personality of the pub owner can shine through in the later and sometimes this is a good thing as it helps to create a certain vibe. I'm thinking the Grassroots Tavern in the East Village (old-fashioned) and how the choices were local, iconic, legendary bands and that music fit the scene. No one ever calls this censorship, but it is a little bit, isn't it? But on the other hand, if you consider the jukebox as aural artwork and the bar owner gets to select how his place is decorated, shouldn't he be allowed to pick and choose what he wants?

So what do you think? Do you want to have 500,000 songs to choose from in every possible genre or would you like something more insightfully chosen by the bar owner?

Nobody Rules these Taps But Me, The Atomic Punk!

I am a victim of the science age, the Simcoe® hops, whoa, yeah...

Thank heavens for genetic engineering.

Sped down to One Guy Brewing this afternoon to have a taster of the experiential Dunkel Weizen and the Atomic Punk I.P.A. just released. One Guy is a great brewer of German beers, as evidenced by the Seasons Wheatings, the Peach Wheat, Oktoberfest, et al, but with the Atomic Punk I.P.A. he shows he can kick-hop with the best of Victory, Weyerbacher, Troegs, Dogfish and the like.

This would be considered an American I.P.A. I could discern two of the hops varieties: Simcoe and Cascade. Is the bitterness due to the Amarillo hops? Anyway, it comes in at a nice 6.8% ABV which is just right in my book for a regular I.P.A. Very quaffable, indeed.

The Dunkel Weizen reminds me of root beer soda and in the fine German tradition, is a malty taste treat that goes down easy.

Ended up coming home with a few growlers of each. I'm hoping this becomes a regular.

Simcoe is a registered trademark of Select Botanicals Group LLC.

Lyrics to the discredit of Van Halen

Another Bar Signage Shot

Here's another one of the bar signage I received in barter for beer.

Dog Chews on Man for 120 Minutes -- Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

If you've never tried this beer you should, just to see what's possible with hops, grain, yeast and water...It is thick and sweet like honey and has a pointed smell and taste of alcohol, but still has a dog bite of hop. No ABV is mentioned on the label but based on reports of me barking like a dog, it's strong. This is a sipping beer not a quaffing beer. Overall I like it, but for drinking multiples thereof, I prefer the 90 minute IPA which is one of my favorite beers.

This bottle was a trade from J--I think I traded four bottles of home brew. I've been cellaring this one for going on six months.

Pszenica Piwo ciężarówka

As you may remember, we've been living in the 19th century for a while, virtually if not in reality, making do with the Pszenica Piwo wagon banner. If you look up there, ^, you can see we've taken the great leap into the 20th century. I guess you could say that we're really cook'n with piwo now! Thanks JohnP for the great banner!

Will Barter for Beer

I just bartered beer for a fantastic copper sign for my bar. The bar isn't finished (are they ever?) and it's not hung and only a piece of it's showing here, but I think you'll get an idea. It's about 24 inches wide, protrudes perhaps six inches, and is about eight inches high. It's lighted from the back (does not require 120v) and glows around the edges. I'll try to get some better pictures , but what do you think, was it a great deal or what? And, I have a few bottles of Christmas cheer available to barter....any offers?

Feats of German Beer Engineering

Leave it up to the German beer engineers to come up with an ingenious party keg valve system. Check out the air vent on top to facilitate optimum flowrates and the spigot that has a ribbed stem for party-strength, the rubber o-ring for air-tight sealing, and the fixture for locking the tap in the closed position with your MasterLock®. I can personally vouch that even after repeated use, it doesn't drip and waste even a single drop!

Japanese Space Beer Out of This World

It took rocket science to come up with this, but I have to ask: can this be considered a low-gravity beer?

Chawbacon Drowns in Brooklyn but Survives

The 2nd Annual Holiday Pub Crawl, trashing Brooklyn this year, took place Friday under a blue sky enlivened by a sun streaming yellow photons like a drunk taking a piss.

We started at Penn Station and the first transit of the day was via the C train to the first stop in Brooklyn, High Street, near the Brooklyn Bridge, in a neighborhood called Brooklyn Heights. Brooklyn Heights is a residential area that extends along and overlooks the East River. Heights is a bit of a misnomer as the elevation may in fact be less than 100 feet above the river level, but high it is relative to the nearby topography. A short walk through the upscale neighborhood brought us to near the river's edge with the vista of Manhattan opening before us to the west beyond the sparkling, calm, East River, actively being plied by pleasure and business watercraft. From that point, it was a 20 minute stroll south along the Brooklyn Promenade above the deserted waterfront wielding piers jutting out into the river in the direction of Manhattan. Along the walkway, there are bas-relief brass plaques inlaid into the paverstone field, and other objects d'art including metallic wall-hangings, showing the history of the waterfront area and Manhattan in the distance. Sadly, one showed the skyline to the West, oriented from the viewers perspective, with the twin towers of the World Trade Center visible, yet in reality sorely missing.

From there, it was a short walk to Atlantic Avenue which is one of the main arteries into downtown Brooklyn, to the first stop of the day for a Anchor Liberty Ale at The Waterfront Ale House visible in the photo to the right. Disregard Pete's Ale House on the awning as Pete was a former owner who reportedly had to give the place up under extreme beer duress--this truly is the Waterfront Ale House--and from the perspective of the photo if you turned around 120 degrees--but not too quickly if you've had a few--you would indeed see the waterfront to the west. The Liberty Ale went down mighty fine and was fitting for the Liberty we enjoy, able to crawl from bar to bar, and drown in a sea of beer if we care to. My first choice had been a local--Chelsea Hop Angel from the cask, but alas the casketh had runneth under and dry.

This was a crawl after all, so after downing our brews we left and ambled further southeast on Atlantic to our second stop at a delightful little establishment called The Brazen Head where I had Heartland Summer Vice , from the cask. So this was my local brew of the day! Yippee! If you've done the tourist thing around Manhattan you probably know the Heartland Brewery chain of restaurants around the city--Empire State Building, South Street Seaport being two locations. Well, they, along with a bunch of NYC restaurants and pubs, in fact have their beers contract brewed by the Greenpoint Beer Works of Brooklyn. The Summer Vice was a light summer-time wheat beer that went down easier than the first beer--there is nothing like a good beer to provide lubrication for the second!

Next stop was the Brooklyn Brewery, north of Brooklyn Heights in the Williamsburg section. However to get there not knowing the surface bus routes, we opted to backtrack into the city on the C, then switch trains to the L. After getting off in Williamsburg at the Bedford Ave. station, I was immediately struck by the vibe of this section of the city--young, artistic, and fun-loving. Evidently earlier this century many young artists fled here from Manhattan after they were priced out of housing. In any case, the streets were teeming as we walked over to Brewers Row, but alas the brewery was closed until later in the evening. Bummer!

After the disappointment of the Brooklyn Brewery not being open we decided--on the fly--to stumble into Mugs Ale House which we had passed on the way to the brewery along Bedford Avenue. Now I'm here to tell you that this was easily the best beer bar of the ones we had visited so far. There were at least 24 very high quality import and domestic craft ales on tap and it was very hard to decided on a beer. Bing! IPA Time! Bing! Do you have a double IPA? Well, no not right now...but we do have an Imperial IPA...Lagunitas Sonoma Farmhouse Hop Stoopid. Ummmm. What was that again? Hop Stoopid! Ok. I'll have one of them. No make it two! Hey Stupid! What??? Hop Stoopid is a excellent IPA with a great bitter and fruity balance. The hops are fantastic if you're into that sort of thing as no doubt you realize I am. FYI: This place has an excellent jukebox, and Friday it was pounding out all sorts of hard-rock, metal, and punk and I contributed to the mayhem with some Dio--Rainbow in the Dark and the Stooges Search and Destroy. Just to make things interesting... While there we met C who's setting up an interesting conceptual rendering of a bowling alley/rock club called Brooklyn Bowl. It's close to opening up next to the Brooklyn Brewery and will pair that tasty combination of rock music and bowling. Edgy yet unpretentious. Good Luck C! We wish you well.

Extra Credit: Red Hook ESB, nightcap at the Grassroots Tavern, St. Mark's Place, East Village. Good selection of drafts--good jukebox with local favorites (New York Dolls, Richard Hell et al)--efficient barkeeps. Bartop looks like an old piece of driftwood.

Hits: Mugs Ale House

Close calls: Barcade (80s style arcade with beer bar), Williamsburg; Brooklyn Brewery, Williamsburg. Next time.

Another fantastic day in the city exploring new places, enjoying beer, and making new and reconnecting with old friends.

2008 Christmas Brew Update

The 2008 Christmas brew has been safely bottled and is being conditioned under the most controlled of laboratory environments. (Down in the basement where the wood stove keeps it a constant 70 degrees.) A few more days and it will be into the fridge to take the edge off for a few weeks. Yippee!

Hey Tazio what's in the Beer Meister?

Nothing. I was just finished by the sixtel of Weyerbacher Hops Infusion (supah!) and need to select two warming replacements to carry me through the bleak next three months. I'm thinking some other Weyerbacher and something different. Hmmmmm

Where are the IPAs?

As part of my doctoral dissertation on the popularity of various beer styles, I thought I would try to quantify what people are drinking. I just checked out newcomer Kclingers tap list over at mybeerbuzz.com and what struck me was the great ratio of Pale Ales (India, too) to everything else: a full one out of four of the taps!

But when I checked a bunch of fine, local NEPA beer bars, the ratio is more like one in six or worse.

Not that I'm complaining mind you, all the NEPA beer places have great beers and good times, but it would be nice, imho, to see a few more IPAs on tap. But, it just may be that NEPA is more of a Stout/Porter area and I'm certain the taps are primed with what people want the most of... so it makes sense in that respect...

I think I'll go and sip on a Dogfish Head and contemplate this revolting development.

2nd Annual New York Holiday Pub Crawl

This year we'll be trashing Brooklyn the Friday after Thanksgiving for the 2nd Annual NY Holiday Pub Crawl. Meeting at Penn Station, bottom of main stairway, at 1 p.m. Roit!

Bottling the Christmas Brew

Bottled yesterday. My final gravity reading was about 1.022 which seems a bit high. However, fermentation was complete as it was at this level for two days straight . Here's what my dry (now wet) hops looked like when I fished them out of the drink. Now, on to bottle conditioning, aging, and labeling.